Main Brew has a great selection of grain, yeast, equipment, and cold beer ready to drink! However, I went to this establishment to buy ingredients for a 3 gallon batch and was at one point talking to an employee about the diversity of grain and yeast, the conversation got pretty in depth, and we talked a while, roughly 20 minutes. That is until the owner or manager (don't know which, but my gut says owner) comes over and right in front of us (no discretion at all!) basically says ""forget this guy, he is only buying a 3 gallon batch worth of grain and one packet of yeast... so stop talking to him. We got orders to fill"" at this point the worker is clearly in trouble, hangs his head low, and gives me the cold shoulder from thereafter whereas prior we were really clicking, he was imparting vast knowledge on me, I was very grateful, and really digging Main Brew. So basically I feel that this place has great selection, great staff... but unfortunately a money hungry, let's move lots and lots of grain, but disregard community, and disregard the art of the brew type of boss. The soulless feeling of â??all that matters is the moneyâ?? emanating from the owner hit me hard and has been really bothering me for weeks now. I won't name any of the other brew shops around town but at these other places I have always felt a part of a community that appreciated the art of the brew first and was happy to make money only second. Keep Portland Weird, keep people like the boss man at Main Brew from bastardizing our diverse and vibrant brew community where we look out for each other, converse with one another, learn together, and grow together. I partly came to this city for the beer culture, years ago. It has since grown vastly which is awesome but let us please push back against those who want to rob it of its genuine worth and corporatize our beer!
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