Beer. Simply Beer.

[JoeSTL]

Hey has anyone tried these extract kits from midwest supplies? They look a like good base extract kits that beginners like me can experiment with. Plus they have really good reviews and are only 20 bucks! Since shipping is like another $10, I bought 2 kits, the stout and the IPA. Hoping to do the stout this weekend, so I'll have something just in time for St. Patty's day.

 

[Makintrax73]

I just used one for my 3rd try at beer. The brown ale. I did a BIAB partial mash with 1lb maris otter and the steeping grains from the kit.

Just bottled it. Tasted quite good out of the fermenter. I would not be afraid to try any of the Simply Beer line based on my experience and the reviews.

 

[JoeSTL]

Thanks. My first brew was a brown ale. Caribou Slobber from Northern Brewer. I'll have to try the brown ale kit and see how it compares.

 

[vgmohag]

I have brewed a few of them. Can't beat them for the money. The stout was my favorite. It turned out really well.

 

[Rush]

The stout is "okay". I hate Dark Malt Extract and that's where the Stout kit gets it's flavor and color from instead of actual steeping grains. The IPA kit came out fantastic for $20 and I'd definitely buy it again. I used US-05 yeast and it came out great. I do recommend using 1-2oz's of hops for dry hopping on top of the hop schedule that comes with the recipe.

Read convo here on the IPA. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=586010

 

[OzzyCoop]

My 1st beer was a red ale. It was fantastic and probably my favorite. Then came a stout that I made with canned cherry and it was also amazing. I did one called Liberty Ale and that was good. I tried maybe 6 or 7 different kits through them and all were great. No screw ups.

The only screw up beer I have made was some sort of orange/coriander stuff. My 3rd all grain brew. It was horrible but I drank it anyhow. Almost all 10 gallons If anyone has tips about an orange infused beer I would like to chat. Anyhow, I think the high success rates of the kits is what made me love brewing and switch to all grain. I still do kits here and there. Especially in the winter. Plus I can experiment and it gives me a good idea for all grain recipes. Because of space restrictions and no access to an outside space, I may switch to a small scale BIAB. Possibly even just small batches.

 

[Cmac32]

I plan on brewing the simply pale ale today, I used the simply IPA kit ingredients and added only centennial hops going for a two hearted clone based off recipe from the forums. For $20 you can't go wrong for all you get.

Also brewed a caribou slobber as my first brew a month ago, JoeSTL do you have your gravity readings from when you brewed yours? I feel like my last two have been really low. Projected ABV for the slobber was 3.9% pretty weak but tastes good

 

[RM-MN]

I plan on brewing the simply pale ale today, I used the simply IPA kit ingredients and added only centennial hops going for a two hearted clone based off recipe from the forums. For $20 you can't go wrong for all you get.

Also brewed a caribou slobber as my first brew a month ago, JoeSTL do you have your gravity readings from when you brewed yours? I feel like my last two have been really low. Projected ABV for the slobber was 3.9% pretty weak but tastes good

A Caribou Slobber extract kit should come out to about 5% ABV. Its OG will be about 1.052. If you made an extract kit where the OG on your hydrometer was much lower it is from incomplete mixing of the concentrated wort with top off water.:rockin:

 

[Cmac32]

So my beer probably is around 5% I just got a false reading? My readings were OG 1.048 and FG was 1.018. FG was after 3 weeks in primary, no secondary

 

[Rush]

So my beer probably is around 5% I just got a false reading? My readings were OG 1.048 and FG was 1.018. FG was after 3 weeks in primary, no secondary

With a 1.048 OG, your reading seems to be correct, but your 1.018 FG after 3 weeks hints that you had fermentation issues. Did you aerate your wort before pitching yeast? What yeast did you use? I started using US-05 dry yeast on extract batches because of how extremely low it would ferment. Extract sugars have a tendency to not be as fermentable so normal yeasts tend to stop fermenting around 1.016-1.020 instead of lower.

Moose Drool is meant to end up around 1.012-1.014 FG, which would have put you around 4.6-4.9% ABV. I'd make sure you are aerating thoroughly next time and pitching a high attenuating yeast.

 

[Cmac32]

Yeah it was my first brew so I think I may have under aerated. I used US-05 as well. It was a vigorous fermentation too so I was kind of surprised at the numbers

 

[JoeSTL]

Also brewed a caribou slobber as my first brew a month ago, JoeSTL do you have your gravity readings from when you brewed yours? I feel like my last two have been really low. Projected ABV for the slobber was 3.9% pretty weak but tastes good

My readings were similar. My OG was 1.050 and had a FG of 1.020. I did 2 weeks in the primary and 1 week in the secondary. It's about a 4% beer. It tastes great, but it should have had a higher ABV.

 

[Cmac32]

My readings were similar. My OG was 1.050 and had a FG of 1.020. I did 2 weeks in the primary and 1 week in the secondary. It's about a 4% beer. It tastes great, but it should have had a higher ABV.

Well glad I wasn't the only one! cheers

 

[TonyKZ1]

I've made all 6 of them, and the Brown Ale and Stout recipes I've made a couple batches of those. They taste pretty good.