1 can kits.

[pms67]

In my opinion there is no way one tin of lme and some sugar can be brewed to 23l and produce a decent brew, if modified by adding dme and hops the cost shoots up and most times you would be better buying a premium kit with all included,it's obviously a big draw to newcomers to think ,oh,pints for about 30p !
I think the one can kits should follow Brewferms example and only make 9-12 litres and a much better product would encourage people rather than chase them away.
Any thoughts guys ???

 

[Covrich]

My personal opinion is .. well I only ever brewed a single one can kit myself but I have tried many others from a few other kit brewers I know, mostly coopers and Johnbull..

Made with a variety sugar dme and brew enhancers.. I was not a massive fan of them to be honest. I never tried one fully DME and dry hops ect.. My own personal expereince with premium kits were pretty good, however the cost of them wouldn;t want me to add much else to them.. So I guess if you want to try and do your own thing then a single can kit lends itself more to that..

Trouble is they are not marketed well this way and are more like 40 pints for a tenner with a bag of silverspoon method..

 

[willycoolj]

I do Wilkos wheat beer to 10-12litres, comes out ok, go to brewbitz.com , free delivery on orders over £60, I got three good kits for £60, good service as well, Young's American pale ale, festival golden stag summer ale and a innkeeper pale ale kit and 1kg spraymalt, cheapest i have seen about, I am out of work so I can only afford 1 kit a month, I order every three months so I get decent kits for the money

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[Davemc]

I think one can kits are ripping people off, in my opinion there is no way one tin of lme and some sugar can be brewed to 23l and produce a decent brew, if modified by adding dme and hops the cost shoots up and most times you would be better buying a premium kit with all included,it's obviously a big draw to newcomers to think ,oh,pints for about 30p !
I think the one can kits should follow Brewferms example and only make 9-12 litres and a much better product would encourage people rather than chase them away.
Any thoughts guys ???

I understand where you are comming from but I think it's not so much that they are a rip off - you do get what you pay for - 40 pints of beer - albeit probably not very good beer. When I started brewing over 25 years ago they were pretty much all you could get kit wise. Some were not great others were passable and few were ok. After a long lay off from home brewing my first kit was a Festival kit and I was blown away with the quality compared to kits from years ago.

They probably have their place for people who want to brew a cheap alcoholic drink. If had someone come to me who was interested in taking up home brew I would direct them to one of the premium kits like Festival.

 

[willycoolj]

I have just done a festival golden stag summer ale, tried a bottle after a week, it's good, another week even better, will get again

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[pms67]

I understand where you are comming from but I think it's not so much that they are a rip off - you do get what you pay for - 40 pints of beer - albeit probably not very good beer. When I started brewing over 25 years ago they were pretty much all you could get kit wise. Some were not great others were passable and few were ok. After a long lay off from home brewing my first kit was a Festival kit and I was blown away with the quality compared to kits from years ago.

They probably have their place for people who want to brew a cheap alcoholic drink. If had someone come to me who was interested in taking up home brew I would direct them to one of the premium kits like Festival.

Your right,I probably should have said 1 can kits are misleading,they should be sold as a 10-14litres max ??, there simply isn't enough malt to make 23 litres

 

[terrym]

If you are paying £15 or more for a one can kit whatever the weight then I don't think they are very good value.
However about £13 or less for a 1.7/1.8kg one can, given you have got to add other stuff, is not too bad.
I don't usually buy 1.5 kg kits or if I do I brew very short so in the end their value in spite of the possible lower price is about the same.
The main reason I buy one cans is they are good to experiment with which is something I would not want to do having spent £20 upwards on a premium kit.
Most, but not all, Coopers kits will produce decent beer with a bit of tweaking, my go-to is the AuPA and of course there can't be many kits (or even AG brews?!) that surpass the Coopers Stouts.

 

[thewelshwizard1]

Used Wilko Wherry before, quite pleasant for a quick brew, good malty tastes and sweet - not bad for the money ether, all depends what you want from a brew I suppose.

 

[Cwrw666]

I made 1 can kit beers from about 1980 through to two years ago. They could certainly make better beer than you could get down at the pub, but times have changed and now they don't. But they're hardly a rip-off.
Trouble is, once you've gone over to the dark side even extract brews taste pretty awful no matter how you tart them up. 2 can kits are rubbish too. So personally, I'll never brew a kit beer ever again. But they're a grand introduction to homebrewing. They teach you a lot of the basics and then you can just go all grain assuming you have time to have 5 hour brewdays.

 

[Norfolk79]

Trouble is, once you've gone over to the dark side even extract brews taste pretty awful no matter how you tart them up. 2 can kits are rubbish too. So personally, I'll never brew a kit beer ever again. But they're a grand introduction to homebrewing. They teach you a lot of the basics and then you can just go all grain assuming you have time to have 5 hour brewdays.

Agreed, I've done 5 Grainfather brews now but have found a coopers kit with enhancer. Thinking it'll be a waste not to do it, just trying to find the motivation to actually do it.

The single kits are a good starting point when you're new to home brewing, being able to get the hang of the sanitation etc whilst making something simple.

 

[pms67]

Thanks for your replies, good stuff.
That's a big shout saying all two can kits are rubbish though!
I would say the Youngs American IPA I made was better than Punk IPA although to be fair my first BIAB blew them all away.
Ive just moved so brewing a Cwtch,20 mins it took so don't knock it,you never know 👍

 

[sdt7618]

One of the best one can kits and certainly one of the longest threads in the kit section, coopers stout. wouldn't say it was a rip off, even when having to add a few extras. But likewise I do have a very tasty JB IPA but used brew enhancer ( �£4.50 i think and 40 grams of cascade say �£1) so all told after the kit was 8 quid i think in a tesco sale 13.50 for what I think is good pint. if the kit had not been on sale it might be a different tale coming in near 20 quid would I have done it probably not when you can get a premium kit for that money.

 

[Davemc]

I made 1 can kit beers from about 1980 through to two years ago. They could certainly make better beer than you could get down at the pub, but times have changed and now they don't. But they're hardly a rip-off.
Trouble is, once you've gone over to the dark side even extract brews taste pretty awful no matter how you tart them up. 2 can kits are rubbish too. So personally, I'll never brew a kit beer ever again. But they're a grand introduction to homebrewing. They teach you a lot of the basics and then you can just go all grain assuming you have time to have 5 hour brewdays.

I am allgrain brewing now having done quite a few of the Festival and Youngs Premium kits, like Landlord, Golden stag, Summer Ale, American IPA etc and I would certainly not call them rubish in fact I think they can produce a beer as good as some Micro breweries I have tried. For those who dont have the time/space/equipment for all grain they are a good way to brew beer. If I ever needed to restock and didn't have time for a day brewing all grain I would certainly not hesitate to brew one of these kits.

 

[Covrich]

Yeah even as someone who only brews AG I don't think its fair to blanket say kits are all rubbish.. I think some are better than others and I found the premium kits pretty decent at least if you was to get started and wanted something simple they give you some decent results..

We are all brewers and we should bear in mind people will all brew with different levels/ reasons and we have to remember every method has its trade offs.

 

[chub1]

I made 1 can kit beers from about 1980 through to two years ago. They could certainly make better beer than you could get down at the pub, but times have changed and now they don't. But they're hardly a rip-off.
Trouble is, once you've gone over to the dark side even extract brews taste pretty awful no matter how you tart them up. 2 can kits are rubbish too. So personally, I'll never brew a kit beer ever again. But they're a grand introduction to homebrewing. They teach you a lot of the basics and then you can just go all grain assuming you have time to have 5 hour brewdays.

I started off with various one can kits,non were what i could term very good at all although they were certainly drinkeable.Never tried a two can so can't compare.
Sorry,have to pick you up on doing extracts.I have made what i consider to be very decent brews which have been very well recieved by others.Infact a batch of extract black IPA that i p/b'd was that good i shall do it again.Offered to a seasoned Grainfather brewer,he thought it was an all grain brew!.
I do small biab's and partial mashes as well,all three imho are way better than one can kits.
But if a one can kit attracts new brewers to have a go then i certainly wouldn't say don't give them a try.

 

[Sandimas]

We are all brewers and we should bear in mind people will all brew with different levels/ reasons and we have to remember every method has its trade offs.

+1

I've recently done some 1-can kits with a mini-mash and some hops, and they've come out great. The big advantage is that, being a smaller volume of grain, you can do it with standard kitchen equipment and by adding the 1-can and topping up with cold water, you save time on cooling.

You're probably wondering why I bothered if I told you I'm an AG brewer too. Well, I've had a few fairly average AG brews and after spending all the hours it takes, am a little bit underwhelmed with AG brewing. I read some of the comments on here about how great AG is but it's not really striking a chord with me: maybe it's my technique, maybe it's my low boredome threshold, but I don't think it's for everyone.

At the end of the day, if you make beer you like and are happy, it shouldn't matter what technique you use.

 

[Clint]

I'm glad I started doing kits...it gets you familiar with the essential do you do it second nature. It's so easy to mess up. I'm now trying partial mash with some lme and some single can kits I have to use. A bit haphazard to start but getting better. Today on fact went like clockwork. ..just hope the beer is good!

 

[Alside101]

I think one can kits are ripping people off, in my opinion there is no way one tin of lme and some sugar can be brewed to 23l and produce a decent brew, if modified by adding dme and hops the cost shoots up and most times you would be better buying a premium kit with all included,it's obviously a big draw to newcomers to think ,oh,pints for about 30p !
I think the one can kits should follow Brewferms example and only make 9-12 litres and a much better product would encourage people rather than chase them away.
Any thoughts guys ???

i agree 1 can and a bag of sugar is poo. But a 1 can kit to an experienced brewer opens up what a premium kit can't offer and that is variety. For example 1 can kit plus dme or lme and hops is a premium ish kit but getting the hops and malt you want at a similar price. Thay are not as good as AG and extract/partial mash brews but it takes far less time. So to answer your question are 1 can kits a rip off no but a "kit and kilo" is misleading pile of crap

 

[pms67]

i agree 1 can and a bag of sugar is poo. But a 1 can kit to an experienced brewer opens up what a premium kit can't offer and that is variety. For example 1 can kit plus dme or lme and hops is a premium ish kit but getting the hops and malt you want at a similar price. Thay are not as good as AG and extract/partial mash brews but it takes far less time. So to answer your question are 1 can kits a rip off no but a "kit and kilo" is misleading pile of crap

I'm starting to regret the title! But debate is healthy I guess, I agree with most points as I was once there myself but just wish I hadn't wasted as much time trying to mod 1 can kits,an extra couple of pounds and you are talking about a different beer altogether 👍

 

[Alside101]

I'm starting to regret the title! But debate is healthy I guess, I agree with most points as I was once there myself but just wish I hadn't wasted as much time trying to mod 1 can kits,an extra couple of pounds and you are talking about a different beer altogether 👍

1 can kits are good to build on but are not good with the 1kg of sugar required haha i get what the gist of the title and i agree to a new brewer its like 40 pint of beer for £12 when its more like 40 pints of alcoholic beer flavourd water for the good ol price of £12