JayB: Where did you move and who is your LHBS? I'm mainly using What's Brewing in Palatine and there is a Brew & Grow in Roselle that is close to a couple of my customers so I will stop there occasionally. Both have been solid.
The one thing I do not care for is that there is no nutrient pack in the Omega yeast. I have made 5% ales with swollen packs of 1056 with no starter. I wouldn't do that with a lager but ales, yes. So I used the West Coast Ale (similar to 1056) without using a starter and got burned. I am currently using Omega Bayern Lager yeast (2L starter) and it's been excellent. It's supposed to be Augustiner's yeast and using it in a helles or dunkel is really nice. I have another pack of the West Coast Lager that will be started as well. Those are the only two strains I have experience with.
I'm over in Batavia, so my local place is in St. Charles, appropriately called "home brew shop."
the guy at the shop said that Omega ships with 2x as much live cells as wyeast, so it sounds like a good deal if that's true. I am also kind of leary of not having a smack pack to see the true activity.
So, sounds like a little hit or miss?