Hard Cider Kit

I purchased this kit because I just started getting into the whole homebrew area. I wanted something that included everything you would need, was easy to follow and fun. So this includes everything you need with the exception of the bottles and caps. If you decide to purchase a kit like this just make sure to add those on. You won't need them for at least 30 days but its nice to have everything on hand. With that said let me get into the kit and recipe. I received this kit and sadly the Glass Carboy was cracked. It wasn't a huge crack and while I might have been able to use it I decide to not and request a replacement. With the glass eventually under some pressure there was a chance it could break further completely ruining my first beer brew and I didn't want that. Thankfully customer service was quick to respond and they sent off a replacement carboy. Being in Alaska I would imagine is a pain for many of these companies but we have postal service, fedex and ups just like everywhere else. In any case I received the replacement carboy and started on my homebrew adventure. The directions are very easy to follow and include a bit about the process from a 1000ft over-view. Keep it simple, nice. The process is pretty easy to follow and I was able to get through with no issues and put my batch in the carboy. The hardest part is now, the wait. So they recommend waiting 2 weeks before moving on to the next stage which is bottling. And then another 2 weeks then before you drink it. So 30 days before you can taste your beer. Okay I was a little impatient and had a bottle before 2 weeks. It wasn't as carbonated as store bought beers which I actually kind of like. I think we over carbonate our beers and they are all like dang champagne but that's just me. So my first beer was okay. I went with the honey ale and it only had the very slightest of honey taste to it. All told I was able to get 11 bottles (12oz) out of a gallon. I'm down to my last 4 bottles and they have a bit more carbonation but not to much. I am able to get a slight head on the beer when pouring which goes away fairly quick. Still it tastes pretty good. I ordered other recipes and can't wait to try those.!! Some recommendations to the CraftABrew folks going forward with these kits. Package the Glass Carboys in some more protection. I have seen previous folks state they also had received the carboy cracked or broken. I think packing in some better protection would help prevent this. The instruction booklet only comes with the kit. This should be stated somewhere or perhaps ask the customer if they need one. It would be nice if the book was a bit more sturdy. I'll be putting mine in some protection as i referred back to it each time i made one of the other recipes. Overall though this is a good kit and really is easy to follow. I would definitely recommend it for first time folks or maybe even old timers. Lastly, Make SURE YOU USE A BLOWOFF ASSEMBLY during the first 24-72 hours. There will be LOTS of foam and activity and you'll need it otherwise you will end up with a mess.

Really Easy and supper fun

One of the few truly inspirational products on all of Amazon. As someone who enjoyed beer, I was naturally interested in brewing my own beer. With absolutely zero experience, I was able to create an amazing tasting beer on my first try. Everything is laid out in easy to follow instructions, and all included items have been nothing short of prestine and professional. This has been my 4th purchase with this company. Getting to the beer, every brew I make has an amazing color that is appropriate for the style. The aroma of each batch I've made is mouth watering as well. It's almost impossible to let the beer carbonate long enough because I want to drink it so bad. As for quantity, each gallon you ferment is typically going to let you bottle 10 different bottles, but beware, this beer will not last long as you find that you're captivated by it's flavor. Next, the added cleaning supplies also means that you dont need to worry too much about getting ready for the next batch you buy. Your sanitizer is already in the box. You just need to do a little scrubbing and you'll be ready to start your next brew. Trust me, one kit won't be enough to satisfy all your desires. It's because of this amazing product that I now have a new goal to achieve, building my own micro brewery. This product not only gave me tasty beer, it gave me something fun to do, a new career path I want to pursue, and a motivation to see my beer on store shelves. Thank you to Craft a Brew for not only supplying an amazing product, but for creating a newly inspired entrepreneur.

This was my very first home-brew experience. I scoured the internet for all the small-batch home-brew kits; and kept coming back to this one. It got pretty good reviews compared to others; and the glass bottle vs plastic keg was more appealing to me. I was a bit overwhelmed thinking about this until I opened the box. Instructions were VERY easy to understand; and great YouTube video too. Less than 3 hours start to finish for the brewing (not the bottling); including reading instructions; getting utensils together; and cleaning afterwords, etc. I'm sure this will probably speed up with experience. The Oktoberfest I got worked great with fermentation. Bottling after 2 weeks went OK; but spilled some because I did it alone and my siphon slipped out of the pot, ahh! If you have a few extra bucks (less than $10 for a decent one on Amazon), buy an Auto-Siphon for easier bottling. Even with practice, the siphon in this kit is hard to master right off the bat. I bought an Auto-Siphon recently, and it made a hard cider I brewed MUCH EASIER to transfer with zero spilling or time constraints. It would be nice if Craft A Brew offered kits with the manual siphon; and a kit with an auto-siphon for a slightly higher price point; would be so worth it. The bottling took 3 weeks to condition, not 2 (but instructions do state taste; and let condition further if needed). BTW, this kit does NOT come with bottles. Buy them; and caps and a bottle capper (did not use Craft A Brew's bottling kit, so no comments on quality of theirs). After 5 1/2 weeks, I got to try it finally; and was so excited, it tasted like BEER! If you have patience, I'd recommend this over the 'quicker' versions; if you want a fancy style sitting on your counter or in your pantry while fermenting. Plus, Glass is easier to clean then plastic :) Final thought: Overall, price was decent; and happy with the results! I just brewed up their Bone Dry Irish Stout today; can't wait for it to be ready to try it! Pros: Easy to Follow Instructions. Great YouTube Videos. Nice design for a small batch brew. Quality of ingredients is good Cons: Funnel was cracked in my kit; and so was the AirLock (this may have been due to rough handling by Amazon). Used a silicone funnel of my own; and ordered a 3 pack airlock set for less than $5; so not a deal breaker. The sanitizer packet says to use half for brewing, half for bottling. It would be cool if it came in a 'split' packet so you could use exactly half at a time.

Spend hours following the instructions to brew beer but when the fermentation process start the glass bottle popped unfortunately. I wasn’t in the mood to start over again so I threw out everything. Glad it happened on day 1 and didn’t spend weeks to try out the product only to get disappointed after weeks of work.

cool brewing set for my boyfriend he is delighted, too bad that there is no additional set without brewing devices

It is okay, but have to do a lot of research if you don’t have fresh apple juice on demand. Had to use supermarket apple juice which created a drama to find with no additives. Very dry and sour juice.

Kit arrived over a week ahead of the estimated shipping delivery date and was so easy to use. Cannot wait to get another brew going while my current batch bottle conditions.

Il fait etre patient et bien respecter les consignes. Je n’ai pas reussi a faire un bon siphon alors j’ai du verser a l’air mais fort heureusement rien n’a eté contaminé. Apres 3 semaines j’ai donc embouteillé en ajoutant le sucre et encore attendu 2 a 3 semaines pour la refermentation en bouteilles et enfin la degustation. Le résultat est excellent. Attention passez votre chemin si vous ne parlez/lisez pas l’anglais couramment ! C’est une belle initiation qui fait comprendre les mecanismes / grandes etapes de la fabrication de la biere. J’ai fait cet exercice avec mon fils de 19 ans et il a adoré.