When did you switch from kits to recipes?

And did it save any money? Or was it just to have more control over the ingredients?

Not this next batch I brew (already have the kit) but the next one will be no kit and all recipe. My reason is mainly cost control (trying my hand at bulk ingredients for savings). I am not sure if I am going to get better quality out of the brew controling my own ingredients since it is just an extract. Then again, I will be using the hops (and more of them) instead of using whatever comes in a kit. So I guess quality should improve.

Both. Beer from grain is like when a good dish is cooked from scratch. You have total control. Grain is about half price compared to commercial keg craft beer. This is when using grain bought in 50 or 55 lb bags at a reasonable price like at MoreBeer | Beer Making and Home Brewing Supplies

I never really "switched" I still do kits, I just do recipes too now. Once you get the hang of the basics its not too hard.

I usually do a kit if I'm wanting to try a style of beer that I'm not familiar with - you know try something new. I usually make my own recipes for the regular beer that I like to drink on a day to day basis.

Another reason I like to brew my own recipes instead of kits, is I like to tweak something small each time I make it, like use a different hop or a different yeast and learn the differences that it makes so I get more comfortable with knowing what something will taste like if I see it in a recipe I've got an idea already if I will like it or not.

I did a kit and then started doing recipes and now I buy in bulk.

I did 1 kit, then A couple of recipes buying only the ingredients at the brew store. Now I buy bulk ingredients to stretch my dollar. I can do 8 - 9 ABV Belgian brews for right around $40 a pop.

I bought 3 kits. The third one I modified with some additional grain, converting it to a partial mash. Since that point I have been doing AG batches with my own recipes. Most of my recipes have been based on proven recipes from others, modified for my available ingredients and desires.

Going AG and buying ingredients in larger quantities does save me money on a per batch basis. I buy 55# bags of base malt and 5# bags specialty malts. I also purchased most of my hops in larger quantities. So my price per pound/ounce is considerably less than purchasing exactly what i need for a batch. If you buy as you go then there is not much savings over a kit.

The other reason I went to making my own recipes is to have more freedom in the final product. There are alot of choices in kits these days, but I still prefer to make my own.

Craig

Guess I'm going backwards-when I started, many years ago, I used recipes-I just bought my first kit last week, to get back in the game. However, I think from here on out, I'll do recipes, I'm just not happy w/ all the elements in the kit...

I still do some kits... many times it is cheaper than buying the parts individually, so it makes sense. Kits also give you a baseline to tweak and modify them to help suit your tastes better. I still have to say that my BEST beers are not from kits though... go figure?

I like the kits, but I'm thinking about moving to try my own recipe at some kind of stout. Once my basement reaches 59° I'm going to go for it. It'll still be extract brewing, but I want to make something my own ideally.

My first batch was the Irish Red recipe from Papa Charlie's NCJoHB. DME, steeping grain and hops. My LHBS at the time didn't stock kits.

I've since taught folks to brew using kits, but never bothered myself.

I'll do a kit to get in the ballpark of what I want and then tweak the kit into my own recipe.

When my son gave me my setup in 2004 it came with 2 kits.I brewed those and have been doing recipes since. Did all grain for a while,lost interest,sold it all,and then a couple of weeks or a month after I sold everything the urge to brew hit again. Go figure. Now I'm collecting stuff again...

I never did any kits, although I'm kinda a control freak like that, I only did one extract batch, and it was actually mini-mash.

I've done almost exclusively kits -- a few of which I modified. Only my most recent batch (Banana Cream Ale) was a recipe. I will probably continue to do mainly kits for a while though. I do have a bunch of stuff laying around though so another batch from a recipe is probably not too far off.

I've only done one kit from NB and it was very good. I missed being able to tweak things, but it was quick and easy. Ultimately, I like having more control of the ingredients...

Starting out I did 2 kits and followed the directions that came with them to the T. After that I realized I could add alot more to that brew pot then what was on the print out from the LBHS. As a baseline a kit is a great way to learn a style but after you've had success with one a couple of times in succession it's time to make your mark on the beer yourself.

The thing that bothers me about kits is that you have those crushed grains sitting for god knows how long before you get around to using them.You will always make better beer from freshly crushed grains and recipes not compromised for a wide range of tastes.Every kit I tried didn't taste nearly as good as those I made from proven recipes and fresh ingredients.

I just pitched to my first batch of beer, a Weisenstephaner dunkelweizen clone.

Even though I bought a kit first (black rock IPA), after reading around a bit more and realizing how easy AG sounded, and having most of the equipment on-hand, I decided against it being my first brew.

AG all the way! But I will try that kit soon anyways ^^
Damn that kitchen smells GOOOOOD

My first batch was a no-boil kit my wife got me for Chritmas, and that was the on ly kit I have ever brewed. I like brewing almost as much for the recipe creation as I do for the actual brewday.

kits? Never brewed em

Bembelschlabberer said:

I just pitched to my first batch of beer, a Weisenstephaner dunkelweizen clone.

Even though I bought a kit first (black rock IPA), after reading around a bit more and realizing how easy AG sounded, and having most of the equipment on-hand, I decided against it being my first brew.

AG all the way! But I will try that kit soon anyways ^^
Damn that kitchen smells GOOOOOD

Click to expand...

All-grain Dunkelweizen for first brew?+100 and PROST to you!!!

My first beer was a kit. Anything after that I put together myself. However, I look at places like AHS and I think about just using some of their AG kits from time to time. They seem like they'd be good.

Yes -

My first batch was from a recipe. I could have purchased a kit for the exact same beer. The only difference? The kit would have been assembled by an employee. I don't buy anything in bulk except hops, as it would take a long, long time to offset to cost of a mill.

I did one kit then went to grain, done 3 so far, and doing 2 more this weekend....

I'm kinda addicted to the grain..

Whatever I saved on ingredients, I spent on equipment. I went AG so that I could come up with my own AG recipes and have complete control over the process.