Malt Extract Tins ?

[Hopperty]

I have had a bit of a mix up with the tins from a couple of Muntons kits, (the 'Imperial Stout' and the 'Porter') as the tins are un-labelled apart from a code number I got the tins mixed up and didn't know which was which. So I emailed muntons to ask which was which, and I am utterly baffled by their answer. "All three cans contain Stout Malt extract but depending on which kit these came from you can either make stout or porter or various beers depending on what it is mixed with"

So is it just the yeast that determines the outcome?

The kits come as two-can packs , I had presumed both cans contained the same contents - but may be not ?

Also, why do some Kits (such as Coopers) come with one can and you have to add your own sugar. And other kits (such as Muntins) come as two-tins and no sugar is added - what is the difference ?

 

[An Ankoù]

To answer the last part of your question. Generally speaking, kits with one tin drink thinner than kits with two tins. The added sugar effectively replaces the second tin, but sugar just leaves alcohol and water behind, little or no flavour or character (although some say it gives a "cidery" taste. The Belgians often add sugar to their strong beer so that they are lighter and crisper to drink when they might otherwise be heavy and cloying. When you ferment all-malt, eg from two tins, you have 70-80% fermentable sugar and some more complex saccharides like dextrins. These don't ferment and they give the beer body and mouthfeel. Malt also has flavour and colour from the melonoidins formed during its production.
In general it should be better to use all malt than 50:50 malt and sugar BUT a poor two-tin kit won't necessarily be better than a good single-tin kit.

 

[Hopperty]

so is it different types of yeast that make the Malt Extract into either Porter, Imperial or other types of beers. ?

I had presumed the tins would vary from kit to kit - but may be not ?

 

[GerritT]

https://www.brewdog.com/blog/yeasts-collaborations-and-old-world---our-latest-brews

 

[An Ankoù]

so is it different types of yeast that make the Malt Extract into either Porter, Imperial or other types of beers. ?

I had presumed the tins would vary from kit to kit - but may be not ?

No. Not really. It's the malt mixture. All beers are made from, say, 80-95% base malt and then other malts are added to give flavour, colour, body etc. A stout might be quite similar to a porter, but not the same. If you start with a stout, using different yeast will make a slightly different stout- it might taste "cleaner" or heavier or lighter or fizzier or sweeter etc, but it'll still be a stout.
Now it may well be that all the Munton's two-canners contain one stout can and a can of something else which when mixed with the stout can, gives eg an Irish stout, or a porter or a some other dark beer.
In fact as far as I know, Muntons only make two yeasts anyway, but I might be wrong there.

 

[GerritT]

Popped a BrewFerm can this weekend, the IPA. It's very slow starting, I even doubted there was action as the waterlock did signal pressure but did not bloop (microleak somewhere). It's very dense matter so I guess a challenge for average yeasts.