Ferment Station Inc — Local services in Knoxville

I'm aggravated and disappointed. Firstly: I've been a regular customer since I moved to the Alcoa area five years ago. I've purchased most of my needs for brewing and meading here since then, and for those five years have been very pleased with the experience.

Today I came in to buy a Cornelius keg, tap, CO2 bottle, and all the fittings/clamps/hoses/regulators, etc to start kegging my beer. I also needed a selection of chemicals/yeast/spare oddments for meading. I've never kegged before, so I had a lot of questions. Not wanting to buy hardware that I subsequently wouldn't want or need, I spent a good bit of time looking around and taking notes about the total price of the things I needed vs the things I wanted. Shortly before I was ready to start piling a couple of hundred bucks worth of gear up at the counter, I was accosted rudely and asked why I didn't just get my items already. I have always known I can buy all these things online for much cheaper. The reason I shop here is because I want a place I can ask questions and poke around. Past experience had given me the misapprehension my curiosity was welcome as long as I was buying stuff.

Being give the verbal equivalent of a "bum's rush" like I was some malingerer instead of a customer who has spent money at this store regularly for years made it clear that I and my business were not especially welcome, or only welcome on the poor-customer-service-terms I can get much cheaper elsewhere.

nods So noted. I still want a local shop...but one where I am not made to feel like I am interrupting things for the privilege of buying from you.

nods again And the fact that no attempt was made to reach out, apologize, or even just acknowledge my response here since makes it clear that my experience was not a fluke. The experience at another local shop was very different; questions and a protracted exploration of options were encouraged, even though I was a new customer whose regular purchases were not assured.

A pity. I hate changing shopping habits once I find a place I’m...

This is my first visit to ferment station and it was a great visit overall. Was created by Bella who is a very sweet dog and her Pa was very sweet as well in answering any questions that we had and or helping us with what we needed. We did find an alternative to what we needed which was the one gallon glass containers to store our dry goods. We wouldn't normally come in for something that doesn't have to do with three but this time around we did and we plan to hopefully Brew in the future because we miss it but the store was overall very clean and organized. I appreciate the room of malts that is separated from the rest of the store. We shall return but for now we had a great visit and five stars to this store. We love supporting smaller businesses and we are glad we...

July 24th 2020- About 8 or 9 people in this small space and at least 5 not wearing masks at all. We waited in line with over $100 worth of home brew equipment behind the person in front of us who was not wearing a mask. One of the owners, the wife was not wearing hers over her nose and speaking with two customers that were not wearing masks. The husband was wearing his behind the counter. No mask enforcement at all even though at the door was a posting about wearing one. I guess the owners care more about sales than the health and safety of their customers. I'll order online somewhere else instead of shopping local here. Their loss and I urge you not to shop here until the law is enforced on their end. I've been coming here for years but not anymore....