Top choice kit for winter

[BeerisGOD]

hi beer dwellers

this is for my own but hopefully others benefit.

which kit would be your preference for xmas approaching?

currently I'm enjoying a coopers stout I partial mashed.

I'm lookin for one more kit I can embark before xmas so Theyl be time for a healthy conditioning period

any preferences would be grand, and any extra additions you decided to bump up the kit would also be welcome cheers

 

[Sandimas]

Sounds like you're happy working with grains and hops, so how about an extract recipe pack? The only difference with kits is that you need to steep some grains in a pan, do a small-volume hop boil (6-8L) and use dried malt extract rather than liquid. I can thoroughly recommend Old Peculier, I do this one every winter and just have another to put on
https://www.brewuk.co.uk/oldpeculiar.html

 

[LarryF]

Holding back four or five bottles of all your brews from the summer onwards for Xmas is really nice. It's like catching up with old friends over the festive season, before I crack a bottle I've not tasted for months I have a look in my brew book, see what I added to it, what ABV it is and my tasting notes and it just adds to the enjoyment. Also, you get to taste your beers at their very best having conditioned for so long.

 

[Clint]

👍I've saved some Wherry made in June and some stout. Also got wheat beer and a lager. Admirals Reserve boxed up in the shed and an esb is bubbling away. Might try and squeeze something else in. ...

Cheers

Clint

 

[BeerisGOD]

Sounds like you're happy working with grains and hops, so how about an extract recipe pack? The only difference with kits is that you need to steep some grains in a pan, do a small-volume hop boil (6-8L) and use dried malt extract rather than liquid. I can thoroughly recommend Old Peculier, I do this one every winter and just have another to put on
https://www.brewuk.co.uk/oldpeculiar.html

ill be honest mate the extract kits look a bit pricey for the volume of beer. Would it be cheaper getting the ingredients separate along with a can of malt to bulk it up to say 19/21 litres?

 

[wfr42]

I was a big fan of the youngs craft kits before moving to ag.

The mocha porter was a nice change from their awesome ipa (which I did twice).

Always intended to do their oak rum ale which has also had good reviews.

I too save a bottle (a 660ml to share with my old man) of each brew for Xmas time.

Someone will probably mention one of the brewferm kits (for next year...)

 

[Robin54]

Ive always found that when using extract (dried) there is certain twang. Maybe its just me but Ive given up, tho to be fair Ive got 5 gals of an extract brew to bottle soon, so this one is the definitive test.

 

[BeerisGOD]

Ive always found that when using extract (dried) there is certain twang. Maybe its just me but Ive given up, tho to be fair Ive got 5 gals of an extract brew to bottle soon, so this one is the definitive test.

those extract recipe packs on brew UK are hard to justify for the price aren't they.
30quid for the 49Er. 46 grams of hops, 215grams of specialty malts 3kg of extract. And that's not including postage
unless I'm just being a tight **** of course and this isn't unheard of

 

[BeerisGOD]

I was a big fan of the youngs craft kits before moving to ag.

The mocha porter was a nice change from their awesome ipa (which I did twice).

Always intended to do their oak rum ale which has also had good reviews.

I too save a bottle (a 660ml to share with my old man) of each brew for Xmas time.

Someone will probably mention one of the brewferm kits (for next year...)

I was too thinkin about the rum one. This will prob be the next one if I don't have time spare to do a partial mash. Until that time Im enjoying the process and learning along the way

 

[aamcle]

DME is really an expensive product, I'm planning a RIS and I was going to substitute a large portion of the base malt for DME until I found out what it was going to cost.
Now I'm going to go with a very long brewday and mash 2 x 5 kg of grain.


aamcle

 

[nigelnorris]

Sounds like you're happy working with grains and hops, so how about an extract recipe pack? The only difference with kits is that you need to steep some grains in a pan, do a small-volume hop boil (6-8L) and use dried malt extract rather than liquid. I can thoroughly recommend Old Peculier, I do this one every winter and just have another to put on
https://www.brewuk.co.uk/oldpeculiar.html

I've wanted to have a go at an OP clone so thought great when I saw that. But including postage it's not far off 30 quid for a 13 litre batch. yikes.

Happily they list the ingredients and I've got most of it in the cupboard already, just need to get some hops to match.

 

[Toredan]

I was too thinkin about the rum one. This will prob be the next one if I don't have time spare to do a partial mash. Until that time Im enjoying the process and learning along the way

I've got the rum one in corny keg at the minute. It's lovely. :) Very worth the money. Mocha is on the list, was considering doing the mocha with added bourbon with a vanilla pod soaked in it for Christmas.

 

[BeerisGOD]

I've wanted to have a go at an OP clone so thought great when I saw that. But including postage it's not far off 30 quid for a 13 litre batch. yikes.

Happily they list the ingredients and I've got most of it in the cupboard already, just need to get some hops to match.

That's funny you mention that. I posted a similar rant today about the extract packs they do. Appalling prices. I think the people that buy them think that's the equivalent of AG or just rich bastards who wouldn't be bothered about losing a fifty note on a night out

 

[Jon75]

That's funny you mention that. I posted a similar rant today about the extract packs they do. Appalling prices. I think the people that buy them think that's the equivalent of AG or just rich bastards who wouldn't be bothered about losing a fifty move on a night out

They are not cheap, but I guess extract is the most expensive way of brewing. I got one of their summer glow kits for about £22 I think it was which wasn't too bad considering it makes 23L. Easily the nicest brew I have done so far too.

As for Christmas beer, my Brewferm Tripel should be ready by then :drink:

 

[Graz]

Also got the Young's Mocha Porter on the go for Christmas which I'll bottle. Smelt amazing when I was putting it together.

I'll mostly be drinking that and some wintery / dark ale from the pressure barrels

 

[Sandimas]

That's funny you mention that. I posted a similar rant today about the extract packs they do. Appalling prices. I think the people that buy them think that's the equivalent of AG or just rich bastards who wouldn't be bothered about losing a fifty move on a night out

OK, I'll bite - I buy them regularly, as do some mates of mine.

I don't consider them overtly expensive, they are a niche product that won't sell in anything like the quantities of Muntons and Coopers mass-produced kits. The end result is far superior to those. 49er is one of the more expensive ones because it's stronger and uses 3kg LME, that's over 20 quids worth of extract even before you add the hops and yeast. Many of the packs are around the same price as a 2-can kit, 23-25 quid, with some below the 20 quid mark.

OK, so they're expensive in comparison to a 1-can kit bought in the sale and brewed with brewing sugar, but that's not going to make a nice beer. Even trying to make that into a half-decent brew with brew enhancer or LME you're going to push the price up into the upper teens. So I'd rather pay an extra fiver or so and have a real good beer. We have this concept called the "time-cost triangle" in the business I work where the 3 corners of the triangle are time, cost and quality: the concept is that you can have one but in order to do so may have to sacrifice the others e.g if you want something quick you may have to pay a bit more and sacrifice a bit of quality. With these recipe kits I'm prepared to sacrifice a bit of cost for the increase in quality.

They're a bit more expensive but I wouldn't call the price "appaling". I'm just glad there's a select few companies in the UK offering such products. What do you consider good, price-wise?

 

[pms67]

I,like most people,started by brewing 1 can kits but im of a similar opinion, im fed up buying a can of hopped lme then needing to add extra fermentables, hops and maybe a decent yeast.
Your not far off twenty quid and if all you brew is kits then the Youngs IPA for an extta three pounds gives you all the liquid malt you need,100g of hops,700g of dextrose, priming sugar and 20grams of yeast, and i believe its a good yeast.
The kits you describe are a step up again but will no doubt taste even better.

 

[Titanic]

Been doing exactly the same since May Larry. Must have 25 bottles or thereabouts of different beer types. Look forward to tasting them now they are well matured. 😊

 

[Jon75]

Been doing exactly the same since May Larry. Must have 25 bottles or thereabouts of different beer types. Look forward to tasting them now they are well matured. 😊

I've got 15 of my summer glow, 15 HBC extract blonde, 8 dunkel, perhaps 12 tripel and 39 bottles of wherry will be ready in a few weeks... I think I need to put another brew on... :lol: