Muntons New Kits

Slid said:

I asked the guy in the LHBS today about the popularity of the new Youngs kits - IPA, APA...Saison etc and what the homebrewers of the northern part of Bolton were buying.

He tells me that the best selling and hottest items are the 6 brilliant new Muntons 2 cans, plus hops kits, they are packaged in a sort of brown paper bag look.

Anyone have any early feedback?

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JamesG said:

I've done the Oaked Ale.
It is in the keg now, and it is very good indeed.
I mentioned the yeast on review, it only comes with 6 grams packet of ale yeast which doesn't seem man enough for the job of getting the beer to 5%.
Although they have put some effort into the packaging it doesn't feel as good as the quality of the Festival, Youngs or Bulldog kits.
That's a minor quibble though because the beer is drinkable really quickly, the product is more important than the box it comes in. I kegged it on 25th Feb, gave it 2 weeks warm conditioning and it was good to drink after 1 week of cold conditioning. It is now a very good black ale which I want to give time to improve but might not have the willpower.
If you go for premium kits I would recommend it.

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pms67 said:

I have the IPA on just now,brewed it on Thursday evening and checked at tea time today,nothing happening so chucked in a different yeast ( these kits only come with 6g !) think it might have been a Wherry or Coopers yeast.
One thing I will say is that this kit only comes with 28g of Citra hop pellets compared to the 100g with the Youngs kits but maybe syrup concentrate is more highly hopped ?
I am drinking the Old Conkerwood with added hops,very,very nice,pure black and so drinkable but overall I would say Festival or Youngs are better value for money so far on contents alone.
On a side note I am still torn between premium kits and 1 can plus additions (even though I started and preached on a thread regarding this) it's all good though.
Cheers

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Slid said:

I just don't understand the Muntons marketing strategy at all. Still the same 6g sachet of yeast. It just makes no sense to me. BTW if anyone around the North Bolton area needs an extra one one of these, then I will be delighted to oblige.

As referenced above, the main step-up from "mere" 2 can kits is the hop addition, which is usually a dry hop.

Dry hops will work better if they are either pelletised, or if still in leaf hop form, chopped up to near pelletised in a food processor.

And, Hi, there, PMS!

Hope you are OK.

Have this awful thought that the expectation that "maybe syrup concentrate is more highly hopped" is unlikely to be the real answer.

It seems to be quite easy to get a bittering flavour across and into a kit, but much harder to get "flavour" and "aroma".

Experimenting suggests that adding a short (25 + 5 min) boil of hops to the wort and then a chopped up hop as a dry hop addition might be my suggestion.

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