After posting my original frustrated missive about how there did not seem to be any homebrew shops in the area (see Is the DC Area Anti-Home Brew?), I got lots of suggestions on where to go. One store appeared to be only a few miles from my home. How could I have missed it, I wondered.
myLHBS is tucked away in the offices of a language school in the building next to Sears on Route 7, at the intersection with Patrick Henry Drive. When I entered the building I quickly found Languages Incorporated on the directory and went to their office, past the doctors and dentists and icky medical specimen containers. Those things always freak me out a little.
Owner Derek Terrell greeted me and had the few things I was looking for and much more. For being in the back of someone else’s office, myLHBS sure does have quite a selection of inventory packed into a relatively small room. What’s more is that it doesn’t appear cluttered at all. He may not have twenty of anything but he has anything you might want or need, including some nice items on sale.
This is more than beer making supplies. The store also has a good selection of wine kits, honey to make mead and even a hard cider kit. In my day we made hard cider in a glass jug with bread yeast and an improvised prophylactic-based air lock. I am sure it was much cruder than the kit at the store and I might just go back and get that kit to try it out.
More than a simple store clerk, Derek is a seasoned brewer and has run a shop like this before. He knows the equipment and processes and can make expert suggestions without sounding highfaluting.
myLHBS certainly has my business for the future. Any home brewers in the area should definitely go check this place out.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
