Which supplier for kits?

I'm thinking of ordering a kit from Williams Brewing because I'll save on shipping.
Any reason to order from some one else? Shipping to Nor Cal.

austin homebrew is good they have a flat shipping rate and also a good selection and quality, but no reason to order from them instead of who you were going to...that is just a well known legit company.

+1 On AHS, if i ever want a kit i go to them. They have a ton of their own kits as well as just about any clone you could want.

Thanks.
I see many of the AHS kits have options for extract, mini mash, or all-grain.

I think I'm capable of brewing the mini mash. Is there a quality difference?

If you can, i would do mini-mash. There are a couple good links on here (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/) that give a great run down of the process.

When i did it all you need is like a 5 gallon pot, a Large Coarse Nylon Bag and an oven large enough to fit the pot. I would warm the oven, get the water up to steeping temps, dough in the grains, put the lid on and put it into the oven and turn the oven off. I would stir maybe 2-3 times over the hour. This worked great for me and it allows you to use less LME/DME what can help give you a little better flavor and possibly a lighter color. (it also saves a few bucks usually)

i would say go with the mini mash because it seems to expose you to more parts of what seems to be the superior brewing process (all-grain). my first batch i ever brewed was a simple mini mash with 6.6lbs of lme and 2 pounds of crystal grain...also many people will probably tell you that the addition of fresh specialty grains will give you a very unique and flavorful taste...when you use all extract, you can't really control as many aspects of the flavor, you are at the hands of the malt they used to make the extract. i'm about to switch to all grain and mini-mash has definately helped prepare me and also made me ask a few questions that revealed a lot of understanding to the process as a whole.

...allows you to use less LME/DME what can help give you a little better flavor and possibly a lighter color. (it also saves a few bucks usually)

Click to expand...

Hmmm...I dont get it.
Your using a warm insulated oven to maintain steeping temp of the grains? How does this lead to using less extract?

Also...what is the difference between DME and LME (besides being dry and liquid)?

Exactly, i would put my oven to the lowest temp (warm) turn it on and warm it up. Once my strike water is up to temp, i put my grains into the pot, turn off the oven and put the pot into the oven. It will hold a solid temp around 155 without any problem.

When doing partial mash, 2-row is included in the grain bill as opposed to extract kits only have specialty grains. Extract is essentially a condensed form of barley. So when you steep with some 2-row you are getting sugars from the barley and need less LME to reach your O.G.

Chromados

No offense, but I am new here.
I have seen this topic countless times.
And almost to a t, the answers are the same.

Seems alot can be learned just by reading/ searching.

There is no real difference between the two if you get the same flavor(ex light, light, etc). You can use less (i think its like 20%) if you are working with Dry. If you are ordering bulk, i think Dry stores a lot easier also.

Chromados

Thanks Chromo.
Yes, I'll try to search more. The search results are sometimes overwhelming, but I'm glad they have a relative flame-free newbie forum for stupid questions.

Look at the bottom of this page.
It will list several similar threads, and they will have suggestions as well.
It is how I have been finding threads that are similar to the ones I am looking for.