Beer!
Mikey and I finally got around to making the Brewsmith Wheat Beer last weekend. Mikey isn’t usually a wheatbeer fan, so he’s been avoiding this one. I finally made the executive decision to get the kit. I told Mikey I was going to make it with or without him. Although it was a wheat beer, we were still making beer so Mikey decided to join in. It was a good choice.
This was the standard Brewsmith kit, except unlike the other kits they do, there weren’t any specialty grains to steep. The kit was:
- What looked like dry malt extract, but there was probably some other stuff in there too
- Bittering hops – 60 minute boil
- Taste hops – 20 minute boil
- Aroma hops – at the end of the boil
- Honey (not supplied) at the end of the boil was optional
The good and the bad of this kit is that it was very simple. I like Brewsmith kits because there is enough to do, but it’s still simple and easy. I think its the grain steeping that does it. Unfortunately with no speciality grains, it may make things a little too simple. Simplicity isn’t a problem in a larger batch, because there are other concerns there, but on a smaller batch it is possible to make things too simple!
I think this kit would be a good introduction to the Brewsmith kits, especially for those who have only done can and kilo style kits and want to slowly move to something more complicated. Since this kit has hops additions, it’s a good halfway between steeping and the whole kit and kilo thing.
Tomorrow Mikey and I will be trying the new Brewsmith recipe (hopefully!), so he’ll report in soon.
-Chas
We make home brew 
I would agree that this kit, at face value, seam a little basic compared to the rest of the Brewsmith range. Although I’m not a wheat beer fan, I was hoping that there might be some wheat grains for steeping. That said, the honey addition was nice.
It’ll be about three weeks before we try this, and that’s when we’ll really know how good the kit is.