Try Midwest's Irish stout for a good easy kit.

The Midwest Irish Stout (330) kit turned out great! I brew alot of Northern Brewer Kits, but I'll be making this one again.

Kit is 6 lbs LME, crystal 40, roasted malt, chocolate malt, and flaked barley. 1.5 OZ hops, and I used Wyeast Irish Ale.

Beer is very smooth, some sweetness at first, followed by coffee, then clean hop bitterness. Less roasty and hoppy than some kits, but I think some overdo it on the roasted malt. This is a stout to let friends try who are trying stout for the first time.

Anyway, worth a look-see if you want a tasty, easy to brew kit.

Pez.

I made the Irish Stout kit in early June, and kegged half and bottled half. The half batch that I kegged is long gone. We're trying to let the bottles age a few months to see what it can become, but really it was delicious right after kegging.

I suggest that you try the Superior Strong Ale kit too. I brewed it July 9th and kegged half/bottled half on Wednesday. Tried the force-carbed kegged half today with low expectations (because I just kegged it two days ago) and it was amazing! Super creamy head on it, huge but smooth and very tasty. I can hardly wait to see how the bottles age -- no way that tiny keg is going to last!

We had a glass of the Strong Ale, followed by a glass of Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Stout. Stylistic differences aside, the Strong Ale definitely held its own (in a hoppier and less overtly chocolate way).

I'm definitely a newb, so getting rave reviews about my beers is pretty thrilling.

would you mind sharing amount details on the grains please?

im curious..

Midwest posts the ingredients in the product details for the kits.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/irish-stout.html
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/superior-strong-ale.html

Using their kits, I purchase exactly as much of each ingredient as I need. I'm starting to really appreciate that fact, now that I'm doing some Clone Brew recipes. Picking my next brew to use up extra specialty grains from the last one, leads me to brews I might not have tried otherwise. The kits are a really nice way to get exactly what I need, in the amounts that I need.

I'm also wanting to try Midwest's all grain kits, since I've heard good things about all grain brewing. But for some kits it's hard to see how they could possibly taste any better. Really, these extract-with-grain kits are so easy to brew and the results are so very very good -- why bother?

Of course, there are a lot of commercial beers that I used to like, and now I don't drink them because I know what fresh beer tastes like. Maybe all grain brewing will cause a similar evolution of my taste buds...

Calibrewin - 4 oz each of chocolate, caramel 40, roasted barley, and flaked barley.

Goblet, I'm not a huge fan of big beers, but I do enjoy an Optimator every now and then. Will keep the Superior Strong ale in mind.

Pez.