Comparing every popular mead/wine beginner kit (and ranking them)

Join us as we dive into a detailed comparison of beginner mead and winemaking kits from some of the top suppliers: MoreWine, Craft a Brew, Home Brew Ohio, and Golden Hive Mead. Whether you're a seasoned brewer or just starting out, this video will help you choose the perfect kit to start your brewing journey. We'll unbox each kit, go over the contents, discuss the ease of use, and assess the quality of the ingredients. Plus, stay tuned as we give our final verdict on which kit offers the best value for beginners.

0:00 Intro
1:25 Ten things to know
8:35 Comparing kits

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[johnwiks]

I was exposed to your channel through Man Made Mead, and I was exposed to him through City Steading Brews.

Man has it been a journey! I now have 18 gallons of beer, 6 gallons of mead, 2 gallons of cider under my belt since last September. Still feel brand new and shaky, but you guys have given me the confidence to continue on in this hobby. Thank you!

[Thunderrapson]

I got out of keeping a reef tank and my wife was gracious enough to let me start brewing mead. The cost to get started with this hobby is significantly less than keeping a reef tank so she is happy lol

[xVarkenx]

Haha that confirms who I thought the baking soda mead short was about.

[azcomicgeek]

I started with Brooklyn Brew Shop's Jalapeno Saison beer kit years ago and adapted it last Sept to start meading. I just needed a hydrometer, wine yeasts, nutrients, acids and more fermenters. I prefer the gallon batches so i can experiment with more flavors and without being overrun with cases of bottles. Uline sells a case of 4 one gallon glass bottles for under $20, or the carboy jugs for $30.

[richardcagle]

Just getting into brewing, beer mostly, and I started with a kit. Even on my first batch ever the instructions were useless. I didn't follow it at all and made some pretty damn good beer. I made the same beer buying ingredients from a local shop and it was even better for 25% less money. Down to $.50 a 12oz beer that beats anything I can buy in the store for over a dollar each, more like $2. Gonna take two years, but this hobby will pay for itself eventually

[riukrobu]

Very important video! Clapping the clap outta my hands right now!

[ellieharper]

I think the reason why a lot of kits cut corners, especially with the racking cane, is to keep them under $60 so they can appeal to buyers who just want to try it out or gift it to someone rather than long term hobby. The first kit I got was bought by my dad from Target when I was still in college and had long winter breaks, as an activity to do together. It was ~$70 and included a brown barrel shaped 2 gallon plastic fermenter with spigot, LME with hop extract added, yeast, and bottle caps and capper (no bottles), which all would probably totaled $30 max if bought individually. It was really just to say "Look I made my own beer", and then never use again, which is what I think a lot of the worse some of the not so great kits are aiming for.

[allisonberger]

watching this after having purchased the golden hive kit a couple months ago and i’m still building it out to be able to brew anything😭

[madogmdp]

Man, Golden Hive is getting dunked on everywhere XD. I was gifted his "Deluxe" kit for Christmas, back before he revised it with additional instructions and ingredients. It came with racking cane, hydrometer, 3- 1 gal vessels with airlock, 12 bottles, corks, and a corker. As well as the infamous recipe book. IMO it was very overpriced, but hey I got it as a gift. It came with virtually no instructions. The few instructions it did come with boiled down to "Throw everything in there and let it ride." I had to spend a fair amount of research time on the wiki and a lot of extra cash to purchase all of the necessary ingredients. Research is my jam though so in a twisted kind of way lacking ingredients forced me to study for weeks before I made any decisions or purchases. Knowing what I know now the kit is overpriced and misinforming, BUT his online content is what brought me to the hobby. I wouldn't have the borderline obsession I have now without his easily ingestible short form media. And it brought me to your channel as well as Man Made Mead's. Also those other guys' channel but I don't like their vibes. >.>

I don't have enough of my first batch left to share with mead stampede this year and my current batches will be pretty young when submissions are up. So look for me next year!

[EricWaterTruck]

I got a northern brewer beer kit for Xmas. Done 5 batches so far. First 2 weren’t great, but kinda gettin figured out now.

[bassmanxan]

Damn, wish this video existed sooner. I will be teying to do things right from here on out

[Jake-Aprile]

I will admit one of golden hives viral videos got me interested in brewing. Shortly after I found your channel and bought your e book as a result of my new passion, making mead.
So inadvertently golden hive did do some positive.. but I do agree his kit is too expensive.

[elyk]

Just got some brand new 5 gallon kits at a local garage sale for $25 a pop.

[stanleygrover]

I agree! I moved up to 15 gallon stainless steel and clear in my 3, 5, and 6 gallon carboys! I now have mead 4 years old.

[MelissaCharlesDaniels]

I went to the links in the chat and realize the fit with 13 items does not list the sanitizer, dap, and fermaid O.
Is there another video that shows more of the wine yeasts and when/why to use them?

[BitterRealityBrewing]

Great job! I remember buying cheap wine kits (not including fermenters and other hardware) for $40 before COVID-19, which now seem to be selling for $100 to $120 each.

[fuzzymonkey]

I really wish I watched this video before buying the GoldenHive mead kit. *sigh* My first recipe, for a traditional mead, did flunk out and it's disheartening to see after being excited to start brewing but I'll try something else from yourself, Man Made Mead or Faewood mead as those seem to be highly suggested mead channels to follow. The subreddit has been helpful too. Golden Hive mead tailors his content to the "TikTok" world of short forms where it doesn't show all the process and speeds through things without explanation. Appreciate the longer form and informative content here.

[andyn]

A few years back a guy appeared on a mead group I was in started grilling everyone on how to make mead and a couple of weeks later was schooling people on what they were doing wrong, a week or so after that he was making YouTube videos on how to make mead and shortly after was selling a terrible rip off mead making kit which was a box with some kind of straw packaging in it a few packs of herbs a pack of yeast and instructions.

[TigerPat_]

Really Appreciate Your Video, Thanks ! 🐯🤠

[dwadeweallin]

Great video to have in the community. So important to have places to start and to point people in the right directions. Glad you made this and I hope people stay away from the last kit to save their money and to prevent terrible practice.