Let’s Brew

It’s a tiny bit more expensive than some of the other homebrew supply stores in the greater Portland area, but the store is well staffed and reasonably friendly and helpful given their location on 82^nd (I don’t envy them!). My only disappointments are the less diverse selection of yeasts and hops compared to other supply stores, and that the bulk grain section is a little inconvenient since they only have one weighing scale to use, the scale is too large to carry around and even if you could there isn’t anywhere to put it in the first place if you have more than one or two malts in your grain bill you have to walk back and forth from scale to dispenser. Combine this with no way to put the grain back if you dispense too much and it’s a little more complicated than things need to be. Overall I’m pleased though so they can expect more business from me in the future!

I have a plum tree. That means this time of year I’m frantically trying to use up plums. 2 years ago I got a starter winemaking kit from some place, but last year I finally got around to using it. And, underwhelmed by the other place, I tried Let’s Brew to fill in the missing bits and get started. Great, great top notch place. Friendly, helpful, knowledgeable people. Every time I’ve ever come in there they had exactly what I was looking for. When I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, they helped me to find it. I can’t say enough good things about this place. Highly recommended.

I love this place. They are very small yet they seem to have everything I need. They are very helpful without being over bearing. I got back into home brewing after being out of the hobby for many years. Quite a few things have changed and these wonderful people have helped me along. I was doing all malt just weeks ago and with their help I have stepped up to partial grain and the quality of my beer has skyrocketed.
They are very well stocked in beer making with some items for cheese making also.
I love the fact they are in my neighborhood.

Not the store to go to if you have questions. You usually just get a blank stare or they make you feel as though your putting them off just by asking. I have found myself another brew store where no question is a dumb question.

I called to make an appointment to do 2 mead batches, and was told that they will only allow beer to be made there… I asked if it was a legal thing or if there was another brewing kitchen in town I could use, and they said it wasn’t illegal or anything, it just sounded like a preference…
There wasn’t any more dialog about it.
So they get 1 star for the following reasons; arbitrary weird can’t brew anything but beer rule that is totally unfriendly to any brewers who have Celiac disease (like me) and who want to brew but can’t in their 3^rd floor apartment.
The second reason being the lack of dialog about the issue. They could potentially make a super customer, and instead they’re getting a 1 star review.
Not very good business sense…
But anyways, was told I couldn’t use the facility to brew.

We hadn’t brewed in years, so we needed everything. Kim Erceg Owner of Let’s Brew made it easy by combining three different starter kits of equipment to choose from. We opted for the «Ultimate» kit which included everything that you would need to have a successful brewing experience.
The Store is clean, well stocked with raw ingredients and a knowledgeable staff. They have top end brewing equipment onsite and provide classes for those of you who feel like you might need a little extra help to get started or just want to network with other brewers.
We’re close to bottling our first batch and are headed back to the store to buy supplies for our next batch. Only catch, it’s Sunday and they are closed.

This place is a nice little mom and pop store. The family is always there running the place. They are not super friendly but they know a lot about brewing and how to run a business. They have some great clone recipes to follow if you don’t have you’re own. I tried a few IPA clones and recently did the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It turned out amazing! Very close to the original! They have a good selection of ingredients. Steinbart’s has a little more variation of hops but I have never needed something that they didn’t have at Let’s Brew.
You can also take classes there and make beer at the store. They have a great little set up you can view when you are in there picking up your brew ingredients. The place always smells great with fresh beer brewing. They have better hours than Steinbart’s. I like this place and will keep returning for more brewing!
Oh…and hopefully they will get the double mountain falalalala recipe soon! «hint hint» :)

for the second year in a row we’ve brewed beer at this store and my review is based on that alone, since i don’t buy any other things there,
the fun and great atmosphere they create for our group (we take all five pots availble) is really a good way to spend time and money for a few hours of just doing something different. we went there second year in a row and i think for our group it’s becoming a annual thing to do together. brewing is just half the fun, botteling your beer is my favorite and then of course we get together and have a beer tasting.
price wise compared to a store bought beer, it’s absolutley affordable. this year we do not have to buy our bottles and paid about $ 120.00 for the beer we made, that will come out to about ⁴¹⁄₂ to 5 cases.
while brewing they will keep track of when to put in your hops and grains, they take care of a lunch break with bringing in pizza (their cost) and really don’t give you a chance to screw this up.
happy brewing :)

I was in need of some tap parts and CO2 when I googled this place and realized I was within 5 minutes of closing time. When I called and explained that I was having a party later that night, the owner said he would wait for me if I could be there within the next 10 or 15 minutes. I made it 10 minutes after closing and he filled up my tank and had the correct parts for my tap. The service was friendly and quick. I was on my way in less than 5 minutes and the party went on with the homebrew!
Thank you Lets Brew!

I’ve been here twice and both times the employees were rude, not helpful, and would treat me like I’m an idiot. As I was leaving this time I heard the employee belittling another customer too.
This is not the place you want to go if you need help or just friendly service.

Better hours than Steinbart’s (sorry, love you guys, but — I’m not always up and organized before you close on the weekends), and a fantastic selection of grains for grain-​based brewing. (My brew-​partner and I found whole rye here — win!)
The staff are knowledgable, but not overly sweet (fine by me) — it’s a pleasant no-b.s. atmosphere with what exactly what you need to brew, both in terms of ingredients and equipment. Let’s Brew also offers classes for brewing, and have space for folks to brew there — if you’re not set up on your own.
Challenge: ride your bike to get your goods. They have stellar bike parking, as long as only two bikes are present at a time…

I came here to get some supplies for making beer because Bridgeview is closed on Mon and Tue. No one was in the store, but the lady acted like she was doing me a great favor when she got the supplies.
Prices were the highest I have seen in Oregon.
This place is small and looks like they make most of their money off the beer making parties they do.
Next time I will just wait until Bridgeview is open. Their prices are lower and they don’t sell stuff with a side of attitude.
This is NOT a place to go unless you know how to make beer. They will not be very helpful.

I got into brewing at this store and they’ve been very nice to me ever since. I enjoy the no pressure atmosphere, the wide range of products, and the friendly (but not too friendly) staff.
While you can find some better deals online for starter kits, I haven’t yet found an online store that actually takes the time to answer my questions about the hobby– whether it be specific attributes of hops and grains, or whether a certain product is worth my time or not.
The only downside for me is the location– SE 82^nd is only for bad auto lots and meth loving hookers.

In addition to being the most expensive homebrew supply store I know if, Let’s Brew is also the most stressful and has (most of the time) the least knowledgeable staff. This is NOT the place to go if you are an inexperienced brewer. The proof: a 5-​star review below explains that «hops» make a «higher alcohol» beer, this is plain wrong, and it is the kind of misinformation the lady who usually works here will give you. I was an inexperienced brewer when I used to go to Let’s Brew, but even I knew that much of the stuff she told me was wrong — now that I am an experienced all-​grain brewer, I know that almost everything she told me was flat wrong.
They do brew on-​premises, but the way they do it is by having you steep all your specialty grains and use their freshly-​mashed American Pale Ale base wort. This basically means the «all-​grain» beers you brew there are glorified extract brews. Also, after you go through the extreme expense of brewing one of these things (they charge 25% more than anywhere else in town), they pitch plain tubes of white labs into the carboys. This means you end up under-​pitching every time. Then they don’t do secondary fermentations, no matter how big of a beer you brew there. This is just plain crap lazy brewing.
Worse still, the lady at the counter is grating and a little rude. I left a 6 gal batch of beer fermenting there because I just didn’t have the energy to deal with her.
Worse yet, you have to work around their schedule all the time. If this was the last homebrew supply store in the world, I would quit the hobby.

This is a nice little beer making store. They also have a space and equipment for brewing the beer there. The people working there are kind of hit or miss. There is one guy working there (I don’t recall his name) that really knows his stuff and if you have an idea about a beer you want to make, he will help you through creating a recipe. The store looks too small when you first come in, but they have a great selection of equipment and ingredients. The only problem I have is the last recipe I brewed from their cookbook didn’t turn out well (too much unconverted malt left in the beer).

This is a fantastic idea! If you are looking to get into brewing this is the place to start. The owner’s walk you through every step of the brewing process and leave you with instructions to take home. They also sell all supplies and ingredients you will need. We are picking up our batch of beer next Thursday! The owner said her and her husband started the business because when her husband was looking to brew he really had no-​one to hold his hand, just an instruction book and it didn’t feel good enough. There are two burners in the small kitchen which makes it perfect for a date! You each pick a beer you want to brew and you make them side by side. It is really fun and hands on! Totally worth doing with someone you want to get to know better! During the hour that your hops are boiling you get to pick from 6 different house brewed concoctions to drink… all part of the entire tab.
The costs for a 5 gallon batch are:
ingredients: $ 25-​$ 45 depending on how complicated you want to get and what alcohol % you want (meaning more hops)
kitchen fee: $ 45 for each person
Our total was $ 126 for 10 gallons of beer (keep in mind a ½ barrel keg hold 15 gallons and gives you 124 pints) So you are getting approx 83 glasses of beer total, a great date and information enough to go home and brew your own beer!