Wilko kit (don’t shoot me!)

[Hagrid]

Hi all,

Having not made a beer in yonks I thought I’d start with a nice simple kit. But then reading a thread on here somewhere it was mentioned that wilko kits lack enough malt to make a good go of it.

Two quick questions:

1 has anyone made this kit before?

2 would adding some spraymalt or LME be worth it to add the desired umph-age (that’s a technical term I believe)

Thanks again!

 

[Banbeer]

I've not made it before but definitely use spraymalt to enhance it, LME supposed to bring HB twang tho' I've used it with no signs in the past.

 

[Pavros]

I haven't made that one but I have made a few of the other Wilko kits. I would make it up with 1kg of dry spraymalt or beer enhancer. The enhancer will make it slightly thinner. I wouldn't use all sugar as this will really make a thin beer (unless you're hoping that the hot spell will last another month and want to make it a thirst quencher!).

When I've made the Wilkos IPA or Golden Ale, I've always added some dry hops to give it a bit of ooomph. You could try 30g of a traditional English hops or perhaps some Cascade. Hops can be bought in small quantities from CrossMyLoof who have a good selection and send them out quickly.

 

[Hagrid]

Thanks BanBeer and Pavros.

I think I’ll run with Spray malt.

It came with 30g of cascade to dry hop with. :)

 

[terrym]

You have bought a 1.8kg kit, so stand a better chance of making something decent compared to the 1.5kg standard Wlko kits.
But if its a 'traditional bitter' why does it come with Cascade? I would sub that out with 50g EKG instead (Crossmyloof will sell you some)

 

[Sandimas]

I've made a few Wilko kits when I've not had time for an AG brew and they've been OK.

Use spraymalt, brew them short to 20/21L and use some late hops, and you'll have a pretty acceptable beer. Agree with Terry, Cacsade seems an odd choice for a traditional beer, but I've seen it popping up in commercial brews more often and a little bit does add a bit of something in a traditional bitter, just don't over-do it.

 

[Hagrid]

Thanks Terry and Darrell,

I’m going to grab some EKGs from kegthat (they’re only around the corner from me. :) )

Just need to see how many pears I’m going to get next week to see if I need the big FV for perry before jumping with this beer. :)

I’ll keep you all up to date when I drink this beer.

 

[Hagrid]

Sorry to drag this thread up again. I’ve picked up some spray malt to add. But how and when do I add it? Do I just mix it in as I’m mixing the kit extract with the water?

Thanks again.

 

[terrym]

Sorry to drag this thread up again. I’ve picked up some spray malt to add. But how and when do I add it? Do I just mix it in as I’m mixing the kit extract with the water?

Thanks again.

Dilute the kit can LME with hot water as your instructions tell you and mix in. Then add 2 litres of cold water. Then progressivly add the DME mixing as you go. DME tends to clump together as soon as it sees water but does dissolve eventually, you just have to stay with it.

 

[Hagrid]

Cheers terry.

 

[kelper]

I have brewed their IPA and Copper Bitter by following the instructions and was very happy with the results. I used granulated sugar.

 

[dwhite60]

Kit I recently did I used a half kilo of sugar and a half kilo of DME. I mixed them together before adding to the fermenter. This sure kept the DME from wanting to clump up. Mix the two carefully because the DME dust will go everywhere.