Hello from Redditch

[Martin Townsend]

I purchased a kit from the Range November last year, for it to be ready for Christmas it turned out ok for my first time.
Anyway four more brews down the line ive been bitten by the bug, 2 pressure barrels 2 fermenting buckets and endless accessorys.
Coopers Family secret is my favourite so far, in fact just ordered another kit.
Im already looking at kegs and fridges so i will need some advice in the future, i ain't told the mrs yet though.

Thanks Martin.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum :thumba:

 

[user 23602]

Haha Welcome!

 

[GerritT]

ONE OF US
ONE OF US

Welcome!

Already thought about building an own recipe? Instead of kits?

 

[Martin Townsend]

ONE OF US
ONE OF US

Welcome!

Already thought about building an own recipe? Instead of kits?

Hello GerritT, No to much hassle and time consuming, plus i havn't got the room. I shall try things with the kits though, I'm going to try some black treacle in my next Coopers Family Secret.
Cheers Martin.

 

[terrym]

Welcome to the forum.
If you haven't taken the step up from doing basic kits yet I suggest you think about boosting (aka pimping) a one can kit . Coopers kits are ideal for this, there's a good range to choose from, and for ideas they have a suggestions recipe page
https://uk.diybeer.com/brewing-info/recipes
Even a simple dry hop or a hop tea can considerably improve a kit and grain steep addition is not far behind.
If you go that route you can find out about what different grains and hops can do to a beer
And there's also this, which is a good starter away from kits if thats what you eventually want to do
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/simple-kit-plus-mini-mash-method-to-improve-a-kit.52938/.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Martin, I am on my fourth kit a youngs bitter, yesterday I bought a bottling wand a new fermenter and a muslin bag, I could feel my hand being drawn to it lol, welcome

 

[Martin Townsend]

Many thanks all for the nice welcome, and valued advice.

Cheers Martin.

 

[Gerryjo]

Hi and welcome to the forum....

 

[terrym]

I'm going to try some black treacle in my next Coopers Family Secret.

Go carefully with black treacle unless you really really like the taste. Anything more than say 150g will become really noticeable. A more subtle addition would be dark muscavado sugar.
And if you want to make a dark beer I suggest you go for Coopers Original or Irish Stouts which are up there as two of the better beer kits, and lend themselves to all sorts of additions. More here
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/coopers-irish-stout-review.17818/
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/coopers-original-stout-review.17817/

 

[Martin Townsend]

Ok thanks, terrym ill look into that one.
Cheers Martin.

 

[Banbeer]

Welcome to the Forum Martin, Happy brewing

 

[An Ankoù]

I purchased a kit from the Range November last year, for it to be ready for Christmas it turned out ok for my first time.
Anyway four more brews down the line ive been bitten by the bug, 2 pressure barrels 2 fermenting buckets and endless accessorys.
Coopers Family secret is my favourite so far, in fact just ordered another kit.
Im already looking at kegs and fridges so i will need some advice in the future, i ain't told the mrs yet though.

Thanks Martin.

Tell the Mrs. Brewing eats up hours and days. Involve her in the magic and the product would be my advice.

 

[Martin Townsend]

Ok I'll try.
Thanks Martin.

 

[GerritT]

Hello GerritT, No to much hassle and time consuming, plus i havn't got the room. I shall try things with the kits though, I'm going to try some black treacle in my next Coopers Family Secret.
Cheers Martin.

I get you. Moving through kits to sharpen your senses and at the same time building routine is something to be said for. Have you considered books? Already have a book?

 

[Martin Townsend]

Hello GerritT, I havn't thought about books or mags to be honest, which is unusual for me, once I get bitten by a bug I go the whole hog.
I'll have a look round over the wkend to see what I can find.
I might start my next kit if i can get some medium malt.
Cheers.

 

[Grealish]

My kit primping tip (never having actually made one!) would be to consider buying your own yeast. You can play with strains plus it will be fresher than the one that’s been sat in the shop at room temperature for quite some time.

 

[terrym]

My kit primping tip (never having actually made one!) would be to consider buying your own yeast. You can play with strains plus it will be fresher than the one that’s been sat in the shop at room temperature for quite some time.

Having actually brewed beer from kits both as they come and in modified form, I think playing with different yeasts on kits is some way down the list on impacting how the finished product turns out. At the top is a hop addition of some sort to refresh and alter the hop profile which, given the number of hops available can be significant, closely followed by grain steeps, mini-mashes, and other slightly more unusual additions like dark sugars and honey. However whilst kit yeast at the budget end may be neutral some premium kits do come with yeast appropriate to the style, and Coopers have a range of different yeasts for their one cans not one yeast to fit all. So my advice is to look elsewhere for kit modification and only change the yeast where the kit is out of date or, like some Muntons kits, the 6g pack just isn't enough, or if you brewing a kit lager with lager yeast at low temperature make sure you have enough yeast to properly do the job.

 

[Martin Townsend]

Thanks for the advice terrym

 

[PorterA]

I purchased a kit from the Range November last year, for it to be ready for Christmas it turned out ok for my first time.
Anyway four more brews down the line ive been bitten by the bug, 2 pressure barrels 2 fermenting buckets and endless accessorys.
Coopers Family secret is my favourite so far, in fact just ordered another kit.
Im already looking at kegs and fridges so i will need some advice in the future, i ain't told the mrs yet though.

Thanks Martin.

Are you still about, brewing in redditch Martin?