Best Beer Kits you have brewed

[pms67]

Hi Guys looking for some ideas for my next brew and would love to hear your fav kits.
1 Brewferm Grand Cru
2 Festival Golden Stag
3 Coopers Draught
4 Coopers IPA with Cascade
5 Brewferm Diabolo

Thanks and cheers

 

[winelight]

Coopers Stout and Young's Harvest Mild (yes, really) are my favourites... along with Sundew

 

[daf]

1. Coopers Original Stout...foolproof, quick and tweakable
2. Better Brew IPA...very hoppy and grapefruit citrussy
3. Brewferm Tarwebier...with curacao peel and crushed coriander seed
4. Coopers Pilsener...crystal clear hoppy lager
5. Any other Brewferm short kits...give them at least 3 months in the bottle though

 

[pms67]

daf did you add anything to your better brew IPA or is it hoppy enough ?

 

[winelight]

I didn't find it hoppy enough... I dry hop. If fact going to do exactly that later on today with the latest batch. Using Green Bullet hops 100g. I do like that kit too btw.

 

[daf]

How do you dry hop? I've a pack of English Challenger hops, and my IPA is 3 days in the FV...

 

[pms67]

I usually put some hops in a muslin bag and chuck em in fv 2 - 3 days before i bottle,enhances hop aroma and taste wonderfully :

 

[pms67]

Forgot to say i put some marbles in to sink the bag a bit

 

[Sandimas]

1. Coopers Stout - done it many times, it's just great - easily my no.1 kit
2. Coopers European Lager - a "proper" lager, came out surprisngly good
3. Brupaks Almodbury Old - better than I expected, thanks to the hop pellets
4. Woodfordes Wherry - reliable as a Swiss watch, not stunning but a good honest pint
5. Muntons Connoisseur Bock - a bit different from the usual homebrew, but was very nice and went down a storm on Bonfire Night

...didn't include the Brewferm Belgian kits, as others have mentioned these. I've only just started doing them and they really haven't come into their own yet, they do need a long maturation time, mine are just starting to improve after 3 months.

 

[howyoubrewin]

1. Coopers IPA w/cascade and N brewer
2. Rajas reward IPA
3. Milestone Olde homewrecker
4. Coopers Cerveza
5. Santas winter warmer.
Numbers 1 and 2 are great session beers with loads of flavour and depth. Number 3 is a nice warming beer,great for having while listening to that good british weather hammerin against the window. Number 4 can't be beaten while cooking on the bbq or relaxing on the old sun lounger and number 5 speaks for itself. What can i say folks,i'm a seasons kinda guy.

 

[pms67]

Can you tell me any differences between the Rajas IPA and the Coopers ? Apart from the cost !

 

[Sandimas]

Can you tell me any differences between the Rajas IPA and the Coopers ? Apart from the cost !

Not done it, but looking at the info Rajas is a 2-can kit with hop pellets whereas the Coopers is a 1-can kit without any additional hops. Generally the 2-can kits are better :thumb:

Although you can add your own hops and extra fermentables to 1-can kits, as listed above, so the price difference doesn't turn out to be too much i.e.
- Rajas Reward 2-can kit = £25
- Coopers IPA 1-can kit = £12 + Enhancer (£5) + 2 x hops (£6) = £23

 

[redhousebrewing]

In no particular order:
- Wilko's Delicate Pilsner dry hopped with Saaz typically brewed with .75kg brew enhancer and .5kg brewing sugar - an aley lager, goes down well.
- Brewmaker's Northumberland Brown Ale
- Wilko Golden Ale - lovely Summer pint
- Woodfordes Wherry - echoing other's comments above - very dependable and have done as is and also dry hopped with Goldings & with 250g beer enhancer
- Ultimate Brewery Classic Czech Pils - very distinctive hop aroma

Will be watching this list as it grows with interest!

Thanks
Stuart

 

[howyoubrewin]

Can you tell me any differences between the Rajas IPA and the Coopers ? Apart from the cost !

The Rajas reward as previously mentioned is a two can malt extract kit and is a bit fuller bodied. The hops provided give it a nice little hit of aroma too. The coopers is a 1 can kit and requires additional fermentables which can mean it may not be as full on the mouth feel. I get round this by adding 500g dme as it doesn't fully ferment and gives the beer a bit of body and 700g dextrose just to keep the alcohol level up. I also like trying the coopers with different hop pairings. So far my favourite is a hop tea 1/2 oz cascade at 15 mins, 1/2 oz northern brewer at 10 mins,1/2 oz cascade at 5 mins and dry hopped with 3/4 oz cascade. Lovely pint after 10 days or so in the bottle! In conclusion try both IPAs and you won't be disappointed!

 

[howyoubrewin]

Just to add that The Malt Miller who advertise in this forum(see top of homepage) are very competitive in price with their hops. I have yet to buy from them as i only browsed on their site yesterday but unless their postage is pricey and drives the final cost up they appear to be great value.

 

[Monte Cristo]

My top 5 would be

Wilko Golden Ale + beer enhancer
Festival Razorback IPA
Milestone Black Pearl Irish Stout
Brewferm Tarwebier + Cascade
Bulldog Rajas Reward IPA

I wouldn't say they were in order of preference, as they are all very good kits but the favourites of the 12 kits i have done to date. :hat:

 

[pms67]

Is the wilko good enough on its own without adding any hops ?

 

[Monte Cristo]

Is the wilko good enough on its own without adding any hops ?

I would say so but there again i haven't tried it with any added hops! :hat:

 

[pms67]

Grand Cru x 2 mmmmmm :thumb: how did you brew it ?
Any fermentables ? 1 packet of yeast or 2 ? And how many litres ?
Brewferm are great apart from the conditioning time. If I had the patience
I would use their kits all the time.
:

 

[pms67]

Just taken delivery of an American Amber Ale,looks delicious and just brewed a Brewferm Framboise/Framboos ??? Raspberry beer, smells great , now the long wait :whistle: