Kits vs mashing

[Stanna]

I started brewing about 18 months ago, believe it or not i have never used a beer kit, I started with full mash beer making, now I am wondering if kits are any good, are they on par with mashing your own or not ??

[Jim]

The answer is no.

However, they are pretty good these days, and a lot less work if you need some beer and are pushed for time.

[orlando]

Try the PYO kits on Geterbrewed for a slightly different take.

[WalesAles]

The answer is no.

However, they are pretty good these days, and a lot less work if you need some beer and are pushed for time.

Stanna,
The answer is YES. Depending on what you are after as the end result. It will still be Beer.
I`ve tried a few BIAB and I found that for all the effort the Beer was still Beer, my kits are still Beer, but I prefer the `Bish, Bash, Bosh` approach.
All done in an hour. I steep different grains, I steep Hops, I Dry Hop, I experiment a lot.
Try doing a Kit Brew, add Hops, steep grains, Dry Hop, see what you think.

WA

Go on, you know want to!


Sent from my Sofa.

Damn! I should not have replied to this.

[scotsloon]

I would agree with WA in principle, you can certainly improve a kit by pimping it with hops etc... I quite often do the same. However, I prefer making AG brews over kits if just from the social aspect of brewing, its a good opportunity to get a couple of pals around and make a beer that they have also contributed to, I rarely brew on my own, I'm planning an Orkney Dark Island this coming Tuesday - with friends!

[Jim]

...................... are they on par with mashing your own or not ??

Despite Mr Ale's protests, I beg to differ.

Yes, it is possible for a kit brew to be better than a mashed brew, but the best crafted mashed beer will (imho of course ) always beat the best crafted kit beer.

Mind I've had some kits that were pretty damned good - one that stands out came with a bladder of real wort made in a brewery (but condensed to fit in a smaller space obviously) and it was excellent. However the cost to buy it (I and several other members got a free sample) is massive compared to a grain brew and when you're as tight-fisted as me, that ends the matter.

[Clibit]

Wales and Jim might contradict each other but I sort of agree with both of them! Like Jim says, I think a really good all grain beer will always beat a kit beer. But as Wales says, if you steep some grain and add some hops you can make really good beer with kits.

I took two bottles of beer to a guy at work a while ago, one a kit that i added some crystal malt and hops to, and the other an all grain brew. I was happy with both beers. He preferred the kit brew, more to his taste, and I also liked it a lot. After a few weeks there was no kit flavour at all.

I actually mainly do partial mash brews now, cos I can do them on my cooker, I don't have to drag the big stuff out and set it up, and it's much quicker than a full AG brew. And cheaper and more involving than a kit brew. And the beer is as good. I can make very good beer now with all three methods, but I think you need to use some grain and hops whichever method you use. Kits lack freshness in terms of grain and hop flavour/aroma.

[Stanna]

Wow, after reading the replys and googling how to make kits I didn't realise that you don't boil and don't add hops , I am at the stage now where I am using beer smith 2 and brewing from the recipe's there so maybe a step backwards using kits, thanks for the info.
I do find that making the beer "all grain" is pretty easy and quick but kegging it is a pain in the ass.

[AnthonyUK]

I do find that making the beer "all grain" is pretty easy and quick but kegging it is a pain in the ass.

Have you tried bottling? Using a keg is about as easy as it gets.

[Stanna]

Yes, I bottled once on said never again, I've got 2 fermenting fridges so when I keg its 4 cornies worth at once so with 7 minutes of force carbing each keg then cleaning fermenting tubs it takes over 3 hours, which I hate, but like you say so much easier than bottling.

[Jocky]

Depends what you want. It'll make beer, just not the sort of beer I'd want to drink.

In my brewing career I went from starting on kits to extract brewing to all grain.

When I went to all grain I finally found that missing maltiness I was always looking for in kit/extract beer, and there's just no reward for me in using kits or extract any more.

[techtone]

I have only ever done Woodfordes (2 can) Kits such as Wherry and find those perfectly acceptable. I only do all grain as the kits all tend to be quite similar and I like to try out different hops and styles and strengths. Plus AG is generally cheaper than kits. I stock up when the kits are on offer and it means I can quickly knock one up at short notice and not have to have too much grain lying around 12 months of the year. (For example, I generally try not to brew during the summer due to temperatures and storing grain but when there is a cold spell, like this summer I can easily put on an extra kit or two) Doing the occasional kit also means I never have to buy yeast for all grain, as i re-use it but evidently I'm not too choosy I never have the problems some people seem to have with kits e.g. stuck ferments, cloudy beer etc.

[aamcle]

Doing the occasional kit also means I never have to buy yeast for all grain, as i re-use it but evidently I'm not too choosy

I mainly brew AG but I've used kits as hopped LME to provide most of the fermentable to a parti gyle and it's worked well on each occasion.

atb. aamcle

[snowbeast]

I started on kits, then went to extract and now I was then doing small batches of 8l AG.
My dad is keen on a Muntons kit and he lives close by so I am gooing back to Kits for a while.
I like the ease of use for kits, but I like how AG I can make a million different styles of beer.