Bought a kit

[Midwestbrew]

Hello all! Since its christmas time, i started thinking about what to get for presents, and since my dad works at a liqour store, and always talks about brewing, ive decided to get him a kit for christmas.

Now originally i was going to just get him the Mr. beer and if he decided he liked it he could get more equipment, but then had the thought, if he likes it, its easier to just get the good stuff up front. So i ended up buying the basic kit form Midwest supplies.

and heres my question. I bought with it the Autumn Amber Ale ingredient kit with it (Autumn Amber Ale - Amber Ales - Beer Recipe Kits - Brewing Ingredients). Will the kit Be able to Brew this? will i need to purchase anything else with it?

And while im asking, is there any clone that has a taste similar to Howling Wolf? Just wondering because as of now he really likes that stuff.

Thanks in advanced!

 

[Primevci]

yeah he still needs bottles.. and hopefully he has a pot so he can brew it other than that it looks liek that kits is fine pretty similar to what i started out with..

 

[Midwestbrew]

ok, well i know we have the kettle. and he always brings home bottles of new beer so we can just wash and sanitize those i take it?

 

[kh54s10]

Both kits are good. The brewing kit describes what is not included: A pot capable of boiling 4 gallons, bottles and a thermometer.

These kits are a good start. After starting with a kit with a few more items from Northern Brewer I decided I really liked the hobby. I have been adding equipment and will keep doing so, probably until I quit. So with the couple of needed items and some experience decisions can be made on with and what kind of addition to make.

I think this will be a very Happy Christmas.

Never had a Howling Wolf, so I have no advice regarding same.

 

[WhineinAlbany]

ok, well i know we have the kettle. and he always brings home bottles of new beer so we can just wash and sanitize those i take it?

Yes, but they shouldn't be twist offs. Sam Adams is usually the easiest to come by that will work.

 

[Midwestbrew]

ok, i will make sure to look for non twist offs

 

[RM-MN]

I brewed a few ingredient kits from Midwest and found that they are pretty complete and their instructions are pretty good. A couple of things that will make it easier and make better beer:

1. If the kit suggest you rack the beer to secondary, you can skip this. Many of us here on HomeBrewTalk have learned that leaving the beer in the primary for a longer time makes better beer sooner. With a larger amount of yeast the beer gets "cleaned up" sooner.

2. While fermenting at room temperature will make decent beer, better beer is obtainable by fermenting a bit cooler. I prefer to ferment mine at 62 to 64 F. for about a week and then bring it up to room temperature for another 2 weeks.

3. If that equipment kit didn't come with a bottling wand (plastic tube about a foot long with a black plastic end that has a little piece sticking out that end) you should add this. They are not very expensive and they make bottling easier and faster and pretty much guarantee the correct amount of head space in your bottle.