purchasing brew concentrate from internet

[Coolcal11]

is it pretty much safe to purchase no boil beer from any general well known site as long as i go with a good brand say coopers? if anyone knows of somthing better enlighten me. thanks.

 

[TheFlatline]

is it pretty much safe to purchase no boil beer from any general well known site as long as i go with a good brand say coopers? if anyone knows of somthing better enlighten me. thanks.

Try to find a supplier with a high turnover rate. You want fresh ingredients.

My LHBS store has cans of malt extract that I have no clue how old they are. I'm clueless on them because the stamp on the can has RUSTED off.

I wouldn't use these.

 

[kenche]

...if anyone knows of somthing better enlighten me.

Well for starters you could try boiling your beer.

Give howtobrew a read, you will be glad you did.

 

[TheFlatline]

Well for starters you could try boiling your beer.

Give howtobrew a read, you will be glad you did.

The problem with "no boil" extract is that it's probably pre-hopped, and that will fark up the flavor of the beer.

You're probably better off just getting a boil extract kit and hopping it yourself. It takes a bit more work (I go from "get the stuff together" to "okay, nobody touch this for a week now" in about 3 hours), but you have a *lot* more control over your beer.

 

[Nurmey]

Any of the big players in the online market will give you good (fresh) canned kits. A few off the top of my head are:
Midwest Supplies
Austin Homebrew Supply
Northern Brewer

You will probably make better beer with the kits with steeping grains and hop but the cans make a very drinkable product. Lots of folks start off with the no boil cans until they get comfortable with the process.

 

[Eves]

All of the pre-hopped beer kits (Coopers) I've purchased online have been far from their expiration dates. So far I've purchased from makebeer.net and from AHS. I'd bet that if you stuck with the big 3 (midwest, nothern, and AHS) you'd have a good chance of getting fresh kits.

 

[c.n.budz]

Lots of folks start off with the no boil cans until they get comfortable with the process.

The only problem is you're missing one of the most important parts of the process with a no boil kit.

 

[Nurmey]

The only problem is you're missing one of the most important parts of the process with a no boil kit.

I was speaking of the hardest part for a new brewer.....waiting for the first brew to be drinkable!

 

[EricCSU]

Any of the big players in the online market will give you good (fresh) canned kits. A few off the top of my head are:
Midwest Supplies
Austin Homebrew Supply
Northern Brewer

You will probably make better beer with the kits with steeping grains and hop but the cans make a very drinkable product. Lots of folks start off with the no boil cans until they get comfortable with the process.

I don't think they need any help on these forums, but I can vouch for Austin Homebrew Supply. If you buy an extract kit from them, it comes from their huge barrels. Every time I am in there, they are usually filling two or three orders at once. They go through a ridiculous amount of extract, so it is definitely fresh.

Eric

 

[paul_h]

The problem with "no boil" extract is that it's probably pre-hopped, and that will fark up the flavor of the beer.

You're probably better off just getting a boil extract kit and hopping it yourself. It takes a bit more work (I go from "get the stuff together" to "okay, nobody touch this for a week now" in about 3 hours), but you have a *lot* more control over your beer.

As far as I know, they're only prehopped for bitterness, not flavour. I did a toucan recently (two prehopped cans for malt, no extra fermentables added).
I was aware that it would be super bitter, so I tried boiling them to get rid of some of the bitterness, like you warned against. It didn't work, even with a 20min boil it came out super super bitter, so boiling prehopped cans in 19L water for a short time (to mix, sterilize and add flavour hops) did not affect the bitterness.

 

[solidghost]

As far as I know, they're only prehopped for bitterness, not flavour. I did a toucan recently (two prehopped cans for malt, no extra fermentables added).
I was aware that it would be super bitter, so I tried boiling them to get rid of some of the bitterness, like you warned against. It didn't work, even with a 20min boil it came out super super bitter, so boiling prehopped cans in 19L water for a short time (to mix, sterilize and add flavour hops) did not affect the bitterness.

I had thought that boiling it will make it even more bitter? Isn't it supposed to be like that?

I read that some yeast will make the brew less bitter, like Nottinghams. Not sure whether it is true or not.

 

[paul_h]

I know normal hopping works like that, longer boil means more bitterness.
But as far as I know the cans use chemical extract hops for bittering, so boiling means the chemicals evaporate in a boil.
But maybe you're right.

 

[TheFlatline]

I know normal hopping works like that, longer boil means more bitterness.
But as far as I know the cans use chemical extract hops for bittering, so boiling means the chemicals evaporate in a boil.
But maybe you're right.

If there's any aromatic hops in the extract, boiling for more than about 10-15 minutes I'm told will kill the aromatic hops. That's why I argue against boiling unless you know.

Oh, and boiling for bitterness won't make a difference. In fact, boiling for bitterness is required, because some of the chemical reactions the alpha acids undergo in your wort won't take place until you hit boiling temperatures and stay there for I believe at least 30 minutes. This is just working with real hops though. I don't know enough about extract to suggest anything else.

 

[Loweface]

I recently started listening to the archived basic brewing radio podcasts as I work.

The August 25th 2005 edition has Bob Hansen, of Breiss Malt and Ingredients Company talking about the making of malt extract and it explains it most important things for ordering (storage and stock turnover)...

Not the most exciting listen but very educational if not interesting...