Cheap kits sub 14£, never again !!!

[Milesey]

Tried pimping them up , extra hops , dextrose etc end results poor

Not very good even free 6 weeks in bottle

Too thin , too much alcohol taste despite max of 5,5%

I'll stick with premium kits in future

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Have you tried without pimping?
I find cheaper kits hit and miss. Out of those I have done, I quite liked the wilko ones (golden ipa and red devil).

 

[moto748]

OK, I'll say it: why bother with kits at all? Surely it's more satisfying to do it from scratch? Aren't kits a bit 'paint by numbers'?

 

[AnimatedGIF]

OK, I'll say it: why bother with kits at all? Surely it's more satisfying to do it from scratch? Aren't kits a bit 'paint by numbers'?

The combination of time and money available for the homebrewer at any given time makes them a good option for many.
Particularly for those starting out, it's a good way to grasp the basics and get 40 pints with little initial outlay.

 

[aamcle]

Ignore the AG fan boys, if your happily with what your doing (kits) then that's what counts.

Get better quality kits :) and read the thread about improving them.

Aamcle

 

[Graz]

Due to constraints of a young family and the time and effort involved I only brew kits. I don't make the cheap ones, realised that was a false economy a long time ago. I'd love to brew all-grain one day or even some extract recipes and it will happen one day but there's some really good kits on the market now (Young's American, Festival, etc.) so no need for bad beer.

 

[Cwrw666]

Ignore the AG fan boys

AG fan boy here - well fan OAP at any rate. Great beer, but there again I can drop everything, anytime, and spend 5 hours on a brew. My daughter on the other hand makes kits. Quick and easy. But there again she's a busy person.
I also used to do kits. Usually 1 can kits. Some were not good at all - very twangy - others were totally ok. It might of course depend on your water supply...

 

[Rodcx500z]

I started on kits i did them as is i pimped them, you can make really good beer from kits, i am lucky being retired kids grown up so after a year i went AG because i can brew anytime but if you have a busy life do kits, and yeah when i am feeling lazy i still do kits but mostly over winter these days, on the plus side you can build your equipment up while doing kits ie fridge, kegs, taps,gas , so when you do go AG it's all there waiting and ready to go

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I would recommend the Range Stout kit @ £15. Just add a kilo of brown sugar.

 

[crowcrow]

I loved the wilko stout, but brewed as a two-can plus a little short - with added treacle and northern brewer hops in the dry hop.

Agree that cheap kits can be here and there - but without the kits I'd never be brewing what I am today, learnt so much doing them - a great intro to brewing and I'd say that even if you only brewed kits from there on, you can still make a good beer at a great price!

 

[soupdragon]

I've done the Mangrove Jack brewers series American Pale, £10.95 ish for 1.7kg of malt. I added 500g of dextrose and brewed short to 19 litres. Dry hopped with 75g of Citra. Turned out very nice indeed, although if I didn't have a good stash of Citra in my freezer it would obviously have bumped the cost up.
So some of the cheap kits do respond well to pimping

Cheers Tom

 

[Covrich]

I only ever did about 4 or 5 kits but tried a few my dad made before he passed away..

Whilst I never really did much in the way of pimping I did agree the premium 2 can kits were generally of a superior quality.

St Peters Ruby red was good as well as the youngs American ones.. If I was short for time for AG and ever wanted to return to kits I would look at doing these

 

[soupdragon]

If you do try the "2 can" kits, Love Brewing's President's Sierra American Pale
is an absolute gem. As good, if not better than the Young's or Festival kits

Cheers Tom

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Due to constraints of a young family and the time and effort involved I only brew kits. I don't make the cheap ones, realised that was a false economy a long time ago. I'd love to brew all-grain one day or even some extract recipes and it will happen one day but there's some really good kits on the market now (Young's American, Festival, etc.) so no need for bad beer.

DO have a look at this thread - surprisingly easy (and addictive...) to dip your toe in the water :have a go at simple AG

 

[moto748]

Have to say that when you factor in the washing up, clearing away, sterilising etc that is always going to be a constant, do kits really save that much time. What is the 'missing stage' that you don't have to do with kits, if any?

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Have to say that when you factor in the washing up, clearing away, sterilising etc that is always going to be a constant, do kits really save that much time. What is the 'missing stage' that you don't have to do with kits, if any?

Have you brewed both kits and AG before? If so, you know the answer

 

[moto748]

Well, to be honest, it is so many decades since I brewed a kit that I but dimly recall... ☺

 

[Random Badger]

Have to say that when you factor in the washing up, clearing away, sterilising etc that is always going to be a constant, do kits really save that much time. What is the 'missing stage' that you don't have to do with kits, if any?

I used to do full mash/all grain brewing and would say that aside from needing extra equipment and more time per brew, it's the mashing, boiling and cooling - all the steam and the mess. If you are set up for all grain with an established process and appropriate space to brew in it probably seems like something everyone should do, but for a lot of people that is not their reality.

 

[Random Badger]

Regarding kits, I think the amount of malt extract you are working with is a strong indicator of how good the end result is likely to be. Relying on a single 1.5KG or 1.7KG can (plus sugar) to produce all the flavour (even if you short brew) hasn't worked out that well in my experience. So far I've found that premium kits (e.g. Youngs American IPA) with significantly more extract or making a Toucan where you use two kits in one brew produces a much more tasty beer.

 

[phildo79]

I, like a lot of homebrewers, started off with kits. Some decent one and some really bad ones (Cooper's). But the thing that changed it all for me was doing a partial mash recipe. I never looked back. The difference in quality was massive and it wasn't that much more effort, really. Give it a whirl. What have you got to lose?