New to This, and really wanting to get it right

Hello all!

I'm a brewer in northern NJ about 20 min from NYC. My brother and I got into the whole thing when he recieved a kit from his (now ex)girlfriend she bought at Homebrew Heaven that included a bucket, carboy, hydrometer, thermometer and hoses and airlocks and a bunch of useful stuff.

Thing is, we rushed our first batch and just kind of flew into it. It overcarbed, smelled HORRIBLE and tasted worse. I'm thinking it was contaminated, bottled too soon, and just generally mishandled.

Since then I've taken to reading 'Joy of Homebrewing' (only through the beginner's section) and found it extremely helpful and informative.

Now, we've started another kit from them and we're not rushing it and it already looks better. We'll probably bottle sometime this week if the hydrometer readings start matching more consistently.

After poking around on this site pretty much since we started this brew, I've gotten a LOT of advice from a ton of posts already and I want to thank you guys.

Biggest question I have is: How good are these kits in relation to what the majority of you guys do here?

I'm definitely looking into NOT using the kits anymore, as between the book and the directions with the kit I've started not trusting the kit (it mentions timing bubbles, eew)

I'm really looking forward to being a part of this community, as I know I have tons to learn and I can't wait to learn it.

A decent kit can make a really good beer. I find that most of the kits have aged malt extract, and almost expired yeast.

I did a kit for my first 3 brews with Brewer's Best Homebrew Recipe Kits and all turned out pretty well.

You will find that a partial or all mash beer will have a more complex flavor, and bigger body than the kit beers.

I like a partial mash myself (Seep some grains for 30-60 min, then add some extract) because it is the best of both worlds, a more complex flavor and a less involved brewing process with less equipment required.

Welcome to HBT and Happy Brewing!

Kits are wonderful to brew in my opinion. My favorite online store, Midwest Supplies, has tons of good kits to choose from. There's nothing wrong with kits and at least you know you're brewing a "proven" beer. Don't think you're cheating or anything like that just because you're using a kit.

Obviously, the best way to get away from kits is to go all-grain. Although it's not impossible to do so after your 2nd batch, I'd stick to kits for right now. Get the basic process down and then go from there. I think the biggest noob mistake I've seen is just rushing the process. Make sure you clean and sanitize all of your equipment, everytime. No shortcuts when it comes to sanitization.... Good luck to you!

I'm pretty sure the kits coming from this site are partial mashed.

For instance, this is lined up to be our next brew: Brewnett Brown

It comes with grains and malted barley as well as hops and other seemingly important ingredients....

I'm just wondering if these are anywhere near as good as I'm hoping they are. haha

I have had good experience with AHS recipe kits Austin Homebrew Supply

Partial mash is the way to go. It can be done inside your kitchen and only requires a small modified cooler or grain bag.

It also depends on how you define "kit" to me a kit is a prepackaged box with all of the consumables needed to brew a batch of beer.
Your LHBS can put together a "kit" that will match the style you want as well, and that will assure you that you are working with fresh ingredients. packaged kits with grains don't smell nearly as good as grains that are ground on demand spacifically for you!

ImCowman said:

I'm pretty sure the kits coming from this site are partial mashed.

For instance, this is lined up to be our next brew: Brewnett Brown

Click to expand...

It's a partial mash.

Welcome
There's nothing wrong with "kits". I almost always brew with recipe kits from either Midwest or Northern Brewer, even won a few awards with them. They are better than the pre-boxed Brewer's Best ones, and you can "upgrade" to liquid yeast strains, if you like.

So you want to do it right huh? Everyone on here can appreciate someone who doesn't want to mess around.

Read this.

Welcome, fellow n00b! You don't have to go with a kit, but you can assemble your very own kit by just carefully examining the contents, then buying the same types of malt extract (or grains) on your own. This allows you to customize the yeast and even the color, based on what you are aiming for.

Wow, thanks guys. eschatz, that looks awesome, and I'll definitely be turning to it from now on.

See you guys 'round the forums!

The Palmer book is awesome. There is a ton of great information in there that you will find useful as you continue with the hobby. (The info can be intimidating at first, but don't worry about starting simple!)

Kits are a great way to get started (or continue) homebrewing! If you want to try some recipes (similar to a kit) where you assemble the ingredients, Beer Captured by Tess and Mark Szamatulski is a great source of good recipes. Each page provides an extract, mini-mash, and all-grain version of each recipe.