February 12, 2010

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...Death + Taxes Logo

7 comments:

Matt Hendry said...

What you do is have a milling charge if someone wants grain milled for them then charge them for your time .

I worked in a large homebrew wholesaler/retailer in Australia and we charged milling to all our customers retail and wholesale if they wanted us to crack grain for them with our roller mill.

Needless to say the sales of grain mills went right up especially with our wholesale customers when we started to charge for milling .

I suggest that you also have some grain that is pre-crushed in 1 LB and 6LB in vacuum packed barrier bags but make sure its priced to include the milling and packaging cost.

You wait and see how many people will start milling their own grain if you charge for milling .

Brendan said...

I think self service is a great idea, I'm planning on making a couple 1 gallon batches very soon and will have to measure out small amounts of different malts, and I'd feel bad taking up your guys time to smell each one when they're such small quantities.

Love what you guys are doing.

Unknown said...

i think having people mill their own grains is a great idea. personally, i have yet to have the opportunity to really spend time working with and identifying grains. This should provide a great experience for me.
partigyle tomorrow!
its been great having a homebrew store withing 15 minutes of my apartment. keep it up!
chris

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Thom Anon said...

Of course a sign is inevitable, eventually, but the speakeasy quality of no sign has allowed me to imagine that Bklyn Homebrew is my own special secret. Not great for your business, I'll admit, but tons of fun for me.

Bully,
-T

Unknown said...

Having people weigh their own grains is probably for the best, and it would allow people to examine the malts themselves before deciding what to buy. I'm particularly picky about crystal malts, as they are not always created equal, so being able to examine what you have would help me decide between going with the 40 or the 60, etc.

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