THE HOP SHOP, PLYMOUTH

Must say that this shop recently sent me my order, but the hydrometer was broken (royal mail presumably). I emailed them and within 2 hours I had a reply saying they were sorry and they are sending me a replacement. I'm not sure how the prices compare to other shops but I think customer care is very important, and so I felt that this shop was worthy of a mention.

http://www.hopshopuk.com/

Hope you all take a look.

We bought an electrim bin off them boiled twice in it and the bottom bowed out rounded underneath. I emailed them had a brand new bruheat boiler delivered by courier two days later :

Now that sounds like great customer service :clap:

I use the hop shop in Plymouth, would say they are excellent.

Genuinely helpful, and happy to give advise.

I live in Bude, and work in Plymouth they shut at 6, but open after that much of the time, ideal for grabbing supplies on way home.

Have been looking at getting supplies online, that may be cheaper, with free delivery, but for customer service alone sometimes it pays to pay that little extra. I would certainly recommend a friend. :thumb: :thumb:

hare1975 said:

I live in Bude

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Hey.. I grew up in Bideford, spent many a weekend on the beach in Bude!

Tony said:

hare1975 said:

I live in Bude

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Hey.. I grew up in Bideford, spent many a weekend on the beach in Bude!

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:shock: I grew up in Northam!

Also, I live a few hundred metres from the Plymouth Hop Shop atm. I've bought most of my equipment from there. The prices are great and I love going in there, the main owner man is awesome, really easy to talk to and remembers the brews that I'm doing. I think I've posted about this shop on here before.

It's the type of old-style shop that if I were old like most of you I'd fondly miss from better days gone by. :P Damn supermarkets.

I say, might have to give them a try then. Just a short hop down the A38 for me :thumb:

My LBS is OK but it's only a very small outlet though which has loads of kits, and not enough ingredients for AG brewing, IMO. For instance you can only get Windsor or Nottingham yeast for beer. That's it.

Bring some CO2 with you haha.

You can shop what the shop is stocking here.

[EDIT: Oh yeah, it was posted in the first post! :wha: ]

I'm off down to Plymouth on saturday early morning to visit the Uni with my lad as it is on his shortlist.Should be finished by 4ish then i will pay Hop shop a visit as they are open til 6,then we are going to stay overnight in a real ale pub and travel back to Berkshire on sunday morning should be a good weekend : .

I'm heading to Bideford tomorrow morning, want me to wave at anyone in Northam for you?

I'll be there for a few days, may pop down to Plymouth on Monday, I'll be calling in too!

Tony said:

I'm heading to Bideford tomorrow morning, want me to wave at anyone in Northam for you?

I'll be there for a few days, may pop down to Plymouth on Monday, I'll be calling in too!

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There's this big smelly ginger guy in the Kelland's fruit and veg shop on Mill Street, could get some apples off of him...

Don't know how long you've been gone but there's a Tesco in East-the-Water now, and one in place of good ole Brian Fords Oh and they've complete overhauled the junction next to Morrison. Confused me a bit when I went back. :?

Enjoy! :P

fermentall said:

I'm off down to Plymouth on saturday early morning to visit the Uni with my lad as it is on his shortlist.Should be finished by 4ish then i will pay Hop shop a visit as they are open til 6,then we are going to stay overnight in a real ale pub and travel back to Berkshire on sunday morning should be a good weekend : .

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Enjoy your visit! The uni's had absolutely millions poured into it in recent (pre-recession) years and has some really quite impressive modern architecture. I think Roland Levinsky building is something to behold.

Not that you asked but I wouldn't necessarily recommend halls of residence to your son unless he has a fairly generic personality. They can turn out a bit lame, a good house would give a much bigger (often enormous) room at a much better rate, and plenty of space around the house to set up a micro-brewery! :)

Now some contribution towards original thread:
Plymouth Hop Shop are currently doing an offer whereby you get a free glass bottle with one of their ale kits (I forget which :P ).

Hi Spitfire,Thanks for your input on the Uni it will probably be his insurance choice as he is swaying towards southampton at present.
The Ale pub we are staying in is called The Boringdon Arms in Turnchapel,the couple who run it sound really pleasant on the phone and they have at least 6 ales on at present.Looking forward to the weekend : ken.

Well the weekend was great my son liked the Uni & course content (environmental biology)so he has put it as his insurance choice behind Southampton.The pub was brilliant with Tribute,Exe valley bitter,Buttcombe,Summer lightning,Doombar & 2 more which i can't remember the names of at present.I tried a couple of pints of each ending up with about 5 of Tribute whilst listening to the band with Mrs Fermentall supping G&T'S.The band were really tight playing covers of George Thorogood-Stevie ray vaughan-The Georgia sattelites & for me being a big fan of slide guitar & Bluesy rock it was great.I paid a trip to the Hop Shop and ended up buying a Brupaks Holme Valley Special hop & grain (tea bag) type kit & a coopers irish stout with a malt extract pack to try out :shock:.
Being a fresh fruit winemaker predominately this is a step i thought i wouldn't be taking after brewing beer kits in the 70's & not being too impressed by them.I can only assume my buying ale kits is down to the users of this Forum posting their recipes and getting my taste buds working overtime so i ask myself will i be able to resist the draw to the Dark Side or am i doomed :lol:
Anyway i will let you know how the kits go(the Brupaks is fermenting now)and thanks to all for the inspiration(i think) : ken.
Nearly forgot whilst in the Hop Shop talking to a very nice young lady who served me called Lisa she asked my son if he had lodgings sorted at Uni beacause there is a 3 bedroom flat above the shop & they let to students for a very reasonable rate.
Talk about heaven a pretty young lady offering you a flat above a HBS within a few minutes walk of the Uni (lucky bugger)

Haha. I had no idea that it was a student flat! That's a real missed opportunity there, I have to walk a whole two hundred metres or something as it is

Man I love that shop.

Best wishes to your son, A levels were murder!

: Spitfire

Can't big them up enough its the only place I go for my grains

Being a newbie it was great to find this is my local store and only 10 minutes away. The manager was really helpful and I'm already eyeing up his AG starter kit :shock:

Its a 5 minute walk for me :-)

I was one of the Hop Shops very first customers back in 1985 - they were great then and still are. But, be warned ...... 28 years on I now own my own homebrew shop (Goodlife) which was set up with the help and collaboration of Hywel Edwards (the owner of the Hop Shop). Forget the web and support these guys - unless of course you live in Norwich :-)

Getting back into things after a few years of doing a brew every 6-12 months. The Hop Shop has been outstanding! I'm happy to support them