Morebeer AG kits...

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The Pol

The Pol

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Okay... here is my question.

I am looking at buying three AG kits, since they are cheaper than driving and buying at my LHBS. Morebeer kits are all in the sub $30 range basically, NB is the same, but they charge $8 shipping, and AHS kits are all $30+ and they also charge shipping. What I want to buy will cost me $82 shipped at MB, about the same at NB and about $100 at AHS... why is there such a large difference? Anyone had nay bad results with kits from MB? I am planning three brews... an Xmas Ale, Thanksgiving Ale and another Amber/Heavy Ale for the winter months.
 
I brewed a couple of B3 AG "Silk Stout" kits a couple weeks ago... was for a friend (who bought them), wanted 10 gals, so we just dumped the two kits together. I haven't tasted the beer yet, as it's at their house, not mine. But it tasted very good going into the fermenter. The recipe sheet was interesting, too. It including an exact list of ingredients, though -- that made calculating volumes very easy. I just plugged the amounts into BeerSmith, chose a mash temp, and spit out a brewsheet.

I've never bought a kit from Austin Homebrew or Northern before. Actually, I've only bought one kit, period, and that was a custom-made kit for a local club competition. ("Best damn beer": use a pre-made kit, and make a limited (controlled) number of changes to it to produce the best beer possible from it.)
 
I brewed a MB kit about 3 weeks ago, their Imperial Stout. Obviously I can't give you a final verdict since it's still in the secondary, but I'll say that the hydrometer sample I tasted between primary and secondary was really good.

The ingredient list for the one I made seemed solid and well thought out. The only problem I had was the crush on the grains was suspect, and I hit only 63%. I'm finding that's the case with most online vendors though. (I get 70+% on LHBS crushed grain.) If I wanted a kit I'd certainly try MB again, but I'd get uncrushed graisn and crush them myself.

I've never had a kit from AHS.
 
We base our price on the kits according to the ingredients in the kit. I am working to lower the price of the kits be I really hate to start skimping on the ingredients of award winning recipes. You can't really compare prices of recipe kits between suppliers. They are different recipes with different ingredients.

I am about to launch a new line of kits that have a significantly lower price. I am sure you will like them. The all-grain kits will be in the $20 range.
 
Ive made morebeer's mild brown, and nut brown ales both are excellent and have good prices, cheaper than if you were to buy the individual ingredients that make up the kit.
 
I have compared some of the MB kits to buying at my LHBS, and considering gas prices, it is much cheaper to buy a couple kits at MB, get FREE shipping and make out like a bandit. I have been spending at least $30 for ingredients at my LHBS and spending $7-$8 in gas for the trip. I can buy two or three kits at MB for about $25 each, get free shipping, and not battle downtown traffic.

I have purchased kits from NB and have loved them, great results, great instructions and great pricing, all in the $20-$25 range. The shipping is still up there at $8, another reason I want to send my business to MB... same pricing, no shipping.

Id have to disagree that you cannot compare kit pricing between suppliers. They may not be the exact same recipes, but when several suppliers all have great reputations for thier kits, and one of them basically charges 30% more across the board for thier kits, there can be a comparison made.

Thanks guys
 
Just ordered (2) AG kits... the Fire in the Hole Ale and Holiday Ale, along with a new hydrometer and test jar, shipped, for the LOW LOW price of $68.75!!

The Pol
 
The Pol said:
Id have to disagree that you cannot compare kit pricing between suppliers. They may not be the exact same recipes, but when several suppliers all have great reputations for thier kits, and one of them basically charges 30% more across the board for thier kits, there can be a comparison made.
Click to expand...

The ingredients determine the price. Stores price their kit according to the ingredients in them.

I can buy a bottle of Stag's Leap Merlot for $45 or a Beringer's Merlot for $9.99.
 
My point is this... if you place a $40 stout in front of me and a $30 stout, and both taste great, I will always buy the $30 stout. I dont so much care what the reason is for the other being $40, (the malt could be milled in a 14 karat gold mill) all I know is that it is $40 and the $30 brew tastes just as good. If they are both "stouts" and both great, those are both apples.

Now, if you are implying that Morebeer and Northern Brewer kits are subpar, and they are not going to produce a great beer, then you have an argument, but I have yet to hear that. Northern Brewer could be included as well, as thier prices are as cheap if not cheaper than Morebeer.

I started this thread to ask if people have had good luck with Morebeer kits, because they are cheaper than thier competitors as stated, WITH free shipping. If anyone would like to get back to the topic of this thread, thank you. If you have experience with Morebeer kits, please feel free to add your thoughts.
 
What I think would help is if vendors detailed the ingredients on these kits. I know a few do, but most do not. I suppose that they don't want you to get the recipe and then buy the ingredients somewhere else, but if the "kit" is indeed priced cheaper than to sum of the parts, that shouldn't be a concern.
 
StunnedMonkey said:
What I think would help is if vendors detailed the ingredients on these kits. I know a few do, but most do not. I suppose that they don't want you to get the recipe and then buy the ingredients somewhere else, but if the "kit" is indeed priced cheaper than to sum of the parts, that shouldn't be a concern.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. A "Kit" should fall under one of three categories:
- The "kit price" exceeds the individual cost of ingredients, and is marked up for the convenience factor
- The "kit price" is exactly the cost of individual ingredients, and the "convenience factor" is a free perk, to get you to buy the kit
- The "kit price" is lower than the cost of individual ingredients, and you are granted a small discount in order to allure you to buying whole kits and not individual grains.

In two of those scenarios, handing out the recipe should not be a concern.

The Silk Stout kits I mentioned earlier, that I helped brew two weeks ago, included detailed recipe, with *L ratings for malts, and AA% ratings for hops, and OG/FG/IBU ranges to shoot for.
 
The Pol said:
My point is this... if you place a $40 stout in front of me and a $30 stout, and both taste great, I will always buy the $30 stout. I dont so much care what the reason is for the other being $40, (the malt could be milled in a 14 karat gold mill) all I know is that it is $40 and the $30 brew tastes just as good. If they are both "stouts" and both great, those are both apples.

Now, if you are implying that Morebeer and Northern Brewer kits are subpar, and they are not going to produce a great beer, then you have an argument, but I have yet to hear that. Northern Brewer could be included as well, as thier prices are as cheap if not cheaper than Morebeer.

I started this thread to ask if people have had good luck with Morebeer kits, because they are cheaper than thier competitors as stated, WITH free shipping. If anyone would like to get back to the topic of this thread, thank you. If you have experience with Morebeer kits, please feel free to add your thoughts.
Click to expand...

It appears that the most important ingredient in a recipe kit is the price. Since stores base their price of thier kits by the ingredients that are included the prices will vary. If kit A has more ingredients than kit B it will cost more. We are not comparing apples to apples.

Most of our award winning AHS kits were conceived back when hops were a dollar an ounce and grain was less than a dollar a pound. So the kits are more complex with a variety of grains and hops. Apparently we can't do that any more.

Since everyone is on a tighter budget now a days:

I am about to launch a new line of kits that have a significantly lower price. I am sure you will like them. The all-grain kits will be in the $20 range.

Forrest
 
Going back to the original topic, I've made quite a few morebeer kits and liked them all. I've made both extract and mini-mash kits from them (I know AG was original idea, but I'm not there yet). Actually, their American Amber extract kit was one of the best, IMO. Plus, their customer service is outstanding. I've emailed them questions at crazy hours and literally gotten a response within minutes. Taking into account that I'm not expert, their ingredients seem very fresh and high quality. They seem to take care to package everything very well.

OP, you said that you bought their Fire in the Hole back in September. I have the Fire in the Hole in a primary right now. How did it turn out for you? Did you add the oak chips? (I'm a bit nervous about the oak chips).
 
I have my Fire In The Hole in the primary, still have to get 'er in the secondary for the dry hop and the oak chips... yes, I am doing the oak chips! I have had great results with thier kits, the Holiday Ale tastes awesome, still has another month to age. Between Morebeer and Midwest, those are my two favortire sources for supplies. They both have some pretty complex and high gravity kits for $20-$25, and they both have pretty stellar customer service.
 
The Pol said:
I have my Fire In The Hole in the primary, still have to get 'er in the secondary for the dry hop and the oak chips... yes, I am doing the oak chips! I have had great results with thier kits, the Holiday Ale tastes awesome, still has another month to age. Between Morebeer and Midwest, those are my two favortire sources for supplies. They both have some pretty complex and high gravity kits for $20-$25, and they both have pretty stellar customer service.
Click to expand...

Cool, we'll see how it goes... I'm excited to try this one!
 
I didnt have time for a starter, so I pitched (2) packs of S-04... within 24 hours it was blowing off... I never really thought about using a blow off on this one!
 
The Pol said:
I didnt have time for a starter, so I pitched (2) packs of S-04... within 24 hours it was blowing off... I never really thought about using a blow off on this one!
Click to expand...

I used WLP002 with a starter. Pretty active fermentation, but no blow off. First time with that yeast, too, so I'm extra curious to try it. The anticipation is killing me. Luckily, I have plenty of other brews to sample. Plus, I got my brother in law into brewing, too, so I soon get to sample some of his as well.
 
Put together (2) recipes and ordered them up from Morebeer... Alot of grain, ALOT of hops... all shipped to my door for about $62!!! I love this store. 22lbs of grain and 8oz of leaf Cascade... YUMMMM

QTY # PRODUCT PRICE TOTAL
GR350 British Pale 2.01 20.10
GR410 Vienna 1.45 2.90
GR515 Crystal 15 1.45 2.90
Hcas2w Cascade Whole (2 oz) 3.95 15.80
DY25 Safale S-04(11.5g) 1.70 1.70
AJ80 Whole Coriander Seed (1oz) 1.50 1.50
AJ72 Sweet Orange Peel (2 oz) 2.50 2.50
GR300 Domestic 2-Row 1.25 8.75
GR450 Carapils 1.72 1.72
DY26 Yeast (Dry) - Safale US-05 (11.5 g) 1.95 1.95
Mill Milling by the Pound 0.10 2.20
SUBTOTAL: $62.02
 
They have the B3 Witbier for sale today for under $20!!

B3 Witbier

10.5lbs 2-row
1.5lbs flaked wheat
1.0lb flaked oats

1.0oz Hallertauer (60min)
1.0oz Saaz (5min)

1.0oz Corriander seed (added for the last few minutes of the boil)
1.0oz Bitter orange peel (added for the last few minutes of the boil)

WLP400 Belgian Wit or equivalent yeast
 
Kegged my Holiday Ale from B3... WOW, tasty stuff, even flat! Sent my Fire In The Hole Ale to the secondary with the oak chips and the 2oz of Centennial hops... that is going to be one heck of a brew. All my kegs will then be full, and I have two more recipes that I put togther and ordered from B3... so, well, I guess I need more kegs!
 

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