All Grain vs Youngs American IPA Kit

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Thodd

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I've brewed All Grain beer for over a year now and I've done about 16 batches (never brewed a kit) . It became apparent very quickly that I preferred the heavily hopped American styled IPA's and thats what I like brewing and drinking the most.

Being a man who's always looking to make my life a little easier I noticed that quite a few people on these forums were raving about the Youngs American IPA kit, and I have to say I was impressed by the fact that it included hops to dry hop with. So I took the plunge.

My first ever kit brew day was amazing - I'm used to it taking 6 Hours and I was done and dusted in less than 20 mins.

I hit all my gravity readings, let it ferment for 3 weeks, and stand in a cold conservatory for week after that. Then added the dry hops back in the warm.
Then bottled it with the batch prime sugar included and left it alone for 2 weeks.

Last night I tried my first one. The result is a little underwhelming to be honest.

Its got some nice bitterness, and you can taste the dry hops contribution but its not a patch on the all grain brews I have done, and it does have a weird subtle flavour I can't put my finger on.

Now - Deep down I kinda always knew that All Grain would taste better than a kit - but I was REALLY hoping it would be a close contest so I had an lazy route to brew if I wanted.

Are there any other all grain brewers out there that have opinions on this matter either with this Youngs kit or others they have tried?
 
The last ever kit brew I did was the Youngs AAA, I thought it was pretty good, I think they big dry hop punch is what drives these kits along.. As the dry hop faded the beer went downhill.. (tbf this would be true of any beer but I do believe the dry hops play a huge part in these)

I think for what it is worth these are good kits drink them fresh..

To be honest making with fresh grain as opposed to ME and a kilo of sugar which I think these have , you are always going to have an advantage in that your base ingredients are just better.. but like I say for a 20 minute kit these are pretty good I think.
 
Yeah, I did the AIPA kit and it was good... for a kit. I loved what the dry hop brought to the table, and the hops do help mask the kit taste. Still, it isn't even close to what can be done with a well executed AG or partial mash.
 
I did kits for maybe 15 - 20 years, and was always a little underwhelmed. About the best kit I found was one by Muntons, so I stuck with this for a good 5 or more years.
Back in those days, we didn't have the Internet, or when we did, information like this forum, didn't exists.
I eventually gave in around year 2000.

About a year ago, I called in to my LHBS to pickup a beer kit, thinking, they must be better by now, and just happened to get talking to the owner and how i'd like to try and brew beer the correct way. ... All Grain.

Little did I know then, that there was a whole new community, and that people were doing this for themselves.
I joined the forum, watched what people were saying, started to build a mash tun, bought a boiler and a book, and away I went.
What a difference AG is, I'm glad i found this forum, it's renewed my passon for brewing beer again.

Incidentally, that kit I bought.... it was rubbish...... no they havn't come on any.
 
There's no comparison. I went from kit to DME & speciality grains to all grain (just done my 4th AG brewday) and there's been a dramatic step up in quality each time. I won't slate kits or anyone that makes them - they're so easy and convenient, and you end up with drinkable beer - but if you compare even the most foolproof kit (Coopers Stout, I'm looking at you...) with what you can make with an AG set up for the same (or less) cost the kit will always be incredibly disappointing.
 
Thanks, the youngs aipa was my first kit and did several of the others youngs kits and was toying with rebrewing the aipa and or mocha porter.

I did the coopers stout and the apa as I started AG brewing and they took a long time to drink them as they were never my first choice in a night.
 
I went from kits to AG and my first few AG were OK but not great.

I feel I am now making superior beer to most I can buy. Good feeling. Just need to scale up :)
 
cheers everyone, i think this post does exactly what I thought it would..... everyone agrees that brewing all grain from fresh ingredients produces way better beer than from a kit.

who'd a thunk it!........ pretty obvious really :doh:
 
I started brewing around June, just kits with a bit of dry hopping and something with pumpkins! I can only compare my efforts with pub bought (don't go out much but drink ales or black stuff) or supermarket bottled ales (I've tried everything in Asda!). I can honestly say out of the 10 brews I've done the 7 I've tried I'm not disappointed with at all. It sounds like the AG lot are making spectacular beer!

Cheers

Clint
 
I did kits for maybe 15 - 20 years, and was always a little underwhelmed. About the best kit I found was one by Muntons, so I stuck with this for a good 5 or more years.
Back in those days, we didn't have the Internet, or when we did, information like this forum, didn't exists.
I eventually gave in around year 2000.

About a year ago, I called in to my LHBS to pickup a beer kit, thinking, they must be better by now, and just happened to get talking to the owner and how i'd like to try and brew beer the correct way. ... All Grain.

Little did I know then, that there was a whole new community, and that people were doing this for themselves.
I joined the forum, watched what people were saying, started to build a mash tun, bought a boiler and a book, and away I went.
What a difference AG is, I'm glad i found this forum, it's renewed my passon for brewing beer again.

Incidentally, that kit I bought.... it was rubbish...... no they havn't come on any.
i enjoyed reading that, nicely written :thumb:
 
Slightly OT but is AG really that much better than kits?

Anyone out there willing to say that find kits *almost* as good as AG?

I ask because I make kits but the more I read about AG the more I get the impression that:

a) the end result from AG is superior i.e. kits are inferior
b) kit brewers are looked down upon (in a "inbred cousin" kind of way)
c) kits, for many, are a stepping stone to AG

Thoughts?
 
a) I agree with that, yes. From my experience, AG is significantly better than kits but that's not to say you can't create something decent from a kit.
b) I hope that's not true and it isn't something I've ever noticed. Most AG brewers started with kits so it'd be strange for those people to look down upon kit brewers.
c) I'd agree with that too. Kits are a good way to start and, if you are happy with what you're producing, there is no need to move on from there to anything else.
 
b) I hope that's not true and it isn't something I've ever noticed. Most AG brewers started with kits so it'd be strange for those people to look down upon kit brewers

I suspect there is a degree of self flagellation involved in my comment i.e. I want to be an AG brewer but am too *scared* :-?
 
I suspect there is a degree of self flagellation involved in my comment i.e. I want to be an AG brewer but am too *scared* :-?


Nothing to be scared of, I started with kits and made some very nice beer. I then wanted to take it to the next level and started AG brewing. My first brews were ok ish, but as I learned more, the beers got better. I started off brewing small 1 gallon AG brews to see if I liked it without a massive outlay for equipment. Look up stove top brewing if you want to try it.

I can't see how a kit can ever compare to a well brewed AG, but a kit can be better than a poor AG brew.....

Jas
 
kit brewers are looked down upon (in a "inbred cousin" kind of way)

There was a thread here which got a bit heated when beer snobbery was mentioned, i think as has been said most members start on kits move to AG then find AG better than kits, i don't think the majority look down on kit brewers but in any forum you will always get the odd one.


I suspect there is a degree of self flagellation involved in my comment i.e. I want to be an AG brewer but am too *scared* :-?

Why not give this a go -

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51779

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPRLc9-C73Y[/ame]
 
@LordO

I'll compare AG vs kit beer to baking your own bread vs a sliced loaf.
Whilst a sliced loaf is satisfactory, it will never compare to home made fresh out of the oven crusty home made.

A draw back with All Grain, is the time and equipment required, but the end results are worth the effort.
 
b) I hope that's not true and it isn't something I've ever noticed. Most AG brewers started with kits so it'd be strange for those people to look down upon kit brewers.

Started straight into AG, does this mean I can be snooty as I like?

Joking aside. As a member of two homebrew clubs, I have tasted enough kit beer and find the problem is not necessarily the kit (although many are underhopped for the style) but the instructions provided with it. I think they dumb down the process too much and over play the idea that good beer can be made quickly and cheaply. Whatever base you work from, kit, extract or All Grain, the later stages of brewing, ie fermentation, dry hopping and packaging, should be treated with the same care and level of investment. I find that contrary to the idea that kits are a good way to start brewing and progress to extract or AG, that the better brewers are those that have skip kits and start brewing without the wham bam, slap it in a bucket with hop teabag mentality.




Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk
 
I suspect there is a degree of self flagellation involved in my comment i.e. I want to be an AG brewer but am too *scared* :-?

I started brewing in October this year and to date have completed two brews.

The first was a 1 can kit.
The second was an AG SMaSH from the simple AG thread.

In all honesty, it took most of my day to complete the BIAB brew but there was nothing difficult in the execution.

My feeling is that the 'difficulty' and skill comes in selecting ingredients to make good beers and achieving consistency. There are loads of guys on here to help with that though.

I just bought a big pan and a £6 mashing bag.

Give it a go one weekend, what's the worst that can happen, there's nowt to be scared of!
 

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