Which distributor is better?

From PA I see. Really hard to bear morebeer now that they have a PA distro center. Free shipping on orders over 59$ all the time is hard to beat. Never been dissapointed with ingredients from them either. Except like almost all online places the crush they do is gonna give you a lower efficiency.

 

I use love2brew for probably about 90% of my homebrewing purchases.

 

Hops in bulk from Yakima Valley and Farmhouse. Yeast, buckets and miscellaneous from local homebrew store. Everything else from Morebeer which is mostly grain and miscellaneous.

PA residents have to pay tax on Morebeer and Farmhouse orders. Awwww....

 

I befriended a local brewery (that I now actually work for part time on brew day) and I get my brew supplies through them. Costs much less and it's very fresh. Sorry that's all I got

 

LA homebrew from baton rouge. ive noticed they are a good bit cheaper

 

I probably but more from MoreBeer than from anywhere else these days. And their delivery in PA is lightening fast. But what annoys me is, I can't seem to find any supplier that meets all three of these criteria...

- Has Weyermann Pilsner Malt
- Has Weyermann Pale Wheat Malt
- Vacuum Packs or Nitro Flushes their hops

It doesn't seem like a lot to ask, but apparently it is. I end up sourcing some recipes from more than one vendor.

 

I've used Midwest and I've used Northern. Both are decent. Don't be afraid to crunch some numbers from a number of online vendors. Paying for shipping from two places is worth it sometimes.

 

I've found that there is no golden bullet. I like to buy from LHBS when I can. Hops come from Yakima, Hops Direct, or Farmhouse in bulk (bulk-ish from Farmhouse). Figure out what you like for malts and adjust accordingly (I've never found one source for the stuff I like to use. When I lived in Philly, Keystone carried most of what I liked). Figure out the yeasts you like, and then buy from whoever carries them with the quickest turnover in the variety you like.

Basically, its more about figuring out what you are comfortable with using and then buying from the places that carry it, not buying everything from one place because its easy. If you're looking for an easy way to do it, this is a stupid hobby to take up. I buy from two different LHBS (each a 30-45min drive, but there are other errands to run along the way) and suppliment from multiple online sources, and I don't pay nearly the attention to detail as a number of folks on here.

 

Have you tried a local home brew store (LHBS)? I can get ingredients cheaper from my shop than I can get them online. Maybe not some equipment. But ingredients yes.

 

If your icon means that you're from the Pittsburgh area (as I am), Ruffled Homebrewing in Oakmont is the LHBS I've been going to. Good prices, and it makes it possible to decide to brew and the next day pick up ingredients. (Although I'm trying to get my brew buddy to plan a little further out)

 

If you have narrow needs, you might be able to find one supplier that works best for you. I typically shop around and let the market influence my recipes and purchases. For example, one supplier gives me a better price on a base malt but lacks the specialty malt that I was looking for, so I might alter my recipe by subbing the specialty malt. This kind of ingredient swapping is in keeping with my inclination to explore ingredients over tweaking process and trying to replicate beers,

 

What part of PA do you live in?

 

SouthCentral. Unfortunately too far from Philly, where's there's a great LHBS. I get down there a couple times a year though.

 

I'm pretty sure Breski Beverage in Harrisburg has everything you are looking for.

 

I've never been in there. I thought of them as a beer distributor, but I see now they have homebrew stuff also. Do you know where they get their hops, and how they are packaged? And do they keep them frozen?

 

They are all either BSG or Hop Union. Yes they are kept frozen.

 

I used to shop mostly on Northern Brewer. Then they started jerking us around with pricing and shipping. Then I couldn't get all the ingredients I wanted. Now I shop almost exclusively with Morebeer. Cheap shipping, great service, and they have every single ingredient I need.

 

I am pretty sure that the store I mentioned above meets your criteria. They have both Pils and Wheat malts from Weyermann and they have the 1lb or 1oz bags of hops from hop union which I believe are nitro flushed (correct me if I am wrong there). In the past, they have vacuum sealed them when ordering a different weight. They also store their hops in a walk in fridge where they store their yeast as well. Full disclosure here: I source most of my hops from Yakima Valley now as I really like their bulk deals and fast cheap shipping.