Recipe Kits/Clones

[stylus1274]

Just curious how many of you that actually buy kits as opposed to creating your own recipe buy clones?

Do clone kit recipes do it for you?

I see clones all the time and they just don't interest me. Wondering what portion of homebrewers actually buy clones.

 

[DromJohn]

"I sometimes buy clone recipe kits."
I brew a lot of clones. I started out with kits and have been happy with those by Xtreme Brewing, Austin Homebrew, Northern Brewer and Maltose Express.
If I want to brew a clone, I look for recipes first, kits second, and construct my own third.

 

[IslandLizard]

I've only brewed from one kit, my first brew, Yellow Dog Pale Ale. It was OK, tasted like beer, but nothing to write home about. It contained no dry hops.

After that I compounded my own using recipes from John Palmer, Beersmith, and other resources, before I discovered HBT. I modified some, adding more or different hops usually, and tweaked the grain bill a little.

When I look at kit recipes, people direct me to them to get my honest opinion, they look trimmed down. And contain mistakes, like steeping flaked, unmalted goods. The instructions still always tell them to use secondaries. Again I have no use for them.

 

[stylus1274]

I've only brewed from one kit, my first brew, Yellow Dog Pale Ale. It was OK, tasted like beer, but nothing to write home about. It contained no dry hops.

After that I compounded my own using recipes from John Palmer, Beersmith, and other resources, before I discovered HBT. I modified some, adding more or different hops usually, and tweaked the grain bill a little.

When I look at kit recipes, people direct me to them to get my honest opinion, they look trimmed down. And contain mistakes, like steeping flaked, unmalted goods. The instructions still always tell them to use secondaries. Again I have no use for them.

That's about how I feel in general about kits.

If I buy a kit usually it's to see the what they are using and then tweak it to my liking.

 

[TwistedGray]

I use them as a starting point then I alter it to my liking(s).

 

[Wildcat_Brewing]

I buy them if I get them for a really good price but temper my expectations. A lot of them are very basic on specialty grains so I will usually add some for interest, like munich and wheat to the ipa kits and tweak the hops to my preference (I buy lots of varieties in bulk). I think lots of pro brewers are more process driven than ingredient driven, making consistent and profitable beers rather than exceptional, opting for generic hop varieties and malts, granted there are several exceptions.

 

[jalc6927]

Clone kits are helpful when you first start brewing to give you an idea of the difference in the style of beers and how they're created

I'd buy 2-3 of your favorites, brew them, then make tweaks as you see fit

Once you do a couple and study the craft you'll understand better how to create your own

There are 3 clone kits that I use all the time and just add a few items


Blue moon, which I add fresh orange and orange essential oil

And a yuengling that I add honey at end of boil and cinnamon

And negro modello that I add fresh cherries after boil

They are yummy

 

[stylus1274]

And a yuengling that I add honey at end of boil and cinnamon

Someone sells a Yuengling clone kit? Say what??.......

 

[jalc6927]

Adventures in homebrewing sells one, you can do it as an ale or lager if you have lagering skills and capabilities

It do the ale and did a taste test with the real deal straight from PA, and it was dead on

I added honey and cinnamon second time around

 

[DromJohn]

Yuengling:
AHS
Maltose Express

And of the clone beers I'm drinking:
Redhook Double Black Stout IV is the fourth time I've brewed this, that last three from the recipe that came from an AHS kit.
Cuvée Des Trolls and North Coast Grand Cru are adaptations from recipes found on BrewToad.
St. Landelin la Divine Inspiration is my derivation from Les Brasseurs de Gayant website.
Victory HopDevil and De Dolle Stille Nacht are from Beer Captured.
Allagash Odyssey is a derivation from a recipe found on a blog.
Weihenstephaner Vitus is a derivation from a HBT thread.
Innis & Gunn Original III is a my derivation from the I&G website.
Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale is a Stone recipe found on HBT.

So, no kits, though one using an AHS kit recipe, and two Beer Captured recipes that could have been purchased as kits from Maltose Express.
I don't have any kit purchases planned, but if I did, the mostly likely source would be "new recipes" [those not in Clone Brews nor Beer Captured] at Maltose Express. Their Val-Dieu Triple clone kit was wonderful. Maybe a Malheur 10°.

Of the upcoming eight brews, five are clones, one is a leftovers bitter, and two are SWMBO choices to be announce.
Of the five clones, two recipes are from HBT threads, one is derived from a brewer's website, one is Redhook Double Black Stout V (the fifth use of the AHS kit recipe and SWMBO's favorite beer that we cannot get locally), and I haven't yet decided which of the multiples sources I will use for Bell's Two Hearted (probably the HBT thread).

 

[Lipi128]

I've only done about 6 homebrews so far so I'm not comfortable enough to know what I'm doing and how to change it up at this time. I've been using kits up until now.

On a side note, I just brewed a Stella clone on Sunday from Austin homebrew and it seems much darker than it should, like an amber color. Will that lighten up? It had 7lbs of liquid extra pale extract so I think that's why it's so dark. Also it tells me to secondary ferment which I have seen is kinda pointless... should I just keg it at that point and let it sit there for 3-4 weeks instead of secondary fermenter?

Thanks!

 

[IslandLizard]

I've only done about 6 homebrews so far so I'm not comfortable enough to know what I'm doing and how to change it up at this time. I've been using kits up until now.

On a side note, I just brewed a Stella clone on Sunday from Austin homebrew and it seems much darker than it should, like an amber color. Will that lighten up? It had 7lbs of liquid extra pale extract so I think that's why it's so dark. Also it tells me to secondary ferment which I have seen is kinda pointless... should I just keg it at that point and let it sit there for 3-4 weeks instead of secondary fermenter?

Thanks!

Stella used to be the go-to "Pilsner style" beer for pedestrian Belgians, like my great-aunt from Antwerp, and millions and millions others. Then it got onto the "lighter-is-better" wagon at some point, not gaining more flavor in the process. It's still a Lager not an Ale. Those light lager beer styles are about as difficult to replicate as anything else, since there's nothing to hide.

It's darker because you used extract, not a rice or corn-heavy all-grain Pilsner Malt grist. It won't attenuate or condition as well a Lager would due to ingredients and process.

You're right to skip secondary, as it is pointless, unless you brewed it with a lager yeast at lager temps, and "lagered" it for at least 6 weeks at near freezing temps. Special equipment and methods are required to do that.

Just enjoy the beer as it is as a hybrid "Lager" without the crispness it would require to call it a "proper Lager."

Keg it and store in your kegerator/keezer for 4-6 weeks before tapping. You may surprise yourself!

 

[Lipi128]

Thanks for the info!! So seems like it'll be a amber colored lager haha.... I brewed it on Friday.. and according to the directions it should ferment at 50-55 for 10 days before warming up for two days. I do have it lagering at the cold temps in a wine fridge I set up with a temp controller... so fingers crossed!

Ps should I do the gelatin after it warms for two days and before kegging or is it not worth it?

 

[kh54s10]

Except for one kit where I was selected in a drawing on this forum to brew then comment I haven't used a kit since 2011. I did 4 extract kits, 1 partial mash kit and 1 all grain kit. Since then I either use a recipe and obtain my own ingredients or create my own recipe. I often start with a recipe then make some changes to "make it my own" One of my best was a brown ale that I made from leftovers.

 

[IslandLizard]

Thanks for the info!! So seems like it'll be a amber colored lager haha.... I brewed it on Friday.. and according to the directions it should ferment at 50-55 for 10 days before warming up for two days. I do have it lagering at the cold temps in a wine fridge I set up with a temp controller... so fingers crossed!

Ps should I do the gelatin after it warms for two days and before kegging or is it not worth it?

If you used a lager yeast, it should take at least 2 weeks to get your predicted FG, YMMV.

A temp raise for 2 days after fermentation is completed is called a "diacetyl rest." You should do that once you know you reached FG. It will clean up the buttery flavor of theatre popcorn "sauce" most lager yeasts will leave behind, among other things.

Last Friday? Give it 2 weeks at minimum to ferment out. You simply can't rush Lagers.

 

[Lipi128]

Yea I used saflager23 that came with it... thanks I'll leave it in there for two full weeks then!! Thanks!

 

[JohanTheMighty]

I brew almost exclusively with beer kits... clones included. That said, most of the time when I do this, I make my own additions to those recipes. I don't really have the time or knowledge base I think to be creating my own recipes, or I just lack the confidence. Anyway, whenever I find a beer that I really like, I also find myself thinking, "I would like it more if this were added...", or "I think this would be better with more body....", or "I think this would be better with more bitterness and less aroma...". Does this make sense? So, I'll sometimes buy the clone kit for the beers that I liked and sort of make them my own, so to speak. My tweaks aren't huge, an additional pound of light malt here, some additional hop additions there, some different hops with flavor profiles that I prefer used here, etc... So, I buy the clone kits from time to time, but I never actually make them per the instructions.

 

[neon0107]

Adventures in homebrewing sells one, you can do it as an ale or lager if you have lagering skills and capabilities

It do the ale and did a taste test with the real deal straight from PA, and it was dead on

I added honey and cinnamon second time around

Thanks for the info and knowing you can do this as an ale!! I now know what I am brewing next!!

 

[Kent88]

I don't actually buy kits, as I make 1-gallon and 3-gallon batches, and there aren't many all-grain 1-gallon kits, or many 3-gallon kits.

I don't credit myself with making my own recipes. I have a few sources for recipes, like Brewing Classic Styles, old BrewingTV & C&B recipes, and kit descriptions from Northern Brewer, and I tweak those to produce the right amount of wort from my system.

For 3-gallon batches I start by scaling down a (typically all-grain) recipe I like, then I look to see how big the grain bill is, and if it looks like too much then I find a base malt I can substitute for DME, and then I play around with the recipe in brewing software to get the right amount of base malt and DME (making sure I get a certain gravity), usually keeping in mind that I want enough enzymes to convert any grain that needs it. I try not to use any more extract than I have too, but I don't want my mash-tun so full that it makes adding infusions a problem.

The only clone I've been interested in making is a spotted cow clone. Although I think my in-laws would like a moose drool clone.