Ideas for improving a kit

[rbgd99]

Hi all,

I have an old beer kit left over from before I progressed into extract brewing. Not wanting to see the kit go to waste, I still want to use it, but after making extract brews, I find beers made from kits to be very lacking in comparison and so don't want to use it straight as it is. I am thinking about augmenting it somehow but am looking for ideas for what to do with it. It is a Yorkshire bitter kit from the Range. I can steep grains but am limited to a 15l stockpot.

Any ideas are welcomed and greatly appreciated!
Many thanks

 

[Razor]

I don't know about that particular kit but one of the ones I've done before actually suggested in the instructions to add some DME.


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[zippy40]

Based upon my own limited experience I would say to add a kilo of DME instead of brewing sugar alone, brew the kit at the lower end of the ideal temps and keep in the primary longer. Then leave it to condition for a good length of time.

I have found that these things above all else help me to make nice brews from extract kits.

 

[Slid]

Hi all,

I have an old beer kit left over from before I progressed into extract brewing. Not wanting to see the kit go to waste, I still want to use it, but after making extract brews, I find beers made from kits to be very lacking in comparison and so don't want to use it straight as it is. I am thinking about augmenting it somehow but am looking for ideas for what to do with it. It is a Yorkshire bitter kit from the Range. I can steep grains but am limited to a 15l stockpot.

Any ideas are welcomed and greatly appreciated!
Many thanks

You can make a very good partial mash beer with a 15L pot, albeit it is a bit of a faff at 4hours or so for a brewday.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=50780

Here is a link

 

[Hoppyland]

It obviously depends upon the style of beer you prefer, but for me the best way of improving a kit is to add more hops. Hop tea (for flavour and aroma) or dry hop (for aroma) both make a big difference for my taste.

 

[BeerisGOD]

how about substitute the kit for a can of LME buy some grains like you would for an extract recipe but take into account you've read got 1.5.-1.8 (whatever this kit is in weight) and go from there.
don't boil the kit, this way Ud achieve a nice healthy 19-21litre batch.
this is partly why ill not turn my back on kits completely, as they're great for partial mashes but still achieving bigger volumes compared to extract using 12-15litre pots

 

[Acky]

I'm two weeks into an experiment with a kit, trying differnt yeast and made a hop tea that I added to the wort. It will then be dry hopped to within an inch of its life!
I done one similar but used the yeast that came with the kit, hop tea/dry hop etc, and added some isometric bittering hops at the end too. It turned out really really good and as good if not better than some I've paid top dollar for out the shop.
I have high hops for this one too