Aye, aye

[Tazmaniandevil]

Hello all.
I've been lurking around for a bit, and finally decided to join. I have become the owner of one of these kits, via fleabay for £20 delivered, and will soon be venturing into the world of home brew beers. I have brewed hedgerow wine on and off since my teens, but gave it up some time ago and gave all my kit away.
My eventual aim is to build a kegerator, but that can wait until I find out whether or not my brew will be worth drinking or not.
I'm not really into bitters or heavy beers, although I did have a liking for IPA in my late teens/early twenties. I particularly liked an IPA/Guinness black & tan.
Nowadays I like continental lagers, as long as the hoppy flavour is not overpowering.

So, off to have a good rake, to see which kits everyone rates - so I can get started.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

So, off to have a good rake, to see which kits everyone rates - so I can get started.

Welcome to the forum :

This may help - http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=43755

 

[Tazmaniandevil]

Thankee kindly. One Coopers European lager in the bag then. I shall give it a bash when the kit arrives.

 

[wheazy_joe]

Welcome on board Tazmaniandevil. Coopers European Lager is a great kit, I have two of these under my belt, bottled the second on Saturday. This kit has a genuine lager yeast which means you want good temperature control, ideally about 14degrees celcius. It also takes a wee while to mature in the bottle, Coopers say 12weeks but it is very good after 6-8 weeks. Patience is the key with this one.

Good luck!

 

[LarryF]

Welcome aboard Tazmaniandevil, this time of year brewing with a lager yeast may present some challenges with the temps 25-30c in for the next couple of months, without the aid of a brewfridge. As it's this time of year maybe swap out the kit yeast for a hot weather yeast, I'm currently using Mauribrew yeast and Mangrove Jacks Workhorse as they have a higher temperature tolerance, up to 32c so I believe. It just means that the yeast can work within it's temperature range and not produce any off flavours in the beer. Save the kit yeast in the fridge and use it later on it the year. Good luck with it Tazmaniandevil and remember the only silly questions here are the ones you didn't ask.

 

[Tazmaniandevil]

with the temps 25-30c in for the next couple of months,

No worries there for me For every 50 miles North you can deduct 1ºC
We rarely get above 21ºC at the height of Summer here. I think we got up to 16ºC yesterday.
Scorchio!

 

[ManseMasher]

Welcome aboard!