Recipe kits or DIY?

[hilljack13]

Just curious as to how many prefer the recipe kits over doing your own? I'm planning on experimenting with a few styles at some point. I then realized I also like the idea of trying some of the kits to expand on trying some styles while I work my experiments. I figure the kits would be a good start to see if I liked something, then give it a go on my own take.

 

[fluketamer]

i agree start with the recipe kit .

Almost all online Homebrew stores list the ingredients and steps for there kits. I usually just look at that and then either tweak it or find the best prices to make that recipe. I think one of the tenets of Homebrewing is to first brew tried and true recipes before making your own.

 

[hotbeer]

Recipe kits will make sure you don't end up with a little bit of this and some of that left over that tend to accumulate and then you wonder what you are going to do with it all when you've run out of storage space.

They are great to start off with. However for quite a while now I've been just buying the individual ingredients and accumulating a lot of left over malt, hops and other stuff I'll have to figure out what to do with it.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I've never actually done a recipe kit. My first brew was a recipe offered at a homebrew supply and purchased the ingredients to make it. I will definitely check out clone recipes or fellow brewer's recipes, maybe tweak it for preference or simplicity, but mostly I just make my own.

That said, if I had to do it all over again, I might look into kits for the reasons you just mentioned.

 

[MaxStout]

I only brewed from kits when I was starting out, doing extract brews. When I switched to AG, I designed my own recipes.

That said, I can see some advantages to using kits, such as getting only what you need, mentioned above.

Some advantages to designing your own brews: Tailoring recipes to your own tastes, experimenting, accounting for your equipment and efficiencies, choosing batch size, brewing an unusual or obscure style, ensuring freshness of ingredients, etc. And the fun of making it more DIY.

 

[kevin58]

The only kits available when I started were extract. When I went to all grain I had to find recipes and buy the ingredients at my LHBS... which at the time was the local beer and wine store that had a corner with homebrew stuff. So I have never used and all grain kit.

 

[Jeroen79]

I would switch to your own recipes as soon as possible, its a lot more fun and rewarding then just reading instructions.

 

[wsmith1625]

Kits are great for new brewers who are still learning.

 

[Broken Crow]

Every time I want to try a style I haven't done before, I buy a kit made up by my LHBS. The kit always has an itemized list of what's in it and it helps me learn and experience each grain and hop so I can later test my knowledge by tinkering with the recipe to bring out the elements I want by rewriting my own version or trying a variant I found online...particularly on this site.

 

[hilljack13]

Appreciate all the replies. Part of my experiment includes modifying the kits to try different grains, yeast, hops, but then split the kit down to small 1 gal batches.

Happy experimenting!

 

[hilljack13]

And on that note, what is your favorite extract and from what source? I see a few reviews for some, but with hundreds of thousands of homebrewers I would expect more than a hundred reviews for the top seller.

 

[Bobby_M]

My favorite extract is DRY extract. If you can't find the exact variety you need, it's fine to go with liquid malt extract but the age of the canister is a much bigger concern there. If you don't want to buy kits, at least buy Brewing Classic Styles and brew those recipes. BYO magazine's website also publishes good clone recipes in all brewing styles.

 

[mac_1103]

My favorite extract is DRY extract.

I agree with this for the reasons stated. Much easier to keep fresh, and IMO easier to use too. There are many dedicated extract brewers on this forum who prefer Muntons over Briess, but there are many others who say they are happy with the results they get with either.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

And on that note, what is your favorite extract and from what source?

Over in the "extract brewing" forum, there are three longer running topics where you will find 1st hand experiences with DME and LME

1. I brewed an experimental recipe a few weeks ago (link)
2. I brewed a favorite recipe today (link)
3. Advanced extract brewing (link) (but skip to the late 2021 / 2022 replies)

If you ask your question in one of those threads and set aside expectations (earlier, you said: "I would expect more than a hundred reviews [somewhere] for the top seller."), you may get a good conversation going with home brewers who generally quietly brew with "extract".

Be prepared to "go deep" - as recent discussions have talked about differences between Muntons and Briess Amber DME.

Also, lurking over in AHA forums can be insightful, as there are a number of brewers there who brew a mix of "extract" and "all-grain" - and they apply their "all-grain" experiences to their "extract" batches to make good beer quickly. Note that this may be a long term commitment (and YMMV)- it's taken me a couple of years to identify these brewers.

age of the canister

Cansiters?

MoreBeer and Williams Brewing have been shipping LME in oxygen barrier bags for a number of years.

Oxiation can be mitigated by 1) Eliminating or purging the head space; and then 2) keeping it cool to slow done the process. Is the 1st more important than the second? , but I suspect it is.

Much easier to keep [DME] fresh

One of the advantages of LME is the variety of style specific products that Briess, Williams, and MoreBeer offer.

Perhaps the 'secret' to brewing with LME is to not store it. Find an on line store that stores it properly, sells it quickly, and can ship it quickly. When it arrives store it properly and brew with it in the next week or two.

 

[hilljack13]

My favorite extract is DRY extract. If you can't find the exact variety you need, it's fine to go with liquid malt extract but the age of the canister is a much bigger concern there. If you don't want to buy kits, at least buy Brewing Classic Styles and brew those recipes. BYO magazine's website also publishes good clone recipes in all brewing styles.

Funny, I saw this book on Amazon yesterday for the first time. Looks like an order!

 

[hilljack13]

Over in the "extract brewing" forum,

I got a little excited and forgot this was the wrong forum for that. Appreciate the links and keeping me straight!

 

[Franktalk]

Brewing Classic Styles by John Palmer and Jamil Zainesheff is the best place to start. Each recipe is an award winning version of a classic style. Whenever I brew a new style, I start with the one in the book, and in subsequent versions I tweak, change, or revamp. It is an excellent way to start making your own recipes.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Just curious as to how many prefer the recipe kits over doing your own? I'm planning on experimenting with a few styles at some point. I then realized I also like the idea of trying some of the kits to expand on trying some styles while I work my experiments. I figure the kits would be a good start to see if I liked something, then give it a go on my own take.

I think kits are great! There tends to be an odd attitude in brewing that says if you are not creating your own recipes from scratch you are not really brewing. I have never understood this. There are some very good cooks with a rack of recipe books that they follow often. I tend to not purchase many kits because I have a stock of grains and hops on hand, but I do often look at the kit recipe sheets from MoreBeer and Northern Brewer or "Brewing Classic Styles" recipes.

I am all for both new brewers and experienced brewers using packaged kits or using recipes published in brewing books. (P.S. "How to Brew" is an underrated source of good recipes.) Many of my "house" recipes started as a kit that I then tweaked over a few batches. If I was wanting to brew a style new to me, picking up a kit would be a great starting point.

 

[hilljack13]

picking up a kit would be a great starting point.

My want list from the named sources are growing. So many things I plan to do. Can't wait to get started!!

 

[AlexKay]

If you think it'll be more fun to have the kit and not have to think/worry about ingredient details, get the kit. If you think you'll have more fun coming up with your own recipe, go that way.

If you're starting out with recipe development, I'd suggest the following steps:

1. Find a recipe. You could start with a kit recipe (most places post full ingredient lists online), something someone has posted on this site, random Googling, or Josh Weikert's "Make your best ..." series.
2. Make changes that strike your fancy, or that you think will improve the recipe, or let you try something new. When you're just starting you may not feel confident changing anything, but the more you do it, the more comfortable you'll get.
3. Post your recipe on the "Recipes and Ingredients" forum here. Include a short bit about what you're trying to accomplish (make the best-tasting beer, brew a style traditionally, work with limitations on equipment or ingredients, try a new hop/malt/technique, etc.) Folks will reply with suggestions and (this will be helpful) explain why they're making those suggestions.

 

[Wigglebutts Brewery]

Recipes are great for the guestion….. what do you want for Christmas/birthday?

 

[jrgtr42]

I also like the idea of getting tried-and-true kits, (or recipes,) when getting started - you don't want to just throw something together with no real idea what does what.
Some of my best brews started with kits or at least recipes, from BYO Magazine, here, and a couple other places. Most of them |I have tweaked one way or another to my own tastes, with trial and error, mostly. I'll brew it stock once, then decide what I like and don't like about it.
My house pale ale started as a clone recipe from the New Albion that Sam Adams brewed a ways back (10 or 15 years, I think...) It started as a SMASH of 2 row malt and Cascade hops. Over the years I've tweaked it with Pilsner malt, a dash of Crystal 10 malt for a bit more flavor, upped the hop schedule. and adjusted things to my rig and fermentation.

 

[lumbergh]

I do less than 5 gallon batches, so if I do use a kit, I scale it down for my batch size/system and keep the remaining ingredients for something else.

I also use the morebeer recipe sheets.

I definitely recommend starting with kits to get your brewing process down and worry about creating/tweaking recipes after.

The only issue I've seen with kits is some places the grain crush on kits isn't the best.

 

[hilljack13]

I do less than 5 gallon batches, so if I do use a kit, I scale it down for my batch size/system and keep the remaining ingredients for something else.

I also use the morebeer recipe sheets.

I definitely recommend starting with kits to get your brewing process down and worry about creating/tweaking recipes after.

The only issue I've seen with kits is some places the grain crush on kits isn't the best.

I pre-ordered the spike mill so I'll order whole grain. I plan on doing plenty of 1 Gal batches to practice a few things. More to follow...

 

[RM-MN]

I pre-ordered the spike mill so I'll order whole grain. I plan on doing plenty of 1 Gal batches to practice a few things. More to follow...

I would expect plenty of 1 gallon batches to equal 2. After you have done 2 one gallon batches and have gone through all the time and steps for a 6 pack, you might decide that you can do a slightly larger batch for the same effort.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I pre-ordered the spike mill so I'll order whole grain. I plan on doing plenty of 1 Gal batches to practice a few things.

FWIW, almost everyone seems to find that precise mash temperature control (2° F drop over 45 or 60 minutes) is hard to achieve with 1 gal batches.

Some people here report success using an oven pre-heated to around 160F (turn the oven off during the mash).

Others report good beer by accepting a slightly larger temperature drop (4-5° F).

As the batch size increases, probably starting at about 1.75 gal, a well wrapped kettle and the weight of the grains (~ 5 lb) seem to be sufficient for a stable mash temperature.

 

[lumbergh]

FWIW, almost everyone seems to find that precise mash temperature control (2° F drop over 45 or 60 minutes) is hard to achieve with 1 gal batches.

Some people here report success using an oven pre-heated to around 160F (turn the oven off during the mash).

Others report good beer by accepting a slightly larger temperature drop (4-5° F).

As the batch size increases, probably starting at about 1.75 gal, a well wrapped kettle and the weight of the grains (~ 5 lb) seem to be sufficient for a stable mash temperature.

The warm oven mash trick is what I have been doing for years for 2-ish gallon stovetop BIAB batches.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I pre-ordered the spike mill so I'll order whole grain. I plan on doing plenty of 1 Gal batches to practice a few things. More to follow...

That Spike mill looks decent for the price, but something seem funny to me about a $500 motorized mill to make 1 gallon batches of beer.

One of the biggest roadblocks for me for doing more 1 gallon batches is temperature control. Since I moved to dedicated temperature control about 3 years ago, I avoid fermenting without using my chamber (a chest freezer). I also try to tie my temperature control to a specific batch of beer. I cannot justify tying up my chamber for 2 weeks for only 6-9 bottles of beer.

2.5 gallon batches has been a sweet spot for me. It is very little extra effort on brew day. I have enough beer that I can take a growler or 6-pack to an event, but not enough that a keg sits around for months. If I am bottling, 1 case is half the work as 2 cases. I also often split a 5 gallon batch and ferment with two different yeasts.

 

[hilljack13]

That Spike mill looks decent for the price, but something seem funny to me about a $500 motorized mill to make 1 gallon batches of beer.

One of the biggest roadblocks for me for doing more 1 gallon batches is temperature control. Since I moved to dedicated temperature control about 3 years ago, I avoid fermenting without using my chamber (a chest freezer). I also try to tie my temperature control to a specific batch of beer. I cannot justify tying up my chamber for 2 weeks for only 6-9 bottles of beer.

2.5 gallon batches has been a sweet spot for me. It is very little extra effort on brew day. I have enough beer that I can take a growler or 6-pack to an event, but not enough that a keg sits around for months. If I am bottling, 1 case is half the work as 2 cases. I also often split a 5 gallon batch and ferment with two different yeasts.

This is a long term investment. The 1 gal are for experiments only. I have done 5 gallon years ago but moving too often got me out the hobby. That issue is over...soon.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

This is a long term investment. The 1 gal are for experiments only. I have done 5 gallon years ago but moving too often got me out the hobby. That issue is over...soon.

BTW, I do find that 1 gallon extract based batches are great for trying out hops. They are easy enough to brew that I have gotten 4 batches going in a few hours after work. I build them around a 1 lb bag of DME and a 1 oz bag of hops with ~1/4 packet of dry yeast. They can also be a decent option for evaluating yeasts, though you can also do a larger all-grain batch and split it into multiple fermenters.

I have been tempted at times to get some 1 gallon kegs. Small ball lock kegs are pricey and the stainless growler w/ adaptor lid are not a lot cheaper. I am tempted by the 4L Oxebar Kegs from Kegland, but that size is not yet available in the US and stainless kegs are probably a better long term investment. I do really enjoy my 10L Torpedo kegs, but I am not sure I could justify the current $110 price.

 

[hilljack13]

BTW, I do find that 1 gallon extract based batches are great for trying out hops. They are easy enough to brew that I have gotten 4 batches going in a few hours after work. I build them around a 1 lb bag of DME and a 1 oz bag of hops with ~1/4 packet of dry yeast. They can also be a decent option for evaluating yeasts, though you can also do a larger all-grain batch and split it into multiple fermenters.

I have been tempted at times to get some 1 gallon kegs. Small ball lock kegs are pricey and the stainless growler w/ adaptor lid are not a lot cheaper. I am tempted by the 4L Oxebar Kegs from Kegland, but that size is not yet available in the US and stainless kegs are probably a better long term investment. I do really enjoy my 10L Torpedo kegs, but I am not sure I could justify the current $110 price.

Trying out different yeast types is one of the goals. I do plan to split 5gal. in the attempt to narrow down what yeast I like. Really trying to keep no more than about two strains on hand for ales and lagers. Mostly using dry but I'll snag a liquid for that special brew. I wanted to look at the small kegs and agree the price just doesn't make sense. I don't mind bottling one gallon.

 

[BeerNsteadofH2O]

I have found, brewing,like any other hobby, for me anyway, is most enjoyable and successful when I dont lock myself into one method or style, I use kits, I recreate recipes found on line and in magazines as well as create .my, own, I enjoy and prefer all grain brewing, but have no issue with doing a partial mash or pouring.DME or LME into the brew pot, being versatile, IMHO, not only makes me a more informed, better brewer but the change of pace can be exciting. And I always seem to.learn something.