Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

These guys used to be good. Now you order something and 4 days later it hasn’t shipped and the shipping is astronomical in the first place. What’s the benefit of paying high shipping rates if they sit on the order for 4 days? Maybe if they would quit sending me 87 promotional e-​mails every day and spent some time fulfilling my order, they could keep my business.

Historically, the boy and I were NB shoppers exclusively. We stopped by Midwest on a whim, and were pleasantly surprised!
We were just browsing, checking the place out. An employee stopped us and asked if we had any questions. He then proceeded to literally drop what he was doing (oops) and explain the hydrometers to us for 15 minutes. Ultimate recommendation? Not even the most expensive one. No up-​sells or complementary but unnecessary items. Just the explanation we asked for. Love it.
I draw the comparison to Northern Brewer because they appeal to a common audience and provide similar goods and services. Also they’re owned by the same company or something? Product offering is similar, staff knowledge of the craft is stellar at both locations, and prices are comparable. Overall, either one would be a strong recommend.

I’ve never ordered from them. I’ve shopped (online) several times and filled the «cart» with stuff and their prices always seem to be in the reasonable range. But when I calculate the shipping cost it’s always astronomical (compared to other online resources), and suddenly what seemed like a decent deal becomes the most expensive option. I still buy the stuff obviously — if you’re addicted to home brewing you’re addicted to home brewing. I just have never bought anything at Midwest solely because their shipping rates are so high.
This morning I put $ 36 worth of ingredients for a batch of beer I want to brew in the shopping cart. Not a bad price for what I was getting, however their shipping rates bumped it up to $ 50. I can get the same thing ANYWHERE for less than $ 50. But before I just pulled the plug and decided to stop wasting my time with this site, I typed a quick note basically explaining what I just said, that I have never used them strictly because their shipping rates are too high.
Their response: «Sorry to hear that.»
Cool, as long as I know you are truly and sincerely sorry, then I won’t feel guilty buying all my supplies somewhere else.

Placed two online orders with the greatest of ease. I’ll continue to shop with Midwest Supplies!

I am a harsh critic of customer service. I am a hobbiest, so that means I use the internet for education, and love to peruse the stores. I have never gone anywhere BUT Midwest, because they’ve never given me reason. The guy today once again saved me countless dollars and work.
They get 5 stars because they’ve earned 5 stars.

Forgot to add promo emailed them they took care of the issues by the next morning, have been using them for a longtime and will continue to do so shipping charges are a tad high but the quality and price of there items are great my local brew shops are terrible with old yeast and grains

Dear Midwest,
I am a new customer, and like it so far. While I can see when I walk in the door that the staff is starting to slip when putting orders together, I have caught it every time.
The front door staff could be more attentive when checking the boxes and verifying the contents on the way out the door.
Please, keep my business, there is a lot of competition out here.
Thanks for the military discount!

The employees are very knowledgeable about their beers. They gave us some great recommendations on how to get our set-​up up and running. They have honest about how the beer will taste and lead you in the correct direction to find the best kit for you.

Be very careful if you are looking for this place, it’s tough to find, but when you do… jackpot!
This place is AWESOME. I walked in to pick up two ingredients to make homemade mozzarella, liquid rennet and citric acid, which was tough to find in the Twin Cities. While I was there I found a handful of other items that were MUCH needed to make a successful batch of cheese, thanks to the über helpful staff. They were very approachable, down to Earth, and INCREDIBLY knowledgable. Their help made a world of difference.
The selection is top notch. Lots to pick from, it’s a huge warehouse feel. I don’t even drink and there was SO much there for me to look through. I can make cheese, kefir, kombucha, and some other things I’ve never heard of.
The prices are great too. I looked online and the stuff I found was even more expensive than what I saw at MHWS, plus the shipping.
I will certainly be back. Super glad with everything they provided and yes, the cheese turned out STELLAR!

I only shop here at the retail store so I can’t say much about the online shopping. I also only brew beer. The place can be a bit intimidating at first as you come in to what feels like a warehouse. They have on hand everything you’ll need for brewing. As I have gotten more and more into home brewing they have been the source for new equipment and my go to for grains, hops, yeast, spices, etc.
The staff are generally really helpful and knowledgeable. During the holiday seasons when they have extra staff it can be crazy and you may get the guy that doesn’t have all that much experience.

This review is about their physical location. I was in here once to pick up a brew kit for my husband as a gift. Before going in, I did some research and so I sort of knew what I was going to get. The employees I worked with were very knowledgeable and helped me get a perfect kit. The prices were reasonable compared to ordering online (shipping) and I had a good experience overall. Everything was in stock and there were enough employees to give their input. It seemed like the store was stocked pretty well too. I felt like I left with what I needed and had was a pretty good deal. The front door is actually on the side of a building which was a little weird but I had no issues finding it.

Since my last review, I’ve had a few more pleasurable experiences with Midwest, so I figured I’d update. I’ve received a couple gift cards that compelled me to give them another shot.
Lead times have been much improved, typically about 9 days from order to receipt. Accuracy has been spot on too, as has the quality. No damages either. I can’t ignore past experiences, but recent improvements have earned them another star in my book.

Been brewing 15+ years, and like Midwest a lot. I also enjoy that they cater to more than just brewers, and have recently begun stepping towards cheese making because of them.
While things are not so clearly placed to the new customer walking in the door, I think once you get the hang of where things are, this place works very well. The grain room is a little wonky to use, and I hope that they improve this. Often have to remind myself that maybe 50% of their business is mail-​order.
So, whether or not this place is the ultimate retail destination, I think that it’s good to have them in the mix, and to not have to completely rely on Northern Brewer for supplies.

I wished to make a last-​minute addition to my order, and Midwest ended up shipping the order before getting back to me. These sorts of things happen, particularly within a small window, but it was how they handled it that impressed me.
They wrote back to me and shipped me the part. Even though I had no expectation to have this item included in my order, they apologized and did this voluntarily.
I see that there are reviews below mine expressing a different attitude, but I can say that they do not reflect my experience.

Since my last update I’ve found another homebrew supplier who I’m really happy with. I also learned about the major security breach at Midwest during which many of their customers had fraudulent charges posted to their credit cards. I’m fortunate to have not been affected by it (thusfar at least).
The shipping delays and poor customer service were enough to prompt me to look for a new homebrew supplier. The security breach is the nail in the coffin though. I won’t be doing any more business with Midwest (or the affiliated company Northern Brewer).

I sent an order to them during a reduced shipping promotion. Like many other reviewers, a week after ordering, I received an email saying they are having a problem fulfilling some items. In my case it was 10 pounds of 6-​row malt and an ounce of Apollo hops. Not exactly exotic items, or items in unreasonable quantities.
I cancelled my order 9 days after it was created and got a refund. I received an email saying «sometimes agricultural supply can’t keep up with demand». I do believe that this can happen sometimes, but I seriously doubt that this was the case in my instance.
Many other companies may have said «What can we do to make this better?» Perhaps offering 10% my next order or free shipping. I got nothing of the sort from them.
I won’t order from them again.
Try
or
instead.

Wow. Reading the other reviews I see I am not alone! I too never got notified when a product was backorded after it appeared «in stock» on their site. I sent the following email which pretty much says it all. I got an auto-​reply with a ticket number staying they would reply ASAP. I never heard back… I even responded to the auto reply and nodda. Besides the below, they crammed a ton of stuff in a little box and the DME leaked all over the place in the box. Nuts. I’ve been using MoreBeer and totally been happy. There is another co called Adventures in Homebrewing that I can vouch for. Cheers!
—-
Guys,
I am extremely disappointed after receiving my order. Your SKU 625 was backordered and I received a little sticker on my invoice. Franky, in this day in age of e-​commerce, this is unacceptable. When an item is ordered online, your backend system need to be able to appropriately manage stock and take that item out of inventory so you are not oversold. What this says to me it that your systems are «behind the times» and unreliable and you inventory is not managed in real-​time. This does not happen with other companies who have their supply chain management up to par.
I would like to continue to do business with Midwest, but I am giving this one week to show up. After that, I can tell you that you have lost a potential lifetime customer.
I hope the severity of this type of issue brings light to the matter.
Regards,
D

If you don’t mind —
1. being charged the day you place your order and waiting for weeks (12 days) for it to ship
2. making multiple inquiries on the status
3. only getting various excuses as to why it hasn’t shipped
4. and never receive a simple apology
— Then this is the place for you, friendo!

I suffered Midwest because they were OK. The recipe kits were good. I liked them. Sure, orders got screwed up, but what the hey, ya know? If you write a negative comment about one of the products they sell, who knows. maybe your grammar was poor and the comment is never posted.
Today, however, I received my order of 2 recipe kits. Both kits were simply thrown as separate components into a flimsy large box that arrived crumpled and gaping. One yeast was missing.
I am searching for a new mail order supplier.
Try someplace else. I love ‘em, but no longer like ‘em

Every time I order from these guys they charge my credit card and then sit on my order for days (business days) at a time before actually sending it out. You’d think for what they charge for shipping (think international prices with tariffs) they could do it quickly.
Worse yet, on one occasion I needed to tweak my order so I emailed them second after I placed it. Days later when they finally shipped, they still hadn’t bothered to read the email so they screwed it up.

Pros: Quality supplies, excellent extract kits, human being when you call.
Cons (and the reason this is a 3 star review): Exorbitant shipping fees. Shipping on equivalent order from an equidistant supplier (4 extract kits, 1 carboy) was ~$ 30; Midwest wanted over $ 90. Feels like a swindle.

Really good customer service. They are customer satisfaction focused and I wish I knew more companies like them. I ordered a kit that was missing a bag of hops and when I call Midwest, they sent me a new bag of hops right away. A second kit I ordered was all grain and I needed the extract. Again I called Midwest and they are going to send the extract that we need!