All-Grain Beer Kits

Luscious and almost naughty, Scottie MacRocketts is local homebrewer Nathan Compton's contest-winning strong Scotch ale! Malty and delicious, this beer is very well balanced for such a huge brew. Munich and Simpson's Medium Crystal malts contribute extra maltiness and residual sweetness respectively. For the little bit of color and roastiness that are characteristic of strong Scotch ales, a little bit of both chocolate malt and roasted barley are used. The malt character is balanced by two additions of Fuggle hops and give it just enough hop bitterness to cut the malty goodness.

Nathan's beer wowed the Great Fermentations staff, and a decision was made: this recipe must be brought to the masses! Thanks to Nathan's blessing (which he probably gave a little more freely after having a few pints of this beer), you can make it at home yourself!

Looks like a porter. Drinks like an IPA. Dark in color but not acrid or overly roasty from the use of Carafa III. Columbus, galena, centennial and cascade provide the citrus hop punch you expect.

The balance between hops and malt are the hallmark of this recipe. A combination of Centennial, Simcoe, Warrior and Cascade hops blends well with the background of munich, wheat, 20L crystal, carapils and aromatic malts. This pale ale is Pretty Darn Good (PDG). Cheers!

This Petite Saison is gold in color with a slight hop aroma that is overshadowed by the wonderful spiciness that the yeast brings to the table. Notes of pepper, clove and fruity tartness bring flavorful life to this medium bodied ale and those who are fortunate enough to enjoy it! Great beer to make in the summer because saison yeasts like it hot!

If using Wyeast #3724 Belgian Saison yeast, pitch at around 85-90F and keep your fermentation temperature in the same range. This yeast has a tendency to stick at around 1.035 specific gravity, but will finish, given time and warm temperatures.

Ivan the Terribly Delicious will dominate your taste buds! A big imperial red ale that looks and drinks like a red double IPA, Ivan will storm your mouth with a satisfying combination of huge malt flavor and delicous American hops! Cara-Amber malt gives this beer a red hue and fullness, while Columbus, Amarillo and Citra hops provide a wonderful citrus character. Using an English yeast strain to ferment this beer allows the malt and slight residual sweetness to perfectly balance the hop character.

Developed by Great Fermentations employee Brandon, this beer has found favor with our whole crew. Now, thanks to his liberty with the recipe, we bring the opportunity to brew his fabulous imperial red ale to you. Ivan the Terribly Delicious will make you the unquestioned beer Tsar among all your friends!

Rich chocolate malt mingles with 2 lbs. of PB2 powdered peanut butter to make a truly decadent porter. Golden Naked Oats add body and creaminess, turning this classic robust porter into something so much more. So good you will say, I'll have a nutter, please. Consider adding cocoa nibs into the secondary fermenter to make this porter truly over the top! Note that this recipe is written for a 6 gallon batch to account for the extra sediment from the peanut butter. Final yield will be 5 gallons after racking off of layer of sediment.

A full-bodied stout with plenty of roasted malt and a bit of medium crystal to soften the edges. As you pour this one into a glass, the black viscous liquid billows forth a dark brown creamy head (from the full pound of flaked oats) that lingers to the last drop! Each sip coats the tongue with roasted, chocolate, and caramel notes that take hold of your taste buds and relentlessly pamper them with flavor.

A light session ale in the 3-4% ABV range. Small amounts of munich and flaked wheat provide a neutral palate for fruit, spice or herb beers. If adding any of these, we suggest using a yeast that will provide a little residual sweetness like Wyeast American II 1272 or Ringwood ale 1187. This beer is good on its own but a great base for fruit beers.

A spiced delight! St. Gambrinus's Spiced Holiday Ale makes use of a rich assortment of grains to give it a refined malt backbone. Honey, Munich II and Simpson's dark crystal malts combine to give this ale a character orange color and a delicious malty sweetness. Add to this an array of spices, and you have one of the best holiday ales a homebrewer could put on their holiday wish list! Cinnamon, ginger and orange peel appear in the boil, and the spice character is solidified by adding more cinnamon, cardamom and allspice into secondary. A truly enjoyable ale with which to ring in the holiday season! Please note that the spices called for in this recipe, are not included in the kit. You'll have to raid your pantry or your local grocery store for these.

A hop-lover's dry-hopped dream… gold in color with intense citrusy hop aroma and complex hop flavor of passion fruit and gooseberry. The high alcohol content provides a balance to this massively hopped IPA. A staff fav.

The perfect Scottish session ale! 12 Penny is a hit beer from Flat 12, who has graciously collaborated with us to bring you a kit that you can take home, make and enjoy. A plethora of specialty grains make this beer complex, yet a low ABV means that you can have a couple in a session and not be down for the count! Using Scottish ale yeast is recommended, and an extended fermentation at cooler temperatures will make this beer much like those you'd find at a pub in the Scottish highlands. Brew this one up for your friends and turn them on to the fabulous world of malty session ales!

Life's A Beach is a small session beer that drinks like a big IPA! Very smooth, the low ABV on this beer means that you can have several in a session without falling flat on your face. But that doesn't mean it's light on flavor! Crystal 20 malt provides residual sweetness and body on top of the base, with Maris Otter rounding out the malt character with a bit of breadiness. A melange of hops dominated by Amarillo give this beer its delicious hopiness! A perfect beer for the beach, or any occasion!

The Daddy Mac is our answer to a malty, smooth Scottish ale! Developed by our brewer Wes in his spare time, this recipe won him second place in the Indiana Brewer's Cup in the Scottish and Irish Ale category. Amber malt gives this beer a nice nut character, which is enhanced by crystal 60L and chocolate malt, which give it sweetness and roastiness respectively, while also giving it a nice brown hue. A single hop addition gives this beer just enough hops to balance the malt character and sweetness. Ferment this at cool temperatures with an authentic Scottish yeast strain, and you've got a nice, malty, and highly drinkable Scottish-style ale that will have you thinking you are in the Scottish Highlands!

The signature of this Kolsch is its malt roundness and noble hopping. We like to ferment with Wyeast Kolsch yeast to get a slight fruitiness of an ale with the clean lager-like flavor palette. We like to pitch Kolsch yeast in the 58-62F range and let the heat from fermentation ramp the temperature up to around 65-68F. However this yeast ferments well any where between 56-70F. Watch out, this yeast can be volcanic! We recommend using half reverse osmosis or distilled water and half tap water for a finished beer more true to style.

A full bodied brown ale featuring complex malty sweetness from the munich, medium crystal and chocolate with a heavy dose of nutty-flavored grain. Hops are subdued to let the grain bill shine.

Across the Pond ESB is a straightforward beer in the style of the English pub ale. A rich, malty backbone supplemented by Simpson's Medium Crystal and Special Roast malts supports traditional East Kent Goldings hops, with a slightly heavy bittering addition and some hops for the finish. Although the style has bitter in its name, it is not agressively hoppy like an American IPA. Instead, it has just the right bittering hop note that seamlessly balances on the malty body of the beer. A beer just like those pub ales served across Britain, Across the Pond will whisk you away with one sip!

A pale ale straight from the West Coast, Chico Suave Pale Ale is smooooooth and delicious! A clone of the classic example of an American Pale Ale, Chico Suave gets a touch of residual sweetness from Crystal 60L malt. Using Perle hops for bitterness, it gets its substantial hop flavor and aroma from Cascade hops, a hop that many would argue is the embodiment of American hops. Not too high in alcohol and pleasantly hoppy without being too bitter, Chico Suave is a perfect beer for any time or season and pleases every time!

Crisp and refreshing! Ich Bin Ein Pilsner is a classic German Pilsner originally developed by a former Great Fermentations employee who has gone on to greener pastures and sweeping the 2015 Indiana Brewer's Cup in the professional category! The recipe is relatively simple, but then again, so is a truly good German Pils! Nothing more than some Pilsner malt and noble Saaz hops round out this recipe, which lead to a crisp, refreshing Pilsner beer that can be enjoyed by all. While a traditional lager yeast can be used to ferment this beer, using the California Lager yeast can lead to great lager without too cool of temperatures.

Deep amber from two ounces of chocolate, an ounce of roasted barley combined with some dark munich, wheat and carapils and you have yourself a Scottish 80 schilling - caramel and slight roastiness with a balance leaning towards malty sweetness. Bittered with Fuggles and East Kent Goldings with just a little Fuggles in the finish. With an original gravity of around 1.050 this is a flavorful beer in the 4.5% ABV range.

Think of Bonsai Dog as a sessionable hoppy wheat beer. The specialty malts include a little carapils for body but the focus here is on citra and amarillo hops--2.5 ounces of amarillo for the dry hop!.

Liquid wheat extract with a little pale malt and carapils for body provide a versatile base beer that is light, crisp, and refreshing. For a German style wheat beer with the signature banana/clove flavors, use Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan or 3056 Bavarian wheat yeasts. For a more neutral American wheat beer flavor, try Wyeast 1010 American Wheat yeast. This beer works well as the base for fruit beers. To compliment the fruit, try a yeast that provides a bit of sweetness in the finish, such as Wyeast 1272 American Ale II or Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale.