Online purchased brew kits/recipes

I haven't a kit beer for about a year, and when I did, it was the Brewer's Best boxes.

I like them because they gave me the recipe right inside, and I could go back and buy the ingredients and make it again, without buying the box.

I've seen a number of sites who list up some 'kits' but don't tell you anything about what's in them. Ok, I get it, they don't want to let the recipe loose on the web. I've also seen some kits that just give you a sack of grains (for AG) and hops labeled only as "Bittering 60 minutes" and "Aroma 5 minutes" but don't tell you what they are.

If you've ordered from one of the big suppliers (I'm talking AHS, Midwest, NB, etc), do the kit boxes come with a fully reproducable recipe? I want to make some of these beers that I hear so much about, but I also want to get the grain and stuff locally because 1) I don't want to pay shipping 2) I don't want my **** sitting in a FexEx truck for 3 days 3) I want to support my LHBS.

So, if I order one of those kits, am I going to be able to get a recipe out of it?

Yes, mostly reproducible. The only thing is you might not be able to know what kind of specialty grains are included.. but everything else is clearly labeled if i recall.

I used a recipe kit from Austin Homebrew, and it was all clearly labeled as to what it was and how to do it!

aekdbbop said:

Yes, mostly reproducible. The only thing is you might not be able to know what kind of specialty grains are included.. but everything else is clearly labeled if i recall.

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I guess I should clarify - I'm looking at the All Grain kits that will come pre-crushed with all the grains likely in the same bag.

And for what it's worth..."Mostly reproducable - you can't know the specialty grains" is "not reproducable - not gonna buy it".

I'm talking 100% everything properly labeled. Every ounce of grain, from base malt to specialty. Every gram of hops. Every yeast pack.

AHB, Midwest and Northern give you the recipe. Buying the kit works out cheaper than the individual ingredients every time

rdwj said:

AHB, Midwest and Northern give you the recipe. Buying the kit works out cheaper than the individual ingredients every time

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I'm sure it does. However, If I were to buy a kit from them and make it again, I would buy my grains locally, just because I support my local guy, even if it is $5 cheaper.