The Grain Father

[Peter Smith]

http://www.grainfather.com/

Mangrove Jacks new all grain unit - its nice

[Peter Smith]

The future is all online....  if the margins vary in different countries, people will just import and redistribute grey channel.   I think that the margins are compacting on Hardware.   Shops offering good advice and assistance will still be able to charge a slightly higher margins on grain and hops, but every retail channel in the world is being challenged by the online discount channels.  How many times have you tried on shoes only to buy off amazon / ebay?  OK if you haven't how many partners buy kids stuff off M&S in the UK?

IMHO Its only a matter of time until brewshop wins the soba HB shop of the year   they are doing big sales to busy people who dont want to waste an hour driving too/from LHBS

If you mean the politics of direct sales vs only through the LHBS...    IMake must see there future a mix of both.  In the retail world having a wide range of products means you get to charge a little more margin for all, conveniance of one stop shopping, online people have less loyalty (freight is a small factor) and price is important, brewshop will deliver a 23L glass carboy to AKL for $10 if its broken they send another, damn thats cheap freight...   aliexpress stuff comes in 10 days from good stores...  Bulk buy and bin inn selling gladfields malt.  hop shops in the us targetiung my facebook profile, bulk buys on sites like this, yeast banking and swapping...   most of my current kit has never been through the imake channel, they must be worried the GF is there best bet, then keggng kit etc etc 

[Mark Weusten]

Arrrrrggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

[Jason Riley]

Oh no, I was hoping for a Fathers day brew

[John H]

Me too. At least I have managed to ensure I have enough spare keg space to go nuts when GF gets here. (Translation - ARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH I've run out of beer)

[Jason Riley]

I've emptied all my kegs and am down to my last 12 750mls... Beginning to get worried.

[Mark Weusten]

I start to feel uneasy when my stocks drop below a few dozen

[Mark Weusten]

Out of interest those of you who have paid for your Grainfather happy with how the delivery delay has been communicated? I got a generated email saying they are estimated to arrive mid september and then will be dispatched. I emailed a week later for an update and was told there will be regular updates via the Grainfather newsletter. I notice there is no talk on Facebook about this.I also asked for a manual to read so I could hit the ground running and it is not available yet. Im thinking it was stupid to pre pay for this as Trademe has got some great systems coming up at the moment. If you are thinking about it I would wait.

[ben murphy]

Not overly bothered but surely they knew this when they were selling them at beervana. They are still pretty vague about the date proper. As long as its before the end of the month I am not worried

[John H]

I had a similar thought. Still looking forward to the units to get here and still keen on the product, but as Ben also alluded, they would have known at the launch that the date of early Sep was bogus. Why the BS - my first impression was that this was being deceptive. The supplier lost a few credibility points with me I'm afraid. (Climbs off high horse) I guess my unit will now come with a few dings in it.

[BrewChick]

I just rang them about why these are expected later.

They told me they have been delayed at the international port so they didn't know this when they were selling at Beervana.

Apparently they've emailed directly those who've bought them about the delay and changed it on the website (which I just checked). Maybe they have to be a bit vague because of such a delay?

I'm choosing to stay positive :). I must say the girl I spoke to was very helpful and nice. Maybe give them a call if you're worried? They have a free 0800 number too which is handy.

[Mark Weusten]

Brewchick did they say which International Port? You would hope its not China. You cant tell me it would be airfreight so it must be at Ports of Auckland or Tauranga.

[Richard Jack]

Pretty rare for things to be delayed for a "few weeks" at a port. Most shipping lines come weekly.