See these posts for background on the Easybrew saga:

Easybrew.co.uk Problems

Action regarding Easybrew.co.uk Problems

Easybrew.co.uk – Order Problems Resolved

Easybrew.co.uk – Developments & Advice

Various commentors have noticed over the last few days/weeks that the Easybrew online shop is “down for maintenance”. Whether it ever reappears from this maintenance remains to be seen, although they do still appear to have been having problems fulfilling orders recently.

My advice would be to not attempt to shop with them if/when they reappear on the net. Also note that the Easybrew company set up a new website at http://www.homebrewingandwinemaking.co.uk/ so avoid this one as well.

I hope everyone that has outstanding orders/money owed gets there problem resolved. If the company has gone bust then you may need to register with the administrators as a creditor to get anything back.

My recommendation for a good homebrew shop online would be Hop & Grape. In my experience they have delivered goods very quickly and have let me know promptly if any item is out of stock (only happened once!)

I hope to post more actual homebrewing information/stories here as of now, and would welcome comments/questions from anyone.

Thanks,

Graham

EDIT 6th MAy 2009: Thanks to this comment from DD for alerting me to the fact that Annette Ferre (Easybrew proprietor) has been declared bankrupt. See this excerpt from the London Gazette (see here [PDF] for the actual notice, right-hand column, second from bottom).

Graham

As always, I’m sorry to hear of the various problems people are having with Easybrew.co.uk. I’m glad that people are finding this site and getting (and giving) advice from myself and the other commentors. However, there have been a few posts/comments over the last few weeks that I have had to remove due to the potential legal implications of their content.

Please, don’t post details regarding the Easybrew owner’s home address or telephone number. While I appreciate that this information is fairly easily available online, I don’t want some crackpot with a grudge doing something stupid and siting me as a source of the information! Keep your actions against Easybrew in the proper legal channels (Citizens Advice, Trading Standards, Police, etc.)

Above all, let us know of any success stories in getting goods or refunds. It would be nice to have some positive news around here for a change!

Cheers!

Graham

Firstly, thanks for all your comments about issues/problems you have been having with Easybrew. I think my site is starting to appear in search results alongside the actual easybrew.co.uk site, so I am seeing a lot of traffic at the moment!

As you may have read in my posts last year and early this year regarding Easybrew, I placed an order about 15 months ago and only received half of it. About 6 months later I was given a refund for the rest of the order. I was satisfied with this outcome.

I am now getting about 10 comments a day (See here and here) about easybrew through this blog, as well as 4 or 5 private emails a week from people with orders that are “missing in action”, or who have been promised refunds that have never materialised. See the advice below as to what to do.

If you have placed an order which you haven’t received, or are wanting a refund and not getting any joy from Easybrew over the phone/email you should send a request to them in writing (registered/recorded post) for a refund of the money owed to you (Keep a copy for yourself). In this letter set a date/time by which you expect to have heard from them (say 10 – 14 working days). This should get things moving.

Good luck to you all, and let me know how you get on!

Cheers,

Graham

I have had time to brew (and drink, yay!) 2 batches of beer in the interim. The first was a very simple light bitter using 1lb of light DME, a handful of hops and a gallon of water to make a refreshing brew. The 2nd was virtually identical, with the addition of a handful of crystal malt to add a little more body and flavour. I’m in the process of trying to find my “standard” brew.

With regard to all the messages about Easybrew that I get: People with order problems need to contact Annette Ferre directly on her personal email address, annette.ferre@btopenworld.com

Cheers

So onto the next beer(s)…

Cheers!

Recipe (makes 1 imperial gallon):

• ~10oz light dry malt extract
• 8oz British Crystal malt (steeped)
• 0.5oz Chocolate malt
• 10grams Fuggles hops (30mins)
• 5grams Fuggles hops (5 mins)

Grain was steeped as the water was heated, then removed as boiling point approached. DME was then added and boiling begins. Hops were added at the time intervals mentioned (total boil time was 60 mins).

The wort was then cooled to about 30 degrees C, and then poured into the glass demi-john. When it was cool enough (~ 20 deg. C) the yeast was added (Windsor dry). I had a blow-off hose on the fermenter at first as the activity was vigorous for the first 24 hours or so. I have now replaced this with a standard airlock. Check out the photos of the fermentation action below.

Now a close up of the lovely, yeasty bubbles…

I’ll bottle this at the weekend. Now, I must order some more ingredients.

Cheers

Stoutarama (Makes 1 UK Gallon)

1lb Dark DME

4oz Crystal Malt (crushed)

4oz Roasted Barley (crushed)

0.25oz (10g ish metric?) Fuggles Hops (AA 5%)

The grains were steeped in the water as it came up to boil and then removed. The DME was added and the boil began. With 15 mins left I added the hops. Simple!

The brew is currently bubbling away nicely, using Safale S04 Ale yeast (really fast!)

Check back to find out how it turned out!

Cheers!

I have been issued with a refund for the amount outstanding on my original order, and Annette has promised to send me the goods I was missing as well.

I have contacted everyone else who had a complaint, in order that they get in touch with Annette.  If you have  a problem contact details are:

Email: annette.ferre@easybrew.co.uk

Telephone: 01425 479972

Good news all round!

Now I can get back to some serious brewing. A stout next methinks…

Cheers!

UPDATE 11th March 2008: The information contained in the following post is no longer relevant as far as my dealings with Easybrew go. My problem has been completely sorted now, as have those of other people who contacted me (as far as I know). Please see this post for further information

OK, it seems there are a lot of people out there who are having various problems with Easybrew such as non-delivery of goods, non-existent refunds etc.

Here is what I think is the best course of action.

Easybrew are based in Hampshire, so I think it would be appropriate for us to contact Trading Standards in Hampshire with regard to our problems. If you do a Google search for ‘hampshire trading standards’ you can get to this page on the Hampshire County Council website which gives the contact details for Trading Standards in Hampshire.

Details for Trading Standards

Contact Details

Contact:
Trading Standards

Telephone:
01962 833620

Email:
rsadvice@hants.gov.uk

Address:
Montgomery House, Monarch Way
Winchester, SO22 5PW

I think what I will do is email Hampshire Trading Standards with a sort of general story telling them that I am in contact with a number of people who have had problems with Easybrew. I will suggest to them that we all send them written details of our exact problems (amounts owed, goods outstanding etc.) via post (maybe all together in one document?).

I think that in order for this to be dealt with swiftly, I will need to provide them with contact details (just an email address initially) for each of you that has a problem.

If everyone here seems to agree then I will do this by Friday of this week (29/02/2008).

Please confirm your agreement VIA EMAIL along with you preferred contact email address.

Email me: graham DOT dinsdale AT tiscali DOT co DOT uk

Thanks,

Graham