True Brew Kit and Brewers Best Vs custom AHS kits

[slantedbolt]

So I have done two kits so far, both from Austin Homebrew Supply. I get the kits, and it seems everything is hand picked and placed in the box. The True brew kits and Brewers Best kits, which my LHBS has, seem like they are mass produced and could sit on a self or in a ware house for a while.

So my question is, can I get a good brew out of a BB or TB kit or are they inferior to an online shop that hand packages the different pieces together and have high turn over?

What are peoples experience with the prepackaged kits?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jackers252]

I highly recommend AHS and Brewmasters Warehouse.

 

[slantedbolt]

I highly recommend AHS and Brewmasters Warehouse.

thats all I have used so far, I was just wondering what issues I would run into with the prepackaged kits.

 

[daytonlawvol]

Ive done two Brewers Best Kits:

English Pale Ale: Perfectly hit suggested final gravity, in bottle conditioning now, likely will turn out great.

Oatmeal Stout: Stuck at 1.030, ordering supplies for a Yeast Starter to wake it back up, who knows what the final results will be.

 

[jackers252]

I am sure the BB or TB would be fine. Personally, I prefer the customized kits.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I made three prepackaged, boxed kits when I first started. They were fine. They contain DME or LME in a can, so either way they are packaged to survive extended shelf life. Obviously fresh ingredients are better than old ingredients but people frequently make tasty extract beers using packaged DME.

 

[Johnny_Crunch]

I made one canned kit and I wasn't really happy with it and I haven't looked back since. I will be sticking with the custom recipe kits from here on out.

 

[HerotBrewer]

So my question is, can I get a good brew out of a BB or TB kit or are they inferior to an online shop that hand packages the different pieces together and have high turn over?

Short answer: Yes.

You can get a good brew out of a BB kit, and yes a hand packaged kit from an online store will be better. I'm sure many of us here started with BB kits or similar, but most of us move on to better kits.

My first kit was BB, and it tasted fine. However I like the better selection/fresher ingredients of a Midwest or AHB kit. If you do go with a BB kit, you can replace the yeast with fresher, but you probably don't have to. RDWHAHB. BB works fine, but stepping up to a higher quality kit will improve your beer in the long run.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Brewers Best kits and True Brew kits will turn out good beer. If you want great beer make it with fresh ingredients (no matter where you buy).

The problem is that Brewers Best and True Brew use canned extract for their beers. This leads to some off flavors and beers tasting the same every time.

With these kits the yeast is not the problem it is the extract.

Forrest

 

[slantedbolt]

Brewers Best kits and True Brew kits will turn out good beer. If you want great beer make it with fresh ingredients (no matter where you buy).

The problem is that Brewers Best and True Brew use canned extract for their beers. This leads to some off flavors and beers tasting the same every time.

With these kits the yeast is not the problem it is the extract.

Forrest

Well, I have ordered 2 kits from you guys, with about 10 more on a wish list I gave to my wife for Christmas

It makes sense about the canned extract. Metal cans always lead off flavors. Canned beans for one always have a semi metallic flavor when they are cold.

I was just wondering, as I would like to support my LHBS because their prices are pretty comparable to most online stores. They have a decent amount of kits, but they have plenty of other toys I can spend some cash on

 

[FoundlingOfDollar]

I live in Austin and it is a blast go to to AHS. They go into their grain room while you watch through a window, weigh all the grains and crush them while you watch, then they go over to their extract drums and weigh out your extract. The place is always busy, so the ingredients see good quick rotation an would seem to me to be pretty fresh. Plus, on top of all of that you can pick a yeast from the big fridge full of yeasts for any type of beer you could want. It seems to me that you must be getting a good deal more freshness going with a homebrew shop's kit over a canned kit.

Plus, if you get to go there you get that kid in a candy store feeling all over again.

Perhaps when a child is happy we should say that they're like an adult in a homebrew shop?

 

[slantedbolt]

I wish I lived near a HUGE HBS like that...