Recreating a full Brooklyn Brewshop kit on the cheap...

[playoldgame]

Like several folks, my first foray into all-grain brewing was with a Brooklyn Brewshop starter kit. They’re great, convenient little packages with most of the stuff you need to get going, so they're absolutely ideal for a beginner. Plus, the 1 US gallon size makes the gear great for creating prototypes and small batches once you’ve got the hang of things.

But as I’ve progressed and learned more about the whole homebrew thing, it’s become very apparent that it’s possible to replicate (if not actually duplicate) the contents of the box, and save a few quid while you’re at it.

A full BB boxed kit goes for £40, and that includes:
1 US gallon (3.8 litre) fermenter with screw cap
Airlock
Thermometer
Tubing
Racking Cane
Sanitiser
Grain Bill
Hops
Yeast

Their refill kits include just consumables, and they go for £15. They include:
Grain bill
Hops
Yeast


So, £40 minus £15 for the refill kit means the target is to get the reusable equipment and sanitiser for under £25.

It can be done - easily, and all in one shop. All prices correct at time of writing:

4.5l glass demijohn - £5 at Wilko
Airlock & Bung (2 pack) - Not 3-piece airlocks, but they’ll do the job. And a bung makes a better seal than a screw cap anyway - £2.25 at Wilko.
12in Spirit Thermometer - £3.50 at Wilko
Racking Cane & Tubing (Sold together as Syphoning Kit, and includes a tap on the end of the tubing) - £2.50 at Wilko
Bruclens Cleaner and Sanitiser - £1.75 for 100g at Wilko. Needs rinsing, but can’t argue with the price.

Total: £15 on the nose.


All you need to do now is pick up a refill kit to brew the BB way, right? Well, not necessarily. Let’s apply the same thriftiness to their Everyday IPA kit...

First of all, how do we find out what we need and how to go about the brewing process? Wow, if only there was some way of searching for the BB ‘Beer Making Book’ and legitimately viewing copyrighted material by taking a LOOK INSIDE at pages 36 and 37 for the Everyday IPA recipe. That would tell us everything!

Fermentables:
American 2-Row Malt: 1.8lb / ~816g
Most Pale malts should give a similar result. I’ve tried it with Maris Otter, and that was just fine. 1kg of that is £1.56 from from the-home-brew-shop.co.uk at the moment.

Caramel / Crystal 20: 0.4lb / ~181g
CaraVienne is good if you’re feeling extravagant, CaraRed works if you want a bit more colour. 500g of any of those shouldn’t be more than about £2.

Victory: 0.2lb / ~90g
£2 for 500g from from the-home-brew-shop.co.uk
Melanoidin or Aromatic will do the job too.

Munich: 0.1lb / ~45g
£1.32 for 500g from from the-home-brew-shop.co.uk again.
No getting around this one. Munich is pretty much Munich.


Aromatics:
Columbus Hops 0.1oz / ~3g
£3.24 for 100g from the-home-brew-shop.co.uk

Cascade Hops 0.5oz / ~15g
£3.84 for 100g from the-home-brew-shop.co.uk


Yeast:
American Ale Yeast - Safale US-05 and Wyeast American Ale II are suggested - Safale is £2.52 from the-home-brew-shop.co.uk


Consumables Total: £16.48


So although it looks like it works out about £1.50 more to purchase the consumables individually, look at the quantities I've mentioned in the descriptions. BB’s kits are carefully measured to give you exactly what you need. Sure, you'll need to weigh out your consumables, but it does mean you'll have plenty of leftovers to start your own stash of grains and hops for future brews. It also means you can start experimenting a bit more, and have a few do-overs if they taste brilliant (or the the whole thing fails spectacularly

)

So, it’s currently possible to recreate a BB kit for a total of £31.48, a saving of £8.50 that could be spent on the strainer and filtered funnel you’ll need, or a few beers that will obviously need draining somewhere safe so you can use the bottles

I realise this might be old news to many of the veterans here, but if this can save someone who wants to try out grain brewing a few quid, then I think there's value in it

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Have a like for the effort. :thumb: