About to take the plunge; Advice on Beer starter kits!?

[Nick_593]

Hello everyone,

I've been doing some research, and I'm about to buy my first beer brewing kit, and want to get the best one possible.

I've narrowed the list down to two starter kits;

The Woodfordes Wherry Starter Kit comes with everything, including the beer kit for brewing. http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... ml#a102694

However, after researching and viewing some Coopers beer kit reviews, it was mentioned that a transparent fermenting bin is quite useful to monitor the fermentation process as airlocks on these kits aren't always accurate.

So I've also found this starter kit, that is just the apparatus. This one seems to have everything the Woodfordes Wherry starter kit has, besides the beer brewing products and is significantly cheaper. Even if I was to buy the full Woodfordes Wherry beer kit, it would still be a couple of pounds cheaper. http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... ml#aStart5

I'm going to make the purchase tonight, so I'm hoping someone could advise on which one to go for? The main aspect I'm looking at is a clear fermenting bin, that the Woodfordes Wherry kit doesn't have?


Could someone give some advice on which one to go for?

Thanks a lot!!

Nick

 

[RobWalker]

transparent, translucent, opaque, all fine :) it's a very minor plus point imo...and both of those you have listed are semi transparent - you can see what's in there, and it's pretty obvious when beer is fermenting, so no probs!

buy a hydrometer as well, it will tell you for sure when your beer is done.

they're both about the same price, so I'd say just go with the beer you like more this time. Wherry is a great ale, but if you want to brew something else, probably get a coopers kit. it's always worth spending a few quid more on a kit - the difference is a pint at the pub, and the quality difference for 40 pints is huge!

 

[iceo]

not sure that its like but seems cheap http://www.tesco.com/direct/diy-beer-starter-kit/213-7435.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=213-7435

 

[Nick_593]

transparent, translucent, opaque, all fine :) it's a very minor plus point imo...and both of those you have listed are semi transparent - you can see what's in there, and it's pretty obvious when beer is fermenting, so no probs!

buy a hydrometer as well, it will tell you for sure when your beer is done.

they're both about the same price, so I'd say just go with the beer you like more this time. Wherry is a great ale, but if you want to brew something else, probably get a coopers kit. it's always worth spending a few quid more on a kit - the difference is a pint at the pub, and the quality difference for 40 pints is huge!

Thanks for the reply! I'm intrigued into what the difference would be between the Wheery and Coopers kits? I will want to brew some Larger at some point, but I'm drawn to the Wherry kit as it has a keg, while the Coopers just has bottles? What are the main differences, or the pros of the Coopers over the Wherry?

Thanks!

 

[mikeyjay84]

I bought the coopers kit. To be honest, as far seeing is concerned, it helped dampen my curiosity. Being able to peer in stopped me tampering with the lid the first time i brewed. Other than that... i'm buying other FV's now which arent so 'see-through'. Will make little difference i guess. I put the kraussen into my FV, but didnt remove it either after a few days. So although its a nice feature, i dont think its necessary. The coopers kit is very nice however if you have £70 to throw at it. I also bought a nicer hydrometer as a back up - i'm now using it more than the coopers one.

It does also come with a bag of carbonation drops (about £4), brew enhancer (£4), beer kit (£13), so i guess its not that much more expensive if you break it down. Also came with 40 500ml bottles. All in all, if you cant be bothered with individual components parts, literally want a complete and nice quality package with everything to get going, i couldnt fault it. You'll find you'll probably catch the bug and start planning more purchases anyways.

I've just got into brewing, so am just learning, but i thought i'd share a recent experince and my 2 grains worth :thumb:

Good luck and enjoy : Its a lot of fun.

 

[iceo]

The coopers kit is very nice however if you have £70 to throw at it.

the coopers are £55 at the mo

 

[RobWalker]

transparent, translucent, opaque, all fine :) it's a very minor plus point imo...and both of those you have listed are semi transparent - you can see what's in there, and it's pretty obvious when beer is fermenting, so no probs!

buy a hydrometer as well, it will tell you for sure when your beer is done.

they're both about the same price, so I'd say just go with the beer you like more this time. Wherry is a great ale, but if you want to brew something else, probably get a coopers kit. it's always worth spending a few quid more on a kit - the difference is a pint at the pub, and the quality difference for 40 pints is huge!

Thanks for the reply! I'm intrigued into what the difference would be between the Wheery and Coopers kits? I will want to brew some Larger at some point, but I'm drawn to the Wherry kit as it has a keg, while the Coopers just has bottles? What are the main differences, or the pros of the Coopers over the Wherry?

Thanks!

The starter kit you linked us to contains a keg too, you'd just need to order a beer kit on top of that, it's about the same price either way. remember that the £60 - £70 is still cheaper than buying 40 pints in pub and most supermarkets! and when you're making 40 pints for £15, you're laughing :

coopers make some good lagers! but you need bottles for them really as you can't get a good level of fizz in a keg, just a tingle. the kits are good, 2L pop bottles also work fine but you need to decant 2L at a time into pitchers. you can also keep them very cool in bottles, which is more suited to lager.

wherry is a pretty heavy, full flavoured ale, deep colour -

(thanks PD!)

a great beer, but if you want something basic, go for a coopers :thumb:

 

[mikeyjay84]

The coopers kit is very nice however if you have £70 to throw at it.

the coopers are £55 at the mo

:shock: damn, missed that offer! where can you get that?

 

[droche]

I bought the Wherry kit that you put on the link and I'm very impressed with it plus it came the next day after I ordered it. I had a leak on the barrel that I noticed when sterilizing it but it was fixed very easily. I've put some in bottles and the rest in the barrel a few days ago and the bit I drank out of the sample jar was very promising. When I researched it on different sites I found more bad reviews of the Coopers than the Wherry, that's what made me choose it and so far I'm glad I did.
Which ever you choose check for leaks :thumb:

 

[iceo]

The coopers kit is very nice however if you have £70 to throw at it.

the coopers are £55 at the mo

:shock: damn, missed that offer! where can you get that?

its the tesco link i posted up the page. and you can click and collect if you got a store close by so saves on postage :thumb:

 

[Hop Fancier]

I bought the coopers kit about a year and a half ago.

I was attracted by the bottles (as it's only me drinking my liver couldn't justify trying to drink 40 pints over a few days) and by the novel fermenter, which I saw a guy on you tube demo.

But I have had three disasters so far, I had a Milestone IPA that tastes ropey from the get go; plus a Woodfordes Wherry which still after more than a year tastes 'homebrewey'. I just did a Better Brew Yorkshire Bitter and it smelt off coming out of the fermementer.

I decided to go and buy a classic white bucket with a tap and snap on lid with airlock and I have the coopers bitter kit in there at the moment.

I'm not sure where I am picking up the infections from as I used to use VWP and more recently star san and for the last batch thin bleach followed by star san.

If this coopers one goes fine, I am convinced the fermenter is where I am picking up the infections from.

The Coopers fermenter is cool though... although my lid doesn't fit properly anymore

 

[Brycey]

Have you had a look on ebay?

I got my starter kit from an ebay seller called homebrewersheaven for £38 delivered,this was through the bidding process but they seem to put a couple of kits on for bids and a couple on buy it now these go for about 60 odd quid.
They include every thing you need to get started including bottles.The fermenting bin is a really good one,the lid clips on really tightly and my airlock always bubbles away when using this fermenter which gives you piece of mind that something is happening when your just starting out.It also has a tap making bottling a lot easier.I have bought other fermenters and they seem really flimsey and cheap compared.

B

 

[Will12283]

The kits with a keg is good if you plan on doing beer/ale.
If you plan on doing more cider and lagers bottles are better.
Both kits look good though and a wherry is a fab kit.
Whatever you decide it's a slippery slope and your kit will multiply whenever you turn your back :wha: :thumb: