Going to try this for the price

Williams 728
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I was suspicious at this price that it was less than a five gallon batch, but nope, it says five gallon.
Let us know how they come out.
 
I will be interested to hear how they turn out as well. If I could learn with some decent tasting cheaper kits I'd be all for it!
 
okiepc said:
Just ordered 4 of these kits, less than $100 with shipping, can't hurt, take a look and tell me what you think for $19.99 a kit
Click to expand...

I only clicked on the stout kit, but there is no explanation of what kind of extract, how much and what type of specialty grains, and no information about the hops and what kind of yeast is included.
So there's no way to compare these kits to anything.
I like to know exactly what I'm using in my brews so I know what to change if it doesn't suit my taste. All extract isn't the same and there is a huge variation in specialty grains.
My 2 cents: Stop using kits, if you want to brew, find some established recipes that have a track record, start brewing them and then make some changes as you see fit. The idea is to figure out what you are doing that works for you and then keep doing it.
 
Looks interesting. Not a kit guy myself but the SWMBO brews with kits to avoid the grains etc. I bet she picks up all 6 to see what they do and how they taste.
 
madscientist451 said:
There is no explanation of what kind of extract, how much and what type of specialty grains, and no information about the hops and what kind of yeast is included.
Click to expand...

I'm feeling like you missed the link to the recipe:
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/media/downloads/825/Beer.SimplyBeer-Instructions-Stout.pdf

madscientist451 said:
My 2 cents: Stop using kits
Click to expand...

I have to toss my 2C in at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. If you're buying kits from a big online name, the recipe is well vetted and the ingredients are reasonably fresh. For someone new to brewing, going out and finding a recipe alone can be daunting, and then figuring out how to find / order ingredients is one more challenge.

When someone asks me about getting into brewing, I will always steer them to a recipe kit so that at least their first experience is simple.
 
BeardedBrews said:
I'm feeling like you missed the link to the recipe:
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/media/downloads/825/Beer.SimplyBeer-Instructions-Stout.pdf
Click to expand...

I definitely missed the recipe.
For these prices, the ingredients seem to be a value. Even if you're ordering the kit, disassembling it, and using the ingredients in your own recipes, and discarding what you don't want, you seem to be getting your money's worth. (If you're an extract brewer, that is.)

Let us know how fresh the extract and hops are, though. That would be a concern for me.
 
A quick call to the Minneapolis shop yesterday answered a lot of questions: These are new kits, they are proving to be VERY popular, all the ingredients are fresh, they are NOT on the shelf but at the warehouse, they are building them daily and your ingredients (hops harvested in 2015) may be only weeks old.

The wife wants them all, just like I said. :D
 
BeardedBrews said:
I'm feeling like you missed the link to the recipe:
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/media/downloads/825/Beer.SimplyBeer-Instructions-Stout.pdf
Click to expand...

Yup, you're right, didn't think to look at the instructions for the actual list of what they were selling.
From an economic standpoint, the $19.99 kits represent a good value for extract beers compared to buying similar quantities of similar ingredients.
So If that's your thing, go for and see how they work for you.
However I'll stay with my original statement and in general terms say
stop using kits and start figuring out what particular combinations of ingredients work well together. You can do this using established recipes that are posted with user comments and substitutions here on HBT.
 
I'd say given that 6 lbs of LME on their site runs $18-20 by itself and many of the kits have additional fermentables and all include hops and yeast that those are very good deals. Who the heck cares if it comes as a kit, as you say you can add or sub things in yourself if you want. No difference from taking a recipe online and modifying it.
 
I went over and picked up two of these kits yesterday - the Pale Ale and the Stout. From my research and talking to the guys there at Midwest these seems like too good of a deal. I am adding a few of my own touches on to the recipes but at this price you can not beat it. I hope to have these going next week.
Thanks to the original poster for bringing this to my attention.
 
madscientist451 said:
My 2 cents: Stop using kits, if you want to brew, find some established recipes that have a track record, start brewing them and then make some changes as you see fit. The idea is to figure out what you are doing that works for you and then keep doing it.
Click to expand...

I'm still a noobie, When I started brewing earlier this year, I bought two kits, a Vienna Lager and a Milk Stout. I brewed the lager, and it turned out pretty good, but by the time I was ready for the second one, I was ready to change it up. So I broke up the milk stout kit. I used the extracts and specialty grains in a Baltic Porter, the hops in a kolsch, and the yeast in an IPA. I still haven't used the lactose.

Point is, even if you're not *brewing* from a kit, there can be some use in *buying* a kit, if you're getting a good deal.
 
I just looked at the IPA kit. $20 for 6 lbs LME, 1 lb DME, 3 oz hops and a packet of US-05?? Sign me up!

Pricing this out separately:

6 lbs Pilsen LME: $19.99
1 lb Golden DME: $4.99
US-05: $3.99
1 oz Columbus: $2.29
1 oz Centennial: $2.29
1 oz Cascade: $2.29
5 oz Priming Sugar: $1.49

$37.33

I am going to pick up a few of these just because they are such a good deal. I brew all-grain, so I will use the yeast, hops and priming sugar for the batch, and then use the extract to make yeast starters.
 
Got this in an email today, so it will be fresh.


An update on your order From: Midwest Supplies

We'd like to update you on the status of your most recent order. As you know many of our products are handcrafted and made "on demand" in order to guarantee freshness. In other words we do not build products until we receive your order. This occasionally results in slightly slower processing of orders in times of heavy demand.

So now I know all is good and fresh. :mug::mug:
 
I just checked this out. As the poster above noted- each of these kits individually is far more cheaper than building yourself. The yeast is even included. I only see two I might order. These are 5-gallon extract batches for AG price basically.

Also. I have backed down to 3- gallon batches to save money and space. Having these for the price alone will make me brew just a few more 5g batches.

At the least you can parse out the ingriedents or add to the kit to liven it up more.

How in the world can they make a profit on this???
 
drhusker18 said:
I just checked this out. As the poster above noted- each of these kits individually is far more cheaper than building yourself. The yeast is even included. I only see two I might order. These are 5-gallon extract batches for AG price basically.

Also. I have backed down to 3- gallon batches to save money and space. Having these for the price alone will make me brew just a few more 5g batches.

At the least you can parse out the ingriedents or add to the kit to liven it up more.

How in the world can they make a profit on this???
Click to expand...

If you buy two of the same kits, you can make 3 batches of the beer.

How do you make money off of these? Lots of sales. We call it a "loss leader" in sales. Almost ALL produce is a loss leader, almost 50% of it goes into the trash but people come in to the grocery store to buy produce and buy lots of other stuff too.

If you only spend $20.00 on a single kit, why not buy two or three? You will also likely buy other stuff as well or its just the way to get n00b3 into brewing as a "gateway" kit?

I think it's great sales technique.
 
Firewalker11 said:
If you buy two of the same kits, you can make 3 batches of the beer.

How do you make money off of these? Lots of sales. We call it a "loss leader" in sales. Almost ALL produce is a loss leader, almost 50% of it goes into the trash but people come in to the grocery store to buy produce and buy lots of other stuff too.

If you only spend $20.00 on a single kit, why not buy two or three? You will also likely buy other stuff as well or its just the way to get n00b3 into brewing as a "gateway" kit?

I think it's great sales technique.
Click to expand...

Oh for sure! I just cannot imagine the (in car terms) "dealer invoice price" for malt extract. Basically you are paying for the LME and getting everything else free. Pilsner is 19.99 while the gold is 17.99 on most sites.

These are the better brand ingriedents (hops and malt). I think buying a few if not more of these kits to keep around to supplement brews or use as a base recipe- this is it. Plus just likely brewing a good beer with them straight up.

There are 120.5 ounces total in this kit. So at $20 per kit, the price is $0.17 per oz. individually purchased is $0.31 per ounce- that is almost double the price! Please kindly correct me if I messed anything up- scratched it out using my iPhone apps and multiple screens while riding shotgun.

They will likely pickup impulse purchases or increased volume here, good way to let customer service and aggressive/competitive pricing start to increase sales. I always add a few things.....
 
LME is around $1.00 a pound in bulk. Just over $2.00 a pound when buying a #33 growler, and that just OUR price! Order thousands of gallons and I bet the price drops even further!

LME Growler.JPG
 
I picked up two of these kits from Midwest. I gotta say I am pretty impressed with them, especially for $20. The extract and hops are exactly the same as is sold with the normal recipe kits and as a la carte items. I whipped up a starter with some pilsner LME (I am using the hops in another AG recipe) and I have to say that it is incredibly fresh stuff. Hell of a deal!
 
Agree....that is a good deal. I see it as simple brew day AND as a great base recipe to tweak into what ever you want...experiment.
 
For the entry-level brewer, a way to experience some brew basics and end up with some good-drinking beer (hopefully) to boot. Although I wouldn't make a steady diet of extract beers, for the price, not a bad deal. My beginning extract kits were $30 - $40.
 
This is amazing -- I spent $25 on extract a few days ago ..... so for $5 less I can also get yeast, and hops, and some grains ... this is tremendous value.

I also don't get the bias against using kits, there is a baseline knowledge you get from them that is invaluable for new brewers. Using kits gave me the confidence to eventually roll my own recipe and even that was adapted from somebody else's recipe I googled and then tweaked. It's all good ... it's all beer ... and if you don't like it, do it your way.
 
Wow thanks for showing me these kits. I might order one right away. I'm only interested in the Brown Ale or the American Wheat. I currently have a Pale Ale in bottles so I wanna change it up. Any ideas on the IBU's on those two beers? I figure they're pretty low. Also: Let's say I brew the Brown Ale. What have people done to improve it per se?

BTW shipping is still $10 so total is around $30. Still good.
 
Your cost analysis is spot on. I'd calculate that you are getting a really good buy with this kit containing the ingredients listed. Most homebrewers start with extracts (LME and DME are "gateway" drugs...lol), so never worry about defending your position. And lots of brewers stick with extract only, while some try partial mashes with extracts included.

The only warning I have is that you'll hear you can save in bulk. While this is true, what happens if you change direction and you have a large inventory of supplies you have outgrown? These ingredients don't stay fresh forever, so stay small and experiment til you find your niche. I have an inventory of DME that I use to build starters with liquid yeast, so if carefully stored, it will get used even though I am all grain now.
 
Jasper18 said:
Wow thanks for showing me these kits. I might order one right away. I'm only interested in the Brown Ale or the American Wheat. I currently have a Pale Ale in bottles so I wanna change it up. Any ideas on the IBU's on those two beers? I figure they're pretty low. Also: Let's say I brew the Brown Ale. What have people done to improve it per se?

BTW shipping is still $10 so total is around $30. Still good.
Click to expand...

Jasper18, there is a really neat program available called BeerSmith. You can download a free trial version. With this program you can plug in the ingredients you are supplied in any kit, and BeerSmith will calculate the ABV, gravities, color, and IBU's and more. I bought a kit once and plugged in the hop bill included in the kit. It was too hoppy for me so I used the program to back off the included hops to the IBU level I wanted. Folks think that since the kit contains the ingredients, you simply have to use all they include. Not always the case as I found.
 
Jasper18 said:
Wow thanks for showing me these kits. I might order one right away. I'm only interested in the Brown Ale or the American Wheat. I currently have a Pale Ale in bottles so I wanna change it up. Any ideas on the IBU's on those two beers? I figure they're pretty low. Also: Let's say I brew the Brown Ale. What have people done to improve it per se?

BTW shipping is still $10 so total is around $30. Still good.
Click to expand...

I don't see anything that indicates the IBS's but suppose you bought the kit and wanted a more hoppy beer? Hop pellets average about $1.75 per ounce so you could easily adjust that without much cost.

Once you have the kit in hand, look at the ingredients and compare them to a recipe you want to try. It should be easy to turn a cream ale kit into a IIPA if you want since the ABV of the kit should already be near 6%. Add a few ounces of grains for steeping and turn that cream ale into a nice porter or brown ale. With a start like that you can make almost any beer from it.
 
Northbank said:
I also don't get the bias against using kits, there is a baseline knowledge you get from them that is invaluable for new brewers.
Click to expand...

No "bias against" from this brewer. In fact, here's what I said: "For the entry-level brewer, a way to experience some brew basics and end up with some good-drinking beer (hopefully) to boot."

My first year and a half of brewing was strictly extract kits. And I still like doing a kit once in awhile, or a simple SHaME (Single Hop and Malt Extract) recipe, too. Sometimes, I just like a quick and easy brew.

My suggestion not to make "a steady diet extract kits" was simply to encourage those who haven't done an AG recipe yet to at least give it a try. It's not that much more involved than a kit and if you like the results, the options are limitless. But, if you don't like the results and kits are where you're happy, that's cool, too.
 
RM-MN said:
I don't see anything that indicates the IBS's but suppose you bought the kit and wanted a more hoppy beer? Hop pellets average about $1.75 per ounce so you could easily adjust that without much cost.

Once you have the kit in hand, look at the ingredients and compare them to a recipe you want to try. It should be easy to turn a cream ale kit into a IIPA if you want since the ABV of the kit should already be near 6%. Add a few ounces of grains for steeping and turn that cream ale into a nice porter or brown ale. With a start like that you can make almost any beer from it.
Click to expand...

You could also in theory use BeerSmith to alter the hop schedule for an IBU boost as well right? I mean without buying anything extra ... things like adding less LME/DME at the front to let more bittering through? Or a longer boil before you start later hop additions ...
 
When you add the bittering hops will alter the bitterness of the beer but the control on that is a little loose as the majority of the bittering happens in the first 30 minutes of boil and continues until the wort is chilled below approximately 180F. If you want a less bitter or more bitter beer, change the amount of bittering hops to get there. If you want more flavor, add the hops at flameout. If you want more aroma, add hops when the ferment is over.
 
Sure, just in Beer Smith I was noticing that the less malt you had at the beginning of the boil, the more bittering came through from the hops. This came about for me because people were talking about adding the bulk of their extract late to prevent overly dark beers but when I changed my recipe in BS I noticed the IBUs went through the roof ....
 
Northbank said:
Sure, just in Beer Smith I was noticing that the less malt you had at the beginning of the boil, the more bittering came through from the hops. This came about for me because people were talking about adding the bulk of their extract late to prevent overly dark beers but when I changed my recipe in BS I noticed the IBUs went through the roof ....
Click to expand...

Full boil extracts can also help color control. When beginners get a small boil kettle in a kit, than have to add lots of water in the end to make a balance of a 5G batch, the color is almost invariably darker than that style will call for. When I went to AG, I immediately saw a difference in the color I desired. However, full boil with extracts can help control color as well as a host of other differences including full boil hop bittering.
 
I love all grain brewing. But I don't always have the time for it. Great beer can come from kits, and it's way better than buying (!) beer. I might order some too.
 
Yeah. This is good beer. I'm sipping the IPA version now. No grains, light on hops but nice. Brown ale in the fermenter had some grain. Just got the second shipment today with additional grains and more hops, still about $30 per kit.
 
Ordered 3 kits plus bunch of hops, us04, and grains for centennial blonde, kona, outer limits, and SNPA recipes on here. With my stock pile here- I should b able to use these kits to do them all, plus more. Am doing 3 gal batches. If I have enough citra will do zombie dust.
 

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