Anyone know anything about the brewers best kits? I’m just curious because my local brew show carries them.
Are they any good? Are the NB ones better?
Related post.
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=117428
I’ve been to a brew shop where there was a bit of dust on the Brewer’s Best kits. In all fairness, he mills grain in the shop too, so dust is not necessarily a sign of neglect; just dusty work.
The BB kits include yeast; the yeast should be in the fridge, but the kits are NOT in the fridge.
In any event, I get a bit nervous about the age of the yeast, and therefore avoid BB. On the other hand I was given a kit for christmas was pleased with the results. They are a viable option.
I’ve never seen how NB kits are assembled, but I’m pretty sure they segregate yeast from kits; keeping the yeast in the fridge until shipping time. That said, I also have no idea how UPS abuses the yeast, en route. NB kits do not include caps. (Which I prefer to buy separately.) I also like the format of the NB instruction sheet better, but both brands have problems.
NB has amazing selection, BB seems to have fewer choices; if you limit yourself to what’s on the local shelf, maybe 10 distinct kits?
My preference is to order the NB kits, but you probably won’t have a bad time with the BB. If I woke on a Saturday and HAD to brew, but had no kits at home, I would get a BB kit. If I have the lead time, I’d rather browse NB’s selection and have them ship.
I did a BB Kolsch kit I bought on impulse at a local homebrew supply store, and it turned out pretty well I have to say. the ingrediants were well sealed and (as much as I could tell) seemed fresh enough when I went to brew.
It did come with it’s own dry yeast BUT I went ahead and bought a Wyeast liquid Kolsch yeast completely seperately that the store had. I did not pay much attention to the dry yeast the kit came with.
price wise seemed pretty reasonable. I think the kit was $34.00 and it did come with bottle caps (nice addition). 60 of them I think.
[quote=“fullhousebrew”]
price wise seemed pretty reasonable.[/quote]
I priced two kits that were both the same style
BB included 60 caps that NB did not.
My NB price included the liquid yeast option, BB was dry yeast.
The NB price was actually $5 less, which I consider too close to call.
A big advantage for NB is that they have a great forum. :mrgreen:
What’s that on your nose?.. 
:lol:
:cheers:
I originally discovered this forum while searching for a birthday gift for my son in law. Then I got hooked myself. My first purchase for myself was from a local home brew store because it was close and quick. I got a Brewers Best Irish Stout. It is great. Since then I have made numerous purchases from NB including my next beer, Caribou Slobber. There. How’s that for brown nosing? Hahahahah
:cheers: Lefty
The first beer I ever brewed was a BB Imperial Nut Brown kit. I didn’t read the instructions thoroughly, and did many brewing no-no’s when I brewed that beer. The beer still came out pretty nice.
That said, I worry about buying those pre-packaged kits. You never know how long they’ve been sitting on a shelf, so freshness of the ingredients can be concern. If you’re going to brew a recipe kit, I’d go with one that’s put together by the retailer. They most likely make those kits to order, and with the rapid rate of turnover, it’s a much safer bet that the extract is going to be very fresh.
My local shop also stocks Brewer’s Best. I’ve never had a problem with bad yeast. I occasionally will order from Label Peelers when they have a blowout on various BB kits. I typically buy during the fall-spring before things get too hot and immediately refrigerate the yeast.
IDK, BB and NB are both pretty good. I started looking at NB because BB didn’t have a very vast lineup of beers. They have since expanded varieties and including better yeast packs.
I really like BB’s smoked porter, Belgian IPA, pumpkin spiced porter (family fav), Hop Nogg, and Christmas ale.
I ended up brewing a Pale Wheat from BB and added some Bitter Orange Peel to it. Going to bottle it this weekend, so I’ll so how it goes. Should be interesting.
I’ve done both BB and NB kits, and found them both fine. Not much to choose between them.
The instructions are worded differently, and (I think) BB are not online - it makes it less appealing to browse their kits. BB were more precise but it took some decoding to get it.
However, BB sent me LME in cans as opposed to the plastic jugs that NB uses, and I find cans easier to empty.
Brewing with either is far superior to not brewing at all.
Pour in some hot water and shake it up. Get every bit of that sweet extract. 
My first few batches were BB and they came out great. As mentioned above, I think how fresh the kit is matters most.
All things equal, I would choose NB first especially since they let you know what’s in their kit and that helps to branch out and start making your own variations and recipes.
