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My legs are crap at gripping things though - I don't have opposable toes <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

Sweet a shop in Athlone, I am down the motorway in Rochfortbridge so about 25 minutes away. Good excuse to go to Athlone now. That and having lunch at the shack.

Well I am back from Athlone. I spent some money with Donal and got 10% off* too.
He had a nice big hydrometer so I got one as my little ones can be a pain to read sometimes. This will be grand to even leave in the secondary glass carboy.

Lots of wine kits, my wife got 3 of them. Also some handy plastic stoppers so we do not have to cork wine any more <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->
He has a list of stuff to order, grains, yeasts etc so looks good. Will especially be good to have small quantities of grains there in case I run out of something and plan a brew.

Unfortunately the shack no longer serves Sunday lunch so Donal directed us to Thyme down by the Olive grove. It was lovely and very reasonable. I even got to pop in to Molloys and get some beer. They had pint bottles of Guinness so I grabbed one as well as a coopers beer made from champaign yeast. I will try that later.



[i:1kt3wh28] *this might be something for ICB members but unless Donal mentions it on here then do not take my word for it.[/i:1kt3wh28]

ok strange question but can i get some ideas of the things you would like to see me stocking.
ie: which dry malts which whole grains which crushed grains? which hops and anything else you would like

someone mentioned the 60 litre fermentation vessel so im going to get in some and if they dont sell for a while so what and if the sell fast ill get more

i have a little bit more to put in so i thought why not ask the customers what they want

hope to hear from you soon
donal

the shop keeper working for you <!-- s:-) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:-) -->

Make sure to get some 500g bags of DME. Get light, dark and wheat at the very least and maybe extra light too.
Also get some 3kg and 500g bags of crushed grains such as marris otter pale, chocolate malt, black malt and perhaps crystal. You can start with these and see how you get on.
This will open you up to extract brewers and some all grain brewers if they need something quickly.
If you can eventually get 25kg sacks for a price like <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/">www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/ (€45 I think) then that would be great but wait and see how you do.

Get in hops and yeast, the list you showed me was good. If brewferm blanche and danstar munich were not on it then add it for wheat beers.

Oh and remember what I said about a fridge, the yeast should be kept cool to prolong life and hops should be frozen but if they are vacuum packed then they should be ok. A wine chiller will be good so customers can see the yeast.

A 5 gallon boiler would be handy also. Just get one or two and see how well they sell.

I am not sure how advanced your brewing is but there a re a couple of ICB brewers in Athlone and I live in Rochfortbridge so you are welcome at least to pop down to me and take a look at my equipment and I can show you anything you need to know

Oh one other thing you could look into is providing a co2 service where I could buy a co2 tank and when I need a refill I bring it in and take a full tank but only pay the cost of the refill. Same as calor gas bottles. No rush on that though, I think more people bottle than keg but I have a keg without gas so will be needing a supply myself at some point when I have sorted a dispensing system etc.

&amp;quot;Saruman&amp;quot;:3o6jnsjv wrote: Get in hops and yeast, the list you showed me was good. If brewferm blanche and danstar munich were not on it then add it for wheat beers.

Oh and remember what I said about a fridge, the yeast should be kept cool to prolong life and hops should be frozen but if they are vacuum packed then they should be ok. A wine chiller will be good so customers can see the yeast. [/quote:3o6jnsjv]
When buying hops make sure that they are vacuum packed (silver or gold foil packs) rather than in clear bags as this is important for retaining freshness. I would advise to freeze the hops regardless of how they are packaged.