Any Of You Lads ....?

[Ditch]

Ever go on the all grain board and post long bitches and moans about how ye don't want to be chained to ye kitchen for a full working day, hovering over hundreds of pounds worth of complicated gear and worrying about everything to the nth degree, just to get some cheap beer?

Ever do that? Or is it purely a one way street ....?

[JamesF]

The time taken doesn't really bother me at all. I enjoy the process as well as the end product. And I usually line up a few things to do whilst waiting for the mash or boil, so I rarely feel like I'm stuck at a loose end waiting for stuff to happen with the beer.

James

[woblylegs]

doesn't bother me. i get out of the house into my shed for the day and just chill while brewing. 3 females in my house so my shed is a great escape plus my beer fridge is in there too. its a win win for me.

[TC2642]

Brewing all grain for me is a great way to relax, I have been doing a little less this year so I'll probably knock up a Ditch's stout to keep me covered over the Xmas period but otherwise I'm happy.

[6470zzy]

I brew mostly all-grain however I enjoy knocking together kits just as much. The time factor is an added bonus too.

[WalesAles]

Ever go on the all grain board and post long bitches and moans about how ye don't want to be chained to ye kitchen for a full working day, hovering over hundreds of pounds worth of complicated gear and worrying about everything to the nth degree, just to get some cheap beer?

Ever do that? Or is it purely a one way street ....?

Ditch,
Haven`t you seen my moans and bitch`s on the `All Grain, Extract and BIAB` threads?
Really Pi££es me off spending half a day making these types of Beer when I know that I can knock up a REALLY GOOD kit brew in 45mins!
I think I will stick to Kits and TC`s!
Bish, Bash, Bosh...................Beer and Cider made easy!

WA

[Ditch]

Ditch,
Haven`t you seen my moans and bitch`s on the `All Grain, Extract and BIAB` threads?

And there we have it. Five replies before we even f**king hear from a kit man!

No, Wales. I haven't seen your posts, mate. Because I don't hear the sermons from the local, Catholic priest either. I'm not a xtian, see? So, I don't go down there of a Sunday and heckle the f**ker in his pulpit. I just don't go anywhere Near them. They do their sh!t. I do mine. We don't bother each other.

Yet, we can't help but notice this constant popping up of heads, in this, our church, to say how someone's off to all grain. That all grain is SOOOooo superior to kits. That we should all convert.

I wouldn't dream of trying to tell anyone else that kits are fine and take half an hour. People who want 'wham, bam, thankyou, ma'm - Beer!' will gravitate to this board. If they then choose to up their game ....?

I just can't get my head around this proclivity for the senior school to come back and hang around the gates of the primary school, telling us we don't know what we're missing.

Sorry. Looks like I'll have to blame You for this, Wales. If ye going onto Their boards, telling them how fast and simple kits are? No f**king wonder they're responding in kind

Leave them alone, Wales. They're happy. We're happy.

Or were .....

[bigtoe]

Its all about getting the right kit imo, get that right, get the water right and off yer go.

Im starting to think there is something special to these Coopers kit Ditch, no twang, ferment out right, taste right, get you balddered just right

LOL

[Redimpz]

Expensive? Complicated? Ditch, Really?
I mash in an old coolbox with a bit of net curtain that I've used over 30 times now.
I boil it all in a pot and up until recently I cooled it all using a bit of copper pipe I scrounged off a builder I know.
I reuse the bottles and have been known to reuse caps too. (not often mind).
I'll also re use yeast at least 3 times before binning it.
In addition to this I buy grain from a local micro when I can to save on the postage.
True, a brew will take most of the day, but it is a day that I otherwise would not have too much to do.
Not knocking kits, I've done loads, but my current way works well for me and it is cheaper than chips.

[JamesF]

Can't see that it's a big deal whether you do kits or all-grain, to be honest. What works for you works for you. Get on with it and be happy. All-grain works for me and I enjoy it. I certainly don't think less of anyone (and I absolutely wouldn't refuse to drink their beer) just because they brewed it from a kit.

James

[bigtoe]

Either way does not need to be expensive, kits are quicker mind.

I have a grainfather, however im working my way thru kits I bought first before I get going with it. However I also built an Igloo mash tun (worked out at less than 70quid) and boil pan with hop filter (35L) which was under 60quid, plus i use an 8L stock pot for sparge water.

So, all in all grain outlay for the cheapo set up was under 150quid not inc the stock pot or fermenter as i already had these.
I heat the strike water in the boil pan, this includes the sparge water, I drop the mash water into the mash tun and transfer the sparge water to the stock pot so I can drop the boil pan on the floor ready to receive wort. Then sparge using the stock pot at 8L. ( I actually drop the 8L into the stock pot first and the rest goes into the mash)

Its not the best set up in the world but it looks to work ok.

Now 150quid is 15 coopers kits when offer at tesco....that's a lot of stout

However it is fun doing both, im just learning all grain and making plenty of mistakes...i already know when i get going on the grainfather it will be quite a bit easier.

Now the question is would I brew an all grain stout, when a coopers kit can be tweaked and taste as good as they do i doubt i will bother

[Pinto]

Its a free church, ditch - how you choose to worship the beer gods in a matter of personal faith

This year its been exclusively kits for me too so far - my AG kit has been in disrepair after poor storage and I've just not had time/money/inclination until recently to get round to recommissioning it. Its now sorted tho - so its just finding the opertunity now to get on with it.

Kits score 11/10 for convenience - but making your own overcomes some small niggling things they have about them, and I for one enjoy the "cooking" experience when I get in to it.

Had enough of f*'#king pressure barrels tho - once AGAIN my brew has the sweet tang of oxidation starting and is flat as a witches tit when just a few days ago the brew was blasting out of the tap under almost mains pressure and replite with foamy goodness No reason to it I can see - just the pressure up and went.

God I want some cornys now

[Ditch]

Had enough of f*'#king pressure barrels tho - once AGAIN my brew has the sweet tang of oxidation starting and is flat as a witches tit when just a few days ago the brew was blasting out of the tap under almost mains pressure and replite with foamy goodness No reason to it I can see - just the pressure up and went.

Sorry. My connection's been down for Hours! Just woke up ~ waiting ~ to find this.

WTD?! Please re post, or PM me, to bring us back to this issue. Maybe PM? I seldom bother with other boards on here ..... But, yeah; barrels interest me.

[bquiggerz]

I started on kits and moved to all grain. I still make some kits and a ditches stout is on the agenda. I like AG because its cheaper. When I first did all grain all I has to buy was the bag as I already had a pretty big stock pot. Old jacket from charity shop and a cheap digital thermometer. All in all I think the outlay was sub £50. It really does make fantastic beer but with college I don't have the time to always do AG so I make both. My opinion is if you have a bunch of time going to waste, give it a go and see if you like it. But if you don't want to who cares, you're still making beer after all.

Happy brewing,

Ben.