Favourite can kits?

[Norse John]

Which can kits would you recommend for various types of beer, and what modifications have you made to improve them?

I'm a golden ale, lager, stout, cider and wine drinker and have been particularly happy with the Cooper's beers and Ritchie's cider brand kits I have made, and look forward to making a Cantina red and Cellar7 white after good reviews . I'm no artisan, but a good solid generic beer is what I like, and would definitely pay a few quid more if I knew I'd get something with an edge.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has made a kit which resembles Becks or Kronenbourg. I plan one day to make some beers from scratch and brew something close to these, but those days are distant at the moment.

 

[Clint]

Stout....Coopers

 

[Norse John]

Seems like the best ones are stouts.

 

[The Cat]

I've got Admiral's Reserve just bottled but the sample I tried was very promising. I am a complete noob at this it's my first one but my family had the same opinion after a quick taste. Hopefully it turns out well carbonated now I'm not going to rush it. It was cloudy but I expected that and it didn't give me a bad belly so that's a good sign :)

 

[marshbrewer]

Coopers Canadian Blonde is excellent for pimping up as it's not too bitter so you can add hops to your hearts content. It's also very blonde / light so you can play around with caramel malts. It makes a great 'lager' with some Saaz.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

For golden, I really liked Woodforde's Bure Gold. So much so, I got another one, which I don't generally do as a relative newby. I normally try to go for kits I haven't done before, but I enjoyed this one too much!

 

[jimbo1982]

The beerworks kits from lovebrewing are very good. Easy to follow instructions too.

 

[Crin]

St Peters cream stout is exceptional

 

[MrDasherD]

Not a can but one of my favourite kits has always been Festival Pride of London Porter and I tend to brew it short to 20l.

Currently really enjoying the Mangrove Jack's pouches brewed with LME as the extra fermentables.

 

[Satellitemark]

If you like Belgian ales, both the Muntons and the Festival kits are really good.

I've found that by the time you pump up the cheaper kits the cost difference from the premium kits is very small.

I have also found the bulldog brews , Hammer of Thor , Evil Dog and Bad Cat kits to be very good.

Mark

 

[Barley Rubble]

Woodfordes Kits turn out great. I brewed Bure Gold, Wherry and Admirals Reserve. I would recommend any one of these, in fact all three!

 

[kelper]

St Peter's IPA is my best to date. But all the kits from Muntons have worked well. They make kits under many brands. The Woodforde's Wherry has been very popular on this forum for years. I prefer two-can kits but if you're a pimp the one-can kits are cheaper and crying out for some extra malt and hops.

 

[Crin]

St Peters Stout

 

[kelper]

How stouty is it? Is it a bit Guinness like?

 

[Norse John]

Read good reviews on it regarding head retention - is that true Crin?

 

[Crin]

Absolutely. tastes amazing too but mine was only 4.2% so I'll probably add some more sugar or treacle when I start my next one tonight.

 

[The Cat]

Admiral's Reserve. Got another one ordered and a Nelson's Revenge to go with it.

 

[Tanglefoot]

I have a soft spot for the Youngs Harvest range, I quite like the fact that they look like they're completely unchanged from how I remember them 30 odd yrs ago !
I did the Scottish heavy at the start of lockdown as a returnee to home brewing and it was so good I've just done another this time using coopers beer enhancer and light spraymalt for comparison.
It's a great malty alternative to all the hoppy IPA's I tend to gravitate towards.
The Pilsener was a success as well, lovely clear colour I dry hopped with cascade.
Both fermented down to 1.006 and 1.008 with no dramas and would be good as a base to try your own tweaks.

When I decided to try the more expensive end of the market with the boxed kits I ended up choosing the
Youngs American Amber Ale which I'm enjoying from the barrel at the moment.
Again it seems to be a case of simple tried and tested ingredients producing a reliable product and when you factor in the cost of extra fermentables/ hops for a single can kit the price difference is actually negligible.

 

[pms67]

St Peter's IPA is my best to date. But all the kits from Muntons have worked well. They make kits under many brands. The Woodforde's Wherry has been very popular on this forum for years. I prefer two-can kits but if you're a pimp the one-can kits are cheaper and crying out for some extra malt and hops.

No need to call him a pimp, you barely know the man

 

[BrewMeHappy]

Not strictly a can kit as it comes in pouches but Young's American IPA was the best kit I have done. Another favourite of mine is Cooper's European Lager which I have not done for ages thinking about it!