Any experienced brewers still do kits?

[Hwk-I-St8]

I get a ton of emails advertising kits for sale, sometimes at really low prices. I have been tempted many times but usually back off because I get base grains for $0.50/lb and buy hops in bulk for relatively cheap. Even on sale, the kids cost more than I can brew the same beer for.

I'm still tempted by these deals just because the brews sound interesting.

I used my kettle to boil down 7 gallons of tomato sauce this summer on my stove. I may do either BIAB or a full boil extract kit or two this winter just to get out of the garage when It's so freaking cold.

 

[mongoose33]

I get a ton of emails advertising kits for sale, sometimes at really low prices. I have been tempted many times but usually back off because I get base grains for $0.50/lb and buy hops in bulk for relatively cheap. Even on sale, the kids cost more than I can brew the same beer for.

I'm still tempted by these deals just because the brews sound interesting.

I used my kettle to boil down 7 gallons of tomato sauce this summer on my stove. I may do either BIAB or a full boil extract kit or two this winter just to get out of the garage when It's so freaking cold.

How did that tomato-sauce beer turn out?

The issue with me w/r/t kits is one can't really know how fresh the ingredients are. While that's also somewhat true with things we buy off the shelf, I don't know whether kits--especially those "on sale"--are truly fresh or are simply kits the retailer wants to move out. Has the grain recently been packaged or has it been on the shelf for six months?

I've noticed a lot of places like northern brewer and morebeer will tell you what's in their kits, which is nice, so they could be duplicated. So maybe you could duplicate them that way.

 

[LeeH]

Or do you mean extract kits like Coopers etc.

You really boiled down 7 gallons of ketchup?

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

Haven't for years. I find it way more fun and rewarding when I design the recipe myself.

 

[Br3w4u]

I made an all grain kit from northern brewer Saturday. First kit that I have used in years but also it wasn’t like the typical kit you pick up off the shelf at the LHBS but more like as if the guy at the LHBS put together a recipe for you. I wouldn’t normally go for it but they had 20% off and free shipping so it turned out being cheaper than if I bought it locally.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Or do you mean extract kits like Coopers etc.

You really boiled down 7 gallons of ketchup?

I brew all grain, so the temptation has been for all grain kits.

We use a food mill to process tomatoes which yields the juice and pulp. From there we cook it down to the consistency of spaghetti sauce and can it. Started with 7 gallons and cooked down to just under 5.

 

[mashpaddled]

I haven't bought a kit in years. It's a premium price for typically not special ingredients. The biggest problem is not knowing the condition of the ingredients to the kit. Some shops build the kits from the recipe upon request which should keep the ingredients fresh but a lot of them box up kits so people can take and go. Who knows how long those hops or yeast sachets have sat on the shelf at room temperature. I remember the first kit I bought was one of the mass produced kits which might have sat on the shelf for years before I bought it. No reason in my mind to buy questionable ingredients at a premium.

 

[user 205607]

I used to and when I did I would mix it up by adding my own grains and hops . I would generally by a kit with the hops I wanted to make a different beer. At NB when they run a sale on extract they will usually offer the same deal on all grain if you call in. I now have a brewery that sells me grain at their cost so the most I pay for a bag is $33 depending on the grain.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Neither kits nor caboodles.

However this one tempts me:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/kit-allgrain-russian-rivers-consecration-5-gallons.html
It comes with the zante currants and "Authentic oak chunk(s) from actual Consecration barrels!"

 

[El Nino]

I personally don't, partially because kits ordered from NB or other sites have these astronomical shipping fees, which are sometimes more than the kit themselves (living in HI). Buying grains from the LHBS for me.

 

[brewbama]

I haven’t bought a kit in years. I use books and the websites/forums to get recipe ideas and adapt them to my system from there. I try to let my LHBS have first cut but sometimes they don’t have everything so I go online.

 

[Staylow]

My first 12 beers were extract, 11 were kits. One I purchased the ingredients to brew someone else's recipe. When I went all grain, I designed all my own. Had some hits, quite a few misses early on. 150 batches later, I have few misses. But, definitely no kits - no reason to. I buy and keep 2 row, Maris Otter, Vienna, Munich and Pilsner in bulk, hops in bulk w/ vacuum sealer, and a frozen yeast bank. I plan out several beers at once and buy the specialty grains I need online to save on shipping.

 

[JimRausch]

Yes, I did an extract kit for a cream ale from my LHBS. It got more positive comments than my usual AG, fancy, dancy stuff.
I decided to enter it into a competition to see how good it actually is. I'll find out the end of October.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

If you are fairly new to brewing, or you don't have the space or equipment to store and mill your grains, or maybe don't brew that often, I see nothing wrong with someone buying a kit. Not everyone is a die-hard brew-weekly type and thats totally ok.

But... Once you start buying at least base malts in bulk, your knowledge and skills grow, you are tweaking your own recipes, and exploring your own recipe designs, there is no reason for kits.

"Experienced" says to me that I can give you a recipe in grain percentages, gravities, and IBU's instead of weights (the way a recipe should be written). Then you can duplicate it on your own system for whatever volume you wish to brew. At this point, prepackaged kits would be kinda moot.

 

[jrgtr42]

Neither kits nor caboodles.

However this one tempts me:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/kit-allgrain-russian-rivers-consecration-5-gallons.html
It comes with the zante currants and "Authentic oak chunk(s) from actual Consecration barrels!"

I bought and brewed that one a few years ago. It came out really good. I actually recently bottled a re-brew of it, (the kit comes with the ingredient list and amount,) substituting tart cherries for the currants and rum-soaked oak chunks for the staves (I threw those in there as well; figured it couldn't hurt.)
Tasted great when I was bottling, can't wait for it to finish carbonating, should be another couple weeks.
The kit ain't cheap, but IMO it was worth it. YMMV.

 

[Transamguy77]

I get a ton of emails advertising kits for sale, sometimes at really low prices. I have been tempted many times but usually back off because I get base grains for $0.50/lb and buy hops in bulk for relatively cheap. Even on sale, the kids cost more than I can brew the same beer for.

I'm still tempted by these deals just because the brews sound interesting.

I used my kettle to boil down 7 gallons of tomato sauce this summer on my stove. I may do either BIAB or a full boil extract kit or two this winter just to get out of the garage when It's so freaking cold.

I’m right there with you, when I moved a few years ago I bought a few kits because they were easy, and I have thought of buying some now for the same reason. Sometimes it’s nice to not put a recipe together and just brew what’s in the box.

 

[Sadu]

I won a bunch of extract kits in a competition and honestly have been really enjoying them. I found a rough breakdown of what is inside (% of each malt, colour, total IBU) and this makes it way easier to build a recipe around them.
Part of the fun is that they were free of course, but nothing wrong with the beer they make.

 

[00Seven]

There are a few recipes from different sites that I have used in the past that I really enjoyed. I'll get on their website and pull up the ingredient list, put it in brewers friend to adjust it for my equipment and make sure the OGs match then piece together the stuff from whoever is having a shipping sale or from my LHBS. If they have a good recipe why not use it as is or build upon it to make it your own. Good chefs draw inspiration from all around.

 

[Sematary]

I do kits, extracts or full grain all depending on how lazy I'm feeling. lol

I get a ton of emails advertising kits for sale, sometimes at really low prices. I have been tempted many times but usually back off because I get base grains for $0.50/lb and buy hops in bulk for relatively cheap. Even on sale, the kids cost more than I can brew the same beer for.

I'm still tempted by these deals just because the brews sound interesting.

I used my kettle to boil down 7 gallons of tomato sauce this summer on my stove. I may do either BIAB or a full boil extract kit or two this winter just to get out of the garage when It's so freaking cold.