Austin Homebrew Supply "Kickers"

Hey folks. I noticed that if you order a kit from Austin Homebrew Supply, you have the option of adding a 1% alcohol "kicker" for $1.99. Normally, if you want to bump up the ABV by a percent you add 1 lb of dextrose, right?

So why does AHS charge $1.49 for a pound of dextrose, but $1.99 for a 1% kicker?

Anybody know? Does it include some DME in there? Or are they just taking advantage of newbs who are too uninformed to realize that you can buy the same thing for less elsewhere on their site?

I hesitated to post this. I know they're a popular supplier and I don't mean to make waves, but it just struck me as a little sketchy. Hopefully there's a perfectly good explanation for it though....


Cheers!

Never bought one - I just drive up there from San Antonio and I don't think they have ever even mentioned it. I've seen the option if I buy one of their brew kits but the have never asked if I want it.

Maybe in person they don't want the BS of it just being DME. I dunno for sure.

I wouldn't assume dextrose. They probably add one pound of light DME or another 1.1 pound of LME if that's what the kit uses. Certainly the 1% gain is an approximation and depends on the recipe/style.

Well, the cost of the liquid yeast when buying a kit is the same as the regular cost on their website.

Well, the cost of the yeast fuel when buying a kit is the same as the regular cost of yeast fuel on their website.

Yet the cost of a "kicker" doesn't correlate to anything. It's a fair amount less than the cost of DME, but more than dextrose. Everything else is the same price, except for this. So I'm betting it's just an extra fifty cents for AHS. At any rate, I don't much like the idea of adding something if I don't know what exactly it is. That's sort of the point of homebrewing, imho.

It just seems kind of weird. I was just wondering if anyone could confirm what the kicker was.

I have a Dunkelweizen kit I ordered from AHS with the 1% boost. The small bag states it contains 14oz. corn sugar to use in boil. It says it will not change the taste, color, or aroma. White granular corn sugar.

au1991rx said:

I have a Dunkelweizen kit I ordered from AHS with the 1% boost. The small bag states it contains 14oz. corn sugar to use in boil. It says it will not change the taste, color, or aroma. White granular corn sugar.

Click to expand...

So you could have gone to where they sell sugar separarately and gotten two extra ounces of corn sugar for $0.50 less money.

That's a damned stupid thing they're doing there.

Not on their part.
Call it a different name and charge more!

Toot said:

So you could have gone to where they sell sugar separarately and gotten two extra ounces of corn sugar for $0.50 less money.

That's a damned stupid thing they're doing there.

Click to expand...

You could have called them on their 800 number and they would have told you exactly what it is. I did, they told me.

orfy said:

Not on their part.
Call it a different name and charge more!

Click to expand...

Does their priming sugar cost more than their corn sugar? j/k :cross:

Our Alcohol Boost is not DME, LME or corn sugar. It is a blend of 55% Maltose and 45% Glucose. Corn sugar is Dextrose.

Many breweries use this sugar as an economic way to boost alcohol content without effecting flavor.

This blended sugar is more expensive than simple corn sugar, that is why there is a price difference.

Forrest
Austin Homebrew Supply

Sorry, but I just noticed that we have a rep from AHS on here now.

I've ordered stuff, in fact one came today. Good stuff, excellent shipping to.

Austinhomebrew said:

Our Alcohol Boost is not DME, LME or corn sugar. It is a blend of 55% Maltose and 45% Glucose. Corn sugar is Dextrose.

Many breweries use this sugar as an economic way to boost alcohol content without effecting flavor.

This blended sugar is more expensive than simple corn sugar, that is why there is a price difference.

Forrest
Austin Homebrew Supply

Click to expand...

hey, welcome to the board. Keep chiming in. It will be great to have a rep from one of the largest online BS's around.

I ordered some on my Red kit from them. It isn't just corn sugar..it's very granular and it is actually kind of a PITA to work with. It takes a long time to dissolve...similar to the effort it takes to use DME instead of LME. Unfortunatly I can't say whether it did anything or not because I had a stuck fermentation.



Dan

I've used it in a recent lager and did not notice any difference in taste yet did notice the stronger alchohol content.

Austinhomebrew said:

Our Alcohol Boost is not DME, LME or corn sugar. It is a blend of 55% Maltose and 45% Glucose. Corn sugar is Dextrose.

Many breweries use this sugar as an economic way to boost alcohol content without effecting flavor.

This blended sugar is more expensive than simple corn sugar, that is why there is a price difference.

Forrest
Austin Homebrew Supply

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply!!! You'll have an order from me soon for the trouble...

I haven't been brewing for long, but i've gone with AHB for all of my supplies since batch #1, which was an English Ale extract kit. Since the first kit, i use the 1% alcohol boost with every batch. I can't say that it changed or didn't change the taste since i only brewed the Nut Brown Ale and Honey Brown Ale once. Perhaps some day i'll brew it again without the boost to compare, but i like the alcohol boost.

Funny, but i calculated that the alcohol boost should increase my SG by about .008. I've never had a batch go exactly .008 over my expected SG. Usually less than that. I will say that every batch of beer i made got really high marks from co-workers who are offering now to throw me a few bucks for beer. Basically at cost. The ultimate compliment. :rockin: