Hello from Wilkinson

[Steve@Wilkos]

My Mrs just made the forest fruits cider and declared it amazing. So, if the rest of the range is as good, you are onto a winner. My only suggestion is to carry yeast nutrient, full yeast range etc in all stores. I know space is limited, but the way the sachets are stored there's room to add more yeast and probably nutrient too in even the 1m space

Hi Graemet. Thanks for the feedback and we are really glad the cider went down well. I am hoping to have a go at that one myself next. I will take your comments back to the team about Yeast. What is your local store so I can check which version of the range it stocks?
Cheers
Steve

[Steve@Wilkos]

Hi Steve

Can you confirm that Wilko Gervin Ale Yeast is still the same yeast as Danstar Nottingham?

Cheers Tom

Hi Tom.... Yes it is the same thing

Cheers
Steve

[Steve@Wilkos]

Hi local store is thetford,norfolk. Impressed with new range would like more coopers ie old dark and cerveza. Cheap spraymalt would be welcome instead of enhancer. Good to see own range kits have three week ferment time, we nearly always give brew that long..also glass bottles pricey how about go to cheaper PET 500ml packs. Oh and freebies for me would be nice, ta

Edit forgot sweet newkie is conditioning now first impression Much darker than traditional sweet malt taste not that prevalent..but I do mess about with kits

Hi Timbo41. Thanks for the feedback. We have a product range review planned in and I will take your suggestions forward.

Cheers
Steve

[soupdragon]

Hi Steve

Can you confirm that Wilko Gervin Ale Yeast is still the same yeast as Danstar Nottingham?

Cheers Tom

Hi Tom.... Yes it is the same thing

Cheers
Steve

Hi Steve

Thanks for the info. I'll get it from our local store in Wallasey from now on then. It's cheaper and no postage charges too

Cheers Tom

[Kelbrew]

Went into Wolverhampton branch, Woodforde's Wherry £15.00
will go back for more tomorrow.

[Simo72]

Hi Steve
I am in Nottingham and have a few stores locally and have just brewed the newkie brown in your range and i must say from early tastings that it is a cracking brew and a proper bargain at £10 which begs the question Why are the 2 can kits £22 when i could get 2 normal kits for £20 which weigh the same? 1 thing I would like to see in stores is bigger packs of bruclens as i go thru a lot cleanliness being next to godliness and all that lol .I've also brewed the forest fruit er for the wife which is good especially if you prime with hi juice cordial.Also got a wherry for£15 Is this because you are planning to cease stocking and are selling off the last of your stock?
Regards
Mark Simpson

[cellone]

Hi Steve.
I was impressed to see the new range of products available at the Wilko's in Andover, especially the DME and brewing sugar.I bought the pilsener to try and was a bit dissapionted to see the fermentation temperature is suitable for ale yeast and not a lager yeast. I swopped the yeast for some lager yeast and am now waiting for the fermentation to finish, it smells nice and I'm looking forward to it.

Please, please, please could you supply lager yeast with your lager kit's (it makes the difference), or sell w-34/70 seperately. It would be superb to be able to brew true lager with out having to go 17 miles to buy a kit or yeast.

You could also think about vacpacked hop and grain teabag packs to suit different styles of beer, they take up little space and give an opportunity to enhance the brew.

Swing top bottles at reasonable prices would be a bit of a coup.
Regards
Nick.

[Kelbrew]

"Why are the 2 can kits £22 when i could get 2 normal kits for £20"
I thought 2 can kits were higher quality 40 pint kits with a malt extract can as well as the kit can to make a better beer. No sugar needed?
quote from Colchester Home Brew supplies -

"The major difference between single can and twin can beer kits it that the twin can kits contain 3.0-3.6 kgs of malt
extract and thus don't need any additional sugar to be added at the start of the fermentation. Apart from this, the
process is almost identical throughout the brewing and bottling/barrelling stages. The real difference is noted when
you come to drink these beers. Beers made using large amounts of refined sugar tend to be thin beers compared
to those made with sugars obtained from malted barley. As there is twice as much malt extract in the twin can kits,
these produce a much fuller, smoother flavour than beers produced using single can kits."

[chivelegs]

Well Done Steve for sticking your head over the parapet!
I got all my beginners set up at Wilko's and do occasionally pop in for basic essentials such as airlocks as there are no Homebrew shops anywhere near me.
Could I suggest stocking a decent book for beginners along with your gear as the instructions in those kits aren't always particularly clear or accurate (which is how I ended up finding Jim's Beer Kit in the first place)

[Cully]

My local Homebrew shops in Newcastle are now Tesco and Wilko. I think your range and general prices are great, what I would like to see is one off promotions at reasonable prices. For instance you could have a "Guest" brewpaks beer one month, A "Guest" 2 can kit the next ( other than Wherry or St Peters Ruby red). It would give us a chance to try something different without paying through the nose on 'tinternet or having to include such experiments as part of a bulk order every now and then.

[rval]

Hi Steve.

I only popped into Wilkinson to get an emergency Hydrometer (I know I should have more than one in kit!) and came away with lots of goodies (Thank you!!!!).
(Local store used was Bexleyheath, is that one of the bigger range stores?)
Everything has worked very well so far and i am just about to pour this weekend an AG I made with the Gervin Ale Yeast that has worked very well so far.
I fully understand that your range will we more aimed and the kit brewers but it would be great to see a few more general AG consumables and maybe a bit of kit.

I liked the look of some of the wine kits and might well give that a go later in the year.

[Redimpz]

Steve. My local store is in Lincoln and carried a decent range of kits and other items such as caps and brew kit enhancer, all of which was much cheaper than my local home brew shop. Sadly someone decided to stop stocking brew kits etc and it all disappeared overnight (so it seemed).
If the Lincoln store was to start carrying brew kits again I would be more than happy to try out your own branded ones.
(fingers crossed but not overly optimistic).

[wxmexile]

Hi Steve, My local wilkos in Wrexham now has a cracking range of kits, though i was sad to see that the EDME kits dissapeared. Simple request for you really, could you include Dark and extra dark spraymalt in your range? - it would be great for making stouts... whenever i have been in i can only get light or medium spraymalt, i'm sure it would sell. .

[themadhippy]

Sadly someone decided to stop stocking brew kits etc and it all disappeared overnight (so it seemed).

Have the buggers shifted it? They played that trick on me a few months back in my local store.

[Steve@Wilkos]

Hi Steve!

Welcome to the forum!
I have seen the own brand kits in my local store, and have almost been tempted on few occasions...
Could you tell us about more bout the kits and how they are produced?

I guess what I am looking for is assurance of quality.

Cheers!

Guy

Hi Manx guy
Hope this give you the quality assurance you were looking for........

The Wilkinsons own brand beer and wine kits are made for us by a major UK manufacturer, to our specifications.

For our beer kits they use only malt made from quality malting barley grown and malted in the UK. The quality of beer made from the ranges of beer kits is reflected in the cost of the beer kit. Our top of the range 3kg beer kits make the very best beers using just malt hops water and yeast in the recipe. These stand up well against the best commercial beers. At the other end of the spectrum are kits made for customers who are looking for value for money. They require the addition of sugar but do brew very acceptable beers, especially when the cost per pint is taken into consideration.

Our Wilkinsons wine kits are all made using Italian grape juice in their formulations. Again you get what you pay for, so the top end wine kits contain a high percentage of varietal grape juice formulated to make wines true to type. The cheaper kits make very acceptable table wines aimed at cost conscious customers looking for a ready supply of wine at an affordable price. Our country wines and fruit ciders use genuine fruit flavours. All of our wine and cider kits are blended and produced in the UK based on the use of Italian grape concentrates.