Stella Artois / Stone Arrogant Bastard on AHS...any good?

Hey all,

Just wondering how close to the "real" thing these extract kits are. Anybody tried them? A friend of mine said that I have to brew a Stella (he swears it's the best beer in north america), and my brother is an avid fan of Arrogant Bastard. Never drinks anything else.

Stella:
Austin Homebrew Supply

Arrogant Bastard:
Austin Homebrew Supply

Not sure about the Stella, but if you can lager, I'd try it- Austin Homebrew makes good kits.

I've read numerous good reviews here about the Arrogant Bastard kit they sell. I'd buy it without any worries. I've been impressed by all of the kits I've bought from them.

Both of the kits are spot on. They are both extremely easy recipes.
Forrest

Great, thanks!

Now I just need to buy a fermenting chamber to keep my wort cool...my first batch got up to 79 degrees F during the active fermentation stage. It's a consistent 72-73 otherwise.

On the Stella I would use half distilled water for better taste.

Forrest

I can't speak for those two specifically, but their Stone IPA Clone recipe tasted pretty close when I bottled it on Saturday, and being my first batch, I felt almost certain I'd screwed it up somehow.

I'd go for it (although I'd do the Arrogant Bastard first - lagers sound really hard).

Edit: I guess this is my first post here. Howdy, guys.

Just curious, why distilled water? I thought using hard water (or at least well mineralized water) was an advantage over distilled or bottled due to the need for trace minerals and calcium.

You want to match the water in the original beer. For example, the water in Pilsen, Czech is as close to distilled as you can get. That is why Pilsner Urquell is so smooth. Half distilled will get you much closer to the flavor of the beer.

Forrest

Ok thanks - I am still a newb to the beer scene. I will remember when I am ready to try my first lager. BTW - I am on a well and we have great water, well, good mineral content and tastes great. Probably why I balked at distilled because I thought I had the cash cow in the ground.

Off topic but.... How does your Torpedo clone fair up against the original? Trying to lure my brother into home brewing, i.e. buying that extract kit from you guys Just brewed an Arrogant bastard clone from AHS and the wort tasted really good. Looking forward to the results!

Seems a lot of people say they can't get it spot on,, but it tastes good....

Austinhomebrew said:

You want to match the water in the original beer. For example, the water in Pilsen, Czech is as close to distilled as you can get. That is why Pilsner Urquell is so smooth. Half distilled will get you much closer to the flavor of the beer.

Forrest

Click to expand...

I just received my mini-mash kit for this beer (Stella) and would you suggest using the distilled in the mashing of the grain or in the boil....I have been using bottled spring water for my brews, having done three of your recipe kits so far I can attest for the complete directions and the great beer it has made.

Thanks again AHS for the input.