Home Brew Mart

Love this place! They alway are stocked with all my home brew needs. Ryan is so knowledgeable and always drops whatever he’s doing to lend a hand or answer my many questions. He has now saved my batches from epic failure multiple times. Big shout out to the whole home brew team. Highly recommend this place if you are starting out or are a more advanced Brewer. Let’s not forget about he tasting room connected. Two birds one stone… brew supplies and solid beer line up!

Linda Vista is lacking in a lot. It’s close to everything but walkable to nothing. While USD is steps away, there’s pretty much nothing else that makes this area unique. However, Home Brew Mart is a shining exception.
Half a resource for home brewers (how cool is it that a craft brewery still supports this?!?) and half a tasting room, Home Brew Mart is a great stop for someone wanting a pint but not feeling like driving across the 8 to get one. The recent remodel has a bigger tasting room with a lot of R&D (research and development) beers plus the Ballast Point staples you know and love. There are also growler fills and it’s always lively.
While the Little Italy location is more exciting, sometimes it’s nice to go somewhere a little more chill and relaxed or be able to quickly grab a growler and go home to watch the game. Home Brew Mart has become a staple for me living in the Linda Vista area. If you’re a resident and craft beer drinker you will not be dissapointed.

So it is my first legit home brew and walking into the store I was bombarded with malts and hops alike! After a few minutes of walking around confused, I decided to ask for help. Matt Davis was a kind and generous soul who guided me through the whole process. He printed out a recipe based upon the starter brew kit that I received as a gift. Assisting me with measuring the grains and making jokes along the way. He was so knowledgeable on the IPA I wanted to brew and went out of his way to stick with me through the store. Next time for sure I’ll always be back to get my supplies here. Great customer service!

All the supplies needed for home brewing can be found here. They even hold classes for various levels of brewmasters. Many of their beer varieties are for sale chilled too.

Just the best! I’m here all the time, whether its with friends on a Friday night or during the weekdays getting some work done (they have wifi). Everyone here is incredibly friendly and it has a great tasting room atmosphere, equipped with chips and salsa for sale, board games, TV’s and food trucks on the weekends! This place makes Ballast Point brew taste even better… if that’s even possible.

Great selection of supplies and ingredients. For one of few places that sell home brew equipment, they are directly priced and knowledgeable.
Plus, you can always grab a pint while you shop.

As first time brewers, we came to this store in hopes of getting some advice and brewing ingredients. The first woman to help us seemed nice enough but didn’t seem to want to stick around to help us throughly like we needed (she pointed us in the direction of their recipe books and took off, btw they weren’t very busy). Then we got some very brief help from a nice man with a beard but he also left soon after to help a more experienced home brewer. The final guy who helped us was the most committed to serving us but basically told us to put back all the grains we got and do a malt mix instead of a steep because we «don’t know what we’re doing and it won’t come out». He was pretty much the beer snobbiest of anyone but at least got us a printout of step by step instructions and the last of the ingredients.
Overall not impressed with the service (especially to those less experienced folks) or the prices. I’ll take my business to the homebrewer in North park where you get the attention necessary for the level you’re at.

UPDATE: How do you go from 1 star to 5 stars and bring back a customer that had *both* feet out the door?! Let me tell you!
After posting this review I was contacted privately by the general manager of the Home Brew Mart and he explained to me the cause of the extreme delay with my order — they’ve been experiencing unprecedented volumes, undergoing expansion, and were basically caught off guard by the perfect storm. He told me they are focusing on correcting the problem and improving the online experience.
Here comes the good part: he didn’t stop at an explanation, that is, he didn’t just say: «well, that’s why! …so sorry ’bout that… okay, bye!» He offered to fill my ENTIRE order (a SIZEABLE one) FREE OF CHARGE and personally inform me of any backordered items that may cause further delay. Within only 5 days of that offer, the box arrived at my house with all the items in perfect shape! He also asked to stop by and introduce myself the next time I’m in town.
Companies and individuals will make mistakes, but GREAT companies with GREAT leaders will turn mistakes into opportunities — opportunities to correct bad service and win lifelong customers. It’s all about how a company recovers from missteps. I have full confidence that under the great leader that the Home Brew Mart has, their process will be vastly improved in short order as he is fully committed to customer experience and satisfaction. Okay, gotta go — time to have a Sculpin! :)

This is the my first visit to the Home Brew Mart. I have been to the Scripps Ranch and new Miramar locations… But, this is my first visit to the location where it all started.
Parking was a little tight, but I managed. Also, the strip mall Home Brew Mart is located in, is totally remodeling its façade. Can’t wait to see how that turns out.
Once inside, I was warmly greeted and directed to the spot where the growlers are sold. I think this location is pretty nice. Better than I expected. I grew up in this area and I know what it used to look like.
So, I came in to purchase 2 growlers. Both were Fathers Day gifts. I got what I came in for and left with 2 growlers filled with Habenero Sculpin IPA.
Anyways, the service is great, the selection was AWESOME! And my overall experience was great!

I went to these guys for starting up my home brew kit. I probably spent way too much money, but having someone show me what things were and how to start helped tremendously. As a new brewer it can be a confusing road.
That said, I haven’t been back. I’m still brewing but I’ve turned to Northern Brewer for supplies and support. The ingredients seem just as good, I can order on Sunday and be brewing by the next weekend, and the parking sucks at Home Brew Mart.
I will be back this weekend though. I need some yeast that won’t last in UPS.
I’m not a fan of Ballast Point beer, but the shop is nice and the people are helpful for the new brewer. They seem like the want you to succeed.
I might go more often if the parking situation could be improved.
The ironic thing is the guy up sold me on a couple things (which I am glad I did, trust me, autosiphon’s are worth it) but tried to downsell me on others. I went higher end and I’m so glad I did. Homebrewing went from a hobby (I was so ignorant) to a lifestyle in a week. In just over a month, I’m on my fourth brew, I’m drinking my first, and am starting my fifth this weekend.

My friends and I met here April 2 (my last day on vacation), and enjoyed many different beers. We liked the atmosphere and our server, Mikey, a nice and patient man. The prices are much lower than those of Washington, DC, and Northern VA!
We love the taste of the, beer — soooo fresh. I had the grapefruit sculpin, and will certainly be back to order, hang out, and drink beer and try something to eat.

This place is great to go and browse through home-​brewing supplies. I can get some stuff cheaper on Amazon but it was nice to come here and actually look at the stuff and see if any alternatives were there while also getting lost in the other merchandise.
When you’re done shopping you can grab a small two ounce beer or a nice flight of random and delicious two ounce beers. The Thai chili beer was my favorite. And a beer that tastes like an oatmeal cookie?! Mind blown. I was glad they recommended that to me when I couldn’t decide on a third beer for my flight.
My only critiques: I’ve stood at the register upwards of a couple minutes with employees walking around and no one helping me and some of their stuff not clearly priced.

Kebba is the best! Everyone here is awesome, friendly and helpful if you’re getting into brewing or just want a good beer suggestion (although all of their brews are legit). This is our favorite place to come chill and talk about (and drink, of course) beer!

Look. I’m a man. And I enjoy manly things. Like meat. And football. And beer. And although you won’t find much meat or football here. You’ll find beer. So come here and explore your manliness. In all its forms. Women are welcome. WIth friends especially.
You can buy beer finished — all types of awesomeness. Cumin/​curry flavored? Sure. Grapefruit? Not a problem. Coffee and vanilla? A regular. The beers they have on tap are just fantastic. They keep the regulars and switch up the limited options on a regular basis. They brew it here. They love it here. And you can feel it here.
But, it’s not just the finished product you’ll find. Yes, you can also buy beer’s elements. What? Yes, elements. The things that you need to make beer are literally sitting on the shelves. Like groceries. Epiphany. Yeast? Check. Fermentable sugars? Check. Equipment within which yeast do their love magic? Check. So you’re saying I can make my own beer? Yes. That’s the ephiphany. It’s like making tea but more fun.
One of my favorite «chores» is to visit to the home brew mart, try a flight, pick a pint, and go man-​grocery shopping with a pint of Sextant Stout for things like Belgian Biscuit malt, Cream Ale Yeast, and Irish Moss. There are URLs where you can get the elements but where else can you buy manly groceries while the staff is filling your growler while you’re putting down a pint of awesomeness? Yeah, limited list. I know. Welcome.
Sometimes the staff can be a bit busied — and they get short. But it’s all good. They know their stuff. They can help you brew your first beer (er, 50 beers) and answer the basic questions. Plus, they pour a good pint. What else do you want?
I’ve been coming hear for years. First to taste. Then to fill the growlers. Now for the elements. See you there!

I don’t really ‘get’ Ballast Point Home Brew mart. It’s like any All in One type system or product: it may do all of the things you want it to do (tasting room, homebrew supply store) but it doesn’t do anything particularly well.
Parking is an absolute mess. I go elsewhere for both drinking and Homebrew needs but YMMV.

This is an isolated one star incident, but it was a real bummer and I hope this is not representative of how Home Brew Mart expects it’s employees to treat it’s customers. Other visits have been plenty good.
Homebrewing Dad was visiting from Michigan, and I was really excited to show him this really great store (shamelessly bragging about SD beer culture). instead dealt with a guy running the register, and was met with some massive ‘too good to be dealing with you’ attitude. I wondered if it was just me, but after we left all members of my party confirmed feeling the same ill vibe. It was the day after Thanksgiving, so maybe the dude was dealing with a sore tummy or something. I don’t need an employee to fawn over me or anything, so I am pretty shocked that a sufficiently crappy attitude was piercing enough to even make me notice.
Too bad, had a six hundred dollars budget to drop on a home brew kit big upgrade. Decided to take business elsewhere. I’ll come back another time for a recipe fulfillment and see if this was just an outlier experience.

It’s awesome to be able to get a Ballast Point beer while shopping around for your homebrew supplies. The workers are a hit or miss. Some of them can be taken the wrong way and seem like they are talking down to you but others are good. The grain weighing system needs be improved/​upgraded (electric scales?) rather than putting the grains into a bucket, dump the contents into the scale, and dumping it back into the bucket.
**Watch for expired yeast!!** Bought WLP007 only to realize it was expired. The more popular yeast shouldn’t be a problem.

I can only rate my beer sampling experience since that is what I came for.
A chalkboard above the mini-​bar let’s you know what selections are available that day with all the information you may need (ABV, IBU, ingredients, etc.). There is no place to sit; only bar-​height tables with foot rests. They have a TV or two. You can purchase 3 samplers for $ 5.00. I enjoyed their Sour Wench so bought a pint for $ 7.00. They do not serve food but I was told you’re allowed to bring your own snacks if you so please.
Pretty cool place, I would try it again if I were in the area.

If you ever need any materials for brewing beer on your own, this is the place to go: they have so many different hops to choose from, probably at least 30 if not more, the different malts, all the different grains that you need to use, barrels, cleaners, you name it, they probably have it.
While you’re there, feel free to do a few tasters as well, Ballast point Victory At Seas are always abundant as well as any new beers they might come up with.

I love that malty dusty aroma rise up as a fresh bag of crystal malt crunches thru the grinder. Crank that handle, son. Wanna try a crazy new recipe? Employees will chit-​chat with you about their latest creations and whats working for them. There’s a gleam there. Basic recipes are readily available and the clerks gladly will help you dispense, weigh and sort your grains if you require assistance.
As a beginning home brewer, I feel like a kid in a candy store here every time I come back to re-​up stock on the next batch. The brewers/​servers don’t make you feel stupid for asking basic questions either. In fact, they appear to have a passion for talking shop! They’re legitimately involved in their daily work. I deeply admire and respect that. No snobbery. Given the service, the vibe, and the prices, I can’t imagine going anywhere else.