Homebrew Kits Rating

[bearkluttz]

What is the best brand out there? Muntons Coopers Ironmaster? ETC... Not beer style but Brand. Thanks

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I like Austin Homebrew Supply's kits. But I am a little biased.

Forrest

 

[Revvy]

I don't think there's any ratings....Austin Homebrew has great kits. as does Northern Brewer, and most LHBS's carry Brewer's Best Kits, which are excellent as well.

A lot of people like coopers kits for their ease of use, but since they use pre-hopped extract it's really one step of from a mr beer kit...

It's best to use an extract with steeping grains kit, like those I mentioned above, they come with seperate yeast and usually 2 packets of hops...the brewer's best kits, also come with hopsacks and grainbags, and bottle caps.

 

[Coastarine]

I much prefer the kits put together by shops over the canned ones that get mass produced and are possibly mishandled. I've bought several from northern brewer and austin homebrew. I also like the selection at adventures in homebrewing but have not ordered from them.

edit: I got started using brewers best and enjoyed them for sure and the quality of the kit was great but I found their recipes to be a little bare-bones ie when I ran the numbers on it the OG and the IBU's were usually barely in style if not below.

 

[duker]

So far I have only used Midwest Supplies, and have been very pleased....
4 brews complete, 4 waiting in the wings

 

[EricCSU]

I like Austin Homebrew Supply's kits. But I am a little biased.

Forrest

If you are going to use an AHS kit, go Mini Mash. It only adds an hour to the process and is supposed to produce better beer than extract only (I haven't tasted mine yet).

Eric

 

[Coastarine]

If you are going to use an AHS kit, go Mini Mash. It only adds an hour to the process and is supposed to produce better beer than extract only (I haven't tasted mine yet).

Eric

Is there a reason you apply this advice to the AHS kit?

 

[EricCSU]

Is there a reason you apply this advice to the AHS kit?

I've heard it from several guys at the shop. There's no extra money in it for them, so they really have no reason to push it. Also, it makes sense to use the steeping grains for color with the trade-off of less extract used.

Forrest, feel free to chime in.

Eric

 

[Jaeger48]

I've wanted to order a few kits from northern and austin but I've gone to the LBHS for all my supplies so far. When I order the other kits I'm planning on staying with dry yeast so shipping doesn't become a problem.

 

[jay672]

Ive used Austin alot. They have great kits . I also use the mini mash and i like Austins because you can play with the recipes if you want a little. DIfferent grains yeasts etc.

 

[pen25]

i use the kits from the local LHBS http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=67

great people and its local. BTW brewed the belgian amber ale which is a fat tire clone and came out great. BTW was my second brew ever. friends raved about it.

 

[Grinder12000]

What I would like to see are ratings on the kits themselves - the actual beers.

What is good what is not so good.

 

[Choguy03]

What I would like to see are ratings on the kits themselves - the actual beers.

What is good what is not so good.

I think that may be half the fun. The only way to learn about how to make great beer is to make not so great beer so you can determine what differences make a good beer as opposed to a bad beer. Either way, as long as you can get fresh extract and steeping grains you will make good beer. I mean come on, what is cooler then having people over and telling them the beer they are drinking is yours?!?! :rockin:

 

[paul_h]

As far as international brands, Muntons is best if you are trying to make an english style beer, coopers is best if you are trying to make an australian style beer like coopers pale ale or stout. ie. they're all designed around local styles and ingredients, so there's no "best brand" and fresher is normally best.
If in the U.S. , local kits will have the edge for freshness for most styles, but sometimes you'll want a brew from the country of origin for a certain style because they use different ingredients.
edit: As far as reviews:
http://www.hbkitreviews.com/ is an australian based site so thy should review at least coopers and muntons as well as the brands not available where ever you are.
edit2: well I thought there was a good kit review site, but I can't find it right now.

 

[Fordprefect]

I use kits from Midwest Supplies and I couldn't be happier. I would advise against Northern Brewer extract kits as they are all about $15 overpriced.

 

[HomerT]

I use kits from Midwest Supplies and I couldn't be happier. I would advise against Northern Brewer extract kits as they are all about $15 overpriced.

I use AHBS and Midwest. I also use Northern Brewer. I have never found them to be that over-priced. They use alot of DME, which is more expensive, smack packs exclusively (cost) and usually alot of hops. I have always liked their kits. But that's just my $0.03.

-Todd

 

[aekdbbop]

I have used ahbs before.. but recently have used Northern Brewer more. They seem to be a little more cost effective.

 

[pen25]

What I would like to see are ratings on the kits themselves - the actual beers.

What is good what is not so good.

since i am new to brewing and do not know the finer points in tasting and clarity and such its hard to rate. but i will say i have tested highgravities blue moon clone and it tastes great. as good if not better then the coors and the fat tire as i said my friends love fat tire. we have to goto kansas to get it and when we do we usualy buy 4 or 5 12 packs and they liked the one i did which was extract with specialty grains better then the bottle. everyone loved it at buffett concert in dallas. havent tried any other kits so cant comment on them

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I'd have to agree with Forrest. When I was doing kits I tried some from multiple places and the ones from Austinhomebrew.com produced the best beer for me.

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

I've only bought 3 kits. One from The Home Brewery when I bought my equipment and I got 2 from Homebrew Heaven. The one from the Home Brewery was average at best. The two from HH, Diamond Knot IPA and Shamrock Stout, were really good. The stout was so good that I decided to enter it into my first competition and scored a 39 and 40. If I were still buying kits then I'd definitely still be getting them from HH.

 

[conpewter]

The kits I got from AHS were great. I did my first all-grain on an all-grain kit of theirs since I was nervous and wanted step by step directions, turned out a great porter.

 

[user 19629]

Just brewed a mini mash kit from AHS
I had no complaints with the kit. (of course I haven't tried the beer yet)
On their website they do have a list sorted by total online purchases with comments and reviews.
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/beer_recipes_rank_comments.php

 

[Zackb911]

AHS is having a 10% off sale this weekend and also have some free shipping kits too... My last ones were from them and I was very pleased. I'll be ordering a couple more this weekend.

 

[brewNdrink]

Incase the Americans don't know, buying beer in Canada is very expensive ($25 for a case [12] of decent beer). Taxman loves liquor in Canada.

So for alot of Canadians like myself I started homebrewing with the simple kits (Coopers, BlackRock, etc.). I find Coopers to be the best quality out of them all. So far, the Mexican Cerveza, Canadian Blonde and Brewmaster Pilsner are my favorites. All kits come with their own special dry yeast for their respective kits. The Plisner kit, for example, can be fermented as low as 13c for a real lager beer.

For under $20 I can make 22 litres of pretty good quality beer. If you're looking for ease, cheap, pretty good thirst-quenchers for the summer, this is a nice way to go (especially if you're Canadian!).

Cheers.
Tony.

 

[paul_h]

Incase the Americans don't know, buying beer in Canada is very expensive ($25 for a case [12] of decent beer). Taxman loves liquor in Canada.

So for alot of Canadians like myself I started homebrewing with the simple kits (Coopers, BlackRock, etc.). I find Coopers to be the best quality out of them all. So far, the Mexican Cerveza, Canadian Blonde and Brewmaster Pilsner are my favorites. All kits come with their own special dry yeast for their respective kits. The Plisner kit, for example, can be fermented as low as 13c for a real lager beer.

For under $20 I can make 22 litres of pretty good quality beer. If you're looking for ease, cheap, pretty good thirst-quenchers for the summer, this is a nice way to go (especially if you're Canadian!).

Cheers.
Tony.

Ha Ha you think $25 is really expensive?
The taxman loves the beer down here, drinkable wine is taxed less, and spirits can be bought for $25 while a case of any beer is over $30.
I started brewing with coopers for the same reason, decent beer (ie. coopers) costs $45 here, and that's one of the cheapest good beers.
Using a coopers kit and recultured coopers yeast, it's not hard to make it myself and get 2.5 cases for $30

 

[Ben25]

I would advise against Northern Brewer extract kits as they are all about $15 overpriced.

I bought a Northern Brewer kit that was $21. It was an Irish Red and I could not be happier. The ales range from $19-35 which is amazing, and sure you're going to pay more for the high gravity ales, but thats just the way it is.

 

[ruppe]

I may be going off on a tangent here, but my wife bought me the equipment to homebrew 6 years ago, because she said I needed a hobby. I read a book (can you believe it, an actual book?). I made 2 kits, and bought a magazine (Brew Your Own). I was hooked. I took the information from the book (The Complete Guide To Homebrewing), subscribed to the magazine, and started making my own extract based, partial mashed, brews based on the info culled from these resources. I could have continued to make kit brews, and said I made them, but I wanted to make beers that I could call my own. And I did. If you want to make great beers from kits, fine, but I bet you can make your own great beers by tweeking the ingredients from kits and calling them your own.

 

[Jilaman]

In Canada it doesn't even have to be good beer. 12-pack of Rickard's White which is made by Molson Coors, comes in at $21.95 BEFORE TAX. They are seriously screwing the Canadian people.

I can get a case of 24 of Blue Moon for $18-20 and only 8% tax not 15% like canada.

 

[edb]

My only complaint about Williams is the LME comes in bags. When I brewed with their extract it was a cold day outside and I felt that I left behind at least a 1/4 # of extract stuck to the bag inside and out. Really messy.

Northern Brewers LME comes in a plastic jug which you can pour hot water into put the cap on and shake it up to get the last bit of extract out.

 

[ArcaneXor]

+1 on AHBS's mini-mash kits. I've made four now (well, three mini-mash and one extract), and they are all very good. I already have three more on my wishlist, ready to order when my self-imposed summer brew break is over late next month.