Whats the worst kit you have done?

What is the worst extract kit you have done so far?
The worst one that I have done was the Brewers Best Oktoberfest.
I dont know if it was the Nottingham yeast or that I tried to rush it and do it Ale style, without lagering. It almost tasted like a Hefe when it was done.

Mr. Beer West Coast Pale Ale, it was my first kit. I went by the instructions and used the booster, knowing that was the worst choice, just to see what I got. It was drinkable, but it wasn't much to write home about.

Midwest Oldcastle (Newcastle Clone) - It was terrible but drinkable.
I brewed Biermuncher's Newcastle clone for a friend and it was way better than the Midwest kit.

did a westmalle knock-off kit from a LHBS followed directions to the T ...even after 8 months bottle conditioning it was still a rough drink....8.5% tho, only took a few

BeerCigars said:

What is the worst extract kit you have done so far?
The worst one that I have done was the Brewers Best Oktoberfest.
I dont know if it was the Nottingham yeast or that I tried to rush it and do it Ale style, without lagering. It almost tasted like a Hefe when it was done.

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I have a batch of Brewers Best Oktoberfest conditioning in bottles right now... It's my first batch.. I read this and my heart sank a little.. Hope I have a better turnout than you did.

BeerCigars said:

What is the worst extract kit you have done so far?
The worst one that I have done was the Brewers Best Oktoberfest.
I dont know if it was the Nottingham yeast or that I tried to rush it and do it Ale style, without lagering. It almost tasted like a Hefe when it was done.

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Did you control your fermentation temp? I made a pale ale that fermented at over 70 degrees and it tasted like a big ole banana/clove wheat. i have since started using a swamp cooler / wet t-shirt method.

The worst? It was a True Brew wheat that I may have fermented too cool. But ya know what, it was still pretty darn good. Luckily I have not had a bad experince with any kits. Some were better than others, but none were so bad that I wouldn't brew them again. The instructions tend to suck in a lot of the ones I have done, but if you know a little bit about what you are doing it will be OK.

Coopers Dark Ale kit - Using the instructions, added only 1KG of table sugar and kit yeast thats it. Still tastes green after 2 months, and has a definitive cidery TWANG. After 4 other extract kits slowly learning to use DME instead of sugar, boiling for hot break, and hopping, I still have some left which I hesitate to serve to my friends.

Shooter said:

Mr. Beer West Coast Pale Ale, it was my first kit. I went by the instructions and used the booster, knowing that was the worst choice, just to see what I got. It was drinkable, but it wasn't much to write home about.

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Canadian Draft (Mr. Beer) pretty much same story though. It was pretty not good - tough call whether to continue trying to brew drinkable beer or not after that. Good thing I am stubborn.

-OCD

2nd on the cooper's dark ale. Has an off sweet taste. I made a batch 9 months ago and haven't tried one in 7, maybe i'll try one today.

beerocd said:

Canadian Draft (Mr. Beer) pretty much same story though. It was pretty not good - tough call whether to continue trying to brew drinkable beer or not after that. Good thing I am stubborn.

-OCD

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I'm slowly working my way through the Mr. Beer basic kits, but I've since been substituting 1lb light DME for the booster and better yeast, usually Notty. I've found that to be an improvement, but they all still kind of have a similar quality to them. I've got the stout coming up soon. That should be something different. I'll probably try out their premium line next and then decide whether or not I'm even going to bother with their kits anymore or just use the fermenter to make my own mini recipes.

Shooter said:

I'm slowly working my way through the Mr. Beer basic kits, .... I'll probably try out their premium line next and then decide whether or not I'm even going to bother with their kits anymore or just use the fermenter from to make my own mini recipes.

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I have six of those fermenters, I was doing other extract kits (5gallon) and splitting them into the barrels for a while. Mr Beer can be decent beer with adding in a few ingredients. But I made my first beer according to directions - and it coulda easily been my last.

-OCD

beerocd said:

I have six of those fermenters, I was doing other extract kits (5gallon) and splitting them into the barrels for a while. Mr Beer can be decent beer with adding in a few ingredients. But I made my first beer according to directions - and it coulda easily been my last.

-OCD

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Well, reading your reply made me realize I had a typo in my post. Guess that's what I get for drunk posting. Okay, not drunk, but I have been enjoying a few pints of my best bitter and am now relaxing with a saison!

Do you have any experience with their premium kits? I've heard they are a little better quality. Overall I'm not turned off by their basic beers, but I may just end up doing my own thing with their fermenter eventually.

They're better because it's two cans of malt, instead of one can plus booster. Witty Monk seemed to be a big hit, but that was all a while ago. If you only have one fermenter, I say grab another on clearance after the holiday season and you can graduate out of Mr Beer to other kits. They're cheaper, often better, and you have much more choice. You can easily half your brewing costs by going away from Mr Beer to 5 gal extract batches. All you need is one more keg.... or a bucket.

-OCD

MStudinski said:

I have a batch of Brewers Best Oktoberfest conditioning in bottles right now... It's my first batch.. I read this and my heart sank a little.. Hope I have a better turnout than you did.

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I have a batch of BB Oktoberfest sitting in primary right now! luckily i have 2 extra fridges that i can use to lager. The yeast had a lag time of like somewhere between 4-10 hours, during those 6 hours i was asleep and when woke up it was bubbling like crazy. We will see though. Hope for the best.

cryptonic84 said:

I have a batch of BB Oktoberfest sitting in primary right now! luckily i have 2 extra fridges that i can use to lager. The yeast had a lag time of like somewhere between 4-10 hours, during those 6 hours i was asleep and when woke up it was bubbling like crazy. We will see though. Hope for the best.

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I just tried one after 2 weeks conditioning in the bottle.. It was decent.. Probably needs 1 more week.

the worst batch i've made was the pale ale kit that came with mr. beer. I fermented it for two weeks in an 80 degree room the bottled and drank. it tasted like trash. ahhh memories. i've come a long way in two years

80 degrees, eh? At that temp, i'm guessing that any kit (Mr. Beer or otherwise) would taste less than ideal.

Northern Brewer Patersbier kit. Didnt turn out well at all.

Actually my worst was cooper's bitter, not cooper's dark ale. Cooper's draft and cerveza were decent. Just did the rogue dead guy clone extract kit, turned out awesome.

Tiamat said:

80 degrees, eh? At that temp, i'm guessing that any kit (Mr. Beer or otherwise) would taste less than ideal.

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yeah, that wasn't really emphasized in the mr. beer instructions. i just laugh when i think back to those batches

I first brew had to be my worst by far, it was a Brewers Best IPA and used original ingredients and instructions. Way too bitter and not a hop bitter I may add..

I still managed to pawn most off on my neighbors until they tasted my other brews then the IPA stayed on the shelves until I dumped them for room.

Ice9 said:

Midwest Oldcastle (Newcastle Clone) - It was terrible but drinkable...

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I agree somewhat. I would not go as far as to say it was terrible, but I thought it was a little "off," - it did not taste like newcastle.

I'm down to my last tap-a-draft of it right now.

I would say the oktoberfest that I have on tap right now. It was an impulse buy from a order since it was the special of the day and I figured, oh I can whip it out in 2 hours and be done, have my oktoberfest on tap and such. Well it is garbage or maybe I have just gotten use to being able to control how the beers turn out. It only finished at 1.018 from 1.053 with Nottingham none the less and is just too sweet. I am avoiding that tap right now.

I did a NB Scottish 60 kit and let it ferment too warm (80), which was a very bad idea. Drinkable at best, but even that was barely.

I guess I have gotten lucky as well, all the kits (midwest, Austin Home Brew) and recipes (BYO) I have done have turned out pretty good, some much better than others - but no dumpers. Actually the least favorite I made was Graff recipe that everyone raves about.

I think if you read a little palmer and get a good routine down you can't go wrong. I like to do:

a. Late editions DME/LME 50% 60 minute and 50% 20 minute
b. Ghetto collander sparge 170F specialty grains
c. Steep in as much water as possible (up to full boil) for the specialty grains.

Of course fermentation temp is hugely important as well.