Supply Chain Disruptions & COVID-19

Update 5/27: Extracts are fairly back to normal. Imperial Organic Yeast is currently unable to package core strains due to a supply chain issue. Imperial is expecting packaging supplier to come back online in a couple weeks, but cannot currently distribute the certain strains listed below. We have marked those certain strains as “out of stock” for the time being. We have collected a couple strains of wyeast in-store to substitute in for missing Imperial Yeast. 

Fermentis is widely re-stocked, with the exception of S-23. We have on hand Lallemand Diamond lager yeast to substitute for S-23.

Certain hardware such as certain sized Cornelius kegs, 8.5 & 15 gallon kettles, and some kegging parts remain out of stock at the supplier level. This changes week by week.

Thanks for sticking it out with us! 

Original post:
Hey folks, Owen here again with another COVID-19 update.The stores are doing well, and we have you guys to thank for that again. We are experiencing some issues in our supply chain, and I wanted to let you guys know whats happening, why, and what it means for you.

Currently, due to the absolutely massive influx of homebrewers and winemakers due to the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, our suppliers have been quickly overwhelmed. That means our suppliers are both running behind on fulfilling freight orders, and running out of products much more quickly than they expected.

With that being said, I do have to absolutely tip my hat to the effort and coordination from our suppliers; they're trying their absolute hardest to get everything squared away. But it unfortunately still has created some negative effects on many homebrew supply stores, including ourselves and even larger storefronts such as MoreBeer, etc.

Here's a quick breakdown on which items are affected, and our expectations regarding them. 

YEAST: Both Imperial and White Labs are out of stock of many of their standard strains. Most Belgian strains from either company is out of stock, along with German and Weizen strains. Imperial is currently consistently out of stock of some of their core and esoteric strains, such as Flagship, Dry-Hop, Independence, Citrus, Joystick, and some Kveik strains. Kveik shortages are an issue right now, especially with these summer months coming up. We've tried to combat that by ordering some dry Kveik strains from Lallemand, we're waiting for those to arrive currently. We're also facing a lot of stock issues with Fermentis dry strains, we've substituted Lallemand yeast in where appropriate.

HOPS: Mostly unaffected. Some more popular hops like Citra, Mosaic, etc may experience some minor outages in the future.

HARDWARE: This is where we're most affected. All incoming hardware shipments are being delayed at least five business days. Some common hardware may be out of stock. Stir plates, tail pieces, aeration hardware, books, keg body post, some Intertap parts, some kegs, measuring equipment, and some gas equipment are the most heavily hit. We are still receiving equipment, but we're expecting at least a week-long delay for all inbound shipments. This will likely be a persistent issue through the stay-at-home orders. We're still accepting special orders for equipment, but do note there will likely be a delay in receiving those items. 

CONSUMABLE SUPPLIES (GRAIN, EXTRACTS, ETC): Not experiencing delays but experiencing HEAVY outages. Our suppliers are out of extracts, but we managed to bulk up before they went out of stock. We likely have enough to last us for a couple weeks (now is the time to move to All-Grain if you've been considering it). Malt and flaked adjuncts are mostly okay with some sporadic, but temporary, shortages. Adjuncts and additives such as irish moss, candi sugars, dextrose, etc. are mostly unaffected.

If you place an order with us, and your order contains an item that is experiencing shortages, we'll contact you via phone or email to ask what you'd like to do. This situation is ever-changing, so if you have any questions, feel free to call us or chat with us below! Thank you for your understanding and continued support, we're lucky to have you here. Cheers!