I am a modest homebrewer (lapsed) who is intending to get a batch of ale going over the coming days. My previous attempts have been OK-ish but there has always been that tang that tells you it's homebrew.

A local brewery (Palmers of Bridport) have offered to let me have some of their yeast

and I was wondering if dried kit yeast was likely to be the reason my beer just doesn't taste right. I used to live in West London and there was a superb little homebrew shop in Rayners Lane (Harrow). The owner gave me a glass of his kit brewed IPA once and I really wouldn't have batted an eyelid if you said it had come out of a commercial cask!

Since then I have strived to improve my beer taste. At £3

a pint down here I just can't afford to drink anymore!