Best Beer Kits you have brewed

[Cqr]

Iam to new to this malarkey to give a proper answer
But I love coopers stout

 

[wheazy_joe]

Iam to new to this malarkey to give a proper answer
But I love coopers stout

Am pretty new to the world of stout but I'm loving Guinness these days. So have got me a coopers stout and really looking forward to trying it out

 

[Javalian]

Some great info here, keep it coming !!!:thumb:
Plus any advice on tweaks you have done to the kits. We have just had a micro pub open up near me and they have a beer on ( can't remember name) with Chinook and it was gorgeous , so will have to try adding that to a kit !

 

[terrym]

So far (with plenty more to try) and probably in order
- Youngs American Pale Ale
- Youngs American IPA
- Coopers Real Ale (a hoppy beer and probably to become my standard to experiment with, and for me better than the AuPA)
- Coopers Original Stout
- John Bull Traditional English Ale

New ones to try sooner or later
- Festival Landlords Bitter (because I like the pub version)
- Brupacks Colne Bitter (something different)
- Coopers Irish Stout (to compare to the Original Stout)

Wherry is OK but needs the kit yeast changing to a better one for it to work, but in any case it's too malty for me I'm afraid.

PS. If anyone has found a kit that is a good likeness to Wetherspoons Devils Backbone IPA with or without any additions let me know. Ta :thumb:

 

[Dutto]

Woodfordes Wherry Bitter (Great autumn drink when the nights are closing in!)
Woodfordes Sundew Golden Ale (Ditto summer drink.)
Wilco Golden Ale (Another summer drink.)
Wilco Hoppy Copper Bitter (Enjoyed the hop taste now use more aroma hops.)
Fulstows AG Marsh Mild (Got me into AG brewing. Lovely dark chocolate taste.)

Other palatable (for me) kits for other reasons are:
Youngs Harvest Lager (Brewed for a mate and drinking it 'cos he didn't like it and prefers Coopers Original Lager kit!)
Youngs Mango and Cider Kit (Brewed this for No.1 Son last summer and liked it enough to drink the last 8-10 litres when he wasn't looking!)

Enjoy! :thumb:

 

[MrDasherD]

The best kit is always the one I'm drinking in fine condition!

However here are some of my favourites:-
Festival Summer Glory - lovely summery taste of elderflowers!
Festival Old Suffolk - always seem to bottle this rather than PB but a really nice stronger ale that I keep returning to brew again and again.
Youngs American IPA - hops, gorgeous hops!
Craftybrews extract clone of Proper Job (from Brew UK) - one of my favourite pints in a pub and this kit gets close.
Wherry - so consistent and I've tried many tweaks. Currently settling on using a Gervin yeast, 250g light DME and chucking in about 40g Cascade pellets after 5 days. 2 thirds of a PB of this left as I type and it's yummy.

Really wanting to try Festival Endeavours soon after hearing such good things about it!

:

 

[Javalian]

The best kit is always the one I'm drinking in fine condition!

However here are some of my favourites:-
Festival Summer Glory - lovely summery taste of elderflowers!
Festival Old Sussex - always seem to bottle this rather than PB but a really nice stronger ale that I keep returning to brew again and again.
Youngs American IPA - hops, gorgeous hops!
Craftybrews extract clone of Proper Job (from Brew UK) - one of my favourite pints in a pub and this kit gets close.
Wherry - so consistent and I've tried many tweaks. Currently settling on using a Gervin yeast, 250g light DME and chucking in about 40g Cascade pellets after 5 days. 2 thirds of a PB of this left as I type and it's yummy.

Really wanting to try Festival Endeavours soon after hearing such good things about it!

:

I fancy trying some of the dearer kits. i.e. Festival , Is this a 2 can kit ? Do you do anything different to instructions ( any additions )
Can't find festival Old Sussex, guess you mean Suffollk ! How strong does it end up ABV wise ? Can you compare it to any commercial stuff.
I'm loving Tribute indoors at the mo' anyone know of anything similar to that ?

 

[Sandimas]

I'm loving Tribute indoors at the mo' anyone know of anything similar to that ?

Then make Tribute :grin:
http://www.brewuk.co.uk/tribute-extract-recipe.html

These recipe packs are a little more effort than kits, but if you've made a few kits you can do one of these. Need a reasonably sized stock pot to do a 5-6L boil of the hops, and the malt extract is dried not liquid like in kits, but it's worth it.

 

[MrDasherD]

I fancy trying some of the dearer kits. i.e. Festival , Is this a 2 can kit ? Do you do anything different to instructions ( any additions )
Can't find festival Old Sussex, guess you mean Suffollk ! How strong does it end up ABV wise ? Can you compare it to any commercial stuff.
I'm loving Tribute indoors at the mo' anyone know of anything similar to that ?

Oops ... yes ... Old Suffolk My calculations say 5.7% ... always reminds me of Otter Head. It is equivalent of a 2-can kit so nothing extra needed (even includes priming sugar) and I don't stray from the recipe. Would certainly recommend the Festival and Youngs kits and not really much more expensive.

As said above, if you like Tribute do the Tribute kit. have done a few of that range and well impressed!

 

[terrym]

Am pretty new to the world of stout but I'm loving Guinness these days. So have got me a coopers stout and really looking forward to trying it out

Wheazy
If you are looking for a recipe for your Stout you could do try this ... http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=541882&postcount=708.
When I do another it will be exactly the same. :thumb:

 

[Javalian]

So many people mentioning Youngs American IPA that i'm getting that on order for my next brew- Any tips on getting the best out of this kit ?

 

[pms67]

So many people mentioning Youngs American IPA that i'm getting that on order for my next brew- Any tips on getting the best out of this kit ?

Drink it
No seriously,its a great kit, just brew it as per instructions, takes a while to ferment though, and a good couple of weeks to condition

 

[terrym]

So many people mentioning Youngs American IPA that i'm getting that on order for my next brew- Any tips on getting the best out of this kit ?

My tip - get yourself sorted with a blow-off tube ready just in case, especially if you brew to 23 litres, and in a 'warm' place. The first part of the primary can be very lively

 

[Javalian]

My tip - get yourself sorted with a blow-off tube ready just in case, especially if you brew to 23 litres, and in a 'warm' place. The first part of the primary can be very lively

Terry- HELP ! Blow off tube , what's that ? a present I don't even use and air lock. My FV is a basic Wilko one, luckily the lid leaks a very small amount so that so far the lid domes a bit but has not popped off so the Co2 must be escaping.
Do you brew to 23 Litres or would brewing short negate the need for blow off valve ?:-?

 

[Motorhomebrew]

Coopers European Lager hands down. I was physically shocked how bloody good it tasted. It was my first and only kit that has tasted like a beer pulled in a pub. I changed the yeast for saflager S23 and fermented at 12c and lagered at 0c for 3 months = Stunning!!!!!

 

[terrym]

Terry- HELP ! Blow off tube , what's that ? a present I don't even use and air lock. My FV is a basic Wilko one, luckily the lid leaks a very small amount so that so far the lid domes a bit but has not popped off so the Co2 must be escaping.
Do you brew to 23 Litres or would brewing short negate the need for blow off valve ?:-?

You can brew short, perhaps 21 litres, but this kit comes up quite strong so you may not want to do that.
If you don't have a hole for an airlock which you can use for a blow-off tube, the other alternative is to place an old towel (say) over the lid where it is cracked open , and allow any krausen to escape. You will of course need to accept some mess with this method. I haven't done it that way but that's what my LHBS suggested to me (in the days before they closed). Others may have their own methods as alternatives to the blow-off tube.

 

[Sandimas]

Coopers European Lager hands down. I was physically shocked how bloody good it tasted. It was my first and only kit that has tasted like a beer pulled in a pub. I changed the yeast for saflager S23 and fermented at 12c and lagered at 0c for 3 months = Stunning!!!!!

+1

Just done this for the 3rd time, bottled it yesterday and it was stunning even then (which I was VERY surprised about). The secret seems to be the low temp ferment, mine was at 12C for 3 week with a 2-day diacetyl rest at 18C right at the end. I also hopped mine with Saaz and Hallertau: 30g steeped at 80C for 30mins prior to making it up, and 30g dry hop.

 

[Grumpy Jack]

In no particular order my best brews to date have almost certainly been as follows...

Brupaks Almonbury Old Ale - mistaken in tastings for an all grain brew
Coopers Sparkling Ale - even a lager drinker said he'd buy it if it was on tap
Woodforde's Nelson's Revenge - just a really well flavoured beer
Brewferm Grand Cru - It really does taste "Belgian"!
Brewferm Diabolo - Punchy... Belgian... erm, did I say it was punchy? Like a smack in the mouth with malt and alcohol...

I tend to brew all mine just a little short... don't really muck about any more than that, it seems to work. :)

 

[wheazy_joe]

Wheazy
If you are looking for a recipe for your Stout you could do try this ... http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=541882&postcount=708.
When I do another it will be exactly the same. :thumb:

I'm planning a chocolate and vanilla stout. Gonna mix up 100g-ish of Bournville 100% cocoa powder with some boiling water and dump in the FV. For the vanilla I will use vanilla extract, but absolutely no idea how much!

 

[chub1]

So far i have done 3 kits, one malt extract recipe and one wilko's velvet stout which is a decent drink. Tweaked it with spraymalt,black treacle, hop tea of goldings and a dry hop of Willamette hops and brewed it a tad short. Will certainly try another this time with some cold steeped coffee beans:thumb: