Good website to buy extract kits?

My first kit has not been much of a success so far. I got it at Midwest supplies. What are some other sites that people have had success at?

StrongBad42 said:

My first kit has not been much of a success so far. I got it at Midwest supplies. What are some other sites that people have had success at?

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Norther brewer, Austin homebrew supply.

What Midwest kit did you brew and why was it not a success, they are known for having great kits and a very large variety!

Austin Hombrew Supply and Northern Brewers.

I got an Irish stout. It's still fermenting, but it just doesn't seem to be going well. After 11 days the gravity readings have gone from 1.05 to 1.03, and apparently the late hops addition in the directions is not such a good idea for stouts.

Try boomchugalug. They have some of the best kits out there. Northern brewer is also the good ol stand by.

StrongBad42 said:

I got an Irish stout. It's still fermenting, but it just doesn't seem to be going well. After 11 days the gravity readings have gone from 1.05 to 1.03, and apparently the late hops addition in the directions is not such a good idea for stouts.

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Can't say it's the kit but could be the process. What yeast? Did you aerate well? What temperature is it fermenting? Have you tried to rouse the yeast and possibly warm up the vessel? Did you make a starter or rehydrate the yeast?

Midwest is known for great kits and fresh ingredients. When I started brewing before going all grain I brewed at least a dozen different kits from them and they all were good beers. As my process improved so did the beer!

I love adventures in homebrewing (homebrewing.org), but I am biased because the are my LHBS.

My first kit has not been much of a success so far

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My first kit was a pale ale and I was very happy it was not infected and astounded that it tasted great. I didn't take gravity readings and had no idea what a late hops addition was.

duboman said:

Can't say it's the kit but could be the process. What yeast? Did you aerate well? What temperature is it fermenting? Have you tried to rouse the yeast and possibly warm up the vessel? Did you make a starter or rehydrate the yeast?

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Muntons dry yeast (came with the kit). I dumped the wort between buckets about 6-7 times. Fermenting at 69-70 F. I don't know how to rouse yeast. I rehydrated the yeast.

StrongBad42 said:

Muntons dry yeast (came with the kit). I dumped the wort between buckets about 6-7 times. Fermenting at 69-70 F. I don't know how to rouse yeast. I rehydrated the yeast.

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Are you reading the hydrometer correctly? Did you correct for temperature? Did you calibrate it to be sure it reads 1.000 in water at 60F?

To rouse the yeast simply agitate the vessel gently to get things mixed up a bit

I have had good luck with Midwest. For your first beer maybe you shouldn't blame the kit. It takes awhile to get a good process down and know what to expect.

AMonkey said:

I have had good luck with Midwest. For your first beer maybe you shouldn't blame the kit. It takes awhile to get a good process down and know what to expect.

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^^this^^ +1

AMonkey said:

I have had good luck with Midwest. For your first beer maybe you shouldn't blame the kit. It takes awhile to get a good process down and know what to expect.

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I think MW has great kits. I would chalk it up to part of the learning curve

amazon.com

+1 to NB. Used probably 5 kits from there, and they beat the pants off the recipes the LHBS puts out. Instructions were good too.

Haven't tried Austin yet, but the flat rate shipping is pretty killer. Great clone selection too.

Since you're in WI, Label Peelers might have good shipping prices to you. They have a different kit on sale every few weeks which is nice. I almost pulled the trigger on a bunch of their Cascadian kits back when I was extract, until I saw the shipping to CA. Glad I did, because I went AG shortly thereafter.

I ordered a NB catalog and its taking forever to get here (I'm in CT). If I order a kit from there how long do you think it will take to get here?

Hopefully not as long as the catalog is taking...

Pelican521 said:

I ordered a NB catalog and its taking forever to get here (I'm in CT). If I order a kit from there how long do you think it will take to get here?

Hopefully not as long as the catalog is taking...

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I had to request a catolog about five time and finally actually had to contact them directly and ask for one before I got one. Not sure why, but I think they ship orders out a lot quicker.

I've never had a problem with Northern Brewer, seems to be top quality stuff

I like going to my LHBS. I will go to NB and look at their kits and go to the LBHS and buy the ingredients there.

Pelican521 said:

I ordered a NB catalog and its taking forever to get here (I'm in CT). If I order a kit from there how long do you think it will take to get here?

Hopefully not as long as the catalog is taking...

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I live in NY 20 minutes from Ct. Their kits take 3 to 4 days to get to me. No issues from them.

Pelican521 said:

I ordered a NB catalog and its taking forever to get here (I'm in CT). If I order a kit from there how long do you think it will take to get here?

Hopefully not as long as the catalog is taking...

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Catalog requests are often a low-priority with vendors. I think orders will be much faster--NB is pretty good about getting stuff out the door. Northern usually includes a catalog with an order, and since the catalog doesn't have anything you won't see on their website anyway, why not place your order online and get a copy that way?

Good to know, seems to be a very popular supplier along with Austin brew supplies and Midwest supplies.

I just did two extract kits from my LBS and want to try my hand at one of the "big" shops' kits.