William's Kits Have no Specialty Grains

**triangulum33** · 10-19-2010, 02:10 AM

Why do William's Brewing kits have no grains? Do they supply LME that has the malt and specialty grain extracts?

Suthrncomfrt1884 · 10-19-2010, 04:33 AM

Most likely. Basic extract kits hardly ever come with grains.

**thataintchicken** · 10-19-2010, 04:47 AM

My understanding is they blend extracts to get the desired results.
Ease of operation for the kit purchasers.

I've used their kits in the past with good results, I've usually added some steeping grains to get the color or flavors I desired.

They are a good company and the kits are solid.

Marko73 · 10-19-2010, 12:50 PM

+1

I have used their kits in the past and a lot of them were much better than kits that came with specialty grains. I think their malt extract is not just base extract; they actually make it with different grains to get the desired flavor profile. I know one of the malt extracts is made with a lot of crystal.

For example, this is the description of their 'Pale Ale' from their website:

Our Pale Ale extract is mashed from the finest two row European pale ale malt, and is ideal for English and American style Pale Ale and Bitter. Compared with our German Pils extract, this one has a slightly darker color and a hint of caramel in the malt flavor. An aromatic, rich flavored pale extract with a 'just mashed' character for ale and IPA styles.

**triangulum33** · 10-19-2010, 03:07 PM

Good info! Thanks!

I was wondering how their beers would turn out with no grains....

The ingredient list for their Triple says:
Includes 12 pounds of German extract and pale beet sugar, flavoring and aromatic hops, 125 ml of liquid ale yeast, and corn sugar for carbonation.

Marko73 · 10-19-2010, 03:13 PM

One thing to note about their kits is that they do not label the hops and won't name them besides what is in the description. They consider their recipes propietary (sp?) information. I have seen some folks on the forum frustrated by this so I just wanted to let you know.

BUT, if this doesn't bother you, I think these are the best kits out there.

**triangulum33** · 10-19-2010, 03:55 PM

Thanks Marko.
I'm pretty sure that if I went to all the effort of coming up with a recipe, I dont think I would list the ingredients either.

Suthrncomfrt1884 · 10-19-2010, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by triangulum33

Thanks Marko.
I'm pretty sure that if I went to all the effort of coming up with a recipe, I dont think I would list the ingredients either.

I suppose I can agree with that if you're selling your kits. But, there's a lot of people on this forum and all over the internet that share recipes. Northernbrewer.com even posts their recipes for anyone to see. I'm not against buying a kit if I'm wanting to brew without thinking, but I want to know what's in it before I buy it. I can usually tell whether or not I'll like the beer by what's in it.

**david_42** · 10-20-2010, 07:44 PM

I'm also a bit puzzled by their attitude. Since they are sending you custom extracts, you wouldn't be able to duplicate the recipe anyway.

Been a while since I made one of their kits, but I've enjoyed them in the past.

**Shooter** · 10-20-2010, 07:55 PM

I wanted to brew up something for the holidays and ordered one of their kits a while back because I didn't have time to do a full AG batch. Just wanted an extract kit I could do on the stove. I was also a bit surprised that they didn't have any grain in there and that the hops weren't really labelled. I was also expecting to get dry yeast for some reason, because it wasn't really clear, but they sent a smack pack as part of the kit.