Extract Question

Kits and extract brews usually are inferior. I know. I brewed mostly extract beers from about 1970 to the mid 80s. However, in our little homebrew club meeting at Fadeley's in Patchogue (about 10 people) about 1980, a new guy came in with his first beer, a stout brewed using just Cooper's Stout Wort liquid extract. It was excellent. It IS POSSIBLE to brew good extract beers. Although I don't know whether Cooper markets liquid malt extract any more.

 

This is very true, but you still have to follow good practices, especially cleaning and sanitation and yeast health (proper pitch rate and fermentation temperature).

All that said, sometimes a blind chicken gets a worm.

Also, I think my second beer was a Cooper's IPA kit that I brewed during a snowstorm. 2009? maybe? I remember it not being good, but I'm going to say that was more my fault than the kit.

 

I should have said that my dark beers from extract came out better than the pale ones. The blind chicken comment is probably appropriate.

 

I've brewed 3-4 times using a kit and never liked the outcome of any of them. Probably some rookie mistakes were a factor, but back then I wasn't smart about fresh ingredients and I think that was the main factor in flawed beers. I continued brewing only extract batches but I switched to finding recipes that I wanted to brew and then bought fresh ingredients. Maybe back then the kits sat on shelves longer than they do today so the smart buyer will check dates if possible, but I'm a strong believer in freshness matters.

 

This spreadsheet should be a sticky for all new brewers (and many veteran ones too.)

That's the funny thing - if the kit builders put in decent ingredients, to make a good beer, more people would continue with the hobby.
But that'sthe think about kits, pre-made ones from big manufacturers can be sketchy as far as freshness.
If the OP has a Local Homebrew Shop (LHBS) I'd recommend checking with them to see if they put together kits themselves. You;ll have more chance of fresh ingredients, and possibly the ability to change things out if desired.