Most store owners are experienced homebrewers who are knowledgeable about brewing ingredients, equipment, and techniques. And they like to talk brewing; that’s why they’re in the business. So the next time you go shopping, ask the proprietor a few questions. Here are eight that will help guarantee you get the best products as well as a bit of free advice.

Would you look over my recipe?

Bring your recipe with you to the homebrew shop and ask the retailer if the recipe looks like it makes sense. It’s not unusual for a recipe that’s been rewritten and exchanged to contain an error. One brewer, for instance, had a recipe for brown ale that called for three pounds of black patent malt. Fortunately, the retailer saw it and recognized that the proper amount was three ounces.

There’s another problem that arises, too. “Often, especially with recipes exchanged over the Internet, the recipe contains substitutions that were made as a matter of necessity,” explains Paul Dyster of Niagara Tradition, a homebrew shop in Niagara, N.Y.

“If, for example, the person got the recipe from someone who lives in an area with only a small supplier, some of the things in their recipe may already be substitutions. You have to go back to figure out what they could have used had it been available to them.”

According to Dyster, customers often bring in standard recipes from popular homebrew books. He’d like homebrewers to ask, “What could I do to change this recipe that people have made 1,000 times before?”

Homebrew shops are also a good place to obtain recipes. If you decide on a particular style or even if you’d just like to experiment, inquire at your homebrew shop for a good recipe. Often you can get one the shop owner has tested and reworked to near perfection.

How is this product used?

You find a British dry malt and a Dutch dry malt. What’s the difference? Dyster says he’d love to hear a customer ask for an explanation of when to use each. “This particular Dutch dry malt finishes at a higher gravity and retains much more body,” he explains. “It’s an excellent choice if you’re looking to retain the residual sweetness but not if you’re looking for a dry finish.”

Similarly, you find a variety of yeast cultures. Which one is best suited for your brewing environment? “Ask if the particular culture is appropriate, if it will work at the temperature in your house,” Dyster suggests. While freshness and quality both warrant consideration when you buy, first you must make sure you’re buying the correct product for your needs.

Is this an all-malt extract?

With all the time and energy that goes into homebrewing, you want to make the best beer possible. This, of course, requires using quality products.

“There are a lot of off-brands out there that are of inferior quality,” explains Jim McHale of Beer Unlimited in Malvern, Pa. Further muddling the process is the fact that prices do not always reflect quality. “Off-brands are not all that much cheaper,” McHale cautions.

Major canned-extract brands provide high-quality malt syrup. Most brands are 100 percent malt, but some off-brands may have a percentage of sugar syrup. It’s not necessarily bad to brew with an extract that’s less than 100 percent malt but, says Sam Wammack of The Homebrewery, based in Ozark, Mo., “It’s important for people to brew with 100 percent malt extract if that’s what they’re paying for.”

When purchasing extracts, you should also look for a “sell-by” date. Canned malt extract has a long shelf life, but it doesn’t last forever. And as it gets older, it loses some of its fermentability. That means you can still brew with it, and you can still make good beer with it. However, your beer might not come out as well as it would have with a fresh can.

How old is too old? Many retailers agree that extract syrup will easily last two years. It’s hard to say what the outer limit is, but one extract manufacturer pegged it at 10 years.

If you find yourself with a dateless can, the best thing to do is ask the retailer how fast the cans turn over. If nothing sits on the shelf more than a month, you can feel fairly confident you’re purchasing a fresh product.

About the grain...

When it comes to grain, the questions to ask vary according to which type of grain you are requesting. If you buy pre-crushed grain, inquire as to whether the grain is crushed to order.

“I’ve known a few homebrew shops to pre-crush grain; that’s a bad deal because it gets stale,” Wammack warns.

If it’s not properly packaged, pre-crushed grain will start to lose freshness after about a week. The problem is that it picks up moisture from the air. Some pre-crushed grain is vacuum packed in plastic, which does keep it fresh. But pre-crushed grain shouldn’t be left in open barrels.

For maximum freshness only buy pre-crushed grain that is crushed to order or vacuum packed, and hold off on buying it (or opening the package) until right before you’re going to brew.

You should also ask how the grain is stored. Jeff Mellem of Brewers Resource, Camarillo, Calif., says his company stores the grain in large bins that are purged with carbon dioxide to maintain the pressure and prevent contamination. Storing grain in bins prevents moisture from getting to the grain, a problem that occurs when the grain is stored in sacks.

About the hops...

One thing all retailers agree on is the importance of fresh hops. “If the hops don’t smell fresh, they’re not,” McHale advises. Unfortunately, if the hops are stored in a nitrogen-purged foil bag, you won’t know how they smell until after you’ve purchased them. In this case ask the retailer how long the hops have been in the store. Refrigerated, both pellet and leaf varieties have a shelf life of about two years.

You always want to hear that the hops are refrigerated. Hops need to be protected from heat and air so if they are not in the fridge, go elsewhere.

About the yeast...

Yeast has a much shorter refrigerated shelf life than hops. It lasts four months from the packaging date, which should always be printed on the package. If the package doesn’t have a date on it, don’t buy it. Similarly, avoid the packets that come with cans of malt extract. Instead, buy the yeast separately to ensure freshness.

And while you want fresh yeast, you may annoy your retailer if you’re digging through all the packages trying to find the one that arrived yesterday as opposed to two weeks ago. You do, of course, want to inquire as to the strain of yeast, as different styles of beer require different strains.

What changes can I make to get better beer?

A knowledgeable retailer can help you make adjustments if your last batch was a bit off. If you can explain exactly what the problem was (for instance, not full bodied) the retailer can point you in the right direction for next time. It’s a good idea to bring a bottle of your last batch with you to let the retailer sample the beer. This will help the retailer best discern where you went wrong. Most likely, a little fine tuning is all that stands between you and perfection!