Follow the Light

We finally have our own sign, and it even glows at night!

This week we finally got our act together and set the place up so customers can measure and bag the grains themselves, to their liking. Now no one has to wait on us to measure grains out for them.... which allows us to answer questions and make your check out faster. We will still mill the grains for you, for free of course.

Here is a little heads up on how to work in the grain area.....

When buying grains, just mark the bag with the colored dots that correspond to the dots on the grain bins. If you buy American 2-row (which has a yellow sticker on the bin) then simply put a yellow sticker on your bag, then write down the weight in pounds/ounces. Put as many stickers on the bag as you need to.

You can keep the grains separated if you like, but whenever possible try to use one bag to help us reduce the amount of plastic waste we all create. We are always happy to help anyone who needs help getting their grains together, so don't hesitate to ask. And please let us know how well this system is working for you. We are open to suggestions that will make this system better for our customers.

Beginning in a few days our first shipment of Blichmann products will arrive, which means we will be carrying the "cadillac" of brew pots. They are beautiful, with all the bells and whistles, and are available for pre-order. But even more importantly, we will have the Blichmann Beer Guns in house. These wonderful gadgets are similar to a counter-pressure bottle filler, and perform the same function. They let you pump beer from a keg of finished, carbonated beer, into bottles, without creating excessive foam or working lots of oxygen into the bottle.

Also, by the end of the week we will be getting our first shipment of the Five Star 5.2 pH stabilizer that everyone has been inquiring about.

By the way Joshua Bernstein is going to be taking another group of individuals on a Homebrew Tour March 27th. If you are interested in being one of Joshua's stops please Email us and we will forward your info to him.

Lastly, don't forget we will be CLOSED next Tuesday, March 2nd and will reopen with regular hours Wednesday March 3rd.

That's all for now. Thanks again to all of our faithful customers, and all of the new ones that keep making each week better than the last.

Let's hear it for the beers!

If you build it they will STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT OUR SIGN!

I should clarify...... We will still mill grains for our customers, for free. We just want everyone to be able to weigh out and bag the grains to their liking. It should speed up and simplify the checkout at the register. We also don't want anyone to loose a hand in our grain mill from hell. It will be like a Ted Nugent style "Free for All," but with grain malts instead of guitars, women, and wild game.

Believe it or not, we no longer have a "mixed martial arts" sign above out door anymore. That's right, we will soon have our very own sign, that actually says Brooklyn Homebrew! It's not that we wanted to be difficult or confuse our customers.... We simply took our time shopping around for a good price. Is that so wrong?

So for the next few days we have no sign at all other than the chalk on our door stating who we are and our hours of business. Which means that we will also hear those familiar words just a few dozen more times: "you should get a sign."

There may be a slight change in how things operate at BH soon, in regards to grain malts.

We always planned on making the grains "self-serve." Much like the bulk foods at a Co-Op or Fairway, etc. So ultimately we would like to do that if no one objects. It would allow you the customer to get your grains together more quickly (or more casually, if you prefer to take your time), as well as see and smell each individual malt variety BEFORE its milled. Which may help you to learn how to identify the differences between the malts. And it will free up the two of us to answer questions and provide you with a faster checkout.

We have to work out the logistics, but it will likely happen. If anyone at all objects, thinks that it's a terrible idea, or has some thoughts or input on the matter, please send us an email. We are open to ideas.

Here is a very nice story about our shop that we wanted to share with everyone...

Does Ralph Macchio Drink Beer?

We hope everyone is doing well and is enjoying our new little shop! We have just a few updates for everyone.....

First on the list, we are very sorry that we have yet to change our sign. We know that some of you have been very confused by the fact that there is still a karate sign outside. We promise we are working as hard as we can. For now please be patient and look for our name on the front door (we promise it's there ).

We also wanted to acknowledge the amazing amount of entries for Homebrew Alley this year! It has nearly doubled from last year and a big thanks is in order for everyone who worked there butts off ( on there days off ) to bring the whole competition together. Congratulations to all the winners and organizers!

We also wanted to let everyone know that we have Wyeast Propagators this weekend. If they sell well we will definitely carry them in the future. We are also still carrying the 2 strains of White Labs, Cry Havoc and California Ale. We also had several Agar Slants this week, but they sold out very quickly, so look for more next week!

We also wanted to let everyone know that we will be taking an extra day off in a few weeks, Tuesday March 2nd to be exact. We will be going on a quick trip to Philly to see a few friends and drink some beer. Fear not we will reopen with our regular hours on Wednesday March 3rd. And we would love some bar suggestions. So please let us know if you have any! We will make sure there is a reminder when we get closer to the date.

Thanks everyone, we will be seeing you around!