Have you asked yourself? where can I buy a home brew kit? We’ve got you covered.
If you are just getting started with home brewing, one of the easiest ways to get all of the basic brewing equipment is to buy a home brew kit. Home brew kits are generally an affordable way to get started with brewing and can give you a perfect starting point for growing from kit brewing to all-grain brewing.
We started brewing with a basic kit that we found at our local homebrew store. It gave us a great place to start, and it worked well for our first batch of beer. We’ve moved on from using recipe kits to all-grain brewing, but many of the items that can in our first home brew kit we still use today.
But where do you buy a home brew kit? Depending on where you live and what resources are available to you may be the deciding factor when it comes to where you buy a home brew kit. To help you figure out where you’ll get the best home brew kit for your first brewing adventure, we’ve put together a list of places where you can buy a home brew kit.
Local Home Brew Store
Our preferred place to buy home brew kits, especially if you’re just getting started and want a bit of advice and guidance, is to visit your local home brew store. This is because the folks that work in your local home brew store are almost always home brewers themselves, and they’ve been in your shoes.
Many home brew stores will stock kits from online home brew retailers like MoreBeer! or Northern Brewer. So, in many cases, if you find one you like online, you can also find it at your local home brew store and not have to wait for it to ship to you.
However, some home brew stores create their own kits, using products that they carry regularly. We like these kinds of kits because if you find an item you like and want another, you know exactly where it can be found.
We mentioned that advice thing … this is the best part about shopping at our local home brew store. When we were just getting started, the awesome people at our local home brew store were eager to help and show us how to use our gear and which items were the most helpful. They even offer classes for new home brewers to help them brew their first batch.
Not every home brew store is the same, and you may find that your local home brew store isn’t as helpful as you had hoped, so you’ll need to move on to another option.
Online Home Brew Stores
So, you don’t have a home brew store near you, or your local home brew store is a dud. Ok, your next best option is the online home brew store. And you’re in luck because there are an array of options out there.
One of the things we like about the online option is that some of the best small, local home brew stores also have an online store you use. There are also large home brew retailers that give you tons of options and products that can take you from your starter kit to a semi-professional brewing operation all in one place.
Two of our favorite online home brew retailers are MoreBeer! and Northern Brewer. These two retailers are quite different, but we’ve had great experiences with both.
- MoreBeer! – is kind of like your local home brew store, but bigger. MoreBeer! sells a wide variety of home brew equipment and even has equipment and kits for making wine, cider, and even coffee roasting supplies.
Our favorite starter kit from MoreBeer! is their Deluxe Starter Kit. This kit has everything you need, including a nice boil kettle and a recipe kit. It all comes at an affordable price.
- Northern Brewer – is your traditional online retailer. They have a lot of options, some are theirs, and some come from other home brewing equipment manufacturers. We like shopping at Northern Brewer when we can’t find a particular replacement item at our local home brew store.
Our favorite home brew starter kit from Northern Brewer is their Brew Share Enjoy starter kit. It is another kit that gives you everything you need to brew a great first batch of beer.
What about Amazon
If you want to broaden your options, Amazon has plenty of homebrew starter kits to choose from. Amazon isn’t our favorite option because there just might be too many kits on offer. However, the prices are reasonable on Amazon, and Amazon is accessible to most people.
One of the things we do like a lot about Amazon is that you can compare different products and find the right one for you.
Resale Stores or Thrift Stores
We’ve had some luck finding homebrew starter kits in places like our local thrift store or via online resale shops like eBay, Craigslist, or even Facebook’s marketplace. When shopping at online resale stores or at your local thrift store, you need to keep in mind that most kits are being sold by someone that got the kit as a gift and never used it. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s in perfect condition or has all the parts you need.
Conclusion
When it comes to buying a homebrew starter kit, we think the best place to shop is your local home brew store. Here you’ll get to engage with other home brewers that have experience with the products you’ll be buying, and you’ll get great advice and customer service.
However, if you don’t have a home brew supply store near you, we’d recommend using an online home brew equipment retailer. You won’t get the same personalized experience, but you will find plenty of great options, in a range of prices, for a reliable and trusted source.
