The Best Beer Brewing Kits: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)

RBE top pick

Northern Brewer Essential Brew Share Enjoy Starter Kit

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The Northern Brewer kit is the brewing gift: 5-gallon extract brewing, a real fermenter and bottling gear, and the printed instructions the hobby is known for, in the premium tier. The Brooklyn Brew Shop 1-gallon kit is the mid-range all-grain foodie pick. Mr. Beer is the 2-gallon it-depends. Skip the Mr. Beer Root Beer kit as a beer gift: it makes soda, not beer.

A homebrew kit is the gift that teaches a hobby. The divide is scale and realism: a full 5-gallon extract kit that brews like a brewery, a 1-gallon all-grain kit that teaches the mash, or a 2-gallon plastic-fermenter kit that's simpler and smaller. We compared Northern Brewer's starter, Brooklyn Brew Shop's porter, Mr. Beer's amber ale and a kit that isn't beer at all, using each maker's published contents list.

RBE top pick

Northern Brewer

Northern Brewer Essential Brew Share Enjoy Starter Kit

Buy it

The 5-gallon starter kit - real fermenter, bottling gear, extract recipe, the hobby done right.

Best for: The definitive brewing gift - for someone who wants to actually learn the hobby at real scale.

$$$ · premium

Why we like it

• A real 5-gallon batch - Northern Brewer says two cases of beer, the scale the hobby works at.
• Proper equipment: a 6.5-gallon siphonless fermenter with gasketed lid, bubbler airlock, bottling bucket with spigot, spring-tip bottle filler, stainless spoon, tubing, bottle brush, capper and caps.
• Extract brewing with printed step-by-step instructions, plus in-house brewmasters reachable by text, chat or email.
• The upgrade path is real - the fermenter and bottling gear carry into all-grain brewing later.
• Northern Brewer has sold homebrew supplies since 1993 and backs recipe kits with a no-questions-asked guarantee.

Know before buying

• Premium-tier money and still not everything: the kit does not include a kettle (Northern Brewer suggests 8 gallons), bottles, a thermometer or a hydrometer.
• Extract brewing, not all-grain - you brew from malt extract, not from grain.
• 5 gallons is a commitment - fermenter space, two cases of bottle storage, the works.

Check price on Amazon Read our detailed assessment ↓

Brooklyn Brew Shop

Brooklyn Brew Shop 1-Gallon Beer Making Kit

Buy it

The all-grain 1-gallon kit - real mash, real grain, small batch in a stockpot.

Best for: The foodie brewer - someone who wants to learn real all-grain process in a small kitchen.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• True all-grain brewing at 1 gallon - you mash actual grain in a kitchen stockpot, like a brewery does.
• The teaching kit - learns the real process (mash, sparge, boil, ferment) without the 5-gallon volume.
• Fits a kitchen - a glass fermentation jug with screw-cap stopper and airlock is the whole fermenter.
• Includes the small tools others omit: a thermometer, a racking cane, tubing and clamp, and no-rinse sanitizer.
• All the equipment is reusable; the next batch needs only a refill mix and a sanitizer packet.

Know before buying

• 1 gallon is roughly 10 bottles - a tasting batch, not a supply.
• More process per pint - all-grain at 1 gallon is the same steps for less beer.
• The glass jug is a fermenter, not a brewery bucket - less convenient for transfers, and a stockpot is not listed in the box.

Find it on Amazon Read our detailed assessment ↓

Mr. Beer

Mr. Beer Bewitched Amber Ale Complete Kit

It depends

The 2-gallon extract kit in a plastic keg-shaped fermenter - the simplest path to a first batch.

Best for: The cautious first-timer - the lowest-commitment kit for someone unsure they'll brew twice.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• The easiest brew: a can of pre-hopped brewing extract, yeast, a 2-gallon fermenter with lid and spigot - Mr. Beer puts brew day at about 30 minutes.
• 2-gallon batch (8 liters) - the middle ground between a 1-gallon taste and a 5-gallon commitment.
• Self-contained: 11 reusable 740 mL PET bottles with caps, carbonation drops and no-rinse cleanser are in the box.
• Low commitment - the smallest real brewing footprint, and the fermenter is reusable with Mr. Beer refills.

Know before buying

• Plastic fermenter and plastic bottles - plastic scratches more easily than glass, and scratches are harder to sanitize.
• Pre-hopped extract only - the least like real brewing; no mash, no hop additions, little to learn or control.
• Mid-range money for the simplest kit - paying for convenience, not capability.

Find it on Amazon Read our detailed assessment ↓

We'd skip it

Mr. Beer

Mr. Beer Root Beer Kit

Skip it

A root-beer soda kit - it makes a carbonated soft drink, not beer. A different class of product.

Best for: A supervised kitchen science project. For a beer gift, buy a brewing kit.

$ · budget

Why we like it

• Makes root beer - a kitchen science project with a guide Mr. Beer writes as a four-step lesson.
• The cheapest kit here, and the mix is kosher, gluten-free and caffeine-free per Mr. Beer.
• Includes four reusable 1-liter amber PET bottles with pressure-relief caps, labels, a funnel and two batches of mix.

Know before buying

• It's a soda kit, not a beer kit - no malt, no hops, no boil, no brewing craft. Mr. Beer's own copy calls it root beer.
• The category trap: it surfaces in 'beer kit' searches but makes a soft drink.
• Not quite alcohol-free: the yeast carbonation leaves about 1% alcohol by weight, by Mr. Beer's figure, which matters if the plan is a kids' project.

See our pick instead See it at Amazon anyway Read our detailed assessment ↓

How we judged the field

A brewing kit teaches a hobby - the question is how much real brewing it teaches. We compared a 5-gallon extract starter, a 1-gallon all-grain kit, a 2-gallon pre-hopped-extract kit and a soda kit on batch size, fermenter, what each maker lists in the box and what you actually learn. We do not brew with these kits ourselves; every claim below comes from the maker’s own contents list and instructions.

The Essential Brew Share Enjoy is Northern Brewer’s slimmed-down version of its best-selling starter: the Block Party Amber Ale recipe kit, a 6.5-gallon siphonless fermenter with a gasketed lid, a bubbler airlock, a bottling bucket with spigot, a spring-tip bottle filler, a 21-inch stainless spoon, tubing, a bottle brush, no-rinse cleanser, a capper with caps and printed step-by-step instructions. Northern Brewer says the batch makes two cases of beer, and that its brewmasters answer questions by text, chat or email.

The listing is upfront that the kit is not complete. Northern Brewer’s own add-on list for a first batch is a kettle (it suggests 8 gallons for 5-gallon batches), a burner, a wort chiller, a thermometer and two cases of bottles. There is no hydrometer in the box either, so you will not measure gravity without buying one. Extract brewing also skips the mash. Even so, the fermenter and bottling gear are the foundation the whole hobby is built on, and they carry forward when the recipient moves to all-grain.

The Brooklyn Brew Shop kit teaches all-grain: you mash real grain in a stockpot, sparge, boil and ferment a single gallon. The Chocolate Maple Porter version lists the all-grain mix, Fuggle hops and yeast, a glass fermentation jug, a thermometer, a racking cane, tubing with a clamp, a screw-cap stopper, an airlock and no-rinse sanitizer. A stockpot is not listed in the box.

It’s the real process at kitchen scale - the teaching kit for a foodie. The trade-off is yield: about 10 bottles for the same work as a bigger batch, and a glass jug is less convenient to transfer from than a bucket with a spigot. Brooklyn Brew Shop points out that all the equipment is reusable, and the next batch only needs a refill mix and a sanitizer packet. For learning the craft without committing a closet, it’s ideal.

The Mr. Beer kit is the easy path: a can of Bewitched Amber Ale brewing extract with the yeast packet under its lid, a 2-gallon fermenter with lid and spigot, 11 reusable 740 mL PET bottles with caps, carbonation drops, a packet of no-rinse cleanser and instructions. Mr. Beer says brew day takes about 30 minutes, fermentation about three weeks and bottle carbonation about two more, for roughly 8 liters of beer.

Whether it fits depends on commitment. It is the simplest real beer - mix, ferment, bottle, wait - and it ships with the fermenter and bottles in the box. The downsides are the same as the upside: pre-hopped extract leaves nothing to learn about mashing or hopping, and a plastic fermenter and plastic bottles scratch more easily than glass, which makes them harder to keep clean over many batches. For a dip-a-toe gift it works; it’s convenience brewing, not a hobby.

This is a different class of product, and we are keeping it in the lineup because it is what a “beer kit” search often returns. Mr. Beer’s contents list is two packets of root beer mix and dry yeast, two packets of flavor crystals, two packets of no-rinse cleanser, four reusable 1-liter amber PET bottles with pressure-relief caps and gaskets, four labels, a funnel and a four-step guide with science projects. The mix carbonates in the bottle, and Mr. Beer warns never to use other bottles because of the pressure.

Nothing about it is defective: it is a complete soda kit, and the bottles and funnel are reusable. But there is no malt, no hops and no boil, so it teaches none of the brewing craft, and the yeast carbonation leaves trace alcohol, about 1% by weight by Mr. Beer’s figure, which is worth knowing if the plan is a children’s project. Harmless as a supervised kitchen experiment; wrong as a brewing gift. Skip it for a beer kit.

Northern Brewer vs Brooklyn Brew Shop: which should you buy?

The Northern Brewer is the premium-tier full-scale extract starter; the Brooklyn Brew Shop is the mid-range all-grain teacher.

Buy Northern Brewer for someone committing to the hobby - real gear, two cases of beer, the upgrade path, with the understanding that a kettle and bottles come separately. Buy Brooklyn Brew Shop for the curious cook - real all-grain brewing in a small kitchen, less beer, more learning, and a thermometer already in the box.

What to look for

• Batch size is the commitment: 5 gallons is the hobby, 1 to 2 gallons is the taste.
• Extract vs all-grain: extract is the faster entry; all-grain is the real craft - both make real beer.
• Fermenter material: glass and food-grade buckets last; plastic scratches and gets harder to sanitize.
• Read the contents list: the Mr. Beer kits list bottles, while Northern Brewer lists no kettle or bottles.
• A soda kit is not a beer kit: read what’s in the box - root beer mix teaches nothing about brewing.

Our final take

The Northern Brewer starter kit is the brewing gift - real 5-gallon extract brewing and real gear in the premium tier, plus a kettle and bottles you buy alongside it. The Brooklyn Brew Shop 1-gallon is the mid-range all-grain teacher for a kitchen brewer. Mr. Beer’s 2-gallon kit is the easiest it-depends and includes its fermenter and bottles. Skip the Root Beer kit as a beer gift - it’s soda. Buy Northern Brewer for the hobbyist; Brooklyn Brew Shop for the cook.

Deciding between the top two? See our head-to-head: Northern Brewer Essential Brew Share Enjoy Starter Kit vs Brooklyn Brew Shop 1-Gallon Beer Making Kit.

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