Wednesday 23rd of June 2010 10:26:34 AM

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Wow, this shop is big, clean, well lit, and you can buy beer. Very cool.

Lots of equipment for the extract/partial mash brewer. Not much for the all-grain brewer. No false bottoms. No mash/lauter tuns. No conical fermenters.

They generally have a really good hop selection, but terrible grain selection. It never fails that I need grains that they don't have. They also don't (and don't want to) stock White Labs yeasts and fermentation enzymes.

Their grain prices are higher than other local shops, but hop prices are generally less.

The staff is very friendly, and willing to help, but they don't know much about brewing, beyond the basics. They can give you basic info on brewing, but I don't think they'd be able to help if you asked them how to clean up diacetyl from a batch.

Nice shop, and if you know what you need, you just might find it. Their grain mill is also super badass. I think it could chew through 20 lbs. of grain in about 30 seconds.

Wednesday 28th of April 2010 04:25:15 PM

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Finally a new home brew store in Boise!

I took the winter off from home brewing, so I have only been to Brewer's Haven a couple of times and then only for one or two small things at a time. I will update this review within the next month once I buy a full receipe from them. But the preliminary observations are worth mentioning.

Ingredient selection:
The little things I have needed were all there, I have not evaluated all their stock in detail, but at first glance all common ingredients appeared to be there, and in good condition.

Equipment:
Again, I didn't go through the entire store. But the had the couple little things I need and didn't notice any lack of equipment you would expect to be there.

Service:
Wonderful! Such a change from the "other" store. The people were knowledgeable, friendly and eager to help.

The store was very pleasant and in good order, again in stark contrast to the "other" store. And the prices were much more reasonable. Check it out when you get a chance!

2011 Update - In addition to the homebrew supplies, this has become one of the biggest beer stores in the valley! The selection rivals that of the Co-Op and the Brewforia locations. Plus they offer beers that cannot be find in any other location and the prices tend to lower than anywhere else. Looking for Lion Stout? This is the place to go.