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ElmCityWobblyPops said:
So you are insinuating that OBK isn't customer oriented? Certainly hasn't been my experience.
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Put it this way. I purchased a grain mill that constantly jams. I emailed them telling them about it and they replied that the product works fine and it must be me. Essentially they told me to go suck an egg. Another time they sent me a box with +$100 brewing supplies with 1 piece of tape applied diagonally across the top and contents completely exposed. Disgruntled warehouse employees perhaps? I sent an email on another occasion asking about delivery prices and options and they insinuated that I was accusing them of padding their prices. Product selection is great, but they could use some training in customer relations. I avoid giving them business now.

Do you represent OBK?
 
rhys333 said:
Put it this way. I purchased a grain mill that constantly jams. I emailed them telling them about it and they replied that the product works fine and it must be me. Essentially they told me to go suck an egg. Another time they sent me a box with +$100 brewing supplies with 1 piece of tape applied diagonally across the top and contents completely exposed. Disgruntled warehouse employees perhaps? I sent an email on another occasion asking about delivery prices and options and they insinuated that I was accusing them of padding their prices. Product selection is great, but they could use some training in customer relations. I avoid giving them business now.

Do you represent OBK?
Click to expand...


Everwood or Noble Grape...best two in the country. I've dealt with OBK and generally had no issues but they're not as customer oriented as the former two. Dave at Everwood and the Noble Grape crew are the Holmes on Holmes of Brewing: they will make it right. So rhys333 I concur with you about OBK Customer Relations but I found them great with Patrick Walker off the front lines.
 
rhys333 said:
Prairie Brew Supply is cheaper still, and they're customer oriented.
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These guys look like they have a good selection to rival OBK and are reasonably close to me. Unfortunately they don't seem to carry liquid yeast!

I usually order from HopDawgs (good customer service but less selection)... and if it's something I can't get elsewhere, OBK.
 
Since I discovered Hopdawgs around 7 years ago I haven't placed an order with another online shop. The service has been top notch IMO. When Chris sold the business a few years ago I was apprehensive that things might change for the worse. Fortunately Matt and Savannah been great to deal with.

I can't even remember who I used to order from before that.
 
elreplica said:
Everwood or Noble Grape...best two in the country. I've dealt with OBK and generally had no issues but they're not as customer oriented as the former two. Dave at Everwood and the Noble Grape crew are the Holmes on Holmes of Brewing: they will make it right. So rhys333 I concur with you about OBK Customer Relations but I found them great with Patrick Walker off the front lines.
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Good to know. Thanks for the leads!
 
trav77 said:
These guys look like they have a good selection to rival OBK and are reasonably close to me. Unfortunately they don't seem to carry liquid yeast!

I usually order from HopDawgs (good customer service but less selection)... and if it's something I can't get elsewhere, OBK.
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Their hop prices are awesome. I usually get my liquid yeast locally anyway, since the LHBS offers points on purchases. A bag of base malt and another thing or two and I get a free yeast.

Prairie Brew is close-ish to me too, so fast delivery is a real plus. Very responsive service too. I ordered a box of stuff around Christmas and he threw in a free pound of Columbus! I'm quite sure it was a one-off due to overstock on some older items, but I sure appreciated it.
 
rhys333 said:
Put it this way. I purchased a grain mill that constantly jams. I emailed them telling them about it and they replied that the product works fine and it must be me. Essentially they told me to go suck an egg. Another time they sent me a box with +$100 brewing supplies with 1 piece of tape applied diagonally across the top and contents completely exposed. Disgruntled warehouse employees perhaps? I sent an email on another occasion asking about delivery prices and options and they insinuated that I was accusing them of padding their prices. Product selection is great, but they could use some training in customer relations. I avoid giving them business now.

Do you represent OBK?
Click to expand...


Nope, just a satisfied customer, never had any issues with them.
 
elreplica said:
Everwood or Noble Grape...best two in the country. I've dealt with OBK and generally had no issues but they're not as customer oriented as the former two. Dave at Everwood and the Noble Grape crew are the Holmes on Holmes of Brewing: they will make it right. So rhys333 I concur with you about OBK Customer Relations but I found them great with Patrick Walker off the front lines.
Click to expand...

I have used both as well, NG is in pretty much every major Maritime city, so easy to find, don't always have what I am looking for, yeast not always the freshest it could be and limited selection, but good in a pinch.

Everwood is great, and even greater now that they are going to have a walk in shop, which should be opening next week I believe!
 
ElmCityWobblyPops said:
I have used both as well, NG is in pretty much every major Maritime city, so easy to find, don't always have what I am looking for, yeast not always the freshest it could be and limited selection, but good in a pinch.



Everwood is great, and even greater now that they are going to have a walk in shop, which should be opening next week I believe!
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Yes...agreed...on all NG comments. Prices on some things cannot be beat - or matched. Great to see Everwood opening in Sackville - even though it's farther for me to travel.
 
Southern Ontario, KW region. Been brewing on my own out of my little apartment, mainly use Shortfinger since they are close and have a solid selection and great customer service.
 
elreplica said:
Everwood or Noble Grape...best two in the country. I've dealt with OBK and generally had no issues but they're not as customer oriented as the former two. Dave at Everwood and the Noble Grape crew are the Holmes on Holmes of Brewing: they will make it right. So rhys333 I concur with you about OBK Customer Relations but I found them great with Patrick Walker off the front lines.
Click to expand...

I actually had a bit of a mediocre dealing with Everwood.

I ordered an intermediate starter kit, as it was the best bang for the buck I could find.

All was good, except the 9 gallon pot shown to be part of the kit turned out to be an 8 gallon pot. Not a deal breaker, but I did message Dave about it, and he replied (very quickly, kudos for that) that his supplier shipped some incorrect kettles to him and he missed pulling some of them out of inventory, and unfortunately I got the wrong kettle... sorry, bad luck buddy... and that was that.

And then I noticed a while later, the Intermediate Starter Kit changed on the webpage to show that it comes with an 8 gallon kettle... (though the description still says it's 9 gallon)

Overall, it's all OK, but I thought that was a pretty poor bit of customer service.
 
rhys333 said:
Put it this way. I purchased a grain mill that constantly jams. I emailed them telling them about it and they replied that the product works fine and it must be me. Essentially they told me to go suck an egg. Another time they sent me a box with +$100 brewing supplies with 1 piece of tape applied diagonally across the top and contents completely exposed. Disgruntled warehouse employees perhaps? I sent an email on another occasion asking about delivery prices and options and they insinuated that I was accusing them of padding their prices. Product selection is great, but they could use some training in customer relations. I avoid giving them business now.

Do you represent OBK?
Click to expand...

Got other suppliers to suggest? I didn't deal with them much (awaiting an order right now), but OBK has a nice product offer and decent pricing, at least on the items I looked at. I'm in Western Québec so the shipping isn't too bad, seemed on par with what'd I'd expect. Can't really speak on the quality, didn't receive my last order yet and didn't use any of the stuff from the previous orders, haven't brewed since, yet.
 
Apimyces said:
Got other suppliers to suggest? I didn't deal with them much (awaiting an order right now), but OBK has a nice product offer and decent pricing, at least on the items I looked at. I'm in Western Québec so the shipping isn't too bad, seemed on par with what'd I'd expect. Can't really speak on the quality, didn't receive my last order yet and didn't use any of the stuff from the previous orders, haven't brewed since, yet.
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OBK is probably a decent bet for you location-wise. Brewing ingredients (particularly hops) are quality too. There's a guy out east that's really good, mentioned above I believe. He repackages hops, but the quality is there and prices are very reasonable. I choose Prairie Brew Supply for this reason, plus proximity to me. As for equipment, I'm not really sure. I did get a 10 gallon Tall Boy kettle from OBK that I'm happy with.
 
Mothman said:
I actually had a bit of a mediocre dealing with Everwood.



I ordered an intermediate starter kit, as it was the best bang for the buck I could find.



All was good, except the 9 gallon pot shown to be part of the kit turned out to be an 8 gallon pot. Not a deal breaker, but I did message Dave about it, and he replied (very quickly, kudos for that) that his supplier shipped some incorrect kettles to him and he missed pulling some of them out of inventory, and unfortunately I got the wrong kettle... sorry, bad luck buddy... and that was that.



And then I noticed a while later, the Intermediate Starter Kit changed on the webpage to show that it comes with an 8 gallon kettle... (though the description still says it's 9 gallon)



Overall, it's all OK, but I thought that was a pretty poor bit of customer service.
Click to expand...


That's unfortunate about Everwood. I've dealt with both OBK and Everwood while living in Ontario and NS and didn't have issues with either. I just found Everwood to be more responsive and helpful overall.
 
rhys333 said:
OBK is probably a decent bet for you location-wise. Brewing ingredients (particularly hops) are quality too. There's a guy out east that's really good, mentioned above I believe. He repackages hops, but the quality is there and prices are very reasonable. I choose Prairie Brew Supply for this reason, plus proximity to me. As for equipment, I'm not really sure. I did get a 10 gallon Tall Boy kettle from OBK that I'm happy with.
Click to expand...

As far as ingredients go, I love Moût International Inc. They've got a really huge offer. Some equipment as well, but not as much. I've also got a local brew store that deals with them for some ingredients and otherwise has a nice diversity of products to offer. Most suppliers have but a handful of hops, and usually only pellets. I ordered like 30 different whole leaf hops from them to taste trial and (hopefully) get some seeds to breed with (got varying amount), not something I could have pulled off at any of the other stores I looked at. They also have local hops, which is nice.

Looked at other suppliers mentioned here, and diversity and price all looked inferior to OBK. Can't comment on quality/service, though. The client feedback on various products seems mostly positive, with a few clearly unsatisfied customers. But it's pretty rare to find any store that never has any bad reviews. There's also proximity, though, seems like the FedEx truck is on its way for delivery already (2nd business day since order). It's nice to not have the items travel the whole country. :)
 
There's also these guys. They look like they have a nice offer of products, more than when they opened. I haven't really dealt with them, though. When I went visit the store at its opening, they pretty much only had beer stuff, and back then, I was only looking for wine stuff. They didn't have much for me, so I didn't go back, but they did have a large selection of products for beer brewers. Seems like they expanded their offer since, too.
 
Didn't read all the comments, but I really like to deal with BeerGrains.com when it comes to ingredients!
Every day of the week as a different special, so order on the right day and you will get 10% off grains, hops, yeast, etc.....
And customer service is **topppp notch**!
 
New member checking in from Fort Saskatchewan in Alberta.

Started brewing late 2016 and am working on my recipe for batch #11. I brew 5 gallon all-grain batches with some pretty basic equipment. I have only had to dump (it was an extract kit) but since then my quality and consistency has been steadily increasing.

Thanks for all the great information on the forum and keep brewing!
 
rhys333 said:
Looks like they have good selection, but I'm not seeing any prices listed. Do I need to call?
Click to expand...

There's a link to the price list on that page. Bottom left button, "download our price list". It's 40 pages long, with dozens of products per page, along with their prices.
 
Nova Scotia Peeps...We (Brathair Brewing) &Breton Brewing won the Amber Category in the 2017 Stillwell open with our "7 Years New England Amber Ale"...and our team (#TeamNorth) took the entire comp.
Brathair Brewing also won last year...on the trophy 2 times...lol... Had a blast brewing for this
C_tToprXkAElt22.jpg

C_tTS9uXkAEVtZt.jpg:large

C_Y1ysLXgAAynRE.jpg
 
Jacinthebox said:
Nova Scotia Peeps...We (Brathair Brewing) &Breton Brewing won the Amber Category in the 2017 Stillwell open with our "7 Years New England Amber Ale"...and our team (#TeamNorth) took the entire comp.
Brathair Brewing also won last year...on the trophy 2 times...lol... Had a blast brewing for this
C_tToprXkAElt22.jpg

C_tTS9uXkAEVtZt.jpg:large

C_Y1ysLXgAAynRE.jpg
Click to expand...


You guys are awesome! Hope to share a pint sometime soon...
 
Jacinthebox said:
Nova Scotia Peeps...We (Brathair Brewing) &Breton Brewing won the Amber Category in the 2017 Stillwell open with our "7 Years New England Amber Ale"...and our team (#TeamNorth) took the entire comp.
Brathair Brewing also won last year...on the trophy 2 times...lol... Had a blast brewing for this
C_tToprXkAElt22.jpg

C_tTS9uXkAEVtZt.jpg:large

C_Y1ysLXgAAynRE.jpg
Click to expand...


You guys are awesome! Congrats on your win! Hope to share a pint sometime soon...
 
Hey fellow Canucks! Just chiming in. New guy here from Oshawa area in Ontario. Just getting gear together/setup for my first brew.

Take it easy,
Ryan
 
Hey Edmonton brewers looking for cheap propane.

So I just found really cheap source in town (for those like me without a Costco membership). Propane Shack refills 20 lb tanks every Wednesday for only $9.50. Only on Wednesdays though. All other days $15.00.
 
Ryan_M said:
Hey fellow Canucks! Just chiming in. New guy here from Oshawa area in Ontario. Just getting gear together/setup for my first brew.

Take it easy,
Ryan
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You might want to join the Durham Homebrewers group (they have a Facebook site): https://www.facebook.com/groups/

They meet every month or two, usually the last Saturday. A brew is made at every meeting so that those new to homebrewing can learn or improve techniques. Members also bring homebrews to share and try out. In addition, members bring snacks and food for a barbecue.

The next meeting is in Oshawa, July 29, starting at 1:00 pm. There are no membership fees or restrictions - everyone's welcome. Just bring some snacks, a small beer tasting glass, and any homebrew that you wish to share or have reviewed.
 
Hey, I'm from Toronto. Just finished my first brew (Saison). I just wanted to ask if anyone in the GTA area is interested in a small collection of beer glasses (various styles) as I am moving to BC and cannot take them with me. Would like to sell the whole lot for cheap. Let me know if anyone interested I can give the full list.
 
Is anyone here participating in the Royal Finger homebrew competition in October? It's being organized by Royal City Brewery in Guelph and Shortfinger Brewing Company in Kitchener. I'll be entering a weizenbock, I might do a second entry, but I'll have to brew it right after I get back from vacation.
 
DrunkenCanuck said:
Is anyone here participating in the Royal Finger homebrew competition in October? It's being organized by Royal City Brewery in Guelph and Shortfinger Brewing Company in Kitchener. I'll be entering a weizenbock, I might do a second entry, but I'll have to brew it right after I get back from vacation.
Click to expand...


If I still lived in the royal city I'd be all over that. Buuuuuttt... I don't. Great to see the home brew community getting more active there though!
 
Courtice here, just did my first brew, an Irish red (extract) and I hope I didn't screw it up
 

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