I don't know how long these have been available, 2 gallon beer kits.
Our 2 gallon beer ingredient kits are the perfect size for brewers who are looking to make smaller batches. They work great with some popular department store beer making kits.

This is one of the places I started getting extract kits from a few years ago. I'll suggest their kits are good to great.

I'm gonna suggest that anyone that wants to try different extract kits with steeping grains and hop boil might enjoy these.

That's interesting Professor, a brand I was unaware of. A few things I'm not crazy about are the DME and lack of detail for the recipe (OG, IBU's, ABV etc.).

It's good to have another option however.

Newb question - What's wrong with the DME?

some people prefer LME to DME. Nothing wrong with it at all, just personal preference.

DME has a habit of clumping up. But LME has a habit of sticking in the can and being harder to portion out. My LHBS carries more DME, so that's what I've got :-P

Thanks for the clarification. I used both on my batch and I had more trouble with the LME sticking to the can than I did with the DME clumping - both are a nuisance.

just dip the LME can or bottle into the wort and swirl or shake. I never had a problem getting all of it out.

Hmm. Never thought about doing that. Yeah, I just prefer LME. The DME is just LME with all the moisture removed.

I have experience with their simple 5 gallon kits. For instance I made the German Pilsner a couple times. All the 5 gallon kits I got from them had LME. This 5 gallon kit does list the beer details. I'd guess the 2 gallon is somewhat similar but it would be better if it was actually stated.

I may order the German Pilsner just to try it out.


Doing things like keeping the DME away from steam by removing the pot from the heat (or adding a little before the boil) can help.

I found DME nice for adding small amounts, like a pound or so. It's easy to reseal. I do prefer LME for larger amounts.

prof is right... is there any reason to NOT add the DME *before* the water heats up? i did it all the time, and never noticed any off affects. no steam... no clumps. stir and dissolve as the water starts to get hot.

Sure, if you're doing a concentrated boil, and don't want to boil all of the extract for the full boil.

Of course, when I was doing partial mash BiaB recipes with 5~ish lbs of grain and 3 lbs DME (4-4.5 gallon batches), I always added all of the DME after the mash (precisely because it was so much easier) but before the boil, and it produced some great beers.

That is also the way I have been using DME. I have had no clumping issues, I still use a whisk but it dissolves quickly

I did order the 2 gallon German Pilsner kit.

One thing I liked when ordering extract kits was trying new things. This kit comes with Danstar Nottingham dry yeast (It appears all the 2 gallon kits do) and carb tablets. I'll go ahead and use both. It also comes with an anti-foam agent, think I'll save that for possible use on something else.

The kit does come with a muslin bag for the steeping grains but not for the hops. And any new brewer ordering these kits needs to remember to order some sanitizer, the kit does not include that.

Apparently these kits really are "2 gallon kits" (not 2.2 or more), so if you start topping off the Mr. Beer keg to a usual fill line the beer will be weaker. I'll try to remember that on brew day.

I'll ferment the Nottingham at about 60 (since this is supposed to be a lager).

The only disappointment was the hops. I received 1oz of "German Hallertau" 4.3AA. The instructions say to spilt that between a 60 and 5 min boil. That's way low on IBU. I've attached pics of both 5 gallon kits I got of this "German Pilsner" and they both had better hopping. I'm gonna modify this in some way on brew day.

1st pic is the 2 gallon kit, the other 2 are the 5 gallon kits I brewed.

is that liquid extract in a bag? seems like a mess waiting to happen. I do like all the labeling though, marking what each thing is for. most others don't mark things like that.

On the 2 older 5 gallon kits, yes, double bagged.

The Mr. Beer all grain kit I ordered when Chug had his store up had all the hops measured and marked.

Is this still around?

Sadly, no.
If you really wanna try the small batch all grain, the only mystery is the exact grains and any "Pale Ale" sort of recipe will be fine.

Alright, I was a bit disappointed with the 2 gallon German Pilsner kit. It needs to be made as a "2 gallon" kit (fill to about 1/2 inch below the 8.5 liter mark) and done as is the ABV is 4.4, IBU 23. Probably a nice beer, but the style guidelines suggest 25-45 IBU. Using all the hops at 60 min gives a 40 IBU (with no flavor or aroma contribution).

So, of course the correct thing to do is to turn around and order the "American IPA" and see what I get. This one has 3 lbs DME and 2 oz hops. It is perfect for making whatever you like in a Mr. Beer keg. Since there are 3 lbs DME (6.5ABV in 2 gal) a Mr. Beer Batch is a nice 5.1 ABV (filled to the "quart" mark). The IBU is 40ish as is but changing to some 20 minute additions can push it to 60. So it can be anything from a Sierra Nevada sort of brew to a real IPA.

I'll still say these are worth a look but consider using something like Beer Calculus to get the beer you want.

Getting ready to brew the "German Pilsner" today.

Since I have a 3.75 gallon pot I'll go ahead and go a full wort boil starting with 2.5 gallons of H2O. My boil off is about 1/2 gallon in an hour. This kit needs to finish at only 2 gallons for a 4.4 ABV.

I fooled with the hops in Beer Calculus.

The kit comes with 1oz (4.3AA) Hallertau. The instructions say to use 1/2 for 60min and 1/2 for 5 min. That gives about 26 IBU. The style guidelines say 25-45 for a German Pils.

1/2 60; 1/4 20, 1/4 5, about 30 IBU (bittering, flavor, and aroma additions)
3/4 60; 1/4 20, about 39 IBU (bittering and flavor only)
1.0 60, about 43 IBU (bittering only)

I like the 39 IBU choice with higher bitterness and some flavor.

Brix is 11.5 for an OG of about 1.047.

When it cools down I'll pitch the supplied Danstar Nottingham dry yeast and ferment about 60ish.

notty...good choice. used it once and have been meaning to use it again but i keep going back to us-05.

The US-05 is good stuff too.

oh, absolutely!! i just want to use different yeasts when i can so i can start to see differences between them. that said, my next two are SMaSHes with us-05. i want to let the malt and hops shine more than anything.

I had a good excuse to use the Nottingham, that's what the kit came with. So I'll be using it at least twice, on these two kits. I've used Fermentis yeast a lot and I really like it.

I pitched warm last night and this morning the keg is about 60 with good krausen.

I love using Nottingham when fermentation temperatures are near 60. It ends up fermenting really cleanly, almost like a lager.

Okay, so I go wild and brew up the kit IPA as well.

The IPA kit comes with more DME and more hops than the Pilsner kit.

This kit has 3lbs of DME. If made to only 2 gallons that is 6.4 ABV. Since I'd prefer a lower ABV I'll make this as a 2.5 gallon recipe for about 5.1 ABV.

This kit has 2oz hops. Done per recipe as 2 gal it's 51 IBU, as is as 2.5 is 41 IBU.
I'll use:
0.4 Centennial @ 60
0.4 Cascade @ 20
0.3 Centennial @ 20
0.3 Cascade @ 10
0.3 Centennial @ 10
0.3 Cascade @ 5
for 2.5 gallons for about 55 IBU.
More flavor, less aroma.

And, since Stout is the Recipe of the Month I ordered the Stout kit from Homebrewers.

As an evaluation and guesses from my orders so far:
Note the 4 different price ranges.
The "German Pilsner" kit I bought was in the lowest, 21.99.
I'll guess any of these kits have 2lbs DME and 1oz hops. Will probably be best actually made at 2 gallons.

The "American IPA" kit had 3lbs DME and 2oz hops, 26.99.
I'll guess the "Dopplebock" kit has similar volumes.

There are 2 kits at 27.99. My guess is 1oz more hops, but I don't really know.

The "Belgian Wit" is 22.99 and I am not sure why. Could be spices, but the "Pumpkin Spice" beer should have spices as well. Maybe a yeast besides Nottingham? Would be more to style.

Ever since they had recalls on the Notty I've stuck with Fermentis or Wyeast liquid. Don't think I'll use Notty ever again...the Fermentis yeast has always been good for me!

For what it's worth, after the last recall, which was a result of a packaging error, Danstar brought the packaging in house. The new packages are vacuum packed and I've had great results using it with temperatures in the mid 50s to low 60s.

That may be true but they also upped the price and there comes a point where it's not much more to get the better,more reliable yeast so I use Fermentis yeast when I use dry yeast. Having used the S-23 Saflager,US-05 Safale,S-33 Safbrew,T58 Safbrew,and S-04 Safale without any issues(and krausen as soon as 3-4 hours sometimes) as opposed to the occasional slow starts with Danstar yeast pre recall(3 days). IMO,I'll stick with always(works) and avoid could possibly(not work).

I can't fault you for your thinking and methods, but I've been lucky...personally, I've never had a problem with Notty, and I was lucky enough to score some of the new packaging at the old price, so I'm still using it.

It's been good to me, and so I plan to keep using it, even at the new price-point.

That said, Fermentis does make great yeasts, and there are some that I haven't found any yeast (dry or liquid) that's a perfect substitute, like T-58. Love that yeast!

I can't complain about the Nottingham yeast in the IPA batch.
The brix was 14.0 (1.058), the temp about 64, and there is 1 1/2 inch krausen on it this afternoon.

Looks like I'll bottle up the German Pilsner this weekend and the American IPA next weekend.

I ordered a 3rd kit. The "Beartooth Stout". Anyone new to extract brewing will look more closely at the three kits and see the different DMEs and also the steeping grains. The Pilsner kit had "Pilsen" DME and really light colored steeping grains, carapils and/or light crystal. The IPA kit had "Golden" DME and the steeping grains had a bit more color, so some darker crystal is included. This Stout kit has "Dark" DME and really dark steeping grains, probably some roasted barley and chocolate malt.

And again I think I will modify the hop addition. There is 1oz of 6.4 Cascade and the instructions state to add half at 60 and half at 5 min. I'll be adding only at 60 min for the IBU I wish.

Probably brewing next weekend.

I did bottle the Germal Pils today. I looked up the info on the conditioning tabs before I bottled.
The number of tablets you use will determine the carbonation level of your beer - 3 tablets for low carbonation, 4 tablets for medium and 5 for high.

I used 5 per bottle for the German Pils.
Thinking of 4 for the IPA...

Hmmm, very interesting.
The German Pilsner is about a week into carbing and (after QC testing a bottle) I notice a bit of diacetyl. That's using an ale yeast (Nottingham)...

At what temp?

Did you taste before bottling, and if so did you notice any diacetyl then?

I fermented with the Nottingham at about 58-64ish (trying for about 60).
Yes, I did taste is a few times before bottling and there was no diacetyl then.

Another QC sample while carbing (in the freezer to get cold).
The diacetyl is diminishing in the German Pilsner. I can taste the clean flavor of the malt, and a nice bitterness from the hops, but it finishes with just a little diacetyl competing with any hop flavor. If the diacetyl will just go away this will be a nice lager even though it's not a lager...

Looks like I will be brewing the last of these 3 extract kits today, the Beartooth Stout.

I've fooled around with the numbers in Qbrew and instead of using just the 2lbs of DME for a 2 gallon batch I will add 1/2 package of booster and make a normal Mr. Beer sized batch. So about 4.9 ABV. I'll use 0.7oz 6.4AA Cascade @ 60 min for about 44 IBU (about the top of the style guidelines). I'm not gonna add a cascade flavor or aroma addition to a stout.

Well, the first shot glass sample after the fermentation has taken off for a couple days and it tastes a bit stout, I think that's good.

I like having some brews going again, and these 3 extracts kits have been quick and easy to brew up and all seem to be pretty tasty.

Currently:
The "German Pilsner" is conditioning in the fridge. It's got a good malt base with nice hop bitterness. (Remember I modified the recipe for good bitterness)
The "American IPA" is just carbonating, it has some nice hop flavor as well as good bitterness (Remember I modified this one towards good bittering as well)
The "Beartooth Stout" is just fermenting and a shot glass sample shows a nice bitter coffee flavor so far.

Alright, pour pics from the first 2 kits.

The German Pilsner has a lighter color and a bigger head. It has a lighter flavor, nice bitternes, slight hop flavor.

The IPA is a little darker color. More bitterness and flavor both. The IPA will be going to a party towards the end of the week.

(Hmmm, they don't look so different in the pics but it is easy to see in real life.)

both look good and have nice carb and head. are these bottled or kegged?

Bottled, and my first times using carb tablets that came with the kits. They seem to work fine.

Thats good! I've heard mixed things about those, but they would make things easier, especially if bottling from the LBK.

Domino Dots 1/2 tsp sugar cubes work great!

1 per 12 oz bottle
2 per 16-20 oz bottle
3 per 22-24 oz bottle
etc!

It's not as precise as you might like, but it works well and is easy...so it's what I do when bottling from LBKs.

+1 on the Dots! Used them on my first bottling day and they make life a lot easier.

Sounds easier than using the Mr. Beer measuring spoons but batch priming is even better.

I have not had good luck with batch priming. All the batches I have done using it, have been way undercarbed, almost flat. I went back to bottle priming on my last batch.

I have enjoyed my experience with these kits.
(Anyone looking closely at the pics can get the jist of the ingredients in case they'd rather just purchase something from their LHBS.)
The "German Pilsner" was ready pretty quickly and also consumed pretty quickly as an "easy drinker" by myself (bit of diacetyl).
The "American IPA" was taken to a couple of activities and got nothing but raised eyebrows with "Hey, that's really good!" comments.
The "Beartooth Stout" is still aging as it is pretty darn stout and any taster comments will follow.
I used the provided carb tabs for all of these and they worked well, some floaties.