Sort it out, Muntons....

[marshbrewer]

I've just started drinking my Muntons Connoisseurs Continental Lager. I won't bore you with my criticisms (that's on my blog, if you want to read my moans), but needless to say, I'm not impressed. They say a picture paints a thousand words, or something, so to give you an idea of my disappointment ~ on the left, Coopers Canadian Blonde, made with 1kg Muntons Brew Enhancer. On the right, Muntons Connoisseurs Continental Lager made with same.

Can you guess what the problem is?

I'm almost ashamed that as a great beer nation we can't do better than this..

 

[abeyptfc]

dunno, you've swallied more of the beer on the right than the left! the one on the left does seem clearer but they both look to have a decent head on them

 

[marshbrewer]

Keep in mind that the one on the right is meant to be a lager... (actually, they both are )

 

[jamesb]

I assume you're referring to the colour?

 

[gsidford]

But .... what does it taste like ?

 

[marshbrewer]

I assume you're referring to the colour?

Aye, and I'm afraid it tastes like it looks, i.e........

But .... what does it taste like ?

.........nothing like lager at all. It's not bad, for me, because I like various ales, but if I had brought this because I only liked lagers, or even paler ales, I'd be pretty peeved.

Not on, really.

 

[jamesb]

So you want a pilsner rather than a lager then? lagers are all sorts of colours and flavours.

 

[marshbrewer]

So you want a pilsner rather than a lager then? lagers are all sorts of colours and flavours.

Jesus, someone has been on a 'how to patronise people' course.

You're right, though. The fact that the picture on the kit presents a blonde lager type of beer that most people would think of when presented with the words 'continental lager' is of no consequence, and it is my mistake because I was looking for a pilsner, but was obviously too stupid to realise this fact, and I am just being totally unreasonable to expect that they might have prefixed the word 'lager' with Dunkel or Schwarzbier or some such to indicate that this isn't a blonde beer at all and changed to representative picture to suit, even though that would be inaccurate because this is a friggin ale with hardly any taste or colour connection with any type of lager whatsoever .

 

[jamesb]

Sorry, didn't mean to sound patronising. there's a lot of brewers with different levels of knowledge on this forum so we can't automatically assume that they know stuff.

You're right though. I would expect it to be pilsner style from just being called lager. any idea how fresh the kit was? thay can apparently get darker with age and i'd assume the taste suffers too.

 

[Moley]

on the left, Coopers Canadian Blonde, made with 1kg Muntons Brew Enhancer. On the right, Muntons Connoisseurs Continental Lager made with same.

Without wishing to patronise, if you've made them with Enhancer, which includes spraymalt and brewing sugar, it's going to come out darker than they intended.

Having said that, the Cooper's (before additions) must be really pale, but the Munton's + spraymalt does actually look like a pint of Banks's.

 

[marshbrewer]

Yeah, I'd read that about BE, and would perhaps of put it down to that, but the thing is that both were made with exactly the same amount of brew enhancer, and the extract on the Muntons kit was extremely dark to begin with. Weird. I'm almost tempted to think that the wrong label was put on the kit, but I imagine that's pretty unlikely in a factory situation without a whole batch being affected, which surely would have been noticed by now. Just put it down to experience, I guess.

 

[unclepumble]

A word of advice without trying to be patronising.

Does the fast food you buy ever look like the photographs behind the fast food counter?

Or does it look more squashed and less appetising with heat damaged wilting lettuce inside.

The picture of the pie on A Fray Bentos Tin looks quite appetising, but Have you ever eaten one utter cack :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick:

Stag Chilli looks quite nice from the picture on the Tin, But the stuff inside bears no resemblance to the photograph on the tin, I wouldn't feed the stuff inside to my dog its cack :sick: :sick: :sick:

Therefore I Would imagine the same is the case with Beer Kits.

If you want a specific product I suggest you would be better to make it yourself out of the correct raw materials, rather than relying on a mass produced syrup in a tin.

Were not patronising we just know better.

Here endeth the first lesson. :thumb:

UP

 

[snail59]

What he said .

 

[marshbrewer]

Fair enoughski, but I still reckon that if you ordered a cheese burger and was given a chicken sandwich, you'd not be best pleased.

So far, for me at least, the Coopers and Bruferm kits appear to provide a decent approximation to what they promise, but you live and learn. I'll give Muntons a wide steer next time I'm in my local HBC (which is a bit of a pisser, because I've just put a Burton Bridge Summer Ale in the FV, which I understand is made by Muntons).

I can see that I'm in a minority of one here, so I'll shut up now. :thumb:

 

[Aleman]

The Coopers and Bruferm kits appear to provide a decent approximation to what they promise, but you live and learn. I'll give Muntons a wide steer next time I'm in my local HBC (which is a bit of a pisser, because I've just put a Burton Bridge Summer Ale in the FV, which I understand is made by Muntons).

I can see that I'm in a minority of one here, so I'll shut up now. :thumb:

No you are not. I agree that Muntons really need to get their act together, if the kits are not fermenting out fully, the colour from adding spraymalt is completely off, and I also think it throws the flavour out as well. The bad news for brewers in the UK is that Muntons make 90% of the extract in tins that does not have Coopers on the label.

If you are after a kit that really comes close to what you are aiming for, and are prepared to put a bit of effort in (and the extract is not made by Muntons) Then consider the Design a Brew kits from [http://www.hamstead-brewing-centre.co.uk] Hamstead Homebrew. They are not cheap kits but in my opinion you get what you pay for. This is my attempt to make one up

 

[marshbrewer]

Thanks for the tip, Aleman, I'll look at those. I usually like to buy stuff from my local HBC to give them support, and was thinking that I'd start extract brewing when I'd worked my way through all the Coopers and Brewferm kits (they stock Coopers liquid malts), but I might give a couple of these a go as an interim step.

 

[Aleman]

Your LHBS as a retailer should be able to buy direct from Hamstead Homebrew as a wholesaler. I do know the Heart Of England range is available in several HBS in the Midlands region, as Hamstead Homebrew are not just a retailer, but are involved in manufacture and distribution of beer and wine 'kits' as well

 

[marshbrewer]

Excellent, I'll have a chat with them next time I'm in. :thumb:

 

[pjbiker]

, if the kits are not fermenting out fully,

This is the reason I did 2 extract brews then went straight to all grain. That, and I'm a compulsive tinkerer

 

[Vindiv8]

A word of advice without trying to be patronising.


The picture of the pie on A Fray Bentos Tin looks quite appetising, but Have you ever eaten one utter cack :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick:

I love Fray Bentos pies! :thumb: