AHS 20th Anniversary Reviews (LME)

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Mar 5, 2011
Messages
21
Reaction score
1
Location
Columbus
For anyone who pulled the trigger on these kits back in March, share your opinions so far. Today I am reviewing:

Anniversary Blonde
Brewed: 4/02
Bottled: 4/17 (no secondary)
Yeast: White Labs Kolsch
Clarifiers: 1tsp Irish Moss 15 min
-Cleared up nicely to a rich golden color in the bottle. Good carbonation. It pours with little head that dissipates quickly, almost like soda. Very light in body as expected. A nice malty sweetness initially and finishes with bready flavors. Not bad for a blonde, and a nice easy drinker for summer (if summer ever gets here).

Anniversary Kolsch
Brewed: 3/28
Racked: 4/02
Bottled: 4/17
Yeast: White Labs Kolsch
Clarifiers: 1tsp Irish Moss 5 min (forgot to add it at 15)
Gelatin Finings- 1TBSP in secondary for 5 Days
-A very clear golden amber hue. Good carbonation that creates a white frothy foamy head. Be careful pouring this one or your glass may look like like ones on the front of a St. Pauli Girl label-beautifully creamy and spilling out the top:D. A light floral aroma with a hint of malt in the background. Very smooth, the finish is crisp and short. It leaves lacing marks all the way down my Sam Adams Glass. This is the way beer should look, taste, and feel. Fantastic!
 
I got the Amber kit and the Stout kit. Right now I am in Tempe Az. As soon as I get home, I'm planning on brewing.

NRS
 
The Wit was a big hit at a party and was gone in a couple of hours. I have the IPA on tap right now... very clean and simple, but the aroma has faded quickly. I would probably dry hop it a bit more next time, possibly in the keg. My SWMBO hates IPAs but this was mild enough that she enjoyed it.
 
Working through the bottles from 3 weeks ago now. They are awesome! Super crisp and summer tasty. Added 1 lb of honey at flame out to the kit and it added great aroma and flavor. Will be doing this one again for sure..
 
I've got another 2 1/2 weeks to go for my AG porter (with cocoa powder & dried ancho chilis) to finish carbonating.

I can't wait to get started on kegging.
 
I have the IPA fermenting as of Tuesday. The ingredients on the web didn't list any dry hopping hops so I ordered extra falconers flight. However, once getting the kit I realized it came with Cascade to dry hop. So I have a few more days to decide what to do...any suggestions?
 
Dunkelweizen was bottled last week and tasted great going in, can't wait till it is fluffily carbed and ready. APA is about 2 weeks from bottling.
 
I have the IPA fermenting as of Tuesday. The ingredients on the web didn't list any dry hopping hops so I ordered extra falconers flight. However, once getting the kit I realized it came with Cascade to dry hop. So I have a few more days to decide what to do...any suggestions?

Use em both?
 
Maibock lagering, kolsch in fermenter and Oktoberfest in a couple weeks. I snuck a couple maibocks and they tasted great, nice maltyness and good clean head that stood up a long time. Can't wait for kolsch on a sunny day bbq'ing.
 
Porter mini mash, transferred it to the secondary to add some coffee bean to it. Sampled strait out of the primary tasted fantastic at 5 weeks.
 
The IPA turned out great, been drinking that for a couple of weeks. Bottled the Amber last weekend, can't wait to try it.
 
I picked up the Belgian Golden, despite the bad comments on the site. Anyone brew this yet?
 
I picked up the Belgian Golden, despite the bad comments on the site. Anyone brew this yet?

I got this too. It was a birthday present from my dad.
He sent the Belgian Golden Ale, American Pale Ale & Irish Red and the appropriate White Labs Yeast to boost.:fro: I've been trolling the boards to find reviews for all 3.
 
I did the blonde and the IPA, and just sampled them both last night. Both have been in bottles about 2 weeks I think.

The IPA tasted pretty mild for an IPA, but it was quite tasty. I had heard some people say the falconer's flights were pretty harsh for late additions, but I thought it was pleasant. Definitely nothing too intense, and I would even venture to call it an APA instead, but I am not really wise enough to make that call. Didn't get as good of a taste of the blonde, because I was sipping on the IPA first, so my pallete was to hopped up to taste much in the blonde, but my first sip before I had to much of the IPA was good. Very light in body, and decent tasting, but very little aroma or head retention if I remember correctly.

For 20 bucks I think they are great deals. I fermented the IPA with 05 and blonde with notty.
 
The Lemon Wheat is awesome!!!!! Used the alcohol boost. Everyone, including SWMBO loves it. Will order again!
 
Made the kolsch today, going to ferment at room temp72 my buddy has done so and the taste has been okay Thas my only kolsch to drink to date.... Made the lemon wheat an this is a great beer I can't wait to order more... The swmbo actually wanted to help make this one and kept asking web it would be ready!!
 
I did the Wit and added the zest of some key limes to it that my friend grows in Key Largo. Gonna take it to the FL Keys to the sandbar for memorial day weekend. Its kegged and I've started "sampling" it for quality assurance. Tasty stuff for a Wit with lime in it. I'm a stout guy but this seemed like a good gimmicky brew to take to Islamorada so I gave it a shot.
 
Has anyone done the Irish Red? I don't know which I kit I want to get and I'm thinking of grabbing the Irish Red this weekend to get the glasses with it. (I'm a sucker for glassware, I can't help it!) Couple of my buddies like Smithwicks so I figured that's be a good one to have at the house. Thoughts?
 
Has anyone done the Irish Red? I don't know which I kit I want to get and I'm thinking of grabbing the Irish Red this weekend to get the glasses with it. (I'm a sucker for glassware, I can't help it!) Couple of my buddies like Smithwicks so I figured that's be a good one to have at the house. Thoughts?

I brewed the Irish Red PM a few weeks ago. Its a week in the bottle, so I can't say what the finished product will be like, but the sample off the fermenter was promising.
 
I brewed the IPA, very solid. For more taste, a little more hoppiness would have been nice, but I am definitely a hop head.
 
I'm looking at getting the dunkelweizen soon. One person said it was good on here, but anybody else have any opinions on it?
 
Can't really tell its an extract, but after one week in bottle, it is one great beer. Beautiful head and smooth tasting. Unfortunately, I brewed with a friend and only got 23 bottles out of this kit. Will try to convert to all grain and keep around all summer.
 
Just curious if anyone has tried the amber ale, and how it's turned out? It's actually my very first brew, and I'm on day 7.
 
Kolsch tasted great. Perfect summer beer, straw colored with a slight lemon flavor to it. Poured with good white head and had a clean smooth taste. Up next will be the Oktoberfest.
 
my mailbock is in the primary bubblin' away right now. it's almost ready for the D-rest though. this is my first lager, so a "cheap" kit was just the ticket for me to learn on and, as mentioned, i got free glasses. woot!
 
Back
Top