can i just brew half a kit? (muntons smugglers/ Festival Lan

[martin22]

sorry if this is a daft question and i think i already know the answer but just confirming before i fork out and buy a premium kit!

I've only got space for 20 pints but want to get something started ready for christmas. So if i get a 2 can 40 pint kit like Muntons Smugglers ale or Festival Landlord can i just brew one tin (obviously halving all the volumes of water etc) and then just buy more yeast for the other tin at a later date?

Are there any other components in these kits apart from the 2 tins and the yeast? eg hop extracts

 

[Maffa]

Festival kits have packets of hop pellets, usually a 50g bag and sometimes an additional 25g one. I suppose you could open and split a bag and freeze the rest, but if you have room for a 20 pint batch, why wont you have room for a 40pint one? :hmm: A 23ltr plastic fermenter is pretty cheap and size wise is not that bigger. Fits nicely under a table, under the stairs . . .. . . .

Theoretically, there should be no problem only brewing one tin.

 

[martin22]

its more the storage of the finished beer rather than the fermenting.

i can bottle 20 pints worth just not 40 unless i buy some more bottles. Just fancied getting this one on the go ready for christmas.

Might go for the Smugglers ale if that doesnt have seperate hops.

 

[Eightball]

20 beers in 10 odd days. I'd just start drinking bottled beer from the super market, get a mate to help? Tiger and Cobra are good ones to get extra bottle volume for a reasonable price, and they are at least drinkable.

 

[Maffa]

Yup, do what Eightball recommends, I collected 40+ in a matter of weeks. Failing that asking at the local pub for empties or leaving a box with a sign on it at your local bottle bank. Buying full ones are much more fun though!

 

[Grumpy Jack]

You can brew a single can from a two can kit provided you also halve any additional ingredients to suit. However, my LHBS advised that you might get two different beers if you don't check the batch codes on the cans. If both of their stamped codes are the same then they're from the same batch and should produce the same beer, if not, you could conceivably get subtle variations in your brews, regardless of what else you do that's the same in the processing. He had one customer who reported a significant variation in the beers and he wasn't overly happy about it.

The full batch and bottling for longer storage is much the best option if at all possible. :

 

[aamcle]

I've just done 1/2 a Woodfords Werry, I did check that both cans were the same, I got a packet of S04 yeast and it's now in a small keg waiting for Christmas.

Atb. Aamcle