Northern Brewer Deluxe Homebrew Starter Kit, Equipment and 5 Gallon Recipe (Fresh Squished IPA)

Had a minor issue with a damaged item, and they responded promptly. My first batch is fermenting nicely at this moment, and I look forward to trying out some of Northern Brewers other products.

I haven't had time to brew with this yet due to leaving on vacation. As always I did my homework and settled on this kit after reading the reviews and watching many of the videos. It arrived well packed and undamaged. I am looking forward to brewing my first batch and will update this review after the first "taste test".I did purchase a couple parts such as a wort chiller and a brewing spoon separate from the kit and they are both high quality items.

This was just what was needed to get me started in homebrewing. The recipes are easy to follow and result in a delicious brew. The equipment is just enough to get a head start in brewing, fermenting, and bottling your own been at home. My friends and family have enjoyed the fruits of my labor and I can't wait to make my next batch.

At first, the whole project seemed daunting: lots of equipment and steps. I’m a visual learner, so I first watched their YouTube video on the complete process, then read the directions and took notes. I know, probably not necessary.I made the wort Saturday and it’s now Tuesday (see pictures). Everything seems to be going as planned. I’m keeping the fermenter in our closet since our area can get too hot (for garage storage).I did have to buy a pot, spoon and bottles.We have a gas range and it didn’t seem to get to a “rolling boil” and I was afraid the wort was going to evaporate too much before it got to that point, so I half covered it with a lid. That worked well! I also used a fine strainer when pouring the wort into the fermenter towards the end.Made the house smell like IPA. Good at first, but was a bit overwhelming after a while. Still had the smell in my mind a couple of days later and not at home. If you’re not okay with that, make sure your brewing area is well ventilated.I’ll update this review after I taste the beer.

So first off this kit does NOT come with everything you need to brew. I'm a single guy in his 20's so hopefully you have more stuff in your kitchen but I had to buy the following:-50 Empty Bottles $40-Brew Kettle $45-Propane burner $85-Propane Tank $35-Brew Spoon $8-ABV Test kit $18TOTAL: $231 (more than the actual kit itself)It's not about the money, I'm just mad they never mention all the extra stuff you gotta get! I would have happily paid more for a complete kit. It's the principle of the matter since I was led to believe this kid had everything I needed to brew beer. In reality it has about 50% of the stuff you need to brew beer.Now to the actual brew-day! At first everything was great. I mean yeah, the "brew bot" help guide that's supposed to assist you through your brew day didn't actually exist...but who cares? We were following along with the Northern Brewer YouTube video guide just fine. At least until we had to use the auto-siphon --- which was WAY shorter than the one they used in the video --- didn't notice until later that there were 2 hoses of different sizes in the kit, it was unclear which was used for bottling vs transferring throughout the process. Either way, a longer hose is definitely needed -- both hoses were too short imo. And who actually uses that thick short carboy blow-off hose anyway? Just replace that with a longer hose and I think us customers will be better off for it.UPDATE:Last night the fermentation was finally finished so I was able to bottle the beer -- unfortunately there was only 4 gallons to bottle, not sure if that last gallon evaporated or spilled or if we didn't follow the directions correctly in the first place. Just as a reference, I bought 50 empty bottles and when I was ready to bottle, 4 gallons of beer filled about 42 of them. Also when we dry-hopped in the secondary, the hops caused A LOT of hop particles/flakes that wouldn't sink (even after 1.5 weeks) -- so that stuff was floating around even during bottling. I tried my best to avoid the hop flakes when siphoning from the secondary to the bottling bucket but some particles still made it into the bottles (hoping this settles to the bottom and is embedded into the layer of yeast that forms during conditioning. Note: The bottling wand WILL clog with hop flakes/particles so I had to clean that out mid-bottling.My experience with this kit has been so-so but I'm a generous reviewer so for now I'm giving it 4 stars.I'll try to update this once the bottles finish carbonating and are ready for consumption.Update 12/2/19The bottles have finished conditioning. Many of the bottles have quite a bit of sludge at the bottom (much more than I expected). So drinking straight from the bottle is a definite no-go. I had to pour into a glass and leave about an inch or two of liquid at the bottom of the bottle (about 20-30% of the liquid) to avoid the sludge from pouring into the glass. Is this normal?? I'm an Industrial Engineer by trade and I develop processes for a living; but given how the beer turned out, I've concluded that either the instructions are incomplete or I wasn't smart enough to understand this process. Either way I admit defeat with this kit. Maybe you'll succeed where I failed. Best of luck!

If you're like me - go big or go home - then this is the kit for you. It is complete, has easy to follow instructions and I now have my very first batch in the bottles waiting to carbonate. Tasting the beer post-fermentation is like tasting flat beer but you can definitely taste the quality. I opted for the Grolsch-type bottles in 16-oz. For this kit you need 36 16-oz bottles or 48 12-ounce. It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to my second brew. Others commented on inferior quality components - maybe I'm not that smart but everything worked beautifully! I will upgrade the sanitizer to a liquid form but for the money, this kit will get you going in style.

This has almost everything you need. its missing some things, but not anything you can't complete the brew without. Assuming you like beer, you should be saving your existing bottles - so that should not be a concern. You need a large pot - mine was somewhere around 3.5 gallons, but check your recipe - you don't need to boil the whole 5 gallons. If you use a smaller pot, you will need to be very careful about boiling over. I use mine to brine turkeys so you can get other uses from them. I do think the kit should include hydrometer and the steps to use it should be on the recipe page. I have a a hydrometer, but forgot to take the initial measurements. Anyway I really like the Irish red and think they've done a good job putting the kit together.

While I have not made a batch of ale yet I must say I am most impressed with this kit, it's packaging, directions and top notch brewing equipment and supplies. It has everything needed to make a good batch of ale. Great job vendor!!

Made my batch a while ago. Exactly as advertised and it was super fun making my first brew.

I have made home made beer many times.These instructions were very easy to follow.The kit had extra items that we did not need.We were not given a choice of beer type when we bought the kit.We did not like the beer that it made.When we contacted customer service, we were told to go and buy a different type next time.Not very good customer service.

The equipment was in good shape. Decent quality. But the grains and yeast had expired a year before. Not even close.