The Original Homebrew Outlet

I wish I could update this to be a better review. However this is not the case. Just arrives because I needed a fee ounces of hops and some crystal malt for an IPA… and they have a sign on their door… written in handwriting «no more regular hours as of Halloween»… Which was yesterday. Are you f***ing kiding me? Guys… do us all a favor and just close already. You obviously don’t give a crap anymore. I’ll continue to drive out of my way to Brewmeister in Folsom until a better shop. maybe mine.opens in the Carmichael/​Citrus Heights/​Fairoaks area. I’m.done.

Stopped by yesterday to purchase all my supplies to make and bottle wine. $ 1000.00 order… gone. Because they’re closed Tuesday and Wednesday. How frustrating is that? Sad to see a business that just doesn’t «get it». Found another store closer to me and was very happy. So I guess it worked out for me.

I have been going here off and on as long as I can remember, at least 10 yrs. it has gone downhill. Yeast refrigerator is off and they are using ice packs to keep cool. If you need hops look elsewhere as the hops refrigerator was empty and off. I looked at a few of the white lab tube and they were expired and felt a tad cooler than room tempature. There was also a lot of residue on stuff in the yeast fridge like a beer exploded. Took a pic over expired yeast to share. Shouldn’t have even bought it, but in a pinch.

This place is amazing. I have been going here for years. There is no brew store quite like it. Example of a regular brew store layout: laminate floors, metal racks, completely bland extract recipe kits. A brewers son working the place. Whereas this place looks like my dad’s garage, but full of beer stuff. Along the walls you will see antique advertisements, bottles, and coasters from lots of breweries. As well as all of the awards JJ has earned for making super delectable brews for competitions. I would definitely call to make sure they have every/​anything you specifically need. JJ made me a double IPA kit that is phenomenal. I still can’t find better. Id rather make his double IPA than a Pliny clone 6 out of 7 days a week. All cashiers are trained to use a sword. Read the sign if you don’t believe me. If you don’t believe the sign I can’t help you further.

My service to you, the homebrewer, is to warn you to call ahead to check this place’s inventory on what you need, before you drive down there. I have been there twice in the last 2 weeks, and he was out of stock on hydrometers, flip-​top bottles, and disconnects for kegs, and that was just based on requests that I overheard in the 30 minutes total I was there. You also might want to call just to check if the place is open during store hours. I arrived at 11:15 on a recent saturday morning, he opens at 11:00, and nobody was there. Except another guy waiting in the parking lot. When I brought this up to the owner later that day on the phone, he said he was there by 11:15. Right…
The point is, the customer service and inventory gaps are making this place harder and harder to do business with. On top of that, it doesn’t look like its been cleaned or updated in about 10 years, and its really kind of a depressing experience going there, honestly. Unfortunately, there’s no other brewing shop in the area, so I’ll probably have to just deal with it.

I’m a newbie to this craft, and the OHO came highly recommended. The owner, JJ, has been the most patient, informative and knowledgeable person to learn from. When I purchased my first brewing supplies, he guided through the steps… and calmed me down every time I called with a concern.(Which was VERY often) I like how he advised me to «Have fun» with the process, and learn. Most importantly, he never made me feel as though I couldn’t do this because I was a woman.(Seriously, it happens!) I bottle my first batch in two days, and can’t wait to do another brew. JJ is the best! I will continue to support him and his business.

Started going here about 7 years ago and it’s gone down hill steadily since. For the last year I just avoid it unless I have to, which is easier now that brewmisters is open in Roseville. Couple week ago was the last straw. I won’t be going back. I’d say the last 5 – 6 times I’ve gone they don’t have the ingredients I’m looking for and I have to substitute based on their recommendation. Never turns out even close to what I’m looking for. I was looking for kent Goldings and cascade last time and they had neither.
Then The worst of it is the yeast. The fridge is broken so they have maybe 6 ice packs in there to keep them cool. Not even close. For once they actually had my yeast WL007, very basic, but only one that hadn’t expired. I’m doing a 10 gallon batch and wanted 2. The guy working there, not the owner, said it would be fine. «The government makes them put that one there». But sure enough, the 5 gallons with good yeast worked and the other just sat for 4 days until I could get to another store and get some good yeast. Now that batch tastes like a nasty Belgian. Obviously got some airborne yeast in there in the mean time. $ 35 of beer down the drain.
Then theirs the owner. One of the least personable people I’ve ever met. I can not understand why he went into resale if he doesn’t want to talk to people.
Finally the place is just dirty and run down. How the inspector passes the place, don’t know. But they should take a look.
Hope this review helps.

These guys know what they heck they are talking about, and as a new brewer I can say they are helpful and don’t talk down to me or make me feel ignorant about the process.
If you know what you are talking about, the owner will go toe to toe with you about terms and technique, but if you are new he’s really good at breaking it down and making it make sense. If that makes sense… haha.
Prices are better than anywhere I have been in the area and he has EVERYTHING you will need! By friend just got the starter kit and kettle out the door for just over $ 200!!! I paid waaaayyy more for all my goodies… and by starter kit I mean a kit that you can use for a long long time and not have to replace…
Anyway, this place is awesome! If you brew beer or wine then give these guys a shot!

Brewmeister was out of stock of kegs after Christmas so I thought I would try homebrew outlet. I called ahead and asked if they had any kegs in stock, the guy said did they did so I headed over from roseville. When I arrived the kid behind the counter was either slow or stoned and could not answer the most basic questions. For starters they did not have any kegs like they said on the phone. After attempting to get some information from the guy about future shipments I gave up. The store was filthy and unorganized.
Do yourself a favor and just go to brewmeister.

Horrible waste of time, go somewhere else!
I was looking for a simple item, a gas dip tube for a corny keg. I called ahead to make sure they had them in stock and the person who answered the phone warned me that the owner knows more about that stuff and that I should come back the next day. Not an option for me. As with a lot of my brewing stuff, this was last minute, hence the trip to this awful place. When I got there the early twenty-​something employee (the only one in the place) was being really odd. He said the gas dip tubes were in the back and that he wouldn’t know which one to grab. I said I would buy more than one type if I needed to and to just go grab some. He then said he didn’t know exactly where they are. I asked him to look since I drove all that way and he refused to look in the back at all.
I would have been mildly happier if he just went back there for a couple minutes and pretended to look but this kid couldn’t even do that. I asked when the owner was going to be back so he could ask him and he said «probably before closing». I asked if he could call him on his cell phone so he could learn the whereabouts of the gas dip tube and I was told «I am pretty sure he left his cell phone here.»
SO I left without what I needed and the trip was a total waste. Thank you Original Homebrew Outlet for the absolute worst customer service I have ever received outside of comcast and I will not be back here. There are several other options around the Sacramento area as well as Williams which usually delivers my order in a business day.

This place is a complete mess with no organization and disgustingly dirty. They might have what someone’s looking for but it’s expensive. I needed a part and online it sold for $ 79 and they wanted $ 189 for exact same thing. Customer service was slow and horrible as I wasn’t even acknowledged for 20 minutes. The owner/​worker was rude to begin with and a complete #ss when I decided not to purchase part.

I found this place while doing a web search for cheese starter cultures in the Sacramento area. I read some of the Unilocal reviews, and decided to check the place out.
When I arrived, I wasn’t sure if they were even open. The glass front door is really hazy, and you really can’t even see if lights are on inside. I walked in and saw a really dusty, disorganized, and messy little shop. I was waiting patiently for J.J. Jackson to finish with the customer he was working with. I was listening to him talk to the customer who was attempting to make wine. I was pretty impressed with his knowledge, and patience with the customer he was talking to about the process and supplies needed.
When it was my turn, I told him what I wanted. He asked what types of cheeses I was planning on making, and explained the difference between the types of cultures, and rennet needed to make cheese. I picked out what I wanted, and he even gave me some Lipase to try. He gave me some really great money saving ideas for making my own cheese press. This place was cheaper than most of the online suppliers that I had looked at.
Even if The Original Homebrew Outlet is dusty, disorganized, and messy, I will definitely come back, and recommend this place to anyone. You may need to wait for your turn because of the time J.J. takes with each person. Once it’s your turn, you will get the same attention you need to make an informed decision on your purchase. You will probably also leave with more knowledge than you came in with.

I went in to buy a few minor things: a bottle brush and an after-​sanitization bottle stand.
I found the items (after negotiating some really narrow aisles with a wheelchair) which is good. I could not find prices anywhere which is bad.
I waited for some time just to ask the owner– and waited, and waited, and waited. I understand giving customers the benefit of experience, I really do. While we waited, we attempted to look around the shop– bad move. I was soon sneezing from the disturbed dust, and there were very few aisles places I could actually navigate– very, very narrow. During this time, the owner never even looked at us.
Would not have hurt him to have at least acknowledged our presence, a «Hey, I’ll be with you guys in a few moments»?
Nope. When we moved into his field of vision, he seemed like he studiously made sure that we didn’t cross his radar.
And, the kicker, it seemed like we couldn’t politely leave until after the other customer left. We finally decided to leave anyway (the owner gave me a very unfriendly look because his customer had to back up– really back up, kind of press against the wall to get out of the way.
I’m sorry that I interrupted the conversation, but after a long time of not finding prices, narrow dirty aisles and being totally ignored it was time to bail.
I have experienced the owners and employees of places that get very uncomfortable around folks in wheelchairs, but that wasn’t the case here– it was just rudeness.

Beats amazon prices. Wells stocked yeast and malt selection. VERY knowledgeable owner. He’s active in many homebrew competitions and knows his stuff. Puts some great kits together with awesome prices.
The store is pretty crowded and dank, as most homebrew stores tend to be but ingredients are fresh and reliable.

We’ve been going to Original Homebrew Outlet for over a year, after we graduated from the cheap Mr. Beer kits. I like that they sell assembled kits for a variety of beers (and they’re labeled as «comparable to Guinness», «comparable to Newcastle», etc.) and they also sell all the individual ingredients so you can build & brew whatever beer you like. They also have a variety of brewing accessories, books, magazines and random ephemera.
As much as I like this place, I’ll keep it real and say there’s room for improvement. The service, with the exception of Randy who treats us right, can be spotty; seems like the owner is always either super chatty and attentive, or pretty uninterested. We went in this weekend and he could not be bothered. Also, the store’s kinda dusty and the carpet looks janky. But aesthetics aside, we really like O.H.O. and will keep coming back for more custom beer creations. As they say everytime we checkout «HUZZAH! Another satified customer!»

Since I have recently gotten into brewing, I checked out this place first (about week ago) because it was close and the reviews on google were decent. It seems OHBO is more for the experienced brewer, more specifically beer brewers, as the majority of what I was was hops and such for beer brewing.
The store was dimly lit and most of the bottles, shelves and cases were dusty. I found a few interesting items but on many things it was difficult to find a price. Most of the bottles and carboys seemed to be priced more than what other brew supply stores have them for so that was a bit disappointing.
The gentleman that was working that day was a little more open about his feelings toward a person he took a phone call from than he probably should have been and the glass of beer on the counter seemed a bit awkward.

Well, to start, I bought my initial home brew kit from this shop a few years back. I’ve been in a handful of times since then, being that I lived in Davis and commuted to Alameda to work, so I had a few other brew stores between here and there. This place never blew me away, but it did the job for the most part.
Then my final and last experience at the Original Homebrew Outlet happened today.
I walked in, waited patiently, as I would at any other home brew store, such as BFD. Waited for the owner to finish with the customers that were there before me, while one of his many Insane Clown Posse lost youth employees ran from the back to the front handling what ever business the owner had him handling, being very polite and staying out of the way of this clearly over burdened employee.
So another customer walked in after me, an older guy, and the owner jumped to help him, telling me the kid, who probably had no idea what grains would substitute well for what I had on my grain bill, would help me. I waited 5 more mins to see if the kid would be able to help me, and it was clear he wasn’t, while the owner assisted the older guy with locating grains; and for what you ask, a partial mash red!!! I wanted to get the goods for an all grain Imperial IPA! And I wanted to buy a larger glass carboy for a winter warmer I still need to finish.
Well dude, you missed out on $ 100.00+ sale today. Glad Brew Ferment Distill is in town, otherwise I’d be spending a ton of money online.

I love this place!
All the ingredients are fresh all the time. All my beers have turned out wonderful every time. I have made several Red Tail Ales and a Honey Porter. I would recommend the Honey Porter if you are into dark varieties of beer.
All the equipment and tools you could ever need are here.
If you are a beginner home-​brewer this is a good place to go. There is a starter kit with all the tools for around $ 99.
(I did find a cheaper boiling pot (7.5 gallons) at Denios for $ 50 if you do not want to do a two step boil.)
They are super nice and super helpful if you are a beginner or an expert.

My husband loves this place. We stop in from time to time to pick up supplies. It is very small and they are sometimes out of items he needs, which is a pain because the drive to Folsom is a long one. The store looks old and dusty, but the staff is very friendly and helpful.
Some additional space would be a wonderful improvement for this place.

I’ve been going here for a couple of years now. I don’t mind the mess. I don’t mind the mumbling owner. I don’t even mind the employees who smell like weed because they got high in the back 30 seconds ago. What I can’t stand is buying specialty grains in 1lbs bags pre-​crushed. How long have they been sitting there? I figured I’d ask for an entire uncrushed grain bill. When I got home the stoner employee had added wheat malt instead of crystal. Their two-​row domestic grain is pretty cheap though. It offsets the fact that everything else is $ 2/​lbs regardless. And every time I’ve been there they have no dry yeast and no Wyeast. Only White Labs.
I prefer Folsom Brewmeister for grains but I still go to the Homebrew Outlet for odds and ends since it doesn’t require driving half-​way across California.