Hoses and the Magic Question

Hoses are essential for the brewing process.  They make it much easier for moving liquid, than it would be by using a pitcher, or, say, a cup :)

You would think that Phoenix, being the 6th  (or 5th) largest city in the Country, we could get pretty much anything.  Apparently food grade hoses are the exception to this.  Actually, there is ONE place in town (Hose Power on 29th Ave) which carries in-stock beverage/vintners hose.

Lessons to learn:
1) order enough hose so you don't have to do any panic buying.
2) have the hoses BANDED, do not use worm-drive hose clamps.  I'm not sure why, but every brewer I see says it.
3) GET A PRICE UP FRONT.  Hose is expensive.  $15 a foot for Goodyear Vintner.  I got a knock-off at $11.46 a foot.

I also wasted 2 hours at the hose store, plus an additional hour of drive time.

One of the counter guys said "Wow man, you've been here a long time.  I even went to lunch and came BACK!"

The problem is, I brought in a hose with simple, $12 barbed fittings.  The guy at the counter said "Do you want me to put the fittings on them for you?" I said "Wow, you have those in stock?  Cool, sure!"

Here is what WASN'T said: "We are going to custom fabricate pressure fit stainless steel hose fittings for you which cost $180 each"

After waiting 2 hours, he says to me "That will be $1028.79"

I LITERALLY laughed out loud thinking he was making a joke.  No, no he wasn't.

It was quite a scene at the counter when I had 4 guys working on how to reduce the price- which they really did try to do.  The sad part is, it wasted their time, it wasted my time, and now they have 2, 10' brewery hoses sitting on the shelf which will most likely never sell.  You see, the fittings are GLUED in place and are not able to be removed and re-used.  And they are $500, 10 foot hoses.  I am the only brewery in town who uses hoses that size.

I went in expecting to pay $500 for 2, 10' hoses with fittings and 1 additional piece to cut up back at the brewery.  There was no WAY I could float even one dollar over that number.  I mean come on.  That was crazy.

SO- as with everything- ASK the price first, kids.  Number one question- "How much does it cost?"