Brooklyn Brew shop kits

[John_Cromie]

I started brewing with one of these kits. I think they are fantastic. They reduce the barrier to enter brewing significantly. I spent $70 to get the kit and a few extras and it gave me the chance to brew a couple really nice beers.

To the experienced brewer, these kits must seem ridiculous: They're inefficient, they're imprecise, and they're overpriced.

To someone who has never brewed before however, they're medium-sized boxes of possibility. They're a simple stepping stone for testing the waters of a new hobby. If it works out, most people will upgrade (though my brother has done tons of 1-gallon batches and loves it) and if it turns out they hate brewing, then they're only stuck with a couple odd things they can probably re-gift.

It will never supply all the beer you'll need but, it's a great introduction to brewing. (Though my first visit to my LHBS to buy grain was a little embarrassing as I was browsing the kits and had to ask what 'extract' meant; I didn't know there was another way to make beer!)

Edit: I also just wanted to add that they did sell nice 5-gallon kits for a long time but, stopped selling them in the last year; I assume because they were barely selling compared to the 1-gallons. However, they still have the instructions for the 5-gallon recipies on the site if anyone wanted to see what was in those kits. (which were $90, I believe.)

 

[cozmic]

I received one of these as a kit from someone who thought it would be a hobby I would be interested in. They were right, I have been wanting to home brew for a while now. Like most people said, this kit is more for people with a small space. I'm in a studio apartment, so it works out well in that way.

But I was a little frustrated because the kit doesn't really have everything you need. Someone mentioned pots a couple posts before mine. That the 6 quart pot is not a sufficient size and I'm going to agree. So it was really frustrating for me to improvise after I started the process, but I made it work.

The IPA I brewed is still fermenting but it looks and smells good so far. There is quite a bit of trub and I'm disappointed because I will not be getting much beer when this is all said and done.

Overall I think it's not bad. This is a must have for someone interested in brewing but is also living in a small space. But if you have an experienced friend that can suggest to you what to get at a brewing store I'd jump on that instead of purchasing this kit. I used this once and I think I will only use it once. I'm going to go to the brew store in my town and do some upgrading since I'm moving in a month and I will have more room.

 

[Gunnarubex]

I got a Brooklyn kit for my birthday and love it. Like someone mentioned before, it was a box of possibility. I've made the IPA twice now and it came out great both times. I also bought a second gallon jug at my local grocery so I can have 2 beers going at the same time. I live in a small house and have limited space for brewing so 1 gallon is a great size. Also my wife doesn't drink beer as much as I do, so what I brew is consumed mostly by me and my friends. I find having 10 bottles of beer is easier to store and serve than 50 or more. Also I can have more varieties of beer available by making smaller batches. So am I a fan? Hell yeah.

 

[andymonkey]

For those who say this isn't worth the money and that there are better kits out there, can you please post a link to these kits? I want to start home brewing and would like to start off with a kit that gives me the best bang for my buck. That said, I've read comments stating 1 gallon is to small. 5 gallon seems to much to me, especially since I am starting off. Im also not a big beer drinker, only drink on weekends. Maybe a kit in between, 3 gallons maybe? Lastly, how much beer does this kit actually make (12 oz bottles) ?

 

[bottlebomber]

For those who say this isn't worth the money and that there are better kits out there, can you please post a link to these kits? I want to start home brewing and would like to start off with a kit that gives me the best bang for my buck. That said, I've read comments stating 1 gallon is to small. 5 gallon seems to much to me, especially since I am starting off. Im also not a big beer drinker, only drink on weekends. Maybe a kit in between, 3 gallons maybe? Lastly, how much beer does this kit actually make (12 oz bottles) ?

There's nothing wrong with brewing a half kit of that's what you want. As far as links to kits, why not try with one of the big online providers, such as Northern Brewer, or MoreBeer.

 

[andymonkey]

There's nothing wrong with brewing a half kit of that's what you want. As far as links to kits, why not try with one of the big online providers, such as Northern Brewer, or MoreBeer.

Like I said, im a newb here. I checked those sites out, the cheapest brew kit is $70, which is a 5 gallon setup. Is 5 gallon the standard size for a brew kit?

 

[zacster]

For those who say this isn't worth the money and that there are better kits out there, can you please post a link to these kits? I want to start home brewing and would like to start off with a kit that gives me the best bang for my buck. That said, I've read comments stating 1 gallon is to small. 5 gallon seems to much to me, especially since I am starting off. Im also not a big beer drinker, only drink on weekends. Maybe a kit in between, 3 gallons maybe? Lastly, how much beer does this kit actually make (12 oz bottles) ?

1 gallon = 128 oz / 12=10 bottles. That's not a lot for all the trouble you'll go through. A couple of friends over and you'll be going out for more beer before the night is over. A half batch is a good idea. Just this weekend I had kegged a partial batch of my winter lager, about 2 gallons and it was gone by Monday afternoon, on Memorial day.

 

[omokoro]

Also, 1 gallon in the fermenter does not equal one gallon out of the fermenter. I at most got 8 bottles fully filled, for $15 that is not a good deal. The kit is a good gift to give to someone who may be interested in brewing, or for someone wanting to brew for fun every once in a while. However it is not a good investment in terms of time and money. Especially once the person tastes fresh high quality beer.

 

[mdr5322]

Like I said, im a newb here. I checked those sites out, the cheapest brew kit is $70, which is a 5 gallon setup. Is 5 gallon the standard size for a brew kit?

The five gallon kit is pretty standard. Small batch brewing is a bit of a waste if you ask most brewers unless its just a test batch, even then the standard is 5 gallon batches. Five gallons makes about 48 bottles of beer roughly. If you dont drink much beer thats fine your beer will age and mellow while it waits for you to drink it. I just know from experiance that its kinda lame to run out of beer when you need it most. If youre still stuck on small batch brewing there are threads on here im sure w explanations and how to's. You could probably even save some money and build your own "small batch" kit. 3 gallon bucket fermenter w grommeted lid. A couple airlocks, some recycled pry off bottles, some tubing and a boil kettle and youre in business. Happy brewing

 

[BlakeL]

For those who say this isn't worth the money and that there are better kits out there, can you please post a link to these kits? I want to start home brewing and would like to start off with a kit that gives me the best bang for my buck. That said, I've read comments stating 1 gallon is to small. 5 gallon seems to much to me, especially since I am starting off. Im also not a big beer drinker, only drink on weekends. Maybe a kit in between, 3 gallons maybe? Lastly, how much beer does this kit actually make (12 oz bottles) ?

I was able to get one of their kits for $20 on sale at Williams & Sonoma, which I think was a good deal. If you want to save money, just buy the items separately at your LHBS. You can probably get all the equipment and ingredients for a 1 gallon batch for around $20-30. As far as the amount of beer you want to brew, this is up to you. I know brewing 5g takes about as long as 1g but I just don't have the space in my house for larger batches and didn't want to spend a lot of money starting out. Once I get more comfortable with these 1g batches i'll probably move up to 2.5g.

 

[andymonkey]

Thanks.

Is there a guide somewhere with a list of supplies needed to start brewing? I would like to buy everything to make 2.5-3 gallons.

 

[BlakeL]

Thanks.

Is there a guide somewhere with a list of supplies needed to start brewing? I would like to buy everything to make 2.5-3 gallons.

Go to the northern brewer site and look at what is included in their kits. They also have really good videos on their youtube channel that should give you a general idea of the process. You can go with 3g carboys for fermenting.

 

[fredthecat]

as a fairly experience homebrewer i would of course never need one. but these look like a kind of needed modernization of the brewkit that newbies get issued at some brew stores. (not sure about yours, but im talking about a prehopped LME and a year old coopers or muntons yeast)
i think this will probably be a part in the high water mark of homebrewing as a hobby, it is definitely continuing to get more and more popular.
my little exciting fantasy is that perhaps in the next 10 or 20 years, once people have just been saturated with homebrew from every person they know. people will neither be homebrewing or buying beer exactly, but perhaps making kind of neighbourhood co-ops where they brew a few Bbl of beer for sharing and/or there will just an extreme ubiquity of affordable brewpubs. it might end up being a return to some kind of pre-modern era local beer world.