kits v.s buying your own ingredients

[Seeyakid]

Currently i have made 2 kits one kit was a true brew pale ale and another brewersbest witbier i plan on making one more brewers best kit before i try buying my own ingredients and making a brew.

my question is, do u believe there is a difference between the kits ingredients and the ones they sell in the LHBS? do they tend to taste better? or taste about the same? i also heard its cheaper buying your own ingredients.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

If there is any difference it would have to do with kit age from lack of turnover.

Buying ala carte will result in , hopefully, fresher ingredients and buying bulk potentially lessens the cost. Really depends on you. If you buy a 55 pound sack of Munich and it takes you 2 years to brew through it, then yes you've saved money but haven't done much in regards to chosing the freshest ingredients.

 

[duboman]

Currently i have made 2 kits one kit was a true brew pale ale and another brewersbest witbier i plan on making one more brewers best kit before i try buying my own ingredients and making a brew.

my question is, do u believe there is a difference between the kits ingredients and the ones they sell in the LHBS? do they tend to taste better? or taste about the same? i also heard its cheaper buying your own ingredients.

Turn around is the key. Retailers that move a lot of product will always have fresher ingredients, as far as cheaper? There are a lot of factors to consider, you just have to do some price comparing.

 

[kapbrew13]

.... If you buy a 55 pound sack of Munich and it takes you 2 years to brew through it, then yes you've saved money but haven't done much in regards to chosing the freshest ingredients.

Silly. We split bags of munich because the stuff is used less and lasts. Now, 2row I get 2 sacks because this stuff is used for everything.

So get in group buys to save money and split sacks to keep them fresh.

 

[thetragichero]

you are more than likely paying a premium for all of the ingredients together, the pretty package, and the instructions

 

[rhamilton]

you are more than likely paying a premium for all of the ingredients together, the pretty package, and the instructions

I use AHS for pretty much everything. Their kits are actually cheaper than ordering everything a la carte -- so I end up reordering kits even though I already know what the recipe is just to get the cheapest price. Their kits are also build on demand from the stock room so the kit ingredients are of the same quality as the loose grain / hops.

I can't speak for any other places though -- hopefully they don't prepackage and let them sit on shelves.

 

[jhorgan1]

In my experience buying the ingredients by themselves is cheaper. Plus if the kits are stored at room temperature and the hops are included then I that means the hops are being stored at room temperature. I usually like to keep my hops at least refrigerated if not frozen so that would be a deal breaker for me

 

[msmith92]

My local store lets us grind for free. So if you brew that day it's nice to have freshly ground malts.

 

[Seeyakid]

thanks for your opinions everyone!unfortunetly i wont be doing nay brewing this week bc im sick

 

[bernerbrau]

Check out brewmasterswarehouse.com - he lets you create your own kits!

 

[downtown3641]

The value depends on your shop. I've seen shops that will only sell grains in 1lb increment. My LHBS purchases and stores grains in bulk and will sell any amount you need.

 

[downtown3641]

The value depends on your shop. I've seen shops that will only sell grains in 1lb increments. That adds to your batch cost unless you can store the leftovers for later use. My LHBS purchases and stores grains in bulk and will sell any amount you need.

 

[amandabab]

For me, and my ordering schedule, buying ingredients works out better than kits.
Depending on price breaks for volume and shipping I hardly ever buy all the stuff for one batch at the same place.

If you don't want a freezer full of hops or buckets of malt and just want to brew "that recipe" kits are the way to go.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

The discussion here is on point. The benefit of buying ingredients separately is increasing the probability of getting fresher ingredients. But that assumes you feel comfortable using your own recipes or recipes you have found. Plenty of homebrew shops sell their own kits where they put the kits together specifically for your order so there's no concern about the ingredients having sat on the shelf indefinitely as might be the case with companies that sell pre-made kits to shops.

 

[passedpawn]

I keep enough grain on hand to brew just about anything, anytime. Except for getting a starter going, I could brew about any beer at this very moment. That's how I like it.

I don't want to bother going to a store or having to wait for something in the mail. I guess others don't mind that.

 

[thetragichero]

The value depends on your shop. I've seen shops that will only sell grains in 1lb increments. That adds to your batch cost unless you can store the leftovers for later use. My LHBS purchases and stores grains in bulk and will sell any amount you need.

this is a very good point
for mine, on the website it's 1lb or more, but i routinely get 4oz of this or that specialty grain since i've been doing 3g stovetop all grain

 

[thisoneguy]

I keep enough grain on hand to brew just about anything, anytime. Except for getting a starter going, I could brew about any beer at this very moment. That's how I like it.

I don't want to bother going to a store or having to wait for something in the mail. I guess others don't mind that.

I do basically the same thing, and buy my grains locally. If I need something that nobody has in stock, they order it for me. Having an inventory on hand kicks ass...

 

[Zuljin]

I've done extract by kit and ingredient. Ingredient came out a few dollars less. Part of that was because I already had caps and priming sugar.

Then you consider quantity. A kit may have 1 1/2 pound dark DME and your LHBS may only sell dark DME (or whatever DME) in 1, 3 or 5 pound bags. Well, you aren't going to short yourself a 1/2 pound.

I'm sure a good many kits are built with the same brand of extract you can buy yourself. I've seen DME sold in bags with the LHBS logo and no logo and I know the store isn't making it themselves. Same with equipment. There's a LHBS here that everything you buy has their logo on the package. They aint making copper and bottle caps out back. They're distributors.

Hops and yeast is my concern. Both can be fine at room temp for a good while. But if you buy them loose, they come out the fridge. So at least they were cool while they were at the store.

 

[barneygumble]

I dont have a LHBS. I buy from the bigger mail order suppliers (NB, Midwest, etc) and the price doesnt matter between kit and ingredient to them, they are super high volume and everything is fresh, shipping costs can be mitigated, and yeast are shipped out cold. The yeast comes in insulated envelopes. Its about 3 days from their door to mine. Before my LHBS closed I used to support them even when they werent as fresh, their selection was not so great, and I paid more overall for everything.

 

[lgilmore]

I will probably switch over to ingredients after I find the four or five brews that I want to go with on a regular basis, but until I've sampled a few more, I will still buy the kits. Still in that trying them on for size phase.

 

[TrubDog]

Red Hook ESB. Kit at AHB $35.99 + $7.99 shipping. Buy my own fresh ingredients (grain, hops and yeast) $15.25 + $8 shipping. No comparison.

 

[amandabab]

I will probably switch over to ingredients after I find the four or five brews that I want to go with on a regular basis,

this is were kits excell, even if they come out a little bit more expencive.

 

[wSelwyn]

I have a couple stores in my area. When I was doing extract batches, all but one were cheaper to buy kits rather than the ingredients themselves. The one store (Adventures in Homebrewing) orders LME in bulk (55gal drums), and dispenses out of a vat. Fresher and cheaper than a kit.

Now that I'm brewing all-grain, I've found that many "kits" are either the same price, or slightly more expensive than ordering seprately. Plus, since I don't live too far away from my LHBS, I can crush my own grains and ensure fresh ingredients. To save even more money, I plan on buying some varieties of hops and grains (2-row) in bulk and splitting with a friend.

 

[Jaybird]

I keep enough grain on hand to brew just about anything, anytime. Except for getting a starter going, I could brew about any beer at this very moment. That's how I like it.

I do the exact same thing!! I also keep about 100 beer kits on hand just in case I want to throw down a quick batch without thinking! But I keep EVERYTHING on hand I could ever want and or need. Along with like 40 different yeast strains, 54 different grains 30+ types of hops both pellet and whole.... Ya know....

 

[msmith92]

I simply print out a kit recipe and take that to my lhbs.

It is on my way home from work.

Always cheaper.

I save any extra ingredients for a batch later.

 

[passedpawn]

I do the exact same thing!! I also keep about 100 beer kits on hand just in case I want to throw down a quick batch without thinking! But I keep EVERYTHING on hand I could ever want and or need. Along with like 40 different yeast strains, 54 different grains 30+ types of hops both pellet and whole.... Ya know....

Yes, I wish I had your inventory.

 

[downtown3641]

One other thing to consider is the learning aspect. With kits, it's very easy to just pull everything out of the box and go in about brewing your beer without giving any thought to exactly what goes into the kettle. When you purchase ingredients individually, you either have to go track them down in the store or request each by name. It forces you to take note of what's in the recipe and gives you a better appreciation for the ingredients.

 

[cockybitz]

liquid extract I can see freshness being an option, but I don't get the big deal about malt or DME. Even crushed I've been able to make beer that tasted just fine after months of storage that wasn't even air tight. Uncrushed... well, harvest is only once a year. The stuff isn't going to go bad for a number of years.