Need convincing

[arcain]

I've been brewing with beer kits for about a year now and been very pleased with the results. I've been toying with the idea of getting a robobrew v3 to go AG but need a bit of convincing to click the "buy now" button. I'm sure there are quite a few members who have been in my position, and just want some feedback from them.

I like the idea of increasing my skill set and developing my brewing but I'm happy with the quality of the beer I am producing and it would mean much longer brew days, and of course it is quite a big investment in kit.

 

[Keats]

I've been brewing with beer kits for about a year now and been very pleased with the results. I've been toying with the idea of getting a robobrew v3 to go AG but need a bit of convincing to click the "buy now" button. I'm sure there are quite a few members who have been in my position, and just want some feedback from them.

I like the idea of increasing my skill set and developing my brewing but I'm happy with the quality of the beer I am producing and it would mean much longer brew days, and of course it is quite a big investment in kit.

Any reason why you are thinking about the robobrew specifically? I’ve only seen it on amazon.com for $479 so it is quite a big investment. I started with kits but then moved onto using a big pan to do 10 litre brews on the cooker before buying an Ace mash tun / boiler for about £100 to make 20 litre batches. It usually takes around 4 hours from start to finish but a lot of that time is mashing and boiling so I don’t actually spend that much time having to do stuff. The quality of beer is so much better than kits I’ve made (in my opinion) so I’d definitely recommend going all grain.

 

[terrym]

If you are happy with what you brew at present, don't have a great deal of spare time, perhaps a bit tight on space too, don't brew all that often, and can find more needy places to spend your money then you may as well stay as you are. If you want a small step up there is always extract brewing, although that's not often attractive to many.
But if you have the time, space, money and brew regularly and want to develop your skill set then you may as well move on to grain brewing.
And although there will be many who will extol the virtues of moving to grain brewing, in the end only you will know what is the best fit for you.

 

[Keats]

If you are happy with what you brew at present, don't have a great deal of spare time, perhaps a bit tight on space too, don't brew all that often, and can find more needy places to spend your money then you may as well stay as you are. If you want a small step up there is always extract brewing, although that's not often attractive to many.
But if you have the time, space, money and brew regularly and want to develop your skill set then you may as well move on to grain brewing.
And although there will be many who will extol the virtues of moving to grain brewing, in the end only you will know what is the best fit for you.

Yep, I meant to say that first bit too!

 

[Clint]

If you are happy what do you expect to gain?
You will spend more initially on kit and your brew day will be longer. As for variety...endless options. Quality...providing you keep your kit in order and get the basics nailed you will make great beer.

 

[Banbeer]

I agree with Clint, there are alot of people on this forum that are very negative at people brewing from kits but at the end of the day if YOU are happy with what you are producing then stick with kits, I've done both and have just bought a Brewster Beacon all in one to enable me to brew more of the things I like and pimp them up. An all in one machine does save time on a brew day but hey can't beat an half hour kit brew

 

[An Ankoù]

If you are happy what do you expect to gain?
You will spend more initially on kit and your brew day will be longer. As for variety...endless options. Quality...providing you keep your kit in order and get the basics nailed you will make great beer.

I agree with Clint. Didn't we all start with kits? I moved on to malt extract and couldn't wait to get home from the pub to have one of my own. Then they decided to put VAT on malt extract and went back to full grain. Back in the day, kits were crap but I understand they're much better now.

 

[arcain]

The reason I was tempted to the dark side was that since I've been brewing with kits, the Grainfather was always the Daddy of AG but the price was prohibitive. More recently there has been a lot of discussion, not least by the youtube fraternity, that the quality of the robobrew v3 was top notch and there was a special price of 320 notes on brewkegtap. I'm always tempted by a bargain and as I live in Portugal shipping was very reasonable as well.

I have the time and space and generally do a brew every 6 weeks, so I reckoned that if I continued with that schedule moneywise it would take me about 2.5 years to recoup my investment (savings of buying grain rather than kits over initial investment of hardware).

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I agree with Clint, there are alot of people on this forum that are very negative at people brewing from kits but at

The beer kit brewing forum was added a few years ago at the requested of kit brewers who wanted their own place to discuss kits without being told to go AG as used to happen often in the general beer brewing forums back then.

 

[Oneflewover]

started with kits but then moved onto using a big pan to do 10 litre brews on the cooker

This is what I did, and is how I dipped my toe into AG / convinced myself that I wanted to invest in an all in one system

 

[Mike Smith]

The reason I was tempted to the dark side was that since I've been brewing with kits, the Grainfather was always the Daddy of AG but the price was prohibitive. More recently there has been a lot of discussion, not least by the youtube fraternity, that the quality of the robobrew v3 was top notch and there was a special price of 320 notes on brewkegtap. I'm always tempted by a bargain and as I live in Portugal shipping was very reasonable as well.

I have the time and space and generally do a brew every 6 weeks, so I reckoned that if I continued with that schedule moneywise it would take me about 2.5 years to recoup my investment (savings of buying grain rather than kits over initial investment of hardware).

If it's only about the cost and the beer then I reckon stick with kits. As long as you get the consistency that you want then stick with it. For me, it's the sense of personal achievement and also the ability to brew stuff you just won't get in kit form. Once you go AG, kegs will follow....

 

[keat64]

Switching from kits to AG is a commitment, but not one that you have to stick to.
There's nothing wrong with doing a kit in between AG's.

The major difference as you've rightly pointed out is the brew day.
An hour for a kit and 4-6 hours for an all grain.

You've no need to go all out, and purchase the grainfather or robobrew (whatever that is).
Doing kits, you already own half the brewing equipment anyway.
You can buy a tea urn water boiler for less than £100 and build a mashtun for around £20.

 

[HarryFlatters]

You can buy a tea urn water boiler for less than £100 and build a mashtun for around £20.

Or do BIAB where you only need the boiler.

 

[MrL73]

I started on kits, did a few and was relatively happy with them. And then did as HarryFlatters says, and bought a 40l Buffalo tea urn and a grain bag and had a go at BIAB. First recipe was a Ghost Ship clone and was easily the best beer I'd ever made. Knocked the kits (Razorback IPA, St Peters Pale Ale, Woodford Wherry and others) into touch and never looked back.

Using grain, IMHO, just makes better beer. It makes real beer, using real ingredients and there is never, EVER the homebrew 'twang' that always seems to be present in a kit beer.

I'd get an urn or a big pan and have a go at BIAB, you'll notice the difference straight away.

 

[JonBrew]

I think @keat64 comment above and what @HarryFlatters has added sums it up for me. However, if you have the money to burn and you have no doubt that you want to switch to all grain then go for the Robobrew.

 

[The Baron]

I'me not here to convince you and I will never knock kit brewers as most kit brewers after a while mod them and do grain steeps, adjuncts etc which is another way of improving any kit to your style. If you want to AG it will give you a new world of recipe development and full control of any beer that takes your fancy. Try a few small batch brews as per the clibit post that is still floating around if you want or BIAB which can be done for under £100 with a boiler and bag thats what I did then once you have a few brews of that type under your belt you will know if the Robo etc is the next step for you Ps the expense will not stop there as somebody as said Cornies are next and a gas set up so factor that in unless you want to bottle everything

 

[Edison]

I started brewing with kits (my first kit was from Boots- a bag thing labelled ‘Bitter’ hung from the inside of the airing cupboard door). After quite a few brews, and less than optimal brewing conditions, I lost interest because all my beers tasted of ‘homebrew’. It was only later when I made the move to AG that I realised just how good homebrew could taste. Now I’m hooked, I can decide to brew something from a recipe, a clone of some beer I’ve tried and loved, or make up something of my own from scratch.

I brew in a 20l Braumeister, partly because of space limitations, partly 3v looked too scary! I don’t doubt I could have brewed better kits by tweaking them with better yeast, hops and temperature control, but I’ve not regretted the investment in time and money because I enjoy the 6 hour brew day as well as the results.

I now brew better beer than I can get in many pubs, so I doubt I’ll every go back to kits because I brew less than once a month and have a few kegs, so if I keep organised I never run out of beer and have to rush anything through! I don’t mind committing to a day to a hobby I enjoy.

 

[bobukbrewer]

Two 13 litre stainless steel pans with lids, and a slotted manifold made with non soldered copper elbows and T pieces is a very good place to start.............

 

[Sandimas]

If you've got a large stockpot (and even if you haven't they're 20 quid-ish on eBay) give Extract brewing a go: apart from the mash, it has all the subsequent steps of AG (hop boil /steep, maybe an adjunct grain steep) and is a good middle-step between kits and AG. You'll see if you can tell the difference in quality between kits and Extract, and whether the longer brewing time works for you (1-2 hours) before you invest in AG kit.

 

[Cwrw666]

I started brewing when I was about 14 - 50 years ago! And did kits (plus country wines) up until 4 years ago. The only reason I decided to give AG a go is that I already had to boil all our water for brewing as we're on untreated spring water and can't use it cold for brewing. So I already had the boiler. First couple of brews were a bit iffy but after that the quality was way above kit beer (and much commercial stuff as well). Plus it's a lot cheaper than kits and I own to being a tightwad.
Give BIAB a go. It's the cheapest way into doing AG.