Boots Lager kit

[JimmyB78]

I remember doing some Boots lager and pilsner kits around 95/96 with group of friends as 17/18 year olds thinking it would be a great way to save on money for a few beers before we went out.

My god it was awful stuff!! I think we grinned and bared it for about a half trying to convince ourselves it was good, then tipped it away and went to the pub.

 

[morethanworts]

My log* of early home brews (started 17/3/96) records that I last did a boots kit on 2/1/2001! The Premium Pilsner, no less, with 1Kg white sugar straight in. :sick: OG 1.050

I also chose to put it in my new Hambleton Bard Beersphere, rather than bottles, just to ensure it not only tasted cr@p but was also under-carbonated cr@p.

Happy days :lol:

*My beers have improved since I stopped logging them, for some reason :wha: Only seemed necessary to log them when I was getting things wrong.

 

[Sandimas]

My mate used to do Boots lager kits in the early 80s.....whilst we were still at school :shock: The teachers would let us out for a cross country run and we'd pop round there for a bottle or two, then amble back to school to change and go home. They tasted nothing like lager but, hey, they were alcoholic and we were 15 - Boots seemed quite happy to sell them to us, so we brewed them up.

They were horrble and probably the reason I delayed starting homebrewing for so long. It was only a trip to the LHBS that convinced me, by actually giving me a sampler of modern homebrew....what a difference.

 

[rsains]

Thanks for all your comments - I'm feeling less like giving it a go now!

 

[Fil]

Bang it on ebay u never know the number of nostalgic masochists out there
could finance the purchase of something u relish

 

[Brewbob]

I think the first kit I did in about '87/'88 would have been a Boots kit, at the tender age of 14/15, as someone mentioned they were happy to sell them to us, so me and my mates had a little co-operative going the EBC - Elburton Brewing Co, there was always someone with a brew ready to go. After that Boots kit we decided the way forward was Geordie kits, with 2 bags of Tate and Lyle in :sick:

 

[barrittboi]

Apologies for dredging up old rotten kits again
Just joined HBF for some advice about the boots kits. I got a job lot of these boots lager kits off my nan the other day: 5 x kits Best before 1995!!

rsains, did you go through with it in the end?

Cheers

 

[Alcoholx]

i was brewing these kind of kits in 1995 and they was awfull then.. infact it took me 20 years to brew beer again after those kits.. lol

joking aside... do whatever floats your boat.. but dont get your hopes up :)

 

[Slid]

Apologies for dredging up old rotten kits again
Just joined HBF for some advice about the boots kits. I got a job lot of these boots lager kits off my nan the other day: 5 x kits Best before 1995!!

rsains, did you go through with it in the end?

Cheers

Whatever you do, don't invest any time, money or hope in the outcomes.

Do one, with some slurry yeast from another brew. If it's undrinkable, chuck the lot and tell your Nan whatever she wants to hear. :whistle:

 

[VillageBrew]

My first homebrew (circa 1991) was from a Boots starter kit. It included a 20 pint bitter kit. I obeyed the instructions to the letter and popped the pressure barrel in the porch.

It hadn't even clearned by the time my dad helped me finish it off! Crystal clear and perfectly carbonated. I popped into Boots on the way home the next night and set up 40 pints. I don't know what I did wrong, but this batch wouldn't clear and tasted like cack. In the end we grimaced our way through about 10 pints before admitting defeat and watering the compost bin with it.

It was 12 years before I had another go...

 

[cheapbrew]

By typing on here you have already wasted more time than boots kits are worth, do yourself a favour and bin em, and spend £10-15 on an in date beer kit, look through the reviews to find one you like and how to improve it.
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=37

 

[barrittboi]

i was brewing these kind of kits in 1995 and they was awfull then.. infact it took me 20 years to brew beer again after those kits.. lol

joking aside... do whatever floats your boat.. but dont get your hopes up :)

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated. I'll probably just bin 'em. Just purchased a 32L thermos cooler so I might crack on with the proper stuff.

 

[cheapbrew]

That sounds like a better plan.:thumb:

 

[Pirate_Pete]

Ah, this thread takes me back. I remember Boots having loads of homebrew stuff but I don't remember their kits. Actually I don't really recall what 40 pint kits I did make.
My sister used to work in Boots on a Saturday and could get discount. In those days I used to get a Tom Caxton kit which must have been a sample, as I think it was only one gallon. I must have been 14 or 15 at the time. Goodness knows what my parents were thinking. My daughter is 15 and if she asked to make homebrew I'd be horrified.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
Back in the mists of time, I remember brewing a Boots cider kit with table sugar. It was alcoholic, therefore it was consumed, but it was nowt like any cider I've drunk before or since.

 

[Cwrw666]

Hmm. Interesting. I remember Boots kits (mostly bitter and stout) being the saviour of homebrew as far as I was concerned at the time - they were the only ones that had nothing in them but malt and hops, and the first I ever came across with decent yeast that stuck itself to the bottom of the bottle. Compared to such horrors as Geordie and Tom Caxton I'm surprised people are saying they were awful. Lager maybe, as it wasn't proper lager, and cider as well as it wasn't even as good as turbo cider.
And their pressure barrels were so much better than these Youngs / Wilko monstrosities.

 

[Slid]

Hi!
Back in the mists of time, I remember brewing a Boots cider kit with table sugar. It was alcoholic, therefore it was consumed, but it was nowt like any cider I've drunk before or since.

Very much in line with my recollections of making a Boots Cider kit. I also probably drank it, but only did it once. :lol:

The absolute star of the Boots range was the 3 week Dry White Wine kit which made a drinkable, not very alcoholic wine, in about 6 weeks or so. It did 1 gallon without adding any more sugar.

 

[Dutto]

Ah, the Good Old Days when Boots was a real chemists!!

I never bought one of their kits but they sold everything needed to do an extract brew of your own design so I was often in there either on my own or with Tony, a fellow brewer and good mate.

One day, on our way to go sea-fishing, Tony decided that he needed to top up his Home Brew gear so would I mind if we dropped into Boots.

Of course I didn't mind; but how was I to know that A) Tony needed at least one of almost everything that Boots sold on the brewing front and B) He would be served by a young lass whose only brain-cell suffered from loneliness.

It took ages! Everything Tony wanted the lass had to look up, go and ask her supervisor where it was, go and find the wrong brand, weight or type, come back with it, go away and get the other one, come back with it ...... !!!

As they say, "Time and tide wait for no man!" and we were supposed to be going sea-fishing remember, so I was frayed at the edges by the time Tony managed to fulfil his order and pay for it.

After handing Tony his change the lass turned to me and said "May I get you anything sir?"

I put my arm around Tony's shoulders in a friendly hug and asked in my best lisping voice "Do you have any KY Jelly?"

The double-take from the lass was classic; and for some reason or other Tony never asked me to go shopping with him again.:whistle: :whistle:

Happy Days!! :thumb: :thumb: