Brew UK Forum | General Brewing Discussions
Kit brewers versus AG brewers
Elsewhere on the forum there is a link to a home brew shop that seems to sell only kits and associated sundries. Also I see there are far more posts in the Beer kit section of the forum than in the Grain section.
Which got me thinking, just how rare a beast are we full mash brewers?, are kit brewers the norm?.
Planning: Wheat beer fermented with Schneider Weisse yeast, a Stout, lots of hoppy pale ales
Fermenting: Summer pale ale
Maturing/Conditioning: Marynka pseudo-lager
Drinking: Wheat beer, ESB, Vienna lager & shop bought stuff
Fermenting: Summer pale ale
Maturing/Conditioning: Marynka pseudo-lager
Drinking: Wheat beer, ESB, Vienna lager & shop bought stuff
Responses
Posted 1 year ago by Member
What a great question! I think we may be in the minority but we make the majority of the noise
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Basically, people are lazy. If you remember the disscussion about getting good beer in pubs, one of the conclusions was that people are too lazy to walk to the pub and while the car is in the car park they can't have a couple of pints of the good stuff and still drive it home. I think it's the same with beer kits. On the other hand, kits have come on a very long way in the last 10 years or so. We all know AG brews a superior pint, but kits are fun and you can mess around with different hops, etc. There's a place for both, and ultimately, if you like the beer you produce, it doesn't really matter. Having said that, once you've gone AG ...... how does it go?....... "Abandon hope all ye who enter here!" There's no going back.
Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!
E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Personally, Im just glad people are homebrewing, be it kits, extract, ag, toubo ciders etc. Wave your hands n' make sum noize for da homebrewerz! (trying to engage the younger peeps there)
Blood.
Nuff Said.
Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!
nathbrew@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Consider me engaged Nath, my bredrin bumbaclaat
I think kits are the best way to get yourself into homebrewing - easy and reasonably hassle-free. Plus they take up bugger-all space. Of course, most people aspire to AG as it is of course the ultimate way to brew, but someone like me who has neither the space, the spare cash or the time (or skill) to build a system, extract is about as far as I can hope to go. But judging by the comments on some of the extract recipes, I should be happy with that!
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Summer ale extract recipe on here was my first (and only) extract, but it was sooooooo good and easily rivaled many of my AG batches.
Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!
nathbrew@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Cooool, I'm torn between that one and the Amarillo. I''m looking to get started very soon... which to buy, which to buy?
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
If ya like hoppy then Amerillo, if ya like malty with a nose of hops then summer ale. I like all beer and the summer ale was great, not tried the Amerillo.
Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!
nathbrew@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
A month since my first Wherry kit, I bottled my first extract today, the Summer Ale. Smelled and tasted lovely, almost crystal clear already and very easy to do. Obviously haven't yet tasted the final product but first impressions are enough for me to order up the ingredients for a couple of Graham Wheeler's recipes.... and be on the lookout for a 25 litre stockpot.
The Wherry kit is lovely better than you'd get in 90% of pubs; would've been blindly happy with kits forever if it wasn't for my own curiosity and the encouragement & advice from the excellent contributors to this forum.
A lovely thought but I can't imagine ever going AG mainly due to the time constraints I have, wife works, got two very young school-age kids to sort out each day, an allotment, golf handicap to work on and somehow to get in 45 hours cabbying to pay for it all.
I guess a lot of us are in the same boat and it boils down to what choices you make, do I ditch the golf, the missus, the allotment?...... I won't prioritise in case she walks in and sees over my shoulder.
Sorry for rambling, I've cut a short story long, Extract Summer Ale recommended.
Will keep you posted on my Landlord attempt.
Conditioning; Diabolo, TTL
Planning; SNPA
Drinking; Headcracker, Pinot Grigio, WTA
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Grain V kit?
Its a bit like evolution and creatures evolving into different higher life forms. Most home brewers start off in kits and then some will evolve into grain brew. A bit like blue a**** baboons evolving and becoming chimps - but then as a fully fledged chimp I'm biased -
-pass me a banana as you go
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
In the real world (as opposed to the cyber world) I know only 3 brewers. One does it for a living so as a professional doesn't really count for the purpose of this conversation and the other two hobbyists brew from kits.
Maybe I should have asked a different question. How many kit brewers post on the forum?, are we grain brewers the majority posters?.
Fermenting: Summer pale ale
Maturing/Conditioning: Marynka pseudo-lager
Drinking: Wheat beer, ESB, Vienna lager & shop bought stuff
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I know two kit brewers- just begun - one on his third brew and is evolving into a chimp in increments and one just got his first kit going and is definitely a B A B at the moment. I also know several others who began with kits in years gone by and fell by the wayside - it does require some commitment to brew ones own. Darwin probably had a term for it.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I'm the same with veg, can't understand why anyone would prefer a supermarket carrot/spud/cabbage/onion/strawberry/apple/raspberry/sprout/pepper/chilli/cauli/parsnip/pea/bean(broad, french, runner)/plum/cherry/pear/fig/tomato/lettuce/radish/cucumber/pumpkin/sausage/turnip/swede/blackberry/brocolli/sweetcorn .... that's me done.
Tried bananas but they kept going missing.
Conditioning; Diabolo, TTL
Planning; SNPA
Drinking; Headcracker, Pinot Grigio, WTA
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
I grow as much veg as I can in my little shady garden. Although we dont get much sun, stuff like garlic, runners, strawberries, carrots, lettuce, spring onions, parsnips, potatoes all grow some grow a lot some grow a little but its all eat-able! Any free pots we have get soil and a few seeds of whatever chucked in, its so easy and takes up no space.
One of my targets was to do a Summer BBQ with all home made stuff for friends and family. I can make sausages which are uber tasty, make beer which is great and I can grow me veg and make some bread buns. Gonna be a great Summer!
Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!
nathbrew@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Hi Nath. I've been toying with the idea of getting a sausgae maker for years now. The combinations destined for them keep going round in my head. How do you make yours and where do you get the skins and stuff from?
Careful. We'll have to get you a bigger hat!
Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!
E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
lol, come on we all make great beer!
I get sausage skins from either http://www.sausagemaking.org or http://www.weschenfelder.co.uk/. You can also buy ingredients from these places but a basic sausage is easy to make and alter.
Shoulder meat 25% fat roughly is fine, grind it up add pepper, salt and nutmeg (basic sausage) then my fave is to add fresh leeks then grind it up again and stuff it (either use the grinder or a sausage stuffer) and hey presto, after a day in the fridge all is good!
If you want more info I could start another thread with some basics. Good tasting sausage with no preservatives! The other thing you will realise is that its not pink like most sausages.....beacause there is no colouring or preservatives/crap in them.
I got loads a recipes - mc donalds, chilli, cumberland.... the list goes on!
Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!
nathbrew@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Sounds great. Where can you get a machine, or whatever you use?
Get those recipes posted. All good reference.
Yes, we all make great beer ...... sometimes.
Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!
E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Ground lamb and fresh rosemary, mmmmmmmm the smell from the barbie.
Conditioning; Diabolo, TTL
Planning; SNPA
Drinking; Headcracker, Pinot Grigio, WTA
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