brupacks brewers choice

[brysie]

hi all any one done one of this range lately?

im interested to know how they compare to the likes of coopers kits

[Jerry Cornelius]

I've got one conditioning (ESB) and one ready for bottling (Old Ale). Can't compare to Cooper's - never done one, but the sneaky tastes of the conditioning bottles (bottled 13th April) taste very good. I made these up for two reasons; 1. to avoid the munton's stick, 2. to avoid the LME 'twang'. The OG of the ESB was 1013 and the Old Ale 1014 - so happy with that. I used choice 2 - spray malt. One observation is that with the spray malt they're not quite so full-bodied as two cans of LME, however I don't consider that a drawback, they definitely don't have any 'twang' associated with them.

Personally I'm more than happy to carry on with them - in fact I have another one on order at my LHBS at the moment.

Another thing, they're good fun to make! Steeping the hops and grains seems almost like doing an extract brew! I'd give them a go Brysie, I'm sure you'll like them...

[KevP]

I take it you meant the FG was 1013 not the OG

[Jerry Cornelius]

Oops! of course!

[batemans fan]

My rationale and experience are almost identical to Jerry's. I can only compare to Woodfordes. I did my two Brewer's Choices with ½ light spray malt & ½ brewing sugar (to keep the price down for one) - makes for a light 'session' ale. Both brews were pressure kegged (1½ barrels down and I haven't had to use the gas once!). I'm picking up my next two kits tomorrow and am thinking of going ½ dark spray malt & ½ brewing sugar or all spray malt. Much more versatile and reliable than the toucan kits!

I'm very pleased with the results .

Edit: both kits were the 'Best Bitter' variety.

[KevP]

I am really pleased to see what seems like a shift (albeit a small one) away from poorly performing 2 can kits, its the only way they'll get their act together if we vote with our wallets.

[brysie]

cheers lads.