Newbie - kit or extract?

[jondy1954]

Hi

I'm keen to return to home brewing after dabbling briefly years ago and wonder whether I should start with a kit or plunge straight in with an extract brew? I would like to think I will in time progress to AG brewing and don't want to start on a kit if extract is do-able. I've read that some brewers notice little difference in quality between kit and extract but that the real leap in quality happens when AG is mastered.

Having read a little and watched a couple of American videos the extract route doesn't seem too difficult (!) I can borrow some of the necessary equipment and buy anything else. Is the main issue with extract chilling the wort (correct term, I hope?) Is plunging the pan into a sink of cold water acceptable, rather than a head exchanger?
So, what would you good people recommend for such a newbie? Any advice on reliable kits/ingredients/suppliers would be much appreciated.

 

[MyQul]

Welcome to the forum.

You seem to be quite keen on making you way to AG so why not start right there. Plenty of people do. It's not as difficult as you'd think. Just start with 5L stove top brewing to get the hang of it then perhaps move on to bigger brewlengths

Have a look at this guide. It's turned plenty of members onto AG. You dont have to read everything in the thread just read the first post and add any questions on to the end
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51779

 

[Sandimas]

Is the main issue with extract chilling the wort (correct term, I hope?) Is plunging the pan into a sink of cold water acceptable, rather than a head exchanger?

No, the great thing with extract is that generally your boil is a much-reduced volume (6-8L) compared to AG full-volume boils, you then strain this into the FV and top it up with cold water to makeup the desired volume, so often you don't need to cool it, or if you do it's only by 5-10 degrees.

I watched a few videoes when I started brewing and went straight to extract. I'm now mainly AG but I don't think it's as simple as people make out: just my opinion. I've found it a trickier learning curve to get consistently good beer than I expected after 4 years of extract brewing.

BrewUK do a good range of extract recipe packs, I've done many of them and they make good beers:
https://www.brewuk.co.uk/beerkits/craftybrews/brewextract.html

 

[dad_of_jon]

Having done a few kits, and lots of extract brews, some with grains and one single AG I can say that...

A pimped kit or extract will give you a lift over a bog standard kit. You may find that there's no need to move to AG if you love what you've already made.

I do reduced volume boils with extract which is easier to cool down without extra effort. for darker stronger beers you do generally need to steep some speciality grains, but for wheat beers and ipa's extract only plus hops and a tidy dried yeast has worked fine for me.

if you have a style you like i'm happy to ping you a recipe over.

best wishes whatever you decide :

and welcome to the addiction!

 

[chub1]

Hi
have done a few kits some plain and some tweaked with grains etc.
Am now doing small batches ( 6 ltres)of extract brews as experiments and loving it. I have imho done some really nice IPA's, stouts and bitters that are way way better than any of my kit brews :thumb:
I have been using the recipe builder available on here after getting some basic recipe ideas from books and then tweaking them myself via the r/builder.

 

[Bigjas]

I did two kits before I went and brewed AG. It got me in to the swing of things easily and I ended up with some nice beer. I did a lot of reading whilst brewing the kits and got all my equipment together. It was nice to taste the difference between a kit and an AG brew.

Jas

 

[LarryF]

I suppose it depends on the volumes of beer you want to brew and drink as most kits are geared towards 23L or there abouts. There's pluses and minuses for both. Kits are easier to brew and with a tweak you'll get great results very early on. Also, as they are easier to brew it allows you to concentrate on basics of cleaning and hygiene and work at getting these right as they are so important in whatever brewing you do. Then again small 5L AG brews will allow you to make really good beer and are small enough for the AG process not to be daunting or overwhelming as well as the cleaning and hygiene regime needed for brewing good beer.

 

[jondy1954]

Thanks to everyone who's posted so far. Lots of great stuff to read and digest. I'll be back!

 

[ericmark]

I only do kits, main problem for me is space, I have a fridge/freezer in garage to brew in and a shed to store my brew and that is it. If I could clear out the garage I would have a go, but I brew to drink cheap ale, others brew for sheer delight of making a really special beer, and I take off my hat to them. Kit beer is so easy, contains of can with sugar and water with yeast set fridge to 18ºC and forget for 3 weeks, bottle in plastic pop bottles leave another 3 weeks and there is you beer, so little work.

 

[Robin54]

I only do kits, main problem for me is space, I have a fridge/freezer in garage to brew in and a shed to store my brew and that is it. If I could clear out the garage I would have a go, but I brew to drink cheap ale, others brew for sheer delight of making a really special beer, and I take off my hat to them. Kit beer is so easy, contains of can with sugar and water with yeast set fridge to 18ºC and forget for 3 weeks, bottle in plastic pop bottles leave another 3 weeks and there is you beer, so little work.

I would agree - it all depends where you are and where you want to go in an aspirational way

 

[ElChemist]

Agree massively with Robin, all depends where you wanna end up. Cheap Beer? Stick with Kits. Nowt wrong with em, dead easy, super straightforward.
Fancy a fiddle? Extract, quick easy great beer, more tweakable.
Enjoy the process, wanna tweak the arse off the beer and brew a lavendar and Papaya flavoured stout with goji berry tinge? AG (and a psychologist!).

I'm a chemistry freak, so I love the process, AG is the next step for me once I get a pipe bender...

Choose your poison and go forth n brew...