Kits, or hops and grain?

[JMuRRay]

Hi guys, I'm currently only using beer kits you can buy, but I've heard great stuff from people using the grain and hops. Which do you guys prefer? Is the process much different? And are the end results of kits inferior to the hops and grain? Thanks in advance for your views guys:)!

 

[Robin54]

Hi guys, I'm currently only using beer kits you can buy, but I've heard great stuff from people using the grain and hops. Which do you guys prefer? Is the process much different? And are the end results of kits inferior to the hops and grain? Thanks in advance for your views guys:)!

Thats a whole can of worms thats going to divide opinion. There are some cracking kits out there, and they are quick and easy to do. For instance I did a Brewtferm Christmas Ale kit which takes 6 months to mature, which would be a bit of a sod to make from grain imo. Having said that, Ive moved over to AG simply cos I can make small batches using the hops and grains I want to use, and its a heck of a lot cheaper - well thats what I told the wife. For instance, you can do AG with a 15L stock pot and then use it to make turkey soup on Boxing day whilst enjoying one of your crafted beers!!

 

[Fil]

imho the results can be a lot better with all grain brewing But your talking about a 5-8hour elapsed brewday compared to 15minutes mixing in a couple of tins of extract.

you can brew very high quality beer with the top shelf kits (2 x tins - no sugar additions) but if you feel the urge and wish to invest a bit of cash on the equipment and spend day at the brewface ag brewing can be highly rewarding.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Hi guys, I'm currently only using beer kits you can buy, but I've heard great stuff from people using the grain and hops. Which do you guys prefer? Is the process much different? And are the end results of kits inferior to the hops and grain? Thanks in advance for your views guys:)!

neither! :grin: I use extract & hops with some grains from time to time that and tidy water

I do a short small boil with extract about 6-8 litres then I top up in the fv for 20+ litres. it;s a halfway house but much better than a LME 1 can kit.

I dont feel the need to go to ag.

 

[Robin54]

neither! :grin: I use extract & hops with some grains from time to time that and tidy water

I do a short small boil with extract about 6-8 litres then I top up in the fv for 20+ litres. it;s a halfway house but much better than a LME 1 can kit.

I dont feel the need to go to ag.

here, here young man..its all about what you are happy doing, not what someone says is best. The best is what YOU like...not some **** on Youtube.
and by the way Brewtferm kits are only ONE can...and they make a cracking ale so long as you are prepared to wait about a year.!!!!!

 

[chub1]

Hi guys, I'm currently only using beer kits you can buy, but I've heard great stuff from people using the grain and hops. Which do you guys prefer? Is the process much different? And are the end results of kits inferior to the hops and grain? Thanks in advance for your views guys:)!

Kits are fine, quick and easy,brew em straight as per instructions or brew em short to bump up the ABV somewhat. I 'tampered' with two Wilko kits, adding hops, treacle or golden syrup ,malt extract instead of sugar and they were really half decent. Moved onto extract brews(small batches) and still doing some despite having a pop at AG and the results in my opinion were/are way way better than any kit that i tried and some of the beers were according to others who tried them, very good indeed
All a matter of time and taste i guess, probably many many people stick to kits and most probably produce some cracking beers.Others like myself progress somewhat and yet more progress right up to almost small brewery setups.:)

 

[JMuRRay]

Thanks so much for all the info guys! Been very interesting reading all the responses! I'm pretty new at this, and wanted to get all the opinions I can. Another question for you more experienced Brewers, the only kits I've used ( and I've used very few) have been ones from places like wilkos. Any better places you guys can recommend for kits? Or are they pretty good as they are?

 

[Poochops]

What type of beer do you like? Or do you like any beer like me?!

 

[Badseed1974]

I only did one kit before moving onto AG so can't really comment on the quality of kits. I will say though that AG brewing is much more fun and also more rewarding than brewing a kit despite it being much more time consuming.

 

[JMuRRay]

What type of beer do you like? Or do you like any beer like me?!

I'll drink just about any beer to be honest! But for my next brew I've got my eye on a nice pils kit!

 

[Poochops]

Not done a pils yet but I do have a Festival New Zealand pilsner in the cupboard to put on in the next few weeks, best advice I can give is to have a read of the beer kit reviews section of the forum; there's an index of all the reviews in the sticky near the top.
There's loads of good mail order companies out there but prices do vary considerably, I try to think ahead and buy large enough orders to avoid the delivery charge, fine if you can afford it all in one go, but some of the Coopers or Wilkos pilsners have decent reviews too

 

[JMuRRay]

Not done a pils yet but I do have a Festival New Zealand pilsner in the cupboard to put on in the next few weeks, best advice I can give is to have a read of the beer kit reviews section of the forum; there's an index of all the reviews in the sticky near the top.
There's loads of good mail order companies out there but prices do vary considerably, I try to think ahead and buy large enough orders to avoid the delivery charge, fine if you can afford it all in one go, but some of the Coopers or Wilkos pilsners have decent reviews too

It was the coopers one I was looking at actually. You'll have to let me know how the New Zealand one turns out. I do drink a fair amount of Holsten pils, so if I were able to brew anything anywhere near close to that id be a very happy boy! Sorry to go off topic fella, but the ale I'm brewing currently says it's supposed to be kept between 18-23 Celsius. Does that change when brewing a lager? Thanks again man

 

[Personal91]

here, here young man..its all about what you are happy doing, not what someone says is best. The best is what YOU like...not some **** on Youtube.
and by the way Brewtferm kits are only ONE can...and they make a cracking ale so long as you are prepared to wait about a year.!!!!!

The only way I could leave my homebrew that long was if I lost or forgot about it! hehe:whistle:

 

[Personal91]

It was the coopers one I was looking at actually. You'll have to let me know how the New Zealand one turns out. I do drink a fair amount of Holsten pils, so if I were able to brew anything anywhere near close to that id be a very happy boy! Sorry to go off topic fella, but the ale I'm brewing currently says it's supposed to be kept between 18-23 Celsius. Does that change when brewing a lager? Thanks again man

brewing temps can change depending on the tolerance of the yeast you are using, that and the method you are using

most newer yeasts are a lot more tolerant to temp changes then what was out there in the past!

 

[Poochops]

If you're after something like a Holsten pils then you're into temperature control, lagering and most likely AG plus a fair wind and a load of experience in reality. My limited experience of Brewferm kits would lead me to suggest giving their pils a try, the body and depth of flavour on the ones I've tried so far has been superb. If you were doing a Coopers then I'd brew it quite short to get extra body and higher abv, perhaps 15 litres or so, even then you'd be hard pressed. The Brewferm pils would be interesting to try though imo.

 

[Sandimas]

A good middle ground is to beef up kits with hops and sometimes grains. Lots of different ways to do it and Coopers have a load of recipes on their website, I've done some of these and they are a good improvement on the standard kits. And as others have said, brew them short, I normally do them 18-20L rather than the suggested 23L resulting in more flavour.
http://store.coopers.com.au/recipes/index/list/section/lager

I've done the Czech Pilsner recipe several times (without knowing it) - 25g of Saaz or Hallertau into a short-brewed 18L Coopers Lager always makes a good brew.

 

[Slid]

I only did one kit before moving onto AG so can't really comment on the quality of kits. I will say though that AG brewing is much more fun and also more rewarding than brewing a kit despite it being much more time consuming.

There are few words in the English language that would adequately describe the difference between a kit beer and an AG.

 

[Hoppyland]

There are few words in the English language that would adequately describe the difference between a kit beer and an AG.

Well, before May this year I'd have totally agreed. But I've moved house - the "new" one is damp, bat-infested, dodgy electrics & plumbing, fences that let the dogs out etc etc.........

So little time to brew. Stopping is unthinkable, so I've tried 2 can kits - the first kits I've brewed in decades, as a dedicated all-grain man. (Wooforde's Sundew & Wherry from Wilko's mainly)
Well, I've been pleasantly surprised. OK, the yeast went straight in the bin, replaced by my Brewlab slopes. Also, the kits desperately needed the addition of flavour hops, and then dry-hopping. But the result is very good.
Hellishly expensive, though. £20 for a 23l brew seems a hell of a lot to me - especially since I'm throwing at least £6 of hops at it, plus expensive yeast. So the beer could be costing me 70p per bottle. Not cheap at all. But, if I had to cost my own labour for making AG, then that would work out pretty expensive too. :-?

 

[Rocksaga]

I have done a few 'Festival' kits in the last year and they are pretty good but cost around £25. I started off my 'brewing career' with a Razorback IPA before moving to AG. I tend to do kits more as a quick fix as I get 23ltr from one as opposed to 9ltr from AG. The kit then gives me chance to get a few different batches done while still having something to go at.

 

[Slid]

Well, before May this year I'd have totally agreed. But I've moved house - the "new" one is damp, bat-infested, dodgy electrics & plumbing, fences that let the dogs out etc etc.........

So little time to brew. Stopping is unthinkable, so I've tried 2 can kits - the first kits I've brewed in decades, as a dedicated all-grain man. (Wooforde's Sundew & Wherry from Wilko's mainly)
Well, I've been pleasantly surprised. OK, the yeast went straight in the bin, replaced by my Brewlab slopes. Also, the kits desperately needed the addition of flavour hops, and then dry-hopping. But the result is very good.
Hellishly expensive, though. �£20 for a 23l brew seems a hell of a lot to me - especially since I'm throwing at least �£6 of hops at it, plus expensive yeast. So the beer could be costing me 70p per bottle. Not cheap at all. But, if I had to cost my own labour for making AG, then that would work out pretty expensive too. :-?

Ah! Priorities and all that. Sometimes life gets in the way of a hobby.

So, well said, mate, at least you understand your priorities. Should stand you in good stead. :thumb: