Budget beer brewing & Pimping basic kits?

Pirate_Pete said:

The only thing I do which really pulls down the cost of a brew is I buy Malt in 20kg bags. Last year I split it with a bloke in work.
This time he didn't want it, so I've got the whole lot divided up in ziplock bags.
I would pay $11.50 a kilo, but buying in bulk it's $6.90. The bloke in work says he might have 6 kilos which he'll happily pay $8.50 per kig for.

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Global33 said:

I see it does make it cheaper! Do you still use kits or use it to form your own recipies?

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Pirate_Pete said:

Depends if you have somewhere to keep it all too. I've split it up into 1 kilo lots in zip bags
which are then put in five airtight containers.

Just kits mate. I don't have the time to do all grain. I do like adding extra hops though.
I'm happy with the stuff I make as it is.

I do have a recipe someone gave me to try using malt, so maybe in our winter I might get around to it.

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Global33 said:

I've just committed. 1 Coopers Canadian Blonde Kit, 1 Better Brew Czech Pilsner & 2 Better Brew IPAs. Got two of one kit so I can test using different hops and keeping other things the same. I've also ordered 6kg of LME to go with them all and a bit of brewing sugar to use in small amounts to give the ABV a bit of a boost. I'm getting the hops in pellets from ebay. Ordered Golding's and Cascade so far, but will be getting more.

The site I mention above is dangerous. If you spent ��£80 you get a free fermenting bin with tap. I'd already bought two so I could use one as a bottling bucket, but this way it means I can have two brews on the go at once to start building up stocks. Looks like I'm kind of commited now. In addition to what's brewing, that's 200 pints. I'm sure that's pretty small compared to what many of you have, but it's rare I buy more then 6 bottles of beer at once.

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terrym said:

If you have several FVs you can split a single brew into two by racking off into separate FVs. That way you can compare different hops on the same brew. That's what I did recently on a Sundew kit, using Goldings and Cascade.
To estimate how much overall stock you should be aiming for (in FVs , bottles, PBs, empty bottles awaiting filling etc), I suggest you take your consumption over a month and multiply it by four, since four months gives a reasonable time from pitching to finishing the last drop.

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Global33 said:

Was the Goldings or Cascade better btw?

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Global33 said:

I don't know if I'm barking up the wrong tree, but was looking at a guide called how to brew and then reading more extract brewing. Seems to be some information around about it, but relatively little in terms of actual recepies.

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chewie said:

Greg Hughes book on home brew is predominantly for all grain but he does list equivalent recipes for extract/partial extract.

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Derek McKenna said:

Anyone ever add bourbon soaked oak chips to a kit stout?

I am doing a St Peters Cream stout at the moment (day 8 of fermenting) and was wondering if I should add some bourbon soaked oak chips in to add some flavour....

If I add in now during fermentation will it screw up the brew?

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Derek McKenna said:

I’m a bit perplexed with this one. It’s still bubbling away in the PF for 15 days...
Is that abnormal? Any kit I done before was done after 7 days or so...

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Dutto said:

I can recommend the following:

1. Use a tin of Golden Syrup in a Coopers Lager Kit and add 50g of Fuggles Hop Leaf whilst it is fermenting. Gives a great low ABV summer drink with that much loved bit of "hoppiness".

2. "Top and bottom" 8 birdseye chillies and add them to a Wilco Pilsner Kit during fermentation. Amazing brew. No taste becomes a slight tingle at the back of the mouth and finally becomes a healthy "chilli" heat just behind the lips! Beautiful.

3. Wait for pumpkins to be at a reduced price after Halloween (10p each at Lidl), chop one up, boil it with a tablespoonful of All Spice and then squeeze out the resulting liquid and add it to a Wilco Cerveza Kit. Makes a great Christmas Beer.

The world is your oyster with a huge variety of adjuncts available.

My only advice is to run your planned recipe past the Forum before you do it ... :thumb:

... 'cos many of the members may have already been through a "never again" experience with what you have just thought of! :lol:

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DaryllLand said:

Dutto these sound amazing! I recently made the Coopers Cerveza and would make it again, its going down well in my old Carona bottles with a slice of lime lol! I do want to try the Wilco Pilsner kit so will defo try out the chillies idea with thatone when I do.

Thanks!

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terrym said:

I suggest you avoid 1.5kg kits (like many Wilco kits) unless you are prepared to add more malt extract and brew short. In the end its false economy. The minimum I go for are 1.7kg kits but then usually add 'extras' . And I never brew a one can to 23 litres.

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