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WelcomeThis is where we'll announce the most recent additions to our web site. If you've visited us before and want to know what's changed, take a look here first. 18/10/08 Price Rise announced from Muntons, Brewcraft, BlackRock, Beermakers and Tooheys. 24/09-08 Gluten-free homebrew beer - limited stock now available. 16/09/08 Hints and Tips - New section 23/07/08 Forget the alco pop tax, here is the next best thing without the excise. Over 20 flavours. Drink as a liqueur, or with lemonade, cola or milk. 22/07/08 Regrettably there was a glitch with the website over the last several days. All should be working now. Sorry for any inconvenience. Also, if you like Rum, check out the new Qld Rum shavings. 17/07/08 Some customers have noticed that some yeasts do not perform as well as they have previously. Details are here. Yes we have Heater pads in stock. I have updated a few things in the spirits area, 09/07/08 June was an incredible month. Despite Giftware being down, we were up by @ 30 % on last June. This is a fantastic result given the parking issues in Charlestown (BTW - to date, since the new parking system was brought in, no car has been reported stolen from Charlestown square). The Still sprits Classic promo obviously was of great assistance. Brewcraft have released some new Recipe style sheets, of which some have been updated. These are in the recipe section. 13/6/08 Well it's been a long time since I have updated this site. We have been very busy, and overall our business is UP for the same period last year. In case no one is aware, I was on page 14 of the Newcastle Herald last Saturday, pointing out that there are not many people shopping in the Charlestown area as a result of the new parking restrictions brought in by Charlestown Square/GPT. A minor number of facts were not published, that may have not been made aware of at the time. That is that a great deal of people have abused the Charlestown Square parking for some time including Charlestown Square staff, Charlestown CBD staff, as well as Newcastle CBD staff that parked there and commuted into Newcastle. This has no doubt made it difficult for everyone to park in the area, and no wonder businesses in Charlestown Square have folded/relocated as a result, due to the higher rents, but less turnover. As a fellow novocastrian, it seems a pain to collect a ticket, and have to have it validated on the wayout (given my driver side window is jammed). However, I had to pick up a book for my son at Westfield Kotara on Thursday. It was raining, and where did I have to park? Outside in the rain. Picket validation systems are quite standard in other areas, as I have discovered on the Gold Coast recently. On a further positive note, no cars were stolen from Charlestown Square during the month of April. Regrettably my giftware business is majorly down as a result of the negative perception of the Charlestown area, and parking can be difficult. I have been in conference with a delegate of Business Charlestown, and that this is in the process of being fixed, so as to ensure more shopping spaces in the area. Staff members of the Charlestown Square area have not been adhering to the newer parking conditions, which has caused further congestion, by parking......elsewhere. I must admit, for the last few weeks, when venturing outside, it is very rare that I cannot count a minimum 5 family car spaces on both sides of the Pacific Highway. A number other factors obviously don't help such as rising fuel prices, Interest rates, and lack of Consumer confidence. However, I would like to ask you to support all businesses in the Charlestown area during this re-construction phase. I spoke out, as I saw a great deal of business closing, and wanted to say something, as most people I spoke to in the centre were fearful of repercussions. I am independent, but I would like to see more people back shopping in the Charlestown CBD. Than you for your continued patronage. 24/03/08 Details on the Brew Cellar Fresh Wort kits have , been added. It is also now 1 month since I took possession of my Kegmate fridge, and it is a very impressive unit. The pictures on the Kegmate website do not do it justice. 21/03/2008 More Giftware updated. Also, news through that another pricerise from Morgans is imminent in Mid-April. 26/02/08 I have added Classic jerseys for Rugby League. 25/02/2008 Just a note that Coopers are raising the price of their beer kits. Surprisingly, the percentage of the Thomas Coopers Black Label price rise is much higher than the standard product available in Supermarkets. This obviously is a reflection of the quality of the standard product, and given the fact that one of the main factors in the price rise is an increase in metal pricing, I must assume that this must account for the major amount of price increase in the standard products. Hence the superior quality of the Thomas Coopers Black Label range 13/02/2008 A few sections have been updated, including the Beer specials page, Wine, as well as pricing on grain on the Beer page. On a side note Coopers have also raised their prices on their std range, International range, Thomas Coopers range, plus Unhopped Malt. 01/02/2008 Firstly, there is now another alternative to Jakt/Hunter Schnapps from Prestige. It is Yaegar from Still Spirits. Limited stocks. However, my distributor received a shipment today of Jakt/Hunter Schnapps, and this will hope solve a few Prestige issues. I am still awaiting feedback on the Yaegar, but I do recommend drinking it with Red bull etc. Secondly, we always try to do the correct thing by our customers, and when there is a pricerise, we pass it on correctly. Regrettably my wife was abused by some stoned bitch, that our price went up by 55 cents on Kentucky Bourbon. This slag purchased it 8 weeks after our purchase price increased. We have also individually priced our units up physically with a price gun. If you are that SLAG that abused my wife, PLEASE SHOP ELSEWHERE AND PAY MORE! Thirdly, for a number of reasons, prices on a number of items have increased on November 07, 2007 as a result of the following:-
This has led to increased costs on items such as Powdered Malt and Lactose. Lactose has increased dramatically as a result of a number Dairy items increasing in price Surprisingly, I have 2 products made by Canterbury Brewery in New Zealand. Blackrock 1.5kg tins have increased in price from $14.90 to $17.50, which is nearly 20%. Tooheys, which is a brand I refuse to stock (due to misrepresentation), went up by @7-8%. This demonstrates that the quality of Tooheys, is not up to the standard, that homebrew shops should stock, if they want to be respected by their customers. Lastly, my deep chest freezer broke down in December. It appears that I have a leak in the system, that has resulted in beer being -1, now being 25 celcius. Not drinkable. The replacement cost of my unit is a commercial unit, which is not cheap. I used to temperature control it using a fridgemate, which I stock, and retail at $55. Same price as that from Mashmaster, including freight. If anybody sees me purchasing commercial beer via a 6 pack/case, that is why. What is more hurtful, than the price is that the beer tastes so ordinary, such as Victoria Bitter and Carlton Cold. Other beers such as Tooheys, and XXXX, are not only that great, but also have a 46.13% shareholder being Kirin Brewery in Japan. PS Sorry for the lack of updates. We have been extremely busy, plus we managed to sneak away for a week's holidays. Many thanks to my friend Dave, for covering our store, whilst we were away. 23/12/2007 On behalf of my family, we would like to wish every one a safe, Merry Christmas! Sorry for the lack of updates, things have been pretty hectic coming into Christmas. 16/11/2007 Prices have been updated on products affected by the recent price rise by Brewcraft. Please note that existing stock will continue to be sold at the original price until the new stock comes through. 11/11/2007 Wine section has been updated. Wine kits have been updated. 7/11/2007 Telephones lines are back up and running. Apologies to anyone that tried calling us between 2PM, and 5PM today, as our lines were engaged. This also left us without Eftpos facilities in that time. Fortunately this has been resolved. Thank you to those people and their patience. We now have 2 telephone lines, one of which is dedicated to Eftpos transactions. This should prevent any future delays. 6/11/2007 3/11/7 Please note that 19 litre Re-conditioned beer kegs are back in stock. Powdered Malt blends now have a new/dedicated page. Also, on another note, it is coming up to our first anniversary, since we took over. We would like to thank all those people that supported us, by purchasing their products regularly from us. Without regular customers, we would not survive. The June 8 storms did not help, but we all did it tough. Our family spent the night in our shop, sleeping on a concrete floor celebrating our daughters 11th birthday, eating Henny Penny. We were lucky compared to a great deal of people out there. Finally, a number of people have remarked on how great the website is. I appreciate this, as I personally create and submit everything using a 7 year old program, which is extremely dated. despite the fact that I do have more advanced programs, which will make the site even more fancy. This site is achieving more hits per day, than an NRL Prop cops in a season. A few times I have searched for further info on products, and the main link is to this site. 16/10/2007 Liquid Malt and Yeast now have dedicated pages. 29/09/2007 Fresh Wort kits back in stock. 2 new products available. Also a limited selection of Wylabs Liquid Yeast, now available. Morgans Chairmans range is now finally here. Also, a recipe section for beer has been added. 19/09/2007 With Oktoberfest coming up, what better way to enjoy your food, then to create some recipes using beer, thanks to recipezaar. 13/09/2007 A comparison of what it costs to make all Lagers, with a comparison of Sugar V Dextrose V Basic Blend V Enhanced Body Blend, is available here. 22/8/2007 Willard's also have a new range of Spirit Essence available shortly. Each 50ml makes up to 2.25 litres. Details can be found here. 17/8/2007 As mentioned previously, there are 4 new kits coming from Morgans. They are due around Mid September. Corte's Cerveza Bishop's Bitter Scharl's Lager Mulloy's Stout All are 1.7kg Malt extracts and come with a Premium Quality Yeast! Further details and product images can be found here. Upcoming Event 1- September 22, there will be a Boutique Beer Festival at Warners Bay. Advance tickets are $20 each, and include a few goodies. Contact 02 49566006. Upcoming Event 2 - November 2-4, will be the bitter and twisted International Boutique Beer Festival at Morpeth. Click here for more info. 14/8/2007 Just arrived, Beer and Brewer Magazine Issue 2 - $6.95 each. Includes an article on Fresh Wort kits. Also, I have a limited amount of MSB stock on special at $13.00 per tin. 6/8/2007 Fathers Day is approaching, and a selection of gift ideas has been uploaded. I have also started working on the Giftware page. Soon to follow will be books and Cocktails/RTDs. Oztops Cider kits are now back in stock. 3/8/2007 Just arrived, 3 new Recipe Style packs from Brewcraft. Also, for the water conscious, a water Pump, designed to help recycle water. Ideal for Water Purification. 30/7/2007 We have just received some Fresh Wort kits into our store. Empty the contents (approximately 15 litres) into your Fermenter, top up to 20 litres and add the yeast. Also, a number of new giftware items will arrive in November. 22/07/2007 4 New Beer kits coming soon from Morgans. Products will most likely be a Mexican Cerveza, English Bitter, Irish Stout, and a European Lager. Willard's have around 18 new essences coming in to enhance their Spirits/Liqueur range. Willard's have also introduced a small range of Wood chips to help enhance your spirit flavours.
01/03/2007 A Basic Support page is also on the left. A brewing calculator has been added to the site. The link is on the left. Otherwise, click here. 08/02/2007 Well lots of info has been added over the last few months. There is a new section called Fun things. We have also added more stock to the shelves of Wild Appetite sauces, and have some bottles available for sample. 10/1/2007 Beer Section is close to completion. Pix will follow soon, of some items. Spirit Essence list has been Completed. 4/12/2006 Last Night I sampled a stubby of Brewferm Framboos, which is a Raspberry based Beer. It is one of our 2 most expensive Beer kits. At $44, and making only 12 litres, I wanted to make sure that it was good. Well at 4 weeks, it was very pleasant and aromatic. This is an exotic style beer, that you will not find in any bottle shop, yet if you did.....There would be not much change from a $10 note. This will be an excellent drink come Christmas, Boxing Day and New Years Eve. Also, during the month of December, we will be opening Sundays from 10AM till 2PM. December 31st TBA. 1/12/2006 More Glass bottles back in stock. $5.50 per dozen 24/11/2006 More Glass bottles back in stock. $5.50 per dozen 07/11/2006 At around 2-3am, on Melbourne Cup Day, one of our front windows was smashed by some very unintelligent people. Sure they obtained a few items, worth a great deal of value. Some of the items taken were as follows:-
Also, not only was the window broken, but a Brand New Beer tap was damaged as a result of the falling glass. Why are they unintelligent? Well they broke the law, and damaged my property, and took items that belong to my business. More so, they left a Twin element 25 litre Pot unit behind ($255), and took the Glass container ($75) instead. That's why we have show's called World Dumbest Criminals. Any successful information leading to the apprehension, prosecution and imprisonment of these scum, will result in a reward. The Coopers sign is very rare, and I would like to see it returned, as well as the other items.
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