the reason

[streamer13]

Its horses for courses. I have always wanted to concentrate on AG brewing but time and economy make me put kits together just to have something better than the rubbish in the supermarket to drink. I like malty flavoured beers and have tried improving ordinary kits with malt extract and spray dried malt and pale cracked malt I have mashed myself. I have a good gas oven that allows me to keep the mash at 66c on low. I made an AG kit this year and it was very good but not perfect but this was mainly because of my lack of equipment and expertise. I wouldn't knock kits because they are probably more consistent as there is less can go wrong in the making.
So to me it's like all things, you start with a kit and progress towards the real thing if you are keen to improve your skills and are looking for the best you can get or just trying to satisfy your own taste. There is no doubt that AG brewing has the potential to produce something wonderful but it's not everyone who will find the time to learn it or have the facilities to make it.
The best beer I ever tasted was an AG brew I made 30 years ago and it was quite good from the barrel but after the pressure was used up I bottled the remaining 10 pints from the barrel and forgot about it. I had it 1 year later and I still rave about it today. It doesn't mean to say the older the better but that's the great thing about home brewing every brew is unique.

 

[llannige]

Admin,why not start a separate thread for kits and extracts so they don't get lost among the AG threads.I'm sure it will provide a bit of a "higher profile" in the future.

Well we have considered that, but..how many kit brewers would go into the AG section, and how many AG brewers would go into the kit section? My guess is....not many.


Of course you're right Wez,I never thought of that.

To be honest I never look at the kits and rarely look at the extract posts.
They don't really interest me,but as I said earlier.There is a place for both. :thumb:

 

[jonewer]

Personally I think anyone who takes up a hobby to save money is missing the point and will soon move on to a different hobby.

Take knitting or allotmenteering.... sure your sweater might be cheaper or it might not be, sure your onions might be cheaper or they might not be, but if you factor in the hours you put in then its clearly not worth it. Better to head down to tescos and buy a sweater for £2 or a kilo of budget onions for £1.....

But thats not the point. The point is to make something. To create it. To craft it to your personal likes and dislikes.

Just in the same way as as theres satisfaction in wearing a sweater you knitted or eating potatoes that you grew yourself, theres an immense satisfaction when you taste your own AG and bloody hell its good! You just cant get that satisfaction from a tin or two of syrup you poured into a bucket, regardless of how good it tastes in the end.

Even if the kit is the best beer in the world and your AG tastes like a postman's underpants, you can hold your AG up to the light, admire the floaty bits and say to the world "I MADE THIS BEER!"

 

[highwayman]

Micoo
I have enjoyed this thread...I like yourself made kits to start off with. I stopped brewing for 15 years and then decided to start again 15 months ago. I made a kit ..which was ok ..but then I started to read about AG brewing on here and I saw threads on How to ...So I made a 25 litre HLT and a Mashtun (from a Coolbox) and I bought a 10 gallon Boiler from H & G and added my own Hop Strainer and added 2 cheapo Tesco kettle elements! I was so impressed with my first AG beer that I have never gone back to kits!

In fact I have recently refurbished my brewery from plastic to SS because I have gone onto Gas. Yes it has been expensive move but its my only hobby and I just love the end result :thumb:

If you pm me your address, I will send you a bottle of my Riggwelter to try. It's still young as I only bottled it yesterday. You can then decide whether or not AG is for you :thumb:

 

[Moley]

WHY

do you know anyone who makes AG?

only you guys never been lucky enough to sample AG think thats why im reluctant to have a go myself

Where in the West Midlands?

The same to Micoo: If you post your location you could get an invitation to an AG brewday, or find one or two forum members who would be glad to drop you off a bottle or two.

 

[rickthebrew]

I love brewing - beer,wine and cider
I started on kits and planned to move to AG by next year - my third AG is in the FV at the moment :party:
Some kits are OK some just bad - i found the coopers range really good and the woodfordes range really good. Its cheaper to brew AG especially when you look at the price of bottled ale even in the supermarkets, ok so you can get 24cans of fosters carling etc for a tenner when its on offer - and i do sometimes buy these - don`t want to give all my AG away! Its a great hobby with an everchanging end result - i started brewing kits mainly for a cheap beer - but as other people have said once you go AG (and there is NO turning back :twisted:from the dark side) and you factor in your time etc its not cheaper then buying beer - but the pride and satisfaction i get from drinking a beer i have invented and made is priceless to me - in six months its become a huge hobby for me and the fact that its a hobby means you don`t mind taking the time to produce AG beer -raw materials are cheapish and i can brew 40pints of well hopped ale for around a tenner - better then any kit i reckon!
This forum is an outstanding source of information and great fun to (just watch your spelling :whistle: )
I have learnt how to brew from this site alone and as there seems to be more brewers up north and not so many in devon i wasn`t able to see some ones brewday before i started my own - so i jumped in feet first with the help of loads of people on this forum : just by reading old posts etc you can learn loads. So thats why i brew - oh yeah and i do love a beer too

 

[prolix]

I used to brew kits like practically every AG'er, it has taken me a while to prefect my beers and get good clear brews but the rewards are awesome. Do we encourage people to try AG. yes we do, not because we want to ram it down peoples throats or think kit brewers are lesser people, but because it is imho great fun and the product is superb. If I visit somewhere and it was great I tell people it is natural it do so. Sorry if anyone feels put down or slighted by me saying AG it great you should try it, no offense is ever meant, it's just that AG is great you should try it.

As to the cost my set up cost probably £1500 with all the bits I have bought and stuff I never use anymore and in the last three years I have spent roughly £1000 on grain and hops and finnings and stuff. So thats £2500, sounds alot but I have made over 3000 pints of good beer they would cost 3 for £5 at tescos so £5000, down my local it would haver been more like £8700, though slabs of 24 cans would have been about the same at £18 a slab £2582, Kits about £2300. So from now on there is not a cheaper way of getting good ale. 4 sacks of malt £80 (local brewery) hops free (garden) some other bits finings, CLS etc £50 so £130 a year to make 1000 pints thats 13p a pint. so last night me and my mates drank about £3 worth rather than the £70 it would have cost us in the pub and we had a greater selection of better beers; Kit beer would have cost £15.

 

[31bb3]

only you guys never been lucky enough to sample AG think thats why im reluctant to have a go myself
Where in the West Midlands?

The same to Micoo: If you post your location you could get an invitation to an AG brewday, or find one or two forum members who would be glad to drop you off a bottle or two.

Hi Moley im just outside Walsall i must admit im really interested in AG more so since i've been using this forum ive been brewing kits for years on and off and would like to experience my own creation just reluctant as time and funds are an issue .

 

[leondz]

AG produces better quality, but it's only cheaper if your time is worthless - or if you enjoy doing it!

 

[CptnCrackoff]

I only joined the forum in july, i think in one of my first posts i mentioned that i'll never go AG.

i havnt yet, but i can see myself doing it in the future. :thumb:

Reading the posts, and especially the pics of some of the members brewdays, it looks great, and i'd love to try it.

At the moment i just dont seem able to find any spare time, maybe when the kids are grown up (ones 3yrs, the other on its way!) hopefully by then i'll have the time!! ( and a bigger garage :clap: )

At the moment i can find an hour here and there to open a couple of cans and boil the kettle a few times!!

Kits will do me for now, i have had some of the best beers ever from my kits ( i know when i do eventuall go AG i will say the same!!). particularly the muntons porter i am finishing now! :drink:

I imagine its a bit like when i catch a cod and eat it, its so much better than shop bought. But more than that the feeling of actually catching it yourself, to me is amazing!

I suppose doing kits is a bit like eating a fish someone else has caught - it tastes great but that little bit of satisfaction is not quite there!

jon

 

[Franklin]

I can't see me turning back now... I've come too far and found an amazing range of possibilities :)
If I'm lucky, every week I can create something new... Now how's that for an interesting hobby :)

 

[micoo]

i wonder how much energy it takes to brew 5 gallons. i mean with the price of electricity these days. it must be factored in to the overall cost of ag brewing, nobody seems to mention this.

 

[jamesb]

i wonder how much energy it takes to brew 5 gallons. i mean with the price of electricity these days. it must be factored in to the overall cost of ag brewing, nobody seems to mention this.

I pay 16p/kWh

Boiler... 2 hours @ 3kW = 96p
HLT... about the same (PID makes it hard to judge).

 

[31bb3]

i wonder how much energy it takes to brew 5 gallons. i mean with the price of electricity these days. it must be factored in to the overall cost of ag brewing, nobody seems to mention this.

Suppose you could always go for a gas boiler

 

[Aleman]

i wonder how much energy it takes to brew 5 gallons. i mean with the price of electricity these days. it must be factored in to the overall cost of ag brewing, nobody seems to mention this.

Suppose you could always go for a gas boiler

Its much less efficient . . . I know I have one on the 1/2BBL plant Its costing me around 25 quid in gas every 4 brews so 6.25 for 18 Gallons of ale.. . . I'm building an Electric 20L plant and although I have 3KW elements I'm building it using insulated containers for thermal efficiency

 

[jonewer]

Its worth remembering that a typical electric fan or convection heater uses 2kw.... about the same an an element in your boiler. Most people wouldnt think too much of having their heater on for a few hours a day so why worry about having your boiler on for a few hours a month.

 

[llannige]

i wonder how much energy it takes to brew 5 gallons. i mean with the price of electricity these days. it must be factored in to the overall cost of ag brewing, nobody seems to mention this.

How do you boil the water for your your kits?

Light a fire in the back garden is it?

 

[Wez]

i wonder how much energy it takes to brew 5 gallons. i mean with the price of electricity these days. it must be factored in to the overall cost of ag brewing, nobody seems to mention this.

A friend of mine asked me the same thing (we were having a similar discussion) and at the time (6 to 9 months ago) we calculated my brewday cost just under £2.00 in leccy.

edit....of course I use GAS :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


(joke)

 

[streamer13]

I think the reason most people get into homebrew is because of the cost. we should not forget this. it is the most fundamental point in HOMEBREWING but i keep seeing AG brewing being pushed as the way forward. AG brewing is an expensive way to home brew, and i believe some kits are as good as any AG. lets push more kits rather than AG.

I have enjoyed this post as most home brewers are cost conscious. The more I consider it the original post isn't far from the truth if some of the 2 can kits are worth dabbling in. If you just brew 5 gallons at a time in a place that's usually always centrally heated and your better half isn't moaning about it being in her way then OK. But lots of the AG brewers really have to keep a separate mini brewery going 24/7. I used to say it was a summer sport but when you get used to having better beer than you can buy constantly on tap, you have to pay for it. I'm sure it's worth every penny. But it's probably worth knowing just how the 2 can kits compare with the real thing.
I suppose no AG brewer would ever say he could get as good at times from an up market kit. And having dabbled in AG I would have to agree. But I've never tried 2 can kits. In general though AG is not cheaper to produce. You only get what you pay for. It's a fraction of the price of real ale but you have the satisfaction of knowing exactly what's in it. The time factor is irrelevant because it's your hobby and pleasure and I suppose we are all striving to satisfy our own taste in beer.

 

[tubby_shaw]

This is the reason for me

Being able to take a few different beers to a party and knowing that they are all unique and that I made them from scratch gives me a warm glowing feeling :grin:
The cost is unimportant now as I have all the gear, I do however still make the occasional kit