Midwest and Northern Brewer are good. Many people also like Austin Homebrew Supply.
I believe most are probably Briess even though they may be under their own name. I know Norther Brewer and Midwest both sell good extract. They have high turnover on their LME and that is what really matters. I assume AHS is the same. I have always used Briess for DME. I always try to stick with Briess, but of course that may be a Wisconsin thing.
Only ever used Austin Homebrew and can't complain. Good people over there too.
Funny that you threw Briess out there. That is the brand that came with my kit. Added also was Wyeast smack pack. Seems like my LHBS is including decent stuff although not as cheap as say Northener. Like you said some have there own brand and i was interested if the quality was different.
I found a different LHBS but they only offer kits called "True brew kits" With Muttons LME.
Annapolis Homebrew is way overpriced...and they are using the same ingredients as everyone else.
You might be right actually - after looking through all of them, it seems like you're just paying a premium for their tried and true recipes. They repackage the ingredients and don't give out the ingredient list or the recipe itself. Not that you probably couldn't reverse engineer it...
I've only used Brewer's Best kits so far, and I've been pretty happy with them. They seem to be pretty much the only kits available near me though.
However, I'm thinking about checking out this place Annapolis Homebrew this weekend. I haven't tried them yet, but they apparently have their own kits that they develop themselves with higher quality ingredients: http://www.annapolishomebrew.com/shoprecipekits101.asp
Annapolis Homebrew is way overpriced...and they are using the same ingredients as everyone else.
My fav is Northern Brewer...I have also bought kits from Austin Homebrew...I prefer Northern's recipe's over AHS.
You might be right actually - after looking through all of them, it seems like you're just paying a premium for their tried and true recipes. They repackage the ingredients and don't give out the ingredient list or the recipe itself. Not that you probably couldn't reverse engineer it...
Its my LHBS (like 1 mi away), so I'll defend them real quick. Their kits are all inclusive, so the caps, priming sugar and smack packs are all in the price. There is a premium there ($1-2/kit). Having said that, I've never bought one of their kits because they are so tried and true. Id rather experiment and pay a little less.
I found a different LHBS but they only offer kits called "True brew kits" With Muttons LME.
I'd rather have fresh ingredients compared to old name brand ingredients.
Go with kits from high volume retailers, most of which have already been named.
Has anyone mentioned Boomchugalug.com? I got two kits from them last month. They are both in the bottle now, can't wait to try. A friend in NC recommended them, but I had never heard of them.
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