One of the perks of going to a local home brew supply store like Niagara Tradition Homebrew is that you can chat up the people that work there for hints and tips. The crew at Niagara Tradition all know their shit pretty well, and the advice they have given me has certainly helped out – especially when it comes to substitutions of ingredients. You don’t really get that when you go to an online homebrew store. I could probably call and get someone who would be willing to chat with me, but it’s not as personal. Some of you locals might remember that Kegworks, an online (but local) drinking supply store – had a brick and mortar down the street from Niagara Tradition. They focused more on tricking out your bar with exotic drinkware, cocktail ingredients, knickknacks, books, kegertators, bar railing etc. They also had a portion of their shop carved out for homebrewing supplies – making it a serious competitor of Niagara Tradition. I was pretty surprised when they chose a location so close to a store that pioneered the boom of homebrewing prior to the boom of homebrewing. I will confess I visited both locations – Niagara Tradition for my homebrew supplies, and Kegworks for my cocktail supplies. But one thing that Kegworks did that Niagara Tradition doesn’t do – is fill CO2 tanks. Well, as some of you might also remember, Kegworks shut down their brick and mortar to resume their focus on online sales. And guess what happened after the company picnic when I went to carbonate my recent batch of Gruit? (Rosemary’s Baby Gruit – post coming soon). I ran out of CO2!!

I don’t know where to get CO2 refills – I know Irish Carbonic & Propane fills them, but that’s a hike for a Northtowns guy. So what did I do? I called Niagara Tradition. I knew the answer, but I asked anyways – ‘do you fill CO2 tanks?’  The answer was ‘No’ but it was followed up with a couple options – one of which was open later than normal places – and it’s not what you think!

Ladies and gentlement: Big Catch Bait & Tackle.  2287 Niagara St.

I know what you’re thinking – ‘What the hell is a bait & tackle place doing selling CO2? Well, look at the picture above a little closer – ‘PAINTBALL SUPPLIES’!

What’s a super father-sonny thing to do? Fish. What do sons also like? The idea of guns. This place Lures the father-son combos into the shop with Lures, then hits them off with the high markup side hobby – Paintball..  

This place is the Niagara Tradition of fishing.

$20, and the guy filled my tank on the spot – That’s my CO2 place now!