Kits I Wouldn't Brew Again

[Foggie]

Tinsel Toes - Bought 2 kits las year - Big mistake.
"A wintery dark ruby beer with sweet, fruit flavours and hints of Christmas pudding. A smooth fusion of roast malts with rich fruit characterstics ABV - 4.5%"

Not what I'd call a Christmas Ale. Had that thin watery taste. No feel. Just a hint of spice. Perhaps would have worked as a 4 gal/18l (5.5% ish) kit. I put the 2nd kit into Imperial Stouts.

 

[Brewed_Force]

Not one I did, but a friend brewed Munton's Smugglers Special Ale kit, which is in their hand crafted range.
It was awful, imagine homebrew twang times 10

 

[Foggie]

Not one I did, but a friend brewed Munton's Smugglers Special Ale kit, which is in their hand crafted range.
It was awful, imagine homebrew twang times 10

One to look forward to.
40 bottles with yellow caps in a box somewhere. Should be ready to try next week says the spreadsheet. Perhaps

 

[micklupulo]

Tinsel Toes - Bought 2 kits las year - Big mistake.
"A wintery dark ruby beer with sweet, fruit flavours and hints of Christmas pudding. A smooth fusion of roast malts with rich fruit characterstics ABV - 4.5%"

Not what I'd call a Christmas Ale. Had that thin watery taste. No feel. Just a hint of spice. Perhaps would have worked as a 4 gal/18l (5.5% ish) kit. I put the 2nd kit into Imperial Stouts.

Agree about tinsel toes. I did it in winter '21 and it was insipid rubbish!

 

[Sandimas]

Just a thought - how long are you leaving your kits to condition before drinking?

Looking back at my notes from when I mainly did kits, unlike AG brewing which you can practially drink from the FV, kits need a decent conditioning time: most of mine came good after 6-8 weeks in the bottle. Wherry and Smugglers were both regulars, the last few bottles that had conditioned the longest were always the best.

 

[micklupulo]

In a moment of madness I brewed a Geordie Yorkshire Ale when my stocks were low and after seeing a few good reviews. I even upgraded the yeast and added malt extract but the result was horrible. Good head and clear but a weird edge which dominated. Never again and has put me off kits in general though I do realise many are superior.

 

[GhostDoggyWoofWoof]

Grr, just bought the MJ Neslon Sauvin. I had to, it was £10. Oh well.

 

[Foggie]

Re Smugglers -
One to look forward to.
40 bottles with yellow caps in a box somewhere. Should be ready to try next week says the spreadsheet. Perhaps

Turns out Smugglers was
And Tinsel Toes is still after 6 months

 

[soupdragon]

Good news about the Smugglers as I've got one upstairs in the brew room waiting to be made

Cheers Tom

 

[Begbie]

Grr, just bought the MJ Neslon Sauvin. I had to, it was £10. Oh well.

That's why I bought it too - it was a bargain price and would fill the beer gap between AG brews. Don't be disheartened though, as it's still drinkable.

 

[Brewed_Force]

One to look forward to.
40 bottles with yellow caps in a box somewhere. Should be ready to try next week says the spreadsheet. Perhaps

I'm sure yours will be fine

 

[jeremy Hall]

In a moment of madness I brewed a Geordie Yorkshire Ale when my stocks were low and after seeing a few good reviews. I even upgraded the yeast and added malt extract but the result was horrible. Good head and clear but a weird edge which dominated. Never again and has put me off kits in general though I do realise many are superior.

I've done Geordie mild a couple of times. Both times it produced quite a nice very drinkable brew. Didn't knock my socks off, but I thought it quite decent.

 

[micklupulo]

I've done Geordie mild a couple of times. Both times it produced quite a nice very drinkable brew. Didn't knock my socks off, but I thought it quite decent.

Yes I csn believe that as about 35 years ago a friend of mine only ever brewed Geordie Northern Mild which was good and I suspect little has changed since except the slight name change perhaps to widen its appeal.

Some reviews of the Yorkshire Bitter referred to a slightly sour taste so perhaps the SO4 yeast I used somehow exaggerated that aspect of the flavour. There are times when it's best to not tamper with a kit!

 

[Graz]

Young's American Oaked Rum Ale
MJ Raspberry Berliner Weisse
MJ Bavarian Wheat
MJ Spiced Belgian Dubbel
MJ Orange and Cinnamon Wit
Munton's Taproom Lemon Radler
Bulldog Strawberry Pale Ale

Lots of MJ but I do lots of their kits and tend to choose 'different' stuff, apparently just so my wife can say 'I told you so'.

Of this this I've made the Oaked Rum Ale a few times and really enjoyed it. Might not be to everyone's taste though.

I thought the Strawberry Pale was ok too but I tend to find a lot of kits that are fruity tend to taste artificial. This was on the edge of that.

I also made a MJ Spiced Belgian Dubbel for Christmas last year, also thought that came out well, hints of spice but not too in your face.

 

[Graz]

Agree about tinsel toes. I did it in winter '21 and it was insipid rubbish!

Same here, I mean it was ok but nothing amazing. Wouldn't bother again.

 

[Graz]

On my list of not to be repeated...

Coopers Family Secret Amber Ale - yes they should have kept it a secret. Not really a fan of 1 can kits anyway but having made Coopers Stout a few times and enjoyed it thought I try something else from the range.
St. Peters Honey Porter - Weird artificial taste that isn't quite honey.
MJ Mango Pale Ale - Again tasted of mango flavoring rather than actual mangos.
Gozdawa (Any) - Mistakenly purchased and made the Black IPA, was possibly one of the worst kits I've made in years, should have done some research first as I've yet to see anything favorable written about any of these kits.

Probably others but these are from recent memory and like I said previously I don't tend to make 1 can kits.

 

[Bzee]

Maybe 15 years ago I did a brewferm raspberry kit that I'm still traumatised by

 

[GhostDoggyWoofWoof]

On my list of not to be repeated...

Coopers Family Secret Amber Ale - yes they should have kept it a secret. Not really a fan of 1 can kits anyway but having made Coopers Stout a few times and enjoyed it thought I try something else from the range.
St. Peters Honey Porter - Weird artificial taste that isn't quite honey.
MJ Mango Pale Ale - Again tasted of mango flavoring rather than actual mangos.
Gozdawa (Any) - Mistakenly purchased and made the Black IPA, was possibly one of the worst kits I've made in years, should have done some research first as I've yet to see anything favorable written about any of these kits.

Probably others but these are from recent memory and like I said previously I don't tend to make 1 can kits.

I made the Abbaye Gold Gozdawa and thought it wasn't bad. Cold, Leffe-ish brew, hit the spot on a hot summers day.. But not spectacular. I thought MJ Berliner Weisse was great. Got my second shot at it in keg at mo.

 

[MashBag]

I get the feeling this is thread has a flaw. A lot of us brew AG

I am off to pose a different question.

 

[Wherrypuzzled]

Oh no . I've just bought a Tinsel Toes . Hope it's better than reviews say

CWTCH was the one I messed up (at least I must have ) because I went to Newport 0 Doncaster 1 last Season and called at Tiny Rebel

The CWTCH was tremendous so make me want to do it again lol