WARNING: If You Do Not Support Your LHBS It Will Close.

Same here. I have never lived near a good homebrewshop and I currently don't even live near a bad one. When NB and MW merged, the writing was on the wall. They stopped competing against each other. I started forging relationships with smaller mail order companies, and occasionally morebeer. Outside of dropping by NB during HomebrewCon to buy 3 oz of hops for the Averagely Perfect ESB, I have stopped using them. Maybe the next time HBC comes around to MSP...?

I have located a fairly decent shop that is 2 hours away, but that is not very local for me. The only time I drive near that location are on days I need to use an airport, and those generally don't coincide with my brewing schedule. If I had an LHBS that could get me fresh ingredients, I would visit their brick and mortar regularly and maybe even brew more often

 

Keystone has already been mentioned.

Another option is Fancy Camper in Frazer:

http://www.fancycamperhomebrew.com/

Fancy Camper is a one-man show and Corey seems to be very experienced & knowledgeable. It is a smaller store in comparison to Keystone.

Best of luck getting back into homebrewing!!

Cheers!

 

I don't brew nearly enough to make a dent, but I have never purchased any brewing ingredients online. I have purchased the odd piece of equipment, but hardly.

But I see the troubling trend you see in other industries.

People start shopping where it's cheaper. Online, bigger stores, etc. So the local LHBS raises prices, as they are losing money. They cut hours, employees, selection, etc.

Then people quit shopping there as much because the service and selection isn't great.

So the LHBS has to further cut back on expenditures, continuing the death spiral.

I feel like my LHBS is on the downward side of bell curve of existence. And it saddens me.

 

Man. I never realized how few and far between LHBS are in some areas. I can think of about 4 off the top of my head within maybe 25 miles of my house.

As for quality, I've never bothered to check out any of them other than the one closest to me (15-20 mins each way). I started going there and haven't found any reason to switch. They have knowledgeable, friendly employees who remember your name, a good selection, and decent prices. In addition to ingredients and equipment, they also sell CO2, plus RO water for cheaper than anywhere else around. The only things I go online (or Craigslist) for are bulk hops and bigger pieces of equipment. It's nice to have a place I can run to for an unplanned brew day or emergency (e.g., a broken hydrometer, etc.). It's absolutely crucial to have a LHBS if you want to brew with liquid yeast in the summer here. I would be really upset if all of the stores around here closed down; online stores really aren't a suitable replacement.