Northern Brewer Extract Kits

[arringtonbp]

Has anybody done the Irish Red Ale kit or the Scottish Export 80 Shilling kit?

These are two kits that I've done. I'm pretty satisfied with the taste, but I want to see if anybody has made modifications to them or to see if anybody has found that other suppliers offer better extract kits. Any thoughts?

 

[MeadMax]

I work at Northern Brewer.
Both of those kits are great.
I do however really Like the " Hope & King Scotch Ale"
you should try it!!!!

 

[NorthRiverS]

Max,

I want to try your Dry Dock Urca Vanilla Porter. What are people saying about it?

Thanks

NRS

 

[Grinder12000]

Northern brewer extracts are made by Breiss and the extract is very good. HOWEVER, they do add other malts such as Carapil
to their extract which is to bad if you are looking for 100% 2row

 

[arringtonbp]

I work at Northern Brewer.
Both of those kits are great.
I do however really Like the " Hope & King Scotch Ale"
you should try it!!!!

I'm very satisfied with the two kits I've done, and I'm even more satisfied with the service I have received from Northern Brewer. I would go so far as to say that it's the best service I have received from any company for any product.

I'm getting some flavors that I can't describe, though, and I want to pinpoint what it is. It's not an offensive flavor. I'm just not experienced enough yet to know whether it's a 'homebrewed beer' flavor or an extract kit flavor....or even if it's an off flavor as a result of something I messed up!

MeadMax, do you find that the two kits I mentioned come out with a little more 'bite' to them than you might find in some commercial beers? (such as smithwicks, belhaven, etc...) Also, would you recommend using all of the priming sugar that comes in the kit or a little less so the maltiness comes out?

 

[cincybrewer]

I started a thread about this a little while ago. I ordered two NB kits (Carribou Slobber and their Altbier) and both have a pretty severe bite to them. They have been on the keg for a while and though it may have nothing to do with NB I figured I'd let you know. I did a third brew after that (Kolsch) from ingredients outside of NB and there isn't any bite at all. I'm an amateur so it very well could have been something I did, but I can't pin point what it might have been. I used bottled drinking water on one, tap water on the other. Did a late addition full boil on one, did a normal addition full boil on the other. Yet both have that bite that it sounds like you may be referring too.

 

[arringtonbp]

I started a thread about this a little while ago. I ordered two NB kits (Carribou Slobber and their Altbier) and both have a pretty severe bite to them. They have been on the keg for a while and though it may have nothing to do with NB I figured I'd let you know. I did a third brew after that (Kolsch) from ingredients outside of NB and there isn't any bite at all. I'm an amateur so it very well could have been something I did, but I can't pin point what it might have been. I used bottled drinking water on one, tap water on the other. Did a late addition full boil on one, did a normal addition full boil on the other. Yet both have that bite that it sounds like you may be referring too.

Thanks for the information! Glad I'm not crazy!

 

[MeadMax]

Max,

I want to try your Dry Dock Urca Vanilla Porter. What are people saying about it?

Thanks

NRS

I just made that kit and have tried it a couple times.
The first time it had huge vanilla flavor in it.
If you like vanilla you should make sure you try it.

 

[djbradle]

A love or hate thing really. Try a commercial version to taste as I tried a six pack of a very popular commercial brand and absolutely hated it.

 

[arringtonbp]

I cracked open one of the Irish Red's that I had saved, and it seems to have drastically improved with age. Maybe I'll post a picture of it, because it's nice looking too. I think this beer has probably been carbed up for at least 4-5 months now, and it's just gotten smoother and has a much more pleasant taste to it.

 

[atimmerman88]

Has anyone tried the American Amber Ale from NB?

I'm looking to purchase all my start up equipement sans burner/pot from them as well as an extract kit. Looking to try this hobby out here in the next few weeks as the weather warms

 

[cm02WS6]

Has anyone tried the American Amber Ale from NB?

I'm looking to purchase all my start up equipement sans burner/pot from them as well as an extract kit. Looking to try this hobby out here in the next few weeks as the weather warms

I did that kit but added 1 lb DME for a little more gravity. It was one of my top two (out of 11) brews so far. Just plain tasty, and went down really easy. In fact, I have my Amber 2.0 fermenting now. Just used centennial instead of cascade this time.

 

[atimmerman88]

Great! Good to hear that it! Hopefully pulling the trigger and pulley some equipment next week as well as the kit.

 

[fatnoah]

I brewed the Irish Draught Ale in the fall right before Christmas. I messed up and didn't steep the grains long enough so the OG was a little low. After 2 weeks in the bottle it tasted OK, but nothing that great. I went out of town for two weeks and when I came back it had really improved. It isn't my favorite thing I have ever made, but I brought it to Christmas and my family really liked it. 2 cases were practically gone after about 5 days.

 

[arringtonbp]

I brewed the Irish Draught Ale in the fall right before Christmas. I messed up and didn't steep the grains long enough so the OG was a little low. After 2 weeks in the bottle it tasted OK, but nothing that great. I went out of town for two weeks and when I came back it had really improved. It isn't my favorite thing I have ever made, but I brought it to Christmas and my family really liked it. 2 cases were practically gone after about 5 days.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think steeping grains contain any fermentables. Therefore they wouldn't affect your gravity.

Did you find that the Irish Draught Ale was bitter? Is there a commercial brew that you would compare it to? (like Smithwicks or something)

 

[mrdauber64]

I just tasted my extract Irish Red from NB(3 weeks in the bottle) that I modified to include .5 lbs of Honey Malt in the grain steep, and an extra pound of DME. It is smooth and malty with a little sweetness in the beginning from the Honey Malt. Overall a nice easy drinking Red Ale!

I've done the Brewer's Best Red Ale kit(first one) and I think the NB Red Ale is better.

 

[CrookedTail]

I've brewed the Irish Red before. It's a very good recipe.

I remember I had saved two bottles and opened them a year later and it was excellent. But even fresh it's an awesome beer if you like that style.

 

[fatnoah]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think steeping grains contain any fermentables. Therefore they wouldn't affect your gravity.

Did you find that the Irish Draught Ale was bitter? Is there a commercial brew that you would compare it to? (like Smithwicks or something)

I guess you're right. That shouldn't have affected the gravity. Anyway, it was a little bitter, but not unpleasantly so. It was a bit like Smithwicks, but the head wasn't as good and it was lighter bodied than Smithwicks (probably due to the low gravity which was 1.036 at 80 degrees).

 

[Josh_K]

I brewed a batch of the Scottish Export 80 all grain and found it to be quite nice with the Wyeast Scottish Ale 1728. I was worried at first though because I broke my hydrometer right before brewing it and it seemed to finish fermenting too quickly. There was no visible fermentation after 3 days so I tried rousing the yeast and still nothing.

Much to my pleasant surprise, it turned out very well. Though I don't know the final gravity or ABV, I had three pints when I first got into the keg and I was shocked at the potency.

All around, it was a great kit that I will probably order again. That being said, I don't think I've had a single kit from Northern Brewer that I've been disappointed with. Odds are you'll like their kit if you like the style of beer that it makes.

 

[arringtonbp]

I brewed a batch of the Scottish Export 80 all grain and found it to be quite nice with the Wyeast Scottish Ale 1728. I was worried at first though because I broke my hydrometer right before brewing it and it seemed to finish fermenting too quickly. There was no visible fermentation after 3 days so I tried rousing the yeast and still nothing.

Much to my pleasant surprise, it turned out very well. Though I don't know the final gravity or ABV, I had three pints when I first got into the keg and I was shocked at the potency.

All around, it was a great kit that I will probably order again. That being said, I don't think I've had a single kit from Northern Brewer that I've been disappointed with. Odds are you'll like their kit if you like the style of beer that it makes.

I was pretty pleased with my Scottish Export 80 too. It had a nice clean taste, but I think next time I will only add some of the priming sugar. It seems a little over-carb'd for the style.

 

[nymtber]

I was pretty pleased with my Scottish Export 80 too. It had a nice clean taste, but I think next time I will only add some of the priming sugar. It seems a little over-carb'd for the style.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11-4.html

Follow this guide put forth by John Palmer. It is what I use and I can say my beers taste properly carbed. I bought a cheap $9 digital scale from harbor Freight tools that measures 1000g, and also reads ounces.

 

[Pezman1]

As to your original question concerning the NB Irish Red, mine was fairly good at three weeks in the bottle and really good at 6 weeks. MUCH better than the somewhat oxidized taste of the bottled Murphys Irish Red I have bought.

Even though Irish Reds are supposed to be quick, I have noticed several threads saying the beer was better after some time in the bottle. Could be that this is a newbie beer for a lot of folks, and time in the bottle helps off flavors dissipate....

Concerning commercial Irish Reds, I was rather surprised to find out just how good George Killians actually was. Well...at least it was to me.... Maybe I just wasn't expecting much from a Coors product....

Pez.

 

[arringtonbp]

As to your original question concerning the NB Irish Red, mine was fairly good at three weeks in the bottle and really good at 6 weeks. MUCH better than the somewhat oxidized taste of the bottled Murphys Irish Red I have bought.

Even though Irish Reds are supposed to be quick, I have noticed several threads saying the beer was better after some time in the bottle. Could be that this is a newbie beer for a lot of folks, and time in the bottle helps off flavors dissipate....

Concerning commercial Irish Reds, I was rather surprised to find out just how good George Killians actually was. Well...at least it was to me.... Maybe I just wasn't expecting much from a Coors product....

Pez.

I'm beginning to think that mine had a minor infection. After trying my Scottish Export, I'm noticing an off flavor in my Irish Red. It has a slight after taste that kind of reminds me of a penny.

I'm going to do a brown porter next!