Northern Brewer Deluxe Homebrew Starter Kit, Equipment and 5 Gallon Recipe (Bavarian Hefeweizen) Review (2026)

Who this starter kit is built for

This kit targets someone brewing their first or second batch who wants a documented recipe and enough fermenting equipment to avoid a second shopping trip mid-brew. The Bavarian Hefeweizen recipe is a forgiving style for beginners because it tolerates a wider fermentation temperature range than many ales, and it produces a recognizable, crowd-pleasing beer rather than something niche. Because the deluxe tier includes two carboys and full bottling gear, it also suits someone who wants to run a primary and secondary fermentation rather than bottling straight out of one vessel. It is less suited to someone who already owns basic brewing equipment and just wants ingredients, since much of the value here is in the hardware.

What is actually in the box

The kit includes a 6 gallon glass carboy for primary fermentation and a 5 gallon glass carboy for secondary, each with a bung and airlock, plus a blowoff hose for vigorous primary fermentation. Bottling equipment covers an auto-siphon with tubing, a bottling bucket and spigot, a bottle filler with tubing, and a bottle capper with caps. Cleaning supplies include a carboy brush, a bottle cleaning brush, brewery cleaner and a carboy dryer, which is the gear most first time brewers forget to budget for separately. The recipe itself is a malt extract based Bavarian Hefeweizen kit that yields about fifty 12 ounce bottles from a five gallon batch.

Living with it on brew day and after

Glass carboys are heavier and more breakable than plastic buckets, so lifting a full 6 gallon carboy during racking is the part of this kit that takes the most care, especially moving a full vessel into secondary. The included instructions walk through sanitizing, pitching yeast, racking to secondary and bottling, which matters because this recipe kit does not come with a kettle, so you will need your own large stockpot capable of holding at least three gallons for the boil. Northern Brewer's documentation is generally considered clear for beginners, and the blowoff hose setup helps manage the vigorous krausen that hefeweizen yeast strains typically produce during the first days of fermentation.

How it compares with other starter kits

Against Northern Brewer's own base HomeBrewing Starter Set with Hank's Hefeweizen, the deluxe kit adds the second carboy and more complete bottling gear rather than leaving you to buy pieces separately later. Compared with Craft A Brew's 1 gallon kits, this is a full five gallon batch rather than a small test batch, so it produces roughly five times the beer but also asks for more counter and closet space to store two carboys through fermentation. The main trade-off against all of these is price, since the deluxe tier costs more than the basic kits with similar core fermenting gear, and none of the rivals in this class include a kettle either.

Verdict and who should look elsewhere

Buy this kit if you want to start with a documented hefeweizen recipe and enough carboys and bottling gear to go from wort to bottled beer without a second order, and you are prepared to supply your own large kettle before brew day. If budget is tight, the base HomeBrewing Starter Set covers the same fundamentals for less money with slightly less equipment to store and clean. Brewers who already own carboys, an auto-siphon and a capper should skip a full kit and buy just the recipe ingredients instead, since the hardware is where most of this kit's price sits.

Frequently asked questions