by Anthony MacGregor

Created on: September 01, 2009

Homebrewing is a very fun, rewarding hobby that anyone can do. When first starting out, words such as "extract", "all-grain" and "mashing" can be very overwhelming for a beginner, and may even dissuade people from trying it. This is where beer kits come in handy.

The term "home brewing beer kits" can refer to many things, and I will be addressing them all here.

First, in terms of equipment, a home brewing beer kit might entail all the basic equipment one needs to do the easiest type of brewing - extract brewing (as opposed to all-grain). In this case, the kits are incredibly handy - when someone might not be sure if to get this carboy or that syphon, these kits come ready to go, so you know you have everything you need right out the box - just need the ingredients.

Now, as far as actual ingredient kits, again things must be further defined. There are home brewing kits that are almost too easy - the "beer in a can" type kits, which essentially call for the user to warm up the contents, add some yeast and water and then let sit for a while. These kits in particular may be handy for someone who is barely wanting to dip their toes in, and not invest too much time and money into it. The kits will produce a beer, but whether that beer may be passable or good will be up to the drinker to decide.

More often than not, the term beer kits is what is called a recipe kit', generally an extract recipe kit. These are extremely helpful and beneficial to the homebrewer. They include all the ingredients the homebrewer would need to brew a particular style of beer, such as an India Pale Ale, a Brown Ale, a Pilsner or a Stout. They also make them as commercial "clone" kits - recipes that try to mimic (often very faithfully) the flavours of commercially available beer, such as Sam Adams or Guinness, or any other for that matter. These kits are very useful, because they are easy to follow and come with step by step instructions. More importantly, they allow the new homebrewer to begin to understand the brewing process, not just to follow instructions but to know why certain steps must be taken. After sufficient recipe kits, the homebrewer will be able to start waddling over to the deep end at their own rate - there are many different recipes with varying levels of difficulty. After enough recipes kits, the homebrewer might be bold enough to start developing their own recipes and jump into more advanced methods, such as all-grain brewing, kegging (as opposed to bottling) and more.

I would say almost every single homebrewer probably starts out with beginner beer kits, both in regards to equipment and recipes. It provides a good jump-off point without getting too complicated, allows the brewer to understand the process, and more importantly, they are a lot of fun to brew. A highly recommend them to anyone thinking about enjoying the rewards of drinking beer brewed in their own home.

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