Extract Kit vs. Extract Recipe?

Discuss....

Background for question:
I am getting ready to do my 3rd brew and am wanting to do an Alaskan Amber Clone. I see that ahs has a clone kit for this beer. I also have found a couple recipes on the net. What would be pros/cons for either. ???

The AHS is a recipe. They just package it up for you. When you recieve the kit from them it will include the "recipe".

Yeh, I guess I am just saying what is the difference between their kit recipe and doing a recipe found online? I wouldnt figure the price would be too much different from buying extract for a recipe....

AHS packages the kit & includes good instructions. With AHS you're also getting fresh ingredients. AHS stuff is tried & true. I've never gotten a bad clone from them.

If you can't guess, I'd go with AHS over an anonymous internet source.

One is going to taste more like to original. You will need to make both of them to figure out which one.

Simply put, kits (should) contain all the ingredients of what others believe is a fair representative of a (cloned or style of) beer.

The major problem with RECIPES is that there may or may not have been a lot of brewing experimentation to come to these ingredients and amounts and types of grain. With a "cloned kit" chances are many batches were probably brewed to test out the results.

Also, when reading a particular recipe (on the net, in a book, even from us on the forum...) always go for the recipe with the most complete notes, like: time and temperature of the fermentation, number of days fermenting, etc.

There are tons of recipes out there without any follow-on notes. They may look good and get terrible results.

I can't express to you enough the importance of good note taking. These notes are good indicators as to what to expect every time you brew the recipe, a great tasting beer.

Comments/testimonials from others as to their results for a particular recipe also goes a long way for credibility of a recipe.

I have found that even recipes that have won medals (per some recipe books I have) do not always end in great results, drinkable, yes...great, no.

A brewers notes go a long way in my decision to follow a recipe or not.

I will only say that when I have been able to compare an Austin Homebrew clone to the original, the clones have been spot-on.

AHS Alaskan kit on order. As well as a Texas Blonde for my BMC friends.

I do both and both have pros and cons. The kit option is simple and already thought out for you. As far as kits goes, AHS has been incredible and I don't have a single complaint with what I have gotten from them. I also like working from recipes because it give me a chance to do some simple tweaks to match my taste. I also feel more like the brew is mine. Along with these things I also feel like I gain a better understanding of what each ingredient does to the taste of the brew. I take all of the ingredients from the recipe and enter them into Brewpal on my iPhone or another software on my computer and tweak amounts and change ingredients until I get it just the way I want it. Here's how I make the distinction for myself whether or not to buy a kit or work from a recipe. If I'm cloning a beer that I know I like I go with a kit, if I'm just going for a style I work from a recipe. Enjoy the kits you ordered, I'm sure you will not be disappointed!

Merry Christmas!

Has anyone tried making this particular kit from AHS? If so, what did you think of the results?