Fancy a trip to Muntons? Actually, we'd really like your help...

[JJPerry]

Homebrew Fans – we need your help. Here at Muntons we love all things homebrew and always want to learn more – specifically we want to learn from you!

We’d like to invite 12 enthusiastic homebrewers of varying skill levels from beginners to veteran brewers that would love to meet some like minded folks and talk all things homebrew for a couple of hours. Of course we couldn’t let homebrewers come to Muntons without also getting you to join in the fun. After the session there will be the chance to join our master brewers for a brewing session in our Microbrewery and geek out on all things beer.

The Details: The session will take place Friday March 27th 2020 in Stowmarket, Suffolk. The day will start at 10.30 and conclude at around 2.30pm including the brew time. Travel expenses to the value of £20 will be covered as will all refreshments and lunch. To express your interest please email [email protected] with a couple of sentences about your experience. Closing date will be Friday 20th March.

Please note this is on a first come first serve basis and we're also posting this on the UK Homebrewing Community page too...
Thanks all!

 

[kelper]

Great idea. I hope you post video or photos of the day

 

[RichardM]

£20 wouldn't get anywhere near covering travel expenses from Cardiff, so I won't be applying.

 

[pms67]

If you love all things homebrewing maybe you could give a little more than a miserly 6g of yeast with your beer kits.
Just saying.........

 

[Clint]

The past few years I've been brewing from kits to AG there's been a very mixed response towards homebrew kits...they're either average or very good. To be fair from Wilko to Cooper's to Young's I can honestly say I never really had a bad one.
Main gripes seem to be rubbish instructions..a poor reflection of reality in what's involved,not enough yeast!
Forums own Chippy Tea was on the case a while back regarding the yeast and it seems some took notice...
For a producer to step up and really get involved in this I think is great as they obviously want to connect with their customers and try to get it right.
The gesture of something towards travel expenses is nice..true,it's not an all expenses Beano but it very rarely is!
Sounds like Muntons are thinking of revamping or expanding their homebrew sector.

 

[Ghillie]

£20 from where I live, no chance. Would be looking more like £300.

You can have my opinion, free of charge and remotely. Just give me a shout.

I’m pretty confident, going off your beers, that your company and “master brewers” would learn more than they know to date from our members here.

Sorry @JJPerry - but you’ve ****** it positing here

 

[kelper]

If I were closer I would pay to attend. Seems a bit petty to complain when the visit itself is free.

 

[foxy]

Always a good experience to get to know the company and how things work, with free advice being offered from master brewers. Well worth it, when I go to things like this I give them a battering with questions for a return of extra knowledge.

 

[St00]

I'd love too, but unfortunately I've no holidays left. Best of luck to you.

 

[terrym]

Nice gesture.
Ideal if you are starting out or mainly doing kits and live in East Anglia and have a weekday to spare.
Sadly I only qualify on one count.
But I hope you you get the demographic you want for feedback.
My feedback on Muntons kits is more yeast if you still supply 6g yeast packets, and I always found Muntons kits to be a bit twangy. But that may just be me.

 

[JJPerry]

If you love all things homebrewing maybe you could give a little more than a miserly 6g of yeast with your beer kits.
Just saying.........

That change has and is being implemented. All the Woodforde kits have reflected that... To that end ALL our ranges are being reviewed. Thanks for the feedback as totally valid!

 

[JJPerry]

£20 from where I live, no chance. Would be looking more like £300.

You can have my opinion, free of charge and remotely. Just give me a shout.

I’m pretty confident, going off your beers, that your company and “master brewers” would learn more than they know to date from our members here.

Sorry @JJPerry - but you’ve ****** it positing here

This is one of the reasons we are inviting home brewers to come and have an open discussion about beer kits, how they can be improved, what would brewers like (this applies to extract kits but the ideal grain kit, for example)
Its never too late to learn and make improvements.
Any feedback about our kits, good and bad are welcome so that we can do something about it. The more feedback we can collate the better.

 

[JJPerry]

Nice gesture.
Ideal if you are starting out or mainly doing kits and live in East Anglia and have a weekday to spare.
Sadly I only qualify on one count.
But I hope you you get the demographic you want for feedback.
My feedback on Muntons kits is more yeast if you still supply 6g yeast packets, and I always found Muntons kits to be a bit twangy. But that may just be me.

We fully appreciate that we are asking to give up personal time. The uptake so far has been really positive. We will share the experience of the day to this forum.

 

[JJPerry]

The past few years I've been brewing from kits to AG there's been a very mixed response towards homebrew kits...they're either average or very good. To be fair from Wilko to Cooper's to Young's I can honestly say I never really had a bad one.
Main gripes seem to be rubbish instructions..a poor reflection of reality in what's involved,not enough yeast!
Forums own Chippy Tea was on the case a while back regarding the yeast and it seems some took notice...
For a producer to step up and really get involved in this I think is great as they obviously want to connect with their customers and try to get it right.
The gesture of something towards travel expenses is nice..true,it's not an all expenses Beano but it very rarely is!
Sounds like Muntons are thinking of revamping or expanding their homebrew sector.

Thanks for your comments and yes we are aware of the past comments about our kits and have made changes we were can, however, some things are easier to change than others.
Muntons are committed to homebrew sector and as you have recognised, looking to do something about it...and some really exciting projects too....

 

[Slid]

I think it would be interesting to attend. The guy who runs the LHBS has been in the past and found the experience worth while, so you might take that as a recommendation.

 

[GhostShip]

Some very negative comments on here considering Muntons are putting this on at their own expense in order to improve their offering to market, which in turn will benefit all kit brewers.

As Stowmarket is not too far from me, I e-mailed Joanna and she replied straight away inviting me on 27th. I'll be happy to report back on here.

 

[MmmmCitra]

Some very negative comments on here considering Muntons are putting this on at their own expense in order to improve their offering to market, which in turn will benefit all kit brewers.

Totally agree, sounds like a good offer to me, shame it's too far for me or i'd be going.........a tough crowd here indeed

 

[PhilBrew]

Totally agree, sounds like a good offer to me, shame it's too far for me or i'd be going ...

... +1 from me

I e-mailed Joanna and she replied straight away inviting me on 27th. I'll be happy to report back on here.

... hope you have a great day, and I'll look forward to reading about your experience

A question I might have been tempted to ask, had I had the opportunity to attend, would have been about whether Muntons may have any plans to start offering "other" types of kits ... in particular;

• extract kits - kits of (unhopped) dried or liquid malt extract with or without specialty grains for steeping and dried hops to boil up
• partial mash kits - kits of (unhopped) dried or liquid malt extract with specialty grains and (smaller amounts of) base malts to mash and dried hops to boil up
• all-grain mash kits - kits of specialty grains and base malts to mash and dried hops to boil up

... at the moment these "other" types of kits seem to only be put together by homebrew retailers (or a few specialist providers), but with the increasing popularity of the hobby there may well be a time when more mainstream providers like Muntons may consider moving into that market

@GhostShip perhaps that may be something you might raise on the day ... and/or @JJPerry perhaps that may be something you'd like to discuss with the homebrewers who attend

Cheers, PhilB

 

[GhostShip]

... +1 from me

... hope you have a great day, and I'll look forward to reading about your experience

A question I might have been tempted to ask, had I had the opportunity to attend, would have been about whether Muntons may have any plans to start offering "other" types of kits ... in particular;

• extract kits - kits of (unhopped) dried or liquid malt extract with or without specialty grains for steeping and dried hops to boil up
• partial mash kits - kits of (unhopped) dried or liquid malt extract with specialty grains and (smaller amounts of) base malts to mash and dried hops to boil up
• all-grain mash kits - kits of specialty grains and base malts to mash and dried hops to boil up

... at the moment these "other" types of kits seem to only be put together by homebrew retailers (or a few specialist providers), but with the increasing popularity of the hobby there may well be a time when more mainstream providers like Muntons may consider moving into that market

@GhostShip perhaps that may be something you might raise on the day ... and/or @JJPerry perhaps that may be something you'd like to discuss with the homebrewers who attend

Cheers, PhilB

Thank you! I'm looking forward to it.

I'll happily take any questions or suggestions people might have with me on the day. I could put them all into a list to pass to someone at Muntons, rather than expecting answers to everything on the day. They could either then e-mail me back for me to post on here, or post the answers themselves. I'll start the list with your question!

Feel free to post any others and I'll add them to the list.

 

[Pavros]

We fully appreciate that we are asking to give up personal time. The uptake so far has been really positive. We will share the experience of the day to this forum.

It's too far for me to travel (would involve a really early start or an overnight stay the night before) but I look forward to reading the results when you post them on here.

I think it is brilliant that a major manufacturer is seeking feedback from a forum like this especially if it results in more choice of kits and a product which we want to buy. If I were able to attend, I would be interested in asking if Muntons have thought about introducing kits with hops for dry hopping (like the Festival/Bulldog/Youngs American kits) and partial/mini-mash kits.