Best Ingredient Kits?

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whirlybirds

whirlybirds

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I'm still new to home brewing since I've done only 4 beers to date. I've done extract and partial mash brewing only since I live in an apartment and don't have the space or place to do an all grain. So far I've stuck to simple beers, such as brewing beer that has all of the ingredients packaged in a kit. This got me wondering if there are some brand of kits I should stay away from? Anyone have any bad luck with certain kits? I've brew mostly Brewer's Best kit, with the exception of 1 True Brew kit. This weekend I've got a few kits arriving made by Northern Brewer. To those who do use a lot of kits, what brand and and beer style were some of the best beers you've made? I'm always looking for something new to brew so I'm open to any suggestion.
 
whirlybirds said:
I'm still new to home brewing since I've done only 4 beers to date. I've done extract and partial mash brewing only since I live in an apartment and don't have the space or place to do an all grain. So far I've stuck to simple beers, such as brewing beer that has all of the ingredients packaged in a kit. This got me wondering if there are some brand of kits I should stay away from? Anyone have any bad luck with certain kits? I've brew mostly Brewer's Best kit, with the exception of 1 True Brew kit. This weekend I've got a few kits arriving made by Northern Brewer. To those who do use a lot of kits, what brand and and beer style were some of the best beers you've made? I'm always looking for something new to brew so I'm open to any suggestion.
Click to expand...

I like Northern brewer personally, they are fast on shipping too.
 
I always order from Austin homebrew supply. They have over 700 different recipes to choose from. They have great service and advice if you need any. They have extract, mini mash, and all grain options for all the recipes. It only takes 3 days to get my order but I live in Texas.
 
Brewers Best and True Brew kits are great when they are packaged but unfortunately when you are ordering online, you have no idea when that was. It is easy to get a stale kit.

With Northern Brewer you know that it is a fresh kit with fresh ingredients. I also like that they have customer reviews right there so you can make sure it is a great recipe before you buy it!
 
bleme said:
Brewers Best and True Brew kits are great when they are packaged but unfortunately when you are ordering online, you have no idea when that was. It is easy to get a stale kit.

With Northern Brewer you know that it is a fresh kit with fresh ingredients. I also like that they have customer reviews right there so you can make sure it is a great recipe before you buy it!
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree on the customer reviews. The main reason I went with the, first. I wish all the sites would do this
 
Most well known homebrew shops will have high quality kits. Your LHBS may also be able to put something together for you if you ask. Freshness and quality are usually only an issue if you live somewhere that doesn't have a dedicated hombrew store, as is my case where all I have is the homebrew corner in the back of a gas station. They mean well, but the selection is less than ideal.
 
Northern Brewer, Midwest Brew Supply, Brewer's Warehouse, Austin Homebrew, William's Brewing, Rebel Brewing, MoreBeer....these guys all do big volume and have fresh ingredients......I've also had great experiences with Birdman Brewing and Label Peelers (especially for hops!),
 
I've done a lot of "clone" kits from austinhomebrew.com, and can recommend them. I've also done quite a few kits from northernbrewer.com but no "clone" kits from them. I really like both and their flat rate shipping of $7.99 made it nice for me to order a couple of kits at a time. They both have very good instructions and super fresh ingredients. They make up the kit when you order it, so the grain is fresh and so is the liquid extract. They don't send canned extract- they send extract that they keep under gas (argon?) and dispense when needed so the extract is fresh too.
 
I'd like to add that Northern Brewer did a great job double crushing grain for my first ever BIAB all grain using their witbier kit.

They have great customer service, and even highlighted and signed off on my special grain crush request on their QC form.
 

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