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I'm very satisfied with the two kits I've done, and I'm even more satisfied with the service I have received from Northern Brewer. I would go so far as to say that it's the best service I have received from any company for any product. I'm getting some flavors that I can't describe, though...

Has anybody done the Irish Red Ale kit or the Scottish Export 80 Shilling kit? These are two kits that I've done. I'm pretty satisfied with the taste, but I want to see if anybody has made modifications to them or to see if anybody has found that other suppliers offer better extract kits. Any...

Sorry man. I didn't mean to get offended. I know you are very likely more experienced than me given that I have only done a few extract kits. Typically, the reason I would ask such a question is to see if anybody has "inside" information or if anybody has found things out through...

(Unquoted. Sorry.)

My thoughts exactly. Also, I would not be surprised if a fermentable compound was used to hold them together. Not super glue, I'm not a complete idiot :).

Anyone have some thoughts on this?

Has anybody tried using fresh hops in place of pellet hops with the extract kits? Does the off taste go away? Also, what holds the pellets together? Perhaps that is something that causes the off taste.

Also, that calculator recommends .4 oz of priming sugar. That cannot be right, can it? Do they mean .4 oz per gallon?

That makes sense. I tried the beer before it was carb'd up and it was quite sweet. Only as the carbonation came through did the beer become a little bit bitter, cleaner, and less interesting.

I think it has been in the bottles for nearly 5-6 weeks at this point. It has a nice clean flavor, but it seems that the rich maltiness that I'd expect in a Scottish 80 shilling just isn't there. When I think of that beer, I think of Belhaven's version, so maybe that's why. I can taste a little...

Haha. Is it possible that getting hop pellet sediment into primary would cause it to be more bitter though? There's only 1 oz of hops in this beer, so my understanding is that there should barely be any bitterness. I believe they were fuggle hop pellets.

I boiled and topped off with Deer Park bottled water. I'm not sure if it is actually the "twang" that everyone talks about with extract kits, and it tastes pretty good. It's just not up to the quality of craft brews or anything like that. It's got a unique taste, and it's very drinkable. It's...

I boiled and topped off with Deer Park bottled water. I'm not sure if it is actually the "twang" that everyone talks about with extract kits, and it tastes pretty good. It's just not up to the quality of craft brews or anything like that. It's got a unique taste, and it's very drinkable. It's...

I don't typically squeeze the grain bag. Idk if it's a twang or not. The best way I can describe it is that it's a taste that I have gotten only with homebrews. It's not present in any craft brews or microbrews I have had. I have heard that Northern Brewer uses very fresh ingredients, but I...

The beer brewed with this equipment turned out to be wonderful. Crystal clear with no off flavors.

Hello everybody. I have done 2 extract kits from Northern Brewer so far. The first kit was an Irish Ale and the second was a Scottish 80 shilling. Both beers are supposed to be malty and not very bitter. I am encountering a slightly higher bitterness than I expected. I'm not sure if it is...

The first day or so of fermentation was at around 71-72 F, and it took til the next day for me to get it down to around 66 F. I have been told that that can cause some bitterness.

Yes, sorry. I topped it off to 5 gal and mixed well. For the specialty grains, I put the grain bag in the water as it heated up and removed it @ around 160 F. I didn't squeeze it out. I just held it over the kettle for a few seconds to let as much drip out as possible.

When I tried to leave the sludge in the boil kettle, I measured it and it was at around 1.035 or so (supposed to be 1.047). I just went ahead and dumped the sludge and all into the fermenter, and it boosted it up to 1.042. I'm not sure where the extra gravity went. By sludge, I mean the hop...

So, I did my first extract kit from northern brewer several weeks back. It was an irish red ale kit. Some info: 4 weeks in primary 3 gallon boil (prob ended up being about 2.5 after boiling) Used whirlfloc. Didn't whirlpool. 3 weeks in the bottle carbonating with 5 oz priming...