How good are Brewfern kits? Other small kits?

[aamcle]

I may need to supplement my stocks with a small kit, brewed soon to be ready for this Christmas.

I usually brew full mash but I've still two more of them to do and I'll be knackered with it by then , so I was thinking of a nice easy kit, just a small one to introduce some variety. Brewpacks seem to be the only kits in the size I want.

I've not done kits for a few years and the ones I did were just Ok not bad not good but I want better than that are the Brewferm good, really good?

Is there anything that size and better? I don't mind swapping yeast or messing with hops.

Atb. Aamcle

 

[Pavros]

Brewferm. Belgian kits are excellent but all the ones I've done take at least 6 months to condition properly - tripel, dubbel, diabolo and the Christmas one takes about a year. (The names may not be the same now as they've rebranded).

I've made a couple of the Beers of the World but it was a few years ago and they seemed to condition a little faster but I prefer the Brewferm ones.

 

[aamcle]

Thanks Pavros.

 

[Richard_H]

I also have good results with Brewferm kits when they have conditioned for a while, if you want a Belgian beer then I would go with Brewferm.

 

[Sandimas]

Likewise, I also have got good results with Brewferm kits, I'm an AG brewer mostly but still make up the occasional one. I tend to make mine up with Golden Syrup (use 10% more than the equivalent sugar) and they seem to condition a bit faster, 3-4 months. Flemish Brown is my favourite.

 

[RichardM]

if you want something quicker and Belgian go for a premium two can kit, as opposed to one can and a bag of sugar

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi @aamcle

As has been said, the Brewferm kits make great beer, but you do really need to give them plenty of time to condition ... 6 months is about a minimum ... so it's probably too late for this Xmas

If you're just looking to make an extra 10-ish litres, I'd suggest you'd be best off going for one of the "all malt", 3-3.5kg of hopped LME in two cans, kits from manufacturers like Woodfordes, St. Peters, Festival or Bulldog and just brew the contents of one of the cans, to half the normal brew-length ... save the other can for another time when you might fancy an easy brew day, but make sure you get some extra yeast either for then (or for now, if you just fancy trying something other than the kit yeast)

Cheers, PhilB

 

[aamcle]

Thanks Phi.

 

[Sandimas]

Why not do a halfway-house solution and brew an Extract recipe: same as AG but missing out the mash stage, do an hour boil with DME and some hops, topping up in the FV. Much less time and effort compared to AG.