I feel like I lost 20 minutes of my life I will never get back, the questions seemed simple:
Extract brands - favorites?
So I too have asked this question with various answers and none of which I helped me out, so i will answer and not help you either...
I live in Northeast Ohio, I have found that LD Carlson is about 45 minutes from me and alot of my local Brew Stores carry their extract kits. They make the Brewers Best Kits, I have found that they come with all of the ingredients for new brewers and takes the guess work out of "which yeast" or "DME or LME" as when you are new you may not know which one to use or which you prefer when brewing extracts.
I have also asked the questions of: what are your top 5 beer kit types, again no straight answer so I will rate the ones I have done so far as I am still new....
1. Brewers Best Watermelon Wheat - Sounds gross but is one of the best kits I have tried, key is bottle conditioning on this one. Let it sit for a month or so in the bottle it gets so much better as it ages.
2. Brewers Best Cream Ale - skip it, nothing special but I am not a big cream ale fan
3. Brewers Best Summer Ale - I love these types of summer beers with a hint of coriander and orange peel, very good while riding a lawn mower
4. Brewers Best Zombiefest - hands down best brew I have made, caramel and malt forward with a light after taste. This was my first beer that I learned the lagering method <built a fermentation chamber> and the first beer I kegged and force carbonated.
5. Brewers Best American Light Lager - so I brewed this for my wife but turned out great, this is the first time I cold crashed and tried to clarify the beer by adding gelatin and it worked out well. Beer was clear and crisp, everyone who has tried it has said it tastes just like a coors light <not sure if that is good or bad>.
Anyhow I have an Irish Stout from Brewers Best and a hazy Wheat on my shelf but my friends are asking me if I am doing a Christmas Ale, so it looks like I am going to pick one up tomorrow in hopes of having it done by the 12 of December... UGH!
Would love to hear about the ones you have tried or have been using. I am thinking of checking out MoreBeers site on Black Friday as I heard they may be doing a deal with their kits whereas each kit you purchase you get a tap handle.