Home brewing beer kits: Good for beginners?

Yes

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by Darryl Miles

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Home brew kits are a wonderful way for someone to start brewing beer. I have been home brewing for coming on ten years now. I have also worked in a craft brewery where about half of the other workers also home brewed. All of us started with home brew kits.

You wouldn't expect someone to come up with their own recipe the first time they cooked. They would need to pay more attention to the fundamentals first, learn how hot things need to be, how long things take to cook. Beer is the exact same way. There are a lot of fundamentals you need to get down when you start brewing. It makes a lot of sense to use someone else's recipe, and that's exactly what a kit is.

It has an advantage over a recipe you would find in a book or on the internet though, because many other people will have used the kit and continue to use the kit. This gives the beginner the advantage of having people to talk to and ask questions of. I have gotten a ton of help on discussion boards over the years and if we are using the same kit we can start on the same page.

Another big advantage to kits is to put the beginner at ease. There is a lot to brewing as I said before and the more simple you can make it the less stress it will put on a newbie. With a kit you don't have to worry about weighing out ingredients or what substitutions to make if the home brew store is out of an ingredient that your recipe calls for. That part is taken care of so all you have to worry about is the process, and since they come with step by step instructions that has been made easier too.

One cool thing that some home brew stores are doing now is developing kits based on famous craft beers. Some times the brewers of these beers even help in making the recipe. This provides another advantage to the beginning (or experienced) home brewer. You can make your kit, and when it's done go buy a six pack of the commercial stuff. Then sit down and taste the two side by side. This can be really fun, but also teach you a lot. How is yours different? What would cause that difference? Answering these questions can really help you develop your technique. I also hypothesize that your friends will envy you and you will be more attractive to members of the opposite sex, two more great reasons to go out and get a home brew kit.

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