WHILE many businesses have felt the full brunt of the COVID-19 storm, some have experienced their best trading to date.
Mildura home brewing supply store Ezy Brew is one of them, raking in four times as much as it would make in an average month on Monday.
Store owner Deb Scase said she was “pretty gobsmacked” and had never experienced anything like it in the nine years she’d had the business.
“Friday is when it started and I guess everyone just went into panic mode from there,” she said.
“Dextrose, which is sugar, and the yeast have been our biggest sellers. And quite a few beer kits have been sold.”
Ms Scase said she had also received an unusual order from a customer in Broken Hill.
“Someone called up and ordered a still,” she said.
“People usually come in and just buy it, so for someone to ring me up, pre-pay for it and have it freighted up to them is a bit different.
“We’ve had a lot of inquiries about them. I think people have been using stills to make alcohol, which can be used to make sanitiser.”
Staff member Dave Stewart said he suspected the rush was due to fear alcohol outlets like Dan Murhpy’s would not be classed as essential services and close.
“Even when it was announced that they would remain open, people were still going gangbusters and they probably still are,” he said.
“And I guess people who usually brew at home regarded us as non-essential, so if they wanted to brew over the next few months then they needed to get some supplies.”
He said while it was easy to brew from home, producing an enjoyable product was challenging.
“If you want to brew something that tastes horrible, then that’s really easy,” he said.
“But if you want to brew something that is fairly close to what you can buy, then you need a little bit more equipment and care.”
Ms Scase said the store would remain open until it was forced to close.
“We’re still getting freight in, so we can still get supplies for people.”
