Stove Toppers kit?

[Zero94]

Hello people

Right I am a complete beginner and I have been asking around some people I know about starting up and they have all said the same thing.

'If you do it, go all grain from the start'

I trust these people, so I am going to dive in at the deep end and start off all grain.

Now my questions are,
Is it a smart idea to go straight into all grain?
Does anyone have any experience with the Stove toppers all grain kits?

They are very affordable which from what research I have done is sort of rare for all grain kits, I could be wrong and if I am I apologize and I will be grateful for any suggestions anyone gives me.

Right link to the kit:
https://www.brewuk.co.uk/stove-toppers-small-batch-starter-kit.html

Cheers people!:thumb:

 

[BeerCat]

Definitely go for it. I woul buy some pale malt and a bit of crystal malt, a selection of hops and some yeast.
What sort of beers do you want to make?
There is an easy all grain thread on here maybe someone can post the link. Well worth a read.

 

[FlatFenBrew]

I had never brewed before until April and took the plunge into all grain. 2 and a half brews later I am really enjoying this hobby!
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, Youtube, Ebay, Amazon Prime, local brewshop and I have to say the fantastic help from the wonderful guys on this particular forum I have not looked back!
As a new brewer I thoroughly recommend good temperature control. I made myself a brewfridge. Simple and cheap to do.

 

[BeerCat]

Found the link. Ask away, loads of helpful people on here.
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51779

 

[Graz]

Just to flip this on it's head doing a kit or two is good for experience and is less likely to go pear shaped. You can use this time to hone things like cleaning / sanitation, temperature control, bottling / kegging, and generally get an understanding of what the hell is going on when you make beer before diving into all-grain.

Anything you would buy to make a beer kit, e.g. a fermenting bin, bottling equipment, cleaner/sanitiser, would also be needed for all-grain so no money wasted.

That said if you feel confident in what you're doing then go for it.

 

[Manxnorton]

As Graz said the best advise start slow and hone your skills..
Getting every step right is so important.
The last thing you want to do is jump into something without knowing what if it doesn't pan out that you wanted..
But that's what we do! Questions are quick here, and you can improved every time to get better n better.
Part of the love of trying new things for me is the hrs n hrs of research, getting the kit together..buying the ingredients etc.
Then come brew day set up the kit...take time to check everything and check again...(lol Brian's FV tap left open for a example!)
Putting every stage/phase together is bloody satisfy lol
Best think I done after 30 odd years of kits is AG brewing...never looked back.
Still want to try BIAB some time.
Really enjoy yourself...
Looking fwd to your progress...we'll be here if you need help. :-)
Bri

 

[chub1]

I must admit that most of my brews are biab small batches but do a fair few partial mashes and the odd extract and have had some damn good beers from extract:smile:

 

[Zero94]

So the general response is go for it, start off with a few kits then start experimenting.
Well I have a nice little tax rebate coming in so I think its time start brewing!

 

[MagnusTS]

Nice one. You won't regret starting brewing.

I'd agree with the advice folks are giving here that it is good to start off with a few kits to get the basics down. You don't want to spend 5 hours doing an all-grain brew only for it to go pear shaped at syphoning or something. There are some really nice kits available. I'd recommend pretty much anything by Festival, you can't go wrong.

I've tried the Mosaic IPA StoveTopper. It was a really really good beer, and I found it was a very good introduction to the steps in all-grain brewing. But those kits are a lot of time and money for 8 or 9 pints of beer. I think someone has already pointed you to the excellent thread on 'Have a go at simple AG' - it's a really good cheap alternative to StoveToppers.

Good luck with the brew career. Have fun.

 

[IainM]

+1 on the advice to start with kits.

 

[Sandimas]

When I started brewing, I planned to start brewing with kits but I didn't realise until I came on here that I actually started brewing with Extract: my LHBS makes up his own kits with 2 tins of liquid malt and some bags of hops. Extract isn't such a big leap from kits, you do a reduced-volume boil (6-8L) adding in hops, then strain into the FV and top up with cold water.

Having said that, the quality of kits these days is excellent. When I started 6 years ago, most kits were quite bland and very few came with additional hops. I've just made the Tiny Rebel Cwtch kit and it's amazing, plenty of other good kits out there.