Jim's Beer Kit

I normally mash at 65 but have just tried to brew a sweet English dark ale so mashed a little higher 68C, brew finished at 1016 rather than the usual 1010 so got the result I wanted - but I was surprised just how much difference a few degrees made. If you mashed at 74C I'm not surprised you have a h...

Use your Celeia, that's what I use.

You should get a good brew - I've made this one many times and it's consistently good, a real favourite.

The 25C refers to the temperature for re-hydrating the yeast prior to pitching. The instructions then say that fermentation should be in the range 18-23C which is a relief. I must have a different set of instructions - mine clearly say "stand the fermentor in a warm place (25C) and let ferment for ...

Yes - kind of. I did Extract for a long time before going AG, I don't know why but the quality of my AG never lived up to the expectations of getting a better beer for all the additional time taken doing the mash, getting the water up to temp and then cooling. I felt a bit underwhelmed to be honest....

Can you provide a link please?

I've been brewing many years: lots of kits, extract and AG and I've never heard of these kits. Are they available in the UK, I've never seen them in any of the supplier's I've used (BrewUK, Malt Miller, Homebrew Companys, etc.)?

(oops looks like I've got 2 accounts on different computers) Here's the recipe. It was originally just 3kg DME as fermentables, I converted it to AG and added a bit of Caramalt in to darken it a little to get the 14EBC, you could just use all Maris Otter. Recipe Specs ---------------- Batch Size (L)...

i meant using 2 pans total; 1pan for steeping grains, 1 pan for boiling hops with DME, each on the cooker at the same time for half an hour (obviously one steeping and one boiling). I do it that way: smaller pan for steeping, then when it's done transfer the liquid to the bigger pan, add a bit more...

I've done a few of the BrewUK kits and the instructions tend to be a bit light in places, relying on you having some knowledge to fill in the gaps....just do as you normally do, if kegging I tend to add sugar plus a tablespoon of yeast from the FV (picked this tip up from somewhere, and always get p...

Echo what everyone else had said. Although it's nice to occasionally do a 1/2 can kit for lager-type beers and stouts, if you want a hoppy ale then Extract is the way to go. Been very happy with all my brews since I made the jump, my latest was *exactly* like a good pub ale, and I got a mate to do a...

These kits are great, I'm now on my second: did the Way To Amarillo a month or so ago and then put the Exmoor Gold on earlier this week. Instructions are really clear and ingredients seem high quality, especially the yeast (both kits have gone like rockets). You'll need a decent-sized stock-pot, I u...

I just did exactly that with a Wherry kit whilst we were away for 2 weeks, with less than ideal temp fluctuations: the first week was cool but the second was that one hot week, and I left the FV in the lounge which gets all the sun. However, seems to have turned out fine, hadn't quite got down to th...

If you can get yourself to Cheltenham, the local homebrew shop Pops do their own "Foresters" range of kits, their "Golden Citrus Blast" is very close to Landlord. I had a pint of Landlord in the local then came back and had a pint of my homebrew, and can confirm they are close (dare I say that the C...

How long has it been going? As other have said, stick the hydrometer in - I've found the Coopers kits ferment out a lot quicker than other kits, both my Mexican Cerveza and Canadian Blonde were done in under a week.

If you want something a bit stronger, try the Muntons Premium Gold kits: both my Smugglers and Midas Touch kits started out at 1046 and got right down to 1010, and both in 11 days. The Midas produced so much foam it nearly took the top odd the bucket :shock: And both ended up quality beers :D I've d...

I've had the opposite with Muntons, they've been ultra-reliable for me, it's some other kits that have got stuck around 1020.