Brewers Best Kits

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Nosnum

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I am going to embark on my third brew and am probably just going to buy another Brewers Best Kit. Are there any favorites out there? My first brew was their Imperial Pale Ale, I am still letting it condition in the bottles.

Also, has anybody tried John Palmer's recipes that he lists in the back of his book, "How to Brew?"
 
Nosnum said:
I am going to embark on my third brew and am probably just going to buy another Brewers Best Kit. Are there any favorites out there? My first brew was their Imperial Pale Ale, I am still letting it condition in the bottles.

Also, has anybody tried John Palmer's recipes that he lists in the back of his book, "How to Brew?"

I made the amber ale, everyone loved it.
 
done like 3 BB kits in my day, all tasted good. their brown ale was very well received by my wife's entire clan.
 
yah +1 for the amber ale, I have not brewed it but I have had it. Its relly good. SOlid taste and great aroma.
 
I did the BB english brown ale as my first beer. I like how it came out, others have said the same. It keeps getting better as it carbs in the bottles.
 
I suggest you take a look at the kits from northern brewer. I have made a few of these with good results so far.

The LME they use comes in a milk jug and they crank out a pretty high volume so it is much fresher than what you get in a can. All their kits come with a liquid wyeast activator pack as well.
 
My first two batches were the BB Oktoberfest, and the IPA, both were very well recieved. The IPA doesn't end up being too bitter, it would be a good one to add some more hops too if you felt the need.
 
another +1 for the american amber. I made that one about 3 months ago and am now just finishing the last of the batch and each day it tastes better.
 
Both the Irish Red and the Stout are great! The Red was my favorite of the BB kits i have made so far.

SD
 
sdhucks7 said:
Both the Irish Red and the Stout are great! The Red was my favorite of the BB kits i have made so far.

SD



Im glad to hear that! I am about to brew the red tomorrow!
 
I did the English brown ale. It turned out very light and crisp, but a bit watery. Was around 4% abv. I know I usually brew and like heavier maltier beers, but it was a real crowd pleaser for friends and family who like something more commercial and easier to drink. Carbonates and looks real nice. Like a more hoppy newcastle.
 
I have the American pale ael that I dry hopped in the secondary, conditioning in bottles right now and the nut Brown in primary. They are my first two batches. Gonna wait to see how the Ale tastes before brewing any more to make sure my process is ok. Next will be Edworts Apfelwein.
 
Glad to hear all the responses on the American Amber.

Just brewed a batch of this yesterday.

My only concern with an Amber is that they disappear too fast in my household. Trying to get enough done so that I can take extra time Lagering an Oktoberfest.
 
My first two batches have been BB kits. I've got the IPA bottled and waiting and the bock in the primary. I tried the IPA after a week of conditioning just to see how it was coming along and it was better than expected.
 
BIPFT said:
My first two batches have been BB kits. I've got the IPA bottled and waiting and the bock in the primary. I tried the IPA after a week of conditioning just to see how it was coming along and it was better than expected.

I just brewed this myself. If my local store has the right hops I am going to dry hop it.
 
Nosnum said:
I just brewed this myself. If my local store has the right hops I am going to dry hop it.


If you can get the hops go for it. It'll be worth it. I couldn't decide if I was going to or not, but since it was my first batch I figured I'd stick w/what I had.
 
I've done the Oktoberfest, Scotch Ale, and European Bock....all very good, but the Oktoberfest was the best, in my own opinion, and according to all those who have yet to taste it. BB kits are very easy, and generally result in good beer.
 
I've just brewed a BB Red Ale that is in the primary so I have a few weeks to see how that will turn out. I'm probably going to do a couple more BB kits to get the process down. What's my next progression after that? The goal is to brew from scratch and create recipes of my own.
 
crazy_piump said:
I've just brewed a BB Red Ale that is in the primary so I have a few weeks to see how that will turn out. I'm probably going to do a couple more BB kits to get the process down. What's my next progression after that? The goal is to brew from scratch and create recipes of my own.

Brew some of the great recipes on here. The difference between the recipes in the kits and here, is that you can actually ask questions of the creator. You'll get a feel of what the different grains do to the beer...

Yooper's recipes are awsome, so are cheezy's....Heck, all the recipe creators on here are genuises....I read them, even if they're not in a style I like...That way I understand what grains go into what style...

Then perhaps Partial Mashing instead of just steeping....Then allgrain if you have the space to do full volume boils.

Somewhere in this progression you'll also begin formulating your own recipes as you read and start doing these.
 
crazy_piump said:
I've just brewed a BB Red Ale that is in the primary so I have a few weeks to see how that will turn out. I'm probably going to do a couple more BB kits to get the process down. What's my next progression after that? The goal is to brew from scratch and create recipes of my own.


I would shoot for one of the clone recipes up here. You'll have a basis of comparison and generally the recipes come with some feedback from others who have already tried it (or you could ask the op of the recipe).
 
I have brewed the Brewer's Best English Brown Ale kit several times and the American Nut Brown Ale once. The English Brown Ale lends itself very well to being made into a Pumpkin Spice Ale. I had a corny keg of it and one of Ed Wort's Apfelwein at a party back in October and the Pumpkin Spice disappeared after just a couple of hours. The Apfelwein didn't last much longer.

Anyway, the Brewer's Best kits are easy to brew and you can get some consistently good batches out of them, even with the dried yeast packet included in the kit.

Scott
 
My Orange Ginger Dortmunder is a modification of the BB's Bold series 1047 Dortmunder kit. With an additional Hop added at 60, a couple additions of orange peel and ginger root, and about a half cup of fresh orange juice added to the secondary.

I just cracked one open last night (after only 17 days in the bottle) to check things out. And I was blown away by it. It is amazing.

It had aspects of it that reminded me of the belgian triple I had had 2 nights before at a brew pub, only not as heavy.

It was really quaffable.

And I know it will get even better in a couple more weeks. It should be a nice spring/summer brew. One that even bmc drinkers might like.

I know I'll make it again, except since BB give you detailed recipe's with the kit, I'll just buy the ingredients myself. I'll either just swap the lme for the correct amount of DME....Or work it into a PM.
 
My first brew ever was the Brewers Best Classic English Ale which turned out great. Awesome carmel flavor, good color. Just bottled the American Cream Ale, sampled it and the flavor was great.
 
Ok guys, I brewed up a Brewers Best scotch ale kit tonight but I put too much h20 in at the end. sigh. Probably not that much over, but still maybe about 5.15 gallons instead of 5. I hate being so ADD and rushing through things like I do. On a side note I'm hoping to add the yeast to my bank once this one's done brewing! So any reviews on the B.B. scotch ale?
 
I did the American Nut Brown for my second batch (also my 2nd BB kit) and i just racked to secondary last night. Smelled Great. I will be moving on from this to a partial mash as I believe 2 extracts were enough to be comfortable with the process. One step closer to AG baby. I am doing a Cream Ale recipe of DeathBrewer's that he converted to PM for me.
 
I have done the Brown Ale and Red Ale. Both went fast when company was around. I really liked the Brown Ale. Have the Wiezenbier in the carboy right now, gonna bottle tomorrow!
 
david_the_greek said:
Ok guys, I brewed up a Brewers Best scotch ale kit tonight but I put too much h20 in at the end. sigh. Probably not that much over, but still maybe about 5.15 gallons instead of 5. I hate being so ADD and rushing through things like I do. On a side note I'm hoping to add the yeast to my bank once this one's done brewing! So any reviews on the B.B. scotch ale?
5.15 gallons is definitely NO problem. In fact it's a good idea to put in more like 5.25 or 5.5 gallons of water. You will lose some beer to the trub and to gravity testing, and you'll never get it all out of the fermenter at bottling time. Many experienced brewers add 10 percent more water to the wort than the ultimately hope to get out of their batch.
(Despite being a junior member here I've been brewing for about 15 years. Still consider myself a novice though; still learning with every batch. I have two going right now.)
I recently brewed a BB "Steam Style" kit, but I added 1 lb of light DME and 1 oz of Chinook hops. Probably the hops were a bit over the top, but after about a month bottle conditioning at 65 degrees this is one of the best beers I've ever tasted. Really awesome. And I used the dry yeast that came with the kit.
Yesterday I ordered a "California Steam" kit from Midwest Supplies. I'll be using the White Labs yeast, and this time I'll leave the recipe unadulterated. I'm curious to see how significant the differences are. I predict they will be dramatic.
-Hrangil
 
I just tasted the bold series American Nut Brown after two weeks in the bottle and it's GREAT! Malty sweetness with a nutty, caramel type flavor and a bit of a warming sensation on the finish.


Yum! :ban:
 
I did the Red Ale and the Irish Stout, and both turned out well.

The red is a touch sour (a tiny, tiny touch; I noticed it and a gourmet chef/wine connoisseur friend of mine noticed it, but nobody else did), but that's probably due to the fact that it was my first real batch and I fumbled along a lot. ;) I can name about three occasions that I opened it up for infection. It's still tasty, so I'm not upset. I just learned from it.

The stout turned out _beautifully_, and it's going to age even more beautifully.

The kits are excellent for beginners (which I still am) because they walk you through the process and get you used to the idea of brewing...my next brew's going to be a recipe (I can't decide between Cheesefood's Caramel Cream Ale and Deathbrewer's Blood Ale next. Maybe I'll just have a gigantic brewday and do both), and I feel confident that I can do it because of my experience with the kits.
 
I've done multiple Brewer's Best kits and have been pleased with all of them with the exception of the Amber Cerveza. I've done it twice with poor results. The first time I tried to do an All-Grain, I bought a BB Nut Brown kit and had my brew shop guy put together an AG recipe with similar ingredients to the kit so I could see if there was any difference between Extract and AG brewing...there is!!! I've got one more BB kit to brew and then it's either Partial-Mash or All-Grain from here on out.

If you get the chance, check out the seasonal BB holiday ale. Good stuff!:mug:
 
Calvinfan1 said:
I've done multiple Brewer's Best kits and have been pleased with all of them with the exception of the Amber Cerveza. I've done it twice with poor results. The first time I tried to do an All-Grain, I bought a BB Nut Brown kit and had my brew shop guy put together an AG recipe with similar ingredients to the kit so I could see if there was any difference between Extract and AG brewing...there is!!! I've got one more BB kit to brew and then it's either Partial-Mash or All-Grain from here on out.

If you get the chance, check out the seasonal BB holiday ale. Good stuff!:mug:

I've done this one a few times. It is good.
 
So far I have only used Midwest (1) Autum Amber Ale, I thought it was good, shared with my friends this past Saturday, now I am out!!! Pale Ale in the secondary, going to keg this weekend, then brewing a Petes Wiked clone.

I have not had or made a stout, may have to look into one :)
 
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