"Make Your Own Beer" Kit. Anyone have any experience?

actuallylike

Just received an IPA and a Pilsner to the door today. They're discounted on thehomebrewcompany.ie. Can't find any reviews for them though, every time I google "make your own beer" kit I just get, believe it or not, advice for making my own beer. I've tried "make your own beer kit", "make your own beer ipa", etc. and nothing.
The website said it retails for £20 and says it has great reviews. It's not in a tin, just a bag so looks like it'll be easy to mix. Here's an image of it

sharingan

Their instructions are not bad as kit instructions go:

http://www.homebrewwest.ie/make-your-own-beer-18-kg-kits-from-995-best-value-239-c.asp

Just ignore the bit about dextrose, and use spraymalt instead.

actuallylike

sharingan wrote: »

Their instructions are not bad as kit instructions go:

http://www.homebrewwest.ie/make-your-own-beer-18-kg-kits-from-995-best-value-239-c.asp

Just ignore the bit about dextrose, and use spraymalt instead.

Yeah, looks like the easiest mix I've ever gotten. I just hope that isn't the reason why it's gotten good reviews. I don't mind putting the work in if the results are there.

daithi55

digging this up but how did it turn out after i was in there shop today and saw them on sale

actuallylike

Couldn't tell you myself. Still haven't started . Just finished the last of my last previous batch last night as a matter of fact so bottles ready (well, empty anyway). Going to start first fermentation tomorrow of the IPA so first bottle drunk will be in 3 weeks I suppose. I'll update with how it goes.

viper123

I got one as well in nut brown ale, planning to start brewing it this evening. Will let you all know how it works out in due course...

actuallylike

Well, brew's on . Not a lot to say about it really, it's all pretty self explanatory, very basic package. Smelt quite nice though to be honest. Will be an interesting mix I'd imagine as I could only get Wheat Spraymalt and I lobbed a load of orange zest into the wort while boiling cause I'm as mad as a bag of spanners! Bubbling away in the next room, will bottle in a week.

BeerNut

actuallylike wrote: »

will bottle in a week.

I'd advise giving it at least two.

engrish?

Very interested to hear how this comes out!

I made a "better brew" pilsner a few months back, it's not quite ready yet but it's lovely so far.

daithi55

purchased one today in homebrewwest will give it a go the weekend cant go wrong for 12 euro including the brewing sugar

actuallylike

Bottled them last night. SG gives it an ABV of just over 5%. Had a little taste and tasted quite odd to be honest. Not bad now, just different. Probably the mix of the wheat spraymalt and orange zest. Regret not adding a hop sachet to it now. Will crack one open in around 10 days to 2 weeks to have a taste.

Fart

Just bought my first kit from Homebrewwest and got the Coopers Canadian Blonde beer.

Should be interesting.

How long do I need to keep them in the bottles before drinking?

Blackjack

Fart wrote: »

Just bought my first kit from Homebrewwest and got the Coopers Canadian Blonde beer.

Should be interesting.

How long do I need to keep them in the bottles before drinking?

Depends, the longer you leave them the better they get I find.

I started kit brewing about 10 months ago. I made one in particular with a load of hop tea and some dry hopping. Have to say it wasnt the best there until about 4-5 months in the bottle, after that though it was pretty damn tasty. Others I've made are very drinkable after about 4 weeks.

Again the longer you leave them the better they get. Greater age in the bottle tends to be very forgiving.....

Fart

Good stuff, thanks.

I guess I'll brew a few different ones while waiting to drink them.
Thinking of trying the Coopers Irish Stout. Getting good reviews.

Cheers.

viper123

"make Your own Beer" kit in nut brown ale is now ready for bottling... looks really nice and has a nice smithwicks ale sort of flavour to it. Roll on three weeks and first bottled taste...

Blackjack

Fart wrote: »

Good stuff, thanks.

I guess I'll brew a few different ones while waiting to drink them.
Thinking of trying the Coopers Irish Stout. Getting good reviews.

Cheers.

The coopers is good alright. Worth adding a brew enhancer if you can (finance permitting).
Patience is the key to the good beer, it's awfully tempting to tuck in early, but if you keep up the brewing and do one a month or every 2 months, in no time you'll have a stock built up so that you're well enough supplied to leave beers for a lot longer.

I have about 50 litres of bottled beer built up that I'm happy to take the odd one from now and again without any problem!.

Keep notes for everything you do, detail as much as you can, any methods you use, hops you add or any other ingredients. It pays off well if you like to experiment and you learn from your mistakes and you figure out too how to make the ones you like the best.

Enjoy, its a great hobby and it's damn addictive. As soon as I get space I'll be moving to all grain, but the kits are a great way to find your way and also to learn the best processes.
Check out beoir.org too - great tips and discussions, and also a great way To pick up some 2nd hand equipment too.

Fart

Great reply, thanks.

Regarding the brew enhancer, is there not one supplied with the Coopers kit? If not, how much would it cost and is it just mixed into the rest of the ingredients?

Blackjack

Fart wrote: »

Great reply, thanks.

Regarding the brew enhancer, is there not one supplied with the Coopers kit? If not, how much would it cost and is it just mixed into the rest of the ingredients?

Not sure how much they are, about 12 euros I think, just add it in with the rest of your ingredients.

There may be one supplied with your kit, I can't say for sure.

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/coopers-malt-extract-dark-15kg-p-179.html

Or http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/spraydried-malt-extract-dark-1kg-p-1045.html

Will work

Fart

Ah I see. Well I see that there is a Coopers Brew Enhancer supplied with this.

Should be arriving within the next two hours. So exciting .

engrish?

Fart wrote: »

Ah I see. Well I see that there is a Coopers Brew Enhancer supplied with this.

Should be arriving within the next two hours. So exciting .

Your username is appropriate for a beer lover.

Fart

I now have my first brew fermenting.

The OG is 1.038. Is that a decent level? I also hope everything is sanitized properly, but I did make sure everything was cleaned as best as possible.

Edit: The thermometer is reading 22c (if I'm reading correctly), which is pretty good, as far as I know.

Fart

It's probably just nerves but the top of the brew in the fermenter has a white creamy head, but none of it is touching the sides of the casing, just in the middle of the liquid.

Is this ok? There doesn't seem to be much going on, although I'm 10 hours off it being 24 hours since it started :P.

BeerNut

It's fine. Leave it alone.

Newgrange Warrior

Do the "Make Your Own Beer" kits come with yeast?

Fart

Newgrange Warrior wrote: »

Do the "Make Your Own Beer" kits come with yeast?

Yeah they do.

Ratsathome

viper123 wrote: »

"make Your own Beer" kit in nut brown ale is now ready for bottling... looks really nice and has a nice smithwicks ale sort of flavour to it. Roll on three weeks and first bottled taste...

Any update on this?
Want to order same.

ian_m

Newgrange Warrior wrote: »

Do the "Make Your Own Beer" kits come with yeast?

Yea. The yeast is packed in a layer between the extract and the foil pack. In a bag similar to the coopers packs but it seemed to be slightly bigger.

I have a wheat on the go at the moment. Bottling tomorrow.

daithi55

have some bottled 2 weeks now have tried one last night tastes fine apart from a slight tangy taste at the end think its because i used brown sugar to carbonate the bottles
im also only new to this so wouldnt have the best taste buds for identifying the different flavours lol

it was a czech pilsners and it had good head retention

viper123

Had my first three bottles last night of the red ale after it sat for three weeks and is very nice. Lovely bitter taste and head very creamy and similiar to something like Kilkenny. I'll definitly go with this brand again.

poitinstill

i have the wheat , made with 1kg wheat dme. tastes very good. much better than coopers wheat. it was 3 weeks in primary.now 2 in bottle...should improve a bit in nxt 2 weeks too

actuallylike

My IPA was two weeks in primary fermentation then three weeks bottled. Tried it after 2 but was very flat and slightly stale. Tastes much better now, very creamy head. An odd taste as I used wheat spray malt for an IPA. The orange zest, who's aroma was overpowering (in a good way) while bottling has disappeared . All in all though, very drinkable. wish I'd added a bit of extra hops to it but hindsight is the foresight of a gobshíte I suppose. Same brand Pilsner after this batch, will suit me grand for the Christmas season .

poitinstill

update wheat hasnt improved much... if anything i think the yeast has droppe dout a bit much and its bland ish. ipa is good.