Hello everybody. Here's a little info about my store.
I'm a local homebrew shop located in Northern Virginia. So I certainly should have all of the "normal" items for brewing and winemaking that you'd expect. And here's a link to one of my main distributors so you can peruse this catalog and know that I can get anything in there:
http://www.ldcarlson.com/public catalog/ptoc.htm
You will see wort chillers, grains, extracts, hops, and more in that catalog.
In addition to the usual stuff, however, I am of course an avid meadmaker - and that's why I've been a part of the Gotmead community for some time. It also means that I carry some things in the shop that most homebrew shops don't have. Notably, in small vial amounts:
Fermaid K
Go-ferm
DAP
Sometimes honey (see below).
Wine Shippers (see below).
To answer some specific questions that popped up:
While I don't have access to the Blichman tanks, I can get some variable capacity tanks. In fact, I have a pair of 700L tanks in my garage right now that will soon be used for some mead. Here is the list of tanks:
http://www.ldcarlson.com/public catalog/Chapter 04.htm#Stainless Steel Tanks
WW is quite correct that I cannot get 5g packets of every type of dried yeast. I can get 500g packages of just about any dried yeast. In addition to the dried, I carry White Labs and Wyeast liquid yeasts. All liquid yeasts are shipped with a cold pack free of charge.
WW, I don't have a walk in freezer, but I have 5 refrigerators and freezers for hops, yeast, etc... how large are the concentrate containers?
I'll have to look into Fedex to Canada. In the past, I've only used UPS and USPS for mail order.
As for honey, it's not a regular item that I carry. I do have relationships with many beekeepers and will occassionally do a bulk purchase for myself and customers. For instance, last summer I picked up about a dozen pails of Persimmon and Sourwood honey from North Carolina. Prices and availability vary wildly, however.
I do stock flip-top bottles in .5L and 1L sizes. They come in clear, brown, and blue. I don't normally ship bottles, however, due to the constant breakage problems. Perhaps exceptions could be made for Gotmead customers.
Speaking of bottles, I have a question for you guys. As I mentioned above, I carry "wine shippers". These consist of a package and box set that allows you to safely ship wine bottles. I currently have 3-bottle pulp paper type shippers. Styrofoam ones are also available. Sizes available include 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 bottles.
I just started carrying these. Is there interest in the shippers? I'd like to know what bottle capacity people would be most interested in. Naturally, it's possible to put less bottles in the box.
Cheers,
Jay