Good website to buy kits from?

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chungking

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Hey guys,

So I am looking for a good website to buy my kits from. Looking for good prices and quality kits that make good brew. Unfortunately, I don't have a lhbs within a 2 hour radius, so I have to buy online. All the kits I have tried so far have been from true brew, and I have had mixed feelings toward them. Any kit will do, partials, lme, dme, etc. I've heard people mention Midwest a few times, but have yet to check out their website.

Thanks!
 
Check out the vendor list here. There are MANY great homebrew supply stores! I've purchased from quite a few of them: Austin Homebrew, Nothern Brewer, Brewmaster's Warehouse, Farmhouse. Only problem you'll have is picking one! (just do like I do and spread the love; buy from each one!)
 
What are best brand of kits to buy and price ranges? I'll try and check them all out, but it is hard to find the time with a 10 month old running around constantly!
 
Midwest Kits
Northern Brewer Kits
William's Brewing Kits
Kits range in price from the low $20's per on up. My suggestion would be to avoid the 'kit and kilo' type (Cooper's, Munton's, etc.) 'no boil' kits and go for extract and steeping grain kits that include hops (and not hopped LME) from reputable suppliers like the ones I linked. There's tons of kits out there, but you'll have to do the shopping around.
I feel ya on the ten month old.... just wait til it's a teenager, that's when it gets real fun!!! :mug:
 
I've only been brewing for seven months now. I started out with Midwest kits but switched to Austin. I found that the AHS kits produced better tasting beer. Now, that could be because of my methods improving, but I did notice that AHS had a lot more steeping grains in their kits. One pro Midwest has over AHS to me is if you order more than one kit, AHS doesn't pack each kit separately, rather everything is thrown together and you have to sort out by reading ingredient list. Minor pet peeve.
 
I've only been brewing for seven months now. I started out with Midwest kits but switched to Austin. I found that the AHS kits produced better tasting beer. Now, that could be because of my methods improving, but I did notice that AHS had a lot more steeping grains in their kits. One pro Midwest has over AHS to me is if you order more than one kit, AHS doesn't pack each kit separately, rather everything is thrown together and you have to sort out by reading ingredient list. Minor pet peeve.

really? when I order from AHS the only thing that is bot packaged is the jars of LME. All the rest of the kit is in a vacuum sealed in a bag that has vacuum sealed bags in it.
 
I just started myself, but I did months of research here & other sites. I found the best deal on equipment @ Midwest, & I got everything I needed. I did go ahead & order a wort chiller & was glad I did. I LOVE the way their catalogue & website show the characteristics of each kit (color, bitterness, aroma, etc...) on a sliding scale, also very helpful folks for noobs! Highly recommend for 1st timers!
 
I've used kits from Austin and Northen Brewer and have been happy with both. Austin has a bigger selection and tons of commercial beer clone recipes.
The thing I like about Northern is that you can see the recipe/instruction sheet and see exacty waht you're getting.
Now buying bulk ingredients instaed of kits, which cuts costs a lot.
 
I am a "midnight" brewer. Only time to do it is when the baby is asleep. I pay for it the next day when he wakes up 7am, but its worth it. I think I'll try out Austin first. Any suggestions for the first kit that you made and turned out great? I can only brew ales at this point in time...
 
Honestly, this was the first kit that I brewed. It turned out amazingly well, I've actually brewed it a few times since, and I now have an all grain version of the recipe in my BeerSmith. Really, it depends on what you like to drink. Like I said before, get a kit that's a style that you prefer, maybe even your favorite style of beer.
 
"it depends on what you like to drink" Yes, this. Just pick a style you like. I did the Alaskan Amber clone from Austin and it was really nice. Not super hoppy, or overly heavy. Just a nice balanced amber. Everyone that tried it loved it.
 
"it depends on what you like to drink" Yes, this. Just pick a style you like. I did the Alaskan Amber clone from Austin and it was really nice. Not super hoppy, or overly heavy. Just a nice balanced amber. Everyone that tried it loved it.

Yeah, it's really that easy. Just pick one that's a style you know you'll drink a lot of, and make it a kit that's not advanced, like a straight forward ale, and brew it. Even though I brew a lot of my own creations now, I still do a good number of kits, and they're always good. I've learned a few tricks along the way that help me get a really nice extract beer, and the kits I brew are just as delicious as the all grain beers I design myself. We're drinking on a batch of Liberty Cream Ale (which I added a dry hop addition to) right now and loving it and I have a batch of Ferocious (Surly Furious clone) that's just coming along in bottles. Both of those are Midwest extract w/grains kits that I did as is, except I added the LME after flameout instead of before the boil.
Just pick something you like, brew it, follow the basics of proper brewing and you'll be happy with your beer. :mug:
 
As a complete noob, I liked the little charts that Midwest puts in their catalogue...makes it easy to find homebrews that suit your tastes. Northern has some really nice kits, but not a lot of information on each. Austin has a HUGE list, and once you understand AA's, IBU's, OG/FG/ABV and such, picking from their lists are easy (plus they have a massive stock of clone beers). Also, once you start doing recipes instead of kits, Austin allows you to order what you need, instead of bulk grains. Saves $ and hastles of measuring them yourself. Down side: Midwest's shipping is a bit pricey, where Austin is really pretty fair. Northern is about in the middle from where I live. Haven't worked with the others...
 
If i order kits or basic equipment i go Austin because there shipping is the cheapest for me. But i usually order over 100$ worth of stuff and get the 4.99 flat rate. I been meaning to try More Beer also cause i have heard if you order over 59$ its free shipping. If i need certain grains for a crazy recipe i go Northern Brewer they have a huge selection of grains. I have never been unhappy with Austin or Northern Brewer as far as freshness goes.
 
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