beginner needs help picking kit

Conchurl

Hi i want to start home brewing but am not sure what kit to buy, i will need to buy everything so would like a complete starter kit i have a budget of 100 euro to spend. i would like to brew stout or cider or if ye think i should try brewing something easier first i will follow yer experience. i would like to buy the kit online so if ye could post links that would be perfect.

Son0vagun

I buy my stuff off homebrew west. They deliver through out Ireland. They have a selection of starter kits, with everything you need with in your budget. Not sure what kit comes with them though. I'm sure you could request a stout or cider kit instead of the one that comes with the starter kit. Kits are all standard when it comes to making them, they basically follow the same instructions!

Good luck

Sky King

The coopers one is extremely popular, and they sell them in Tesco's as well in the home brew stores.

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/coopers-microbrew-starter-kit-40-pint-starter-kit-p-813.html

It comes with a light beer for you to brew, which i think is only alright. The ale and stout ones i tried since were way nicer

DeadSkin

I started out with the Coopers kit http://www.homebrewwest.ie/coopers-diy-beer-kit-new-with-vwp-sterilizer-246-p.asp

Comes in under your budget, you get everything you need to kick off your first brew.
The only downside is the sterilizer that comes with it - you need to rinse your equipment afterwards. You don't have to use it, 20 litres of water, 30 ml of thin bleach & 30 ml of vinegar makes a no rinse sterilizer - don't mix the bleach & vinegar together. Mix one of them in the water first then add the other.

Don't be put of by the plastic bottles, imo they don't alter the taste. Handy as well to check how carbonation is coming along - a quick squeeze of the bottle after a few weeks.

A good habit to get into is to clean all equipment as soon as you are finished, including the bottles after having a few brews, pain in the ar$e trying to clean embedded sediment from the end of the bottles.

Conchurl

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/the-hbc-student-starter-kit-stout-p-875.html

would this set have everything i need to start brewing or would i be better off buying a kit linked in this thread

BeerNut

Conchurl wrote: »

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/the-hbc-student-starter-kit-stout-p-875.html

would this set have everything i need to start brewing or would i be better off buying a kit linked in this thread

Near enough. I don't see a bottling stick there: they're cheap and he might throw one in free if you ask nicely You'll need to start collecting bottles now, though. Brown glass is best, and the bigger the better.

Stout is the easiest style to brew so that kit should be fine. I'd recommend spraymalt over "brewing sugar" in general, but that kit will produce beer and it'll be nice.

poitinstill

+1 for a stout for first brew..c'mon suppliers who is first to give a starter kit with stout..get yourself a coopers starter kit and an additional stout kit

A_Fitz

A couple of us are looking at getting a homebrew kit for a mate for his birthday - he's big into his ales, IPAs etc......would that Coopers kit be ok, or should we look at something else? He's a beginner, so the more straightforward the kit, the better, but we'd like to get him the best ingredients we can, so maybe we'd be better off buying everything separately (and therefore choosing a better 'ale mix'?? Also, are the plastic bottles a bad idea, no??

All advice appreciated!!

Sky King

I bought the cooper kit starting out and it was great.

The blonde ale you get with that coopers kit is a bit gammy in my opinion, you could buy him the coopers equipment kit and then get him an ipa beer kit and spraymalt for under 20 quid delivered for his first brew - sometimes the home brew shops will let you swop too which will work out even cheaper.

The plastic bottles are grand. No prob with em.

sharingan

The plastic Ox Bar PET bottles are fine. Really good for beginners too (you can tell if your beer is bottle conditioning properly).

For kit beers I think you should look at the the double can kits if the birthday boy is a real beer fan. Simpler, and the double size kits tend to get more authentic results.

A_Fitz

Sounds good lads, cheers for all that - think the Cooper kit + add-ons sounds like the best bet

Pat McGhee

The perfect thread for me to piggyback on, thanks OP!

Just wondering what the experts opinion is on this kit:

http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewsmarter-premium-starter-beer-kit-best-value-844-p.asp

I'm thinking of it as an xmas pressie for the mister, he's always saying he'd like to start his own brews.

Also, what do people think of Coopers lager vs the Coopers Canadian Blonde? Homebrew west are offering the blonde as a free upgrade.

Thanks y'all!

poitinstill

http://www.homebrewwest.ie/30-l-budget-beer-starter-kit-with-32-pint-ingredient-kit-843-p.asp

and extra LME for 6.95

Sky King

Also, what do people think of Coopers lager vs the Coopers Canadian Blonde? Homebrew west are offering the blonde as a free upgrade.

I found them both a bit rough and I was very careful. As The Beernut often says - it's easier to get good results with darker beers.

The coopers irish stout with spraymalt is lovely, as is the coopers english bitter which i am currently drinking

Pat McGhee

Sky King wrote: »

I found them both a bit rough and I was very careful. As The Beernut often says - it's easier to get good results with darker beers.

The coopers irish stout with spraymalt is lovely, as is the coopers english bitter which i am currently drinking

Could you recommend one of the other lighter beers perhaps, or is there something we could add to make the Coopers more palatable? Himself is rather fond of Paulaner's so if there's anything like that, I'll get it.

Thanks a mill!

Richie71

You won't get anything like Paulaner's from a kit but a Coopers Lager is a good beer to start with. Try making it with 500g of dry malt extract plus 700g of brewing sugar instead of the recommended 1kg of brewing sugar to give it a bit more body. You can use the remaining sugar at the bottling stage.

Pat McGhee

Richie71 wrote: »

You won't get anything like Paulaner's from a kit but a Coopers Lager is a good beer to start with. Try making it with 500g of dry malt extract plus 700g of brewing sugar instead of the recommended 1kg of brewing sugar to give it a bit more body. You can use the remaining sugar at the bottling stage.

Great stuff, I'll get that and leave him him to it then, thanks! :-)