Do AG brewers ever use kits?
- Thread starter oldjiver
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I quite liked some of the kit beers and when I made them I was quite happy with them...
but after AG........................nah not at £20 for 40 pints. All grain allows me to make oodles and oodles of beer at a fraction of kit prices.
but after AG........................nah not at £20 for 40 pints. All grain allows me to make oodles and oodles of beer at a fraction of kit prices.
£20!!!!! where were you buying your kits PD???piddledribble said:
I've been looking at some of the kits on Malt Miller and they seem to be a similar price to the kits.
How much does it cost you for a brew buying all your own gear?
the toucan kits are all around £20 each.I wouldn't even consider buying a one can kit.
AG my grain bill comes to around £25 thats including Crisp Pale Malt ( 25 kg ) together with some speciality malts. With that you can get around 6-7 19 litre brews ( not including hops )
That's over 5 times the value in my book.
AG my grain bill comes to around £25 thats including Crisp Pale Malt ( 25 kg ) together with some speciality malts. With that you can get around 6-7 19 litre brews ( not including hops )
That's over 5 times the value in my book.
fbsf
Landlord.
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A 25kg sack of pale malt is around £30 delivered, hops are anywhere between £2 and £6 per 100g depending on variety, and I harvest yeast from my previous brews.
So a bitter, with 4kg pale malt, a little crystal malt, and around 60g of hops should come in at around £8. Add a couple of quid for electricity for heating up the strike water for the mash, and for the boil, and you are looking at about a tenner a brew.
I know you can get single-can kits from Wilko's for a tenner, but you'll need £8 of dry malt (or, at the least, £6 for a kilo of beerkit enhancer), so it's more expensive and generally lower quality.
So a bitter, with 4kg pale malt, a little crystal malt, and around 60g of hops should come in at around £8. Add a couple of quid for electricity for heating up the strike water for the mash, and for the boil, and you are looking at about a tenner a brew.
I know you can get single-can kits from Wilko's for a tenner, but you'll need £8 of dry malt (or, at the least, £6 for a kilo of beerkit enhancer), so it's more expensive and generally lower quality.
guyb
Regular.
mattrickl06 said:
I'll use the following analogy:
If you make your own burgers, and you get the cheap frozen mince from the supermarket, it's going to taste like a cheap frozen mincemeat burger
If you make your own burgers, and you get some fresh mince from the supermarket, it's going to taste better than the cheap frozen mincemeat burger
If you make your own burgers, and you get some fresh abderdeen angus minced steak from the butcher, it's going to taste nothing like a cheap frozen mincemeat burger, it's going to taste like a burger should.
Making a beer from the raw ingredients is partly about taste, but it's also a fascinating experience as you appreciate how much you can change something just by adding something in, or leaving something out, or altering the temperature.
My neighbour who is 65 and has drunk beer all his life (and lots of it) said he would quite happily pay for a pint of my Gales Festival Mild in his local if I'd brewed it, as it's better than the stuff they sell or he buys (seasoned John Smiths drinker - he has about 180cans of it in his garage at any one time).
You also have the satisfaction of saying.. I made that, and I know exactly what is in it.
And to finish off, if you bought the cheap frozen mincemeat, then I'll put £20 on you for the 3.10 at Ascot :rofl:
mattrickl06
Regular.
piddledribble said:I never count in the electricity used.....I make the wife sit in the dark for a couple of hours to compensate....
And with 2 thick jackets on because all the gas has been used
But in all probability the gas that you use brewing up could have been the petrol used lugging all the cans back from the supermarket.
Probably :?
mattrickl06
Regular.
I know guyB that AG is going to be far superior to my kits which i am really excited about :grin:
I am just trying to emphasise that the quality of kits up to how they used to be when i used to get blathered on my uncles HB 20 years ago are worlds apart.
I would easily say that the kits i have done so far are better than 98% of anything you can buy in a supermarket and although not as cheap as AG they are still blummin good value.
Anyhoo a few more days to go and then I will probably be chucking all my unused kits in the dustbin and having AG tattoed across my chest :lol:
I am just trying to emphasise that the quality of kits up to how they used to be when i used to get blathered on my uncles HB 20 years ago are worlds apart.
I would easily say that the kits i have done so far are better than 98% of anything you can buy in a supermarket and although not as cheap as AG they are still blummin good value.
Anyhoo a few more days to go and then I will probably be chucking all my unused kits in the dustbin and having AG tattoed across my chest :lol:
oldjiver
Landlord.
Reminded me of the Jethro joke..... "Put your coat on wife I'm going down the pub", "Oh are you taking me?", " No I'm turning the fire off!"piddledribble said:I never count in the electricity used.....I make the wife sit in the dark for a couple of hours to compensate....
guyb
Regular.
mattrickl06 said:
Yes, you are spot on there, and I agree, I did a stout in 1994 and put it in a beersphere, we used to inhale the fumes, as it tasted like ***** - still we drank it, me and a mate - we were both on placement from Uni. Brown flat water was my first attempt at BIAB in about 1998 - then I put it away, got married and had kids.
The two can kits are better for sure, aberdeen angus vs. cheap mince in context from 20years ago.
I am sure you'll be quite amazed at how good your AG will turn out, and how quickly it can be enjoyed as well.
Mine last brwe went from 14days ferment, to 7days secondary, to corny and was drinking it a week later - best beer I've ever done, Directors recipe from BYOBRA by Graham Wheeler :thumb:
abeyptfc
Landlord.
I went AG in June and have done 8 AG's so far, I've got 6 cornies so I have still continued brewing kits to keep the stocks up and to keep the cornie's full. have brewed the wilkos lager and cerveza, milestone rasp wheat beer (probs my fave kit) still got a wilkos hoppy bitter and a magnum pear cider kit, a guy on youtube by the name of big secue has dry hopped his ciders so might give that a try.
Hollow Legs
Regular.
When I first started to brew AG I thought that 5 - 6 hours wasn't worth the time as I thought that I was producing some pretty good results with my kits and different yeasts, I now brew AG every couple of weeks and I really enjoy it as I have got used to the process etc, I probably make a kit once a month, the kit is usually a Wherry or Coopers APA/draught.
The AG I make is Lager and find that I prefer AG lager over kit lager but the bitters I produce from kits are very good and I will probably always use kits as they are convenient and if done right then taste great.
The AG I make is Lager and find that I prefer AG lager over kit lager but the bitters I produce from kits are very good and I will probably always use kits as they are convenient and if done right then taste great.
