Thanks again
[/quote]I have tried the Nelson's Revenge, Wherry and Great Eastern. The Nelson's was fairly good and the other two are conditioning. All three of these kits failed to ferment below 1.020. It is not the yeast in my case as I used Safale S-04 in the Great Eastern, rehydrated Muntons in the Nelson's and sprinkled two packs of the Muntons on top of the Wherry as per kit instructions. I have tried lowering the fermentation temp from 22 to 18 degrees, I have tried yeast vit and rousing. Finally I tried adding 250g of medium spraymalt to the wherry to raise the OG to try to compensate for the high FG.
I have spoken with Muntons at length to try to get to the bottom of it, but they say they are unaware of any problems. I will be posting my experiences with these kits in detail and also the dialog with Muntons once the Wherry and Great eastern are ready to comment on.
Finally yes to your question of the yeast starter. I am no expert but the sooner you can get the yeast working, the better as it reduces the risk of contamination. See the info at the top right of your screen for the correct procedure.