The Beer Essentials

Great customer service. Inventory is broad and deep for both beer and wine making supplies (I am a wine person). Pricing was competitive. Location is at the north end of the runway near McCord AFB on 112^th. Exit Steele St. off of Highway 512.
Great job guys–
Thanks!

I’ve been here a couple times now. Good experiences both times as far as getting what I need. I only have a kegarator, I don’t brew. However my suggestion to the staff is quickly get to know the customer you have in front of you. I see your smart in your products and want to show you have knowledge so don’t come across as pompous smart-ass’s for whatever reasons you do this. The customer is there to purchase whatever it is you sell and they want. If I’m treated the way I was last time again then I will not go back and find someone else to purchase my things.

Great selection of beer ingredients, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and good prices.

Place is alright. But… eh.
twice I bought yeast there that didn’t work. It was the 7 or 8 dollar English crap. I bought my ingredients, cooked my beer while the yeast was placed in my fridge, and when the beer was placed in my primary and cooled to the proper temp I pitched the yeast. Been two days now, and nothing… WTF!!! Of course the short kid over there is all full of blame… suggesting that only «he» knows how to do this stuff and the rest of the world is stupid. What a jerk.
My suggestion is to buy the powdered yeast. Works every time. Cheaper. Tastes just as good. Unless your a short kid.

Great place for everything beer brewing and/​or wine making you will need. Everything from car boys, yeast, hops, extracts, you name it they most likely have it. The staff is extremely knowledgeable and can help you with whatever type of brewer you are. Always coming to these guys.

Great service and were able to help with everything I needed! Very courteous help and I’ll definitely be going back!

Response to Lucas:
Do you understand Business 101? Sell a product, make money, don’t refuse a sale.
Also, the older man did not say «we need to have Citra available for others», he said they refused to sell unless I bought a full recipe.
By your logic, if a store is low on stock, and you only needed one item, they should refuse to sell to you because you aren’t buying more. What if a grocery store did that? You are not allowed you buy a single item, whether or not you need anything else. How long do you think they would stay in business?
This is not about sharing as you seem to think it is. This is business. Selling a product provides income, while refusing a sale (as happened here) loses money, and a customer.
I went to Larry’s about a week ago and bought over 10 varieties of hops, and only two recipes. They didn’t refuse the sale. There is a reason they get my business and Beer Essentials has lost a customer.

Great experience every time — super helpful no matter your experience or skill level. All the guys are knowledgeable and they carry competitive prices against what you blindly buy online. What else do you want???
I have used these guys for advice, components of building my conversion mash tun cooler, and now am using them for reading material and fresh ingredients. Even though it is out of my way, this is my go-​to.
I actually appreciate their Citra requirements — it causes you to plan out your recipe rather than hoard the good stuff and makes it available for everyone. We just did a nice Citra IPA and it turned out awesome.

This is the first home brew store I’ve been to in the area, but I was definitely impressed. I’ve been brewing for a few years but just switched to all grain, and the staff helped answer a few questions I had about how to make things run smoother. There is also a kids area, so taking your family isn’t stressful.

This is definitely one of the biggest home brew stores in the area. From beginners to master brewers, this place has everything. Whether you are brewing beer, wine, soda, making cheese, or roasting your own coffee, this place has what you need.
The staff is knowledgeable, friendly, and they have a huge selection of hops, grains, and yeast.

Prior to moving to Washington State brew stores were scarce and I mostly had to resort to ordering all of my home brewing ingredients and equipment on line. Not anymore, since discovering Beer Essentials I haven’t bought one thing off line. They have a fantastic selection of bulk grains, yeasts and hops. Knowledgeable staff is usually more than happy to help and chat it up with you about the intricacies of the brewing process. Beer Essentials has become my one stop shop for all things brewing related. Cheers Gentlemen!

So after 10+ years of brewing I finally decided to try this place after reading other reviews and because I was going down this way anyway. I was equally impressed as were the other reviewers with most of the staff, their willingness to help was also evident. The guy that really helped me the most was Darell, he was super knowledgeable and did all the math on conversion for me. The manager while nice was a little quirky, well maybe off his rocker but was also knowledgeable and helpful. I can’t say much about the prices since it’s been awhile since going to Larry’s which is the other place I’ve been too. This store has everything you’ll need but most of all it has knowledgeable staff which might be it’s best assets as it is in most businesses. My only other first time impression change would be I’d like to see lots of handout recipes, Larry’s does this and it’s what got me started in brewing.

Good staff, good items

As anyone can tell you starting off homebrewing can be quite intimidating. My first visit to Beer Essentials was reminicent of a duckling, following the mother duck (seasoned homebrew buddy) around trying not to draw attention to myself or bump into/​break a big shiny piece of brewing equipment.
So I bought the start up kit, (get the mid level kit, best value for the $$) and I was ready to brew. Baby brew that is. I went extract and by a recipie for the first 5 batches. Did they stick their noses up at me for not going all-​grain? Absolutely not! Were they supportive and helpful in finding a recipie when I fumbled through describing my favorite brews? Affirmative!
(BTW they have 4 binders with recipies for almost ANY beer you can think of)
I wish I could give them 4.9 stars on the fact that I work the identical hours they are open. So is it their fault they don’t have a Brad-​Only day? Yes! But I’ll get over it when I get a new schedule. They are super helpful when my wife stops in to get my ingredients for me.
Help yourself to a dixie cup of some in-​house Sasparilla or Root Beer when you are chatting with the guys on what new concoction you can think of brewing next.

«Fermentation may have been a greater discovery than fire»
When I first got into home brewing I was petrified, kept thinking I could never brew without a shop by my side, but I spent so many nights thinking how I could do it wrong but I grew strong and Unilocal showed me you were down the street all along!
But seriously, I was real nervous to get into brewing my own beer and wine but I knew I wanted to. I was so shocked and overjoyed to find a local home brew shop just down the road from me. While this place is not a super fancy looking utopia of fermentation, it is exactly the epitome down to earth brew shop.
One of my other fears was entering a world full of elitists that did not welcome new comers unless putting them through the hazing process much like those read about during acceptance to a secret society at an Ivey league college. To my surprise everyone at this shop was very welcoming and very interested in sharing their knowledge of home brewing. I had several questions and they answered them without hesitation. Another great thing is they truly care about their clients over a bottom line. This manifested itself through a couple of purchases that I was going to make, I was told to not purchase specific items as they were more gimmicky than anything and I would do just fine without it. This kind of business practice is very wise for loyalty and retention, sure they made $ 15 bucks less this trip but they will make more with my loyalty.
They have everything you need for home brewed beer, wine, sodas, and vinegars. I have yet to ran into a time where they did not have what I needed. As a now seasoned home brewer I am so glad these guys are close.
For me, this place makes it very easy to shop locally, sure I could get somewhat lower prices on-​line, however, there still is shipping costs and time. The customer service extends to phone calls as well, when I first started out I had so many questions and I have called them multiple times freaking out about all the same stuff that newbie brewers fear. If you are interested in home brew just stop, stop being interested and just do it, it has been such a joy and my only regret is I waited so long to get into it. Give The Beer Essentials a try and let them help you get started! Us old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in out tankards. Strong beer is the milk of the old. So remember, relax and have a home brew, cheers!

While they have a nice selection of stuff and are friendly and helpful, I think they are a little shady at times. More than once I have bought hops and when I got home weighed my «ounce» of hops to see if it really was an ounce. More than once have I discovered that they shorted me by a quarter of an ounce, which can make a big difference in brewing. Pretty sure that’s called shenanigans. I usually order my stuff online and save The Beer Essentials for when I forget to buy something and don’t want to wait.

These guys are great! If you need anything for home brewing or home wine making this is the place. If you need parts for your kegs or CO2, this is the place. Their prices are good and they are the most helpful guys you will run across.

Great selection but the service and friendliness varies widely. I’ve purchased at this store several times with mixed reviews. Today was the last last straw. I went in there to purchase a keg and the guy looked at me from head to toe and said he was out. I said really? He said yeah, he only has 12 left and he wants to reserve them for the folks buying the two keg new system. Complete disbelief… okay. You know… screw this place. The people that work their are complete assholes. Buy online. Much, much, much cheaper than these douchebags… plus you don’t have to put up with attitude.
p. s. I love the homebrew community… but these guys are terrible

Knowledgeable staff, eager to help and obtain ideas and tricks to brewing. Whenever i was there, there was only one person out front to help. he wasnt the greatest multitasker if another customer happened to stop in at the same time. There is a lack of good brew supply places. This one is larger and will be able to equip you with what you need. There is not a lot of signage out front so you could drive right by it. it’s in a big white building that looks like it could have been a small hanger at one time for McCord AFB.
My rating system:
Things To Die For = 5 stars
Things To Die From = 1 star

Fairly knowledgably staff to which most are friendly and helpful — this place is for the beginner, advanced and master homebrewer. They provide supplies for soda, beer, wine, and the stilling of alcohol. They carry wet and dry malt, commercially packaged malt, honey, syrups, over 20 hops, and over 30 yeast to choose from. One of the few remaining homebrew havens in the Tacoma area.