Beer and Wine Makers of America

These guys are the most helpful and knowledgeable out there. I am just beginning to start brewing beer and they gave all the gear I needed and never tried to up sell me. They gave me what I needed and didn’t try to sell me unnecessary extras like other places I was shopping at. They gave me awesome tips and instructions on brewing. I had my instructions at home but they gave me expert tips and showed me how everything worked before and after I purchased everything. I would recommend to anyone and everyone starting out brewing or has been brewing for a while. Their selection is amazing. Apologies for bad grammar…

Super helpful owner/​staff! Small place but well stocked. I’m on a mission to make honey mead and not only did they answer all my questions but volunteered info that they thought I might need to know.

This is the best place to get your beer and wine making supplies, bar none. Rich, the owner, is by far the most knowledgeable source for info on all things drink that you will likely ever meet. He speaks with the conviction of an artist and the exactitude of a scientist. He will give you personalized instructions, and not some crummy kit with vague directions. Sure, the store is cluttered, but it’s stuffed to the gills with things you’ll never find anywhere else. Also, ingredient selection and quality is much better here than at any other shop or online.

nothing fancy, prices are reasonable, i get what i want.

Great service! Bought a beer brewing kit and had about a one hour lesson with one of the two employees there. I arrived there telling them I was basically a newbie and that I hope they could teach me a few things. The gentleman, not the owner, had a foreign accent. Very cool guy. Got me the kit which includes: the fermenting bucket with a spout, a 5 gallon carbopoly glass bottle, clear plastic tubing, a siphon, a thermometer, a hydrometer, an airlock, Star San Sanitizer, PBW for cleansing, a long stem brush to clean the glass bottle, bottle tubbing, 25 green bottle caps, a bottle capper, and an instructions handout. $ 130 bucks for the kit. The gentleman told me step by step what to do. I had already read enough materials and watched a ton of youtube videos to follow what he was saying. Super resourceful. Both the owner and the employee even made sure to talk about the water I was going to use. Everything to the tee. If you need to save money, they tell you what you could use instead of buying something you might not need. They’ve got about 30 years of experience.
Yes, the store was unorganized but it’s not as crazy as how everyone has described it. Have you seen an asian market?
Not sure about pricing because I haven’t seen other places.

Liking this place more and more. I have made 3 batches of beer so far and every time I need something I come in here. I just tell Rich whats going on and he knows exactly what to get me. He also let me try some of his homemade wine. Best I’ve ever had! good GOD! But ya, super helpful and informative. Haven’t had a problem yet!

Very knowledgeable on making beer and wine. Yes the store is disorganized and you have to ask for most things. However it keeps shoppers from putting things back in the wrong spot.
If you are on a budget they can give you insight on what you need compared to something that is nice to have.

Beware of these Guys !! Richard is very opinionated and takes every opportunity to sell you the most expensive equipment possible. If you are new to wine making and have plenty of money then he can be helpful but it will cost you.

Not bad. but like other reports. nothing is organized and it’s better to have employees help you with getting items. Prices aren’t that bad… just wished they were marked…

Awesome place. Yeah its scattered a bit, a little messy. So what the guy knows where it is and can show you anything you need. He is friendly and VERY passionate. This is a fun place to go to. I simply told him I’m new to this and I need some guidance. He was a wealth of information. Price was not bad at all considering the information I received. If his advise saves me from ruining a batch then he saved me plenty of money. Glad I found the place.
Remember people its going to be more expensive to have a shop here in the Silicon Valley compared to a warehouse in the midwest. Support local companies.

I am a newbie, in the process of making Cabernet Sauvignon from grapes. I have a mail order winemaking kit but I decided to stop by this place anyway. This store has everything I need and the prices are very reasonable. I would have higher quality equipment now if I had shopped here first. The owner is knowledgable in winemaking and even worked out the amounts of ingredients I need for my particular amount of grapes. The owner also suggested a couple of steps that the kit does not. I tried his homemade Merlot and if my wine turns out that good I will be happy. You will probably have to talk to someone in order to find what you need. That may not be the shopping experience some people enjoy, but I got useful suggestions during the process.

I came here needing last minute ingredient for my batch I plan to make this weekend (most important too).the liquid yeast. I needed a Belgian Ale yeast and emailed/​called before coming. The owner (I assumed) said they had it in. Only two left. I came in and asked about it and had him take it out of the fridge he had which was stuffed with yeast and other perishable items. There didn’t seem to be any type of organization system what so ever. He had it piled on and mixed in with different yeasts and such. He had to go back a couple times to check but I finally got it. I also got some whirfloc tablets and an easy automatic siphon.
I agree with some of the reviewers saying prices are a bit more expensive here than other places. It’s just convenient and on the way home for me from work rather than driving to Fermentation Solutions in Campbell or MoreFlavor in Los Altos.
From what I saw it looked like this place had everything you need for beer ingredients. it’s just all scattered and not recommended to sift through yourself. I guess it’s nice that the person helping can get it all for you while you wait but a little organization would make the place look more… well run?
I’ll come back here again if I needed some ingredients since it’s closer.

I WANT to love them. Homebrewing is a niche hobby and having a homebrewing store near my house would be fantastic, but I keep finding myself disappointed.
I’m a novice/​intermediate homebrewer. I’m in the process of procuring equipment to make great brews (Good kettle, thermometer, fermenters, carboys, stir plates, wort chillers, masher-​lauter tun, etc etc) and I find myself routinely disappointed when I ask for the price.
The place itself is pretty much a labrynith. Walking in, you are met with a bunch of mills and bottles. Once you enter the warehouse part of the operation, it’s almost hell breaks loose. Have fun looking at stuff but unless you know what you’re looking for, there’s no rigid point of organization to delineate the aspects of brewing beer. The owner is super friendly and will talk your ear off about the products but if you’re super n00b about brewing beer, I would recommend researching beforehand to understand what it is you need to brew beer.
My biggest vice is with the prices. After researching prices on Northern Brewer, Midwest Supplies, Morebeer, etc, Beer and WIne Makers of America prices their products above what these other suppliers offer. I don’t know how they price their equipment nor care to understand the reasoning behind it. Their competitors offer good quality products with a cheaper price.
I will come here for an emergency (IE, not enough specialty malts orl hops or not enough yeast on brewing day, etc.). They are a full service store with a staff that keeps incredible detail. The level of service is excellent if you know what you want. If you’re interested in entering the homebrew hobby, I can’t recommend buying equipment here.

I am a total fan of this shop. Every time I come here I am excited to discover what will be in the «piles» other reviewers talk about. This place is about as far from big retail as you can possibly get. The easy to talk to owner (and sometimes the sole staff) who obviously loves loves loves beer is passionate, extremely knowledgeable, and not at all condescending to newbies (like me). Personally, I really like the atmosphere and personality of the shop. It can be a little intimidating at first as there is a lot of great stuff crammed into a small space, but once you get used to where everything is, it isn’t hard to find stuff, and the employees are always really helpful. The queue to be helped can get long sometimes, but I’m never in a hurry when I go here. It only takes so long to get helped because they are so attentive to every customer and never rush you.
Besides all this, due to the owner’s recipes, expert advice, and hobby-​grade equipment (no cheap crappy kits here!) I’ve been brewing some pretty tasty beer (with very decent alcohol content.). When I talk to friends about beer they make, most talk about using a malt. Saying you brewed beer using a malt is like saying you cooked dinner by heating up a TV dinner in the microwave. This shop has the real deal. Actual grains and hops (admittedly, the hops I get are pellets, some prefer fresh). And the recipes are at really decent prices. In fact, I’ve talked to the owner and their prices reflect pretty much exactly what their vendors charge them with very modest markup. And I’ll say it again, there equipment is quality. Really good stuff. The owner knows his stuff and really purchases the best value equipment.

Being a newbie, I have a lot of questions.
The guys were helpful and guided me in the right direction. At times if felt like I was prying info too.
The store seems like a disorganized garage. It’s very dirty. When I wanted to browse, they were carefully watching me.
This place doesn’t have «kits» available, but do have recipes. Once you find a recipe, one of the guys will pull everything that is needed.
After reading some of the reviews, I just hope that my ingredients will be ok until I next brew.
Every type of shop has its defaults, this place is just an unorganized mess!

I have become a return customer here, because they had better prices than their other main competitor in the South Bay. Yes, the place is a mess, with piles of stuff everywhere, but I can always get what I need, and they sometimes have used equipment at a better price. Their limited hours are a little difficult to work with sometimes, and if many people show up they’re helped in series (it seems there’s usually just one person staffing), which can demand some patience. If the owners spent a few days to put in a more organized shelving and storage scheme this place could be really nice. For those not intimidated by the clutter, this is a pretty good source of supplies.

Going to give three stars, but they are tentative since I never made it inside.
I showed up at 10:45 to find a sign saying their «new hours» were 11 – 3 on Saturday. Okay, a little limited, but no worries. I cooled my heels for 25 – 30 minutes at Lowes nearby. I came back at 11:15, and they were still closed, so I had to move on. Today was a brew day, so I didn’t want to wait any longer.
From what I saw in the window, it looks like they have nice smaller batch winemaking stuff. That’s about all I could see, it seems like they have a larger garage/​shop area where they probably have more inventory.
Bottom line, may be okat but don’t take their hours too literally. Sorry I don’t have more info to add at this time.

Great service, very helpful and they have a full selection of cheese making supplies! I decided that my rainy day Sunday activity was going to be making mozzarella and I was able to find what I needed at Beer & Wine Makers rather than having to order it online! I would much prefer to support a local shop like this any day.

I have been to all the brew shops on the Bay Area and I believe that Beer and Wine Makers has the most knowledgeable staff and freshest ingredients. All though I am a pretty advanced Brewer, I plan to go to one of their brewing classes just to taste the different beer styles they have for tasting.

Called ahead to see if they stock PBW and was told they did but when I arrived I learned that they stock PLC instead. Cost of PLC & grains about 30% higher than other local home brewing stores. Will not return for future needs.