Beginner's Kit Recommendations...

[sparky Paul]

I made a JB Masterclass Bavarian lager for my wife. It is taking a hell of a long time to clear - there is continuing secondary fermentation so I keep having to vent the barrel.

If you went for one of these kits I'd get a decent lager or ale yeast as mentioned above.

I find that the lager kits I've done recently are taking a long time to fall bright, I'm putting it down to the ambient temperature rising. Not sure about substituting lager yeasts for the beginner, but you really can't beat Safale if you're brewing an ale.

As for DME, I use it a lot, and you find your own way of dealing with it. My reasoning behind recommending a 3Kg liquid kit is my own experience - these type of kits are by far the simplest I've made up. There's quite a few 3Kg kits about, but the JBM kits are reasonably priced and the Stout I did turned out very good in the end, without any additions whatsoever.

For a beginner, I reckon an all-in-one kit has got to be easiest.

[tubby_shaw]

Most lager kits come with an ale yeast and are fermented at 16-24 deg c although I think Coopers Pilsner comes with a lager yeast.

It does indeed come with lager yeast and I have one sat in the garage fermenting at 15C at the mo
The instructions supplied with the kit say
Quote:
Brewmaster pilsner contains yeast that behaves differently to the normal Coopers yeast.
The brewer should note the following: Avoid the excess use of plain white sugar/dextrose.
Preferred brewing temperature is at the low end of the recommended range (i.e 21C). Pilsener yeast can ferment as low as 13C.
So get your lagers brewed while there's still time

[fivetide]

I'd recommend doing any kit of reasonable quality that promises a beer you enjoy and using the process to learn the ropes through the forum. Use the brewing advice in the link above, follow the instructions, take some photies, share you experiences and by your second kit you'll be able to make a more informed choice about sugars and whatnot.

You've come to the right place, it's a good start

[davidson]

Tubby-shaw I tried my coopers brewmaster pilsner on the weekend and it was excellent. You will enjoy. It also had very little sediment in the bottle too. Not sure if this is common for the brewmaster pilsner. Let us know how yours turns out.