You can either bottle or barrel the beer when it is finished and the equipment you need for either is slightly different. There are a lot of starter kits that just come with a bunch of plastic bottles that you probably wouldn't re-use, and they're not a bad shout for a first crack at homebrewing.

Here's an example of a full starter kit including plastic bottles, which even comes with a beer kit as well.

http://www.home-brew-online.com/starter-kits-c47/beer-lager-c50/coopers-complete-kit-lager-p838

Most of the things in that kit are essential or a good idea.

The brewing sugar is to suplement the kit. Beer is made from malt extract, which is essentially a kind of sugar, and it's the sugar that becomes alcohol.

The cheaper kits anticipate you'll add additional sugar. You won't need that with a wherry kit, as there are two tins of malt extract in the pack and it's enough to make 30-some pints of good beer. (Some people do add a little extra malt extract - google 'Wherry Tweak' - but it's not needed).

The brewing drops are also sugar - but they're to give the stuff some fizz in the bottle. (Plenty of CO2 is generated during fermentation, but the beer will be flat when you've left it to ferment for long enough to bottle.)

made this kit a few times and it is the best I've tried by far, for ppl who've never made homebrew this is definitely the way to go. Can always progress to whole grain etc after but you won't find a better starting point.
BTW I buy 11 x tesco still water 17p each to make it and use the empty bottles to rack it off when my king keg is full :wink:

Think we'll have to agree to disagree on that part of it. I recognise that what you're describing is possible, but I just don't think that all grain is a holy grail to be attained no matter the sacrifice. The simple method you're advocating is going to have low efficiencies, risks over and above a kit, and all the same disadvantages in terms of method. I'm just not convinced its worth the shortcuts - as a way of getting in to brewing.

Later maybe, but the equipment you now use really is worth having. (You've totted up as about 40 quid and absolutely kudos for the DIY, but it would cost around 250 from a home brew store.)

It does but if u syphon two or three times and leave it for a month in bottles it becomes rather smooth and the yeasty taste pretty much goes

I agree with a some of your advice but totally disagree with the cost and learning curve of all grain. I moved the all grain in July and it cost me zero to do my first brew. The only specialise equipment needed was a thermometer. The hardest thing was learning all the terms involved and where to buy the grains. I just wish I had have moved to AG far sooner.

Since then I've invested in a coolbox to build a mashtun (cost £20 incluing parts), a chiller (copper pipe £20) and was given an electric boiler (not important if you can get 20L up to a boil on your stove.) I've made many mistakes and some very cloudy beers but also some great beers and even my worst mistake beer has been far superior than any kit I've ever done.

Just do a search "simple all grain beer" to find the steps involved. There's a load of videos and posts out there. It's not rocket science and won't even cost as much as this kit for a first batch. Sure you can spend £500 on a grainfather but you can also do the same for zero (well the cost of the grains and a thermometer).

If anyone wants any help, I'll keep an eye on this thread and give help to the best of my knowledge.

Just curious to anyone who's made this kit. Does it have the home brew twang that accompanies kits? Any kit I've ever done has this twang. It's a yeasty flavour that I suppose comes with the cheap generic yeasts supplied.

My home brew beer by Ian Tindale, on Flickr

I've brewed two of these, the first was really good the second overly malty. No doubt the brewing temperature had something to do with it but it is worth a shot at this price bearing in mind you don't require any brewing sugar or malt extract.

I've bought it at £14 before.

I've made lots of beer kits and now brew all grain beers. This kit makes an overly malty and unbalanced beer with too much mouthfeel. It tastes very much of kit beer, with a sort of plasticky aftertaste.

That said, it is still one of the better beer kits.

Ah, right - OK. Yes, I think you are missing something.

Kit beers are generally not boiled at full volume, and not for 60 minutes or anything like that.

You can get away with a 5-10 litre pan on a stovetop for a kit beer.

Volume is made up by adding water later, usually as part of the cooling process.

For a BIAB you need to mash and then boil at or near the full volume.

This means that you really want to have a boiler suited to the job, which will usually run you around 100-150. Or a large pot, and an appropriate way to boil it - usually stovetops aren't suited. (Smaller volumes are easier and safer on a stovetop, though. And there is something to be said for this.)

Because you're boiling a larger volume and the cooling process is quite important, you'll usually want a wort chiller in addition to the boiler for BIAB brewing. (around 50-100).

By contrast it may not be an ideal method, but using cold water to chill 5 litres of concentrated kit wort down to around 23 degrees usually ends well, and doesn't require a wort chiller or a boiler

Unless I'm missing something the only difference between kit brewing and brew in a bag is a bag... Hardly specialist equipment is it? It uses pretty much the same process except an additional hour of mashing in the pan before boiling (compared to a kit where you just shove the extract in hot water, add hops and boil). When 5 KG of grain (enough for a couple brews at this brewlength) costs £6-8 depending on postage and supplier and will comfortably make 20 litres of beer. Because I'm a know-it-all I've worked out that this is actually cheaper than buying this kit which works out at about £10-12 (including 2x yeast sachets and other sundries, sanitiser etc) so about 34p a pint. So apparently there is no counter argument except, I've just worked out that going BIAB is actually cheaper than even heavily discounted kits such as this one, takes no special equipment outside of the stuff you would need anyway to do a kit brew. I put this information so that people can be informed, and if they want the training wheels of a kit brew at first then that's fine. We all learned somehow someplace. Ignoring an obvious alternate path that can save people lots of money down the line for an hours worth of extra effort is well, just ignorant. Are we not here to save money, is that your point?

Don't waste your time.... Think brewing from grain...

For all of the newbies who are starting homebrew this is a great kit tastes brill but it does have a tendency to stick at 1.020 gravity and therefore needs longer to brew than the min suggested on the instructions. It will taste a lot nice if you syphon it into Demi Johns at least twice to get rid of settling yeast as well. All I'm saying is this is best drunk after a month or more after starting it but you can't leave it in the fermenting bin for more than a week or two really so Demi Johns are a good investment as well but buying all of the equipment only starts to pay for itself after buying several kits. Great deal tho and if you really get into it you can start mashing your own!

I'm entirely familiar with bag brewing, thanks. I apologise for not adding a chapter on this in my already lengthy reply, but the only reason to do so would have been to prevent know-it-alls from sticking their oar in - I don't think it would have added much for the novices I was trying to help.

I still maintain that starting with a kit is more sensible, as there is less money and time at stake, and less equipment required.

A lot of people will do a single batch and realise it's not for them. I don't think people should have to buy even as much as a full extract kit to learn about brewing. You can learn a LOT about brewing from a kit, if you're paying attention to what is happening and why. I would agree with your recommendation of the Palmer book. In fact, Palmer also splits up brewing into roughly the same stages I have described - missing out the kit stage.

The thing about brewing from a kit is that all the same equipment gets used when you start extract brewing, plus a little more. And when you move to partial or all grain brews, you use all the same equipment again, plus a little more.

And then when you start mashing in a tun, instead of a bag, you use all the same equipment again, plus a little more.

I think this progression is the most cost effective, and I don't see a counter argument to that.

All you old time brewers are basing your advice on your current knowledge, experience and collection of equipment, which is not the most helpful advice for those starting out!

Completely incorrect. I assume you're not familiar with the Brew in a bag concept? Essentially you raise your liquor (fancy brewing word for water that you brew with) to around 78c (you're going to crash the temp when you add room temperature grain) and throw all your grain in a pourus sack, like a hemp sack or something similar. Add the entire thing (including the bag!!) to the pot, stabilise to 66-72c depending on your desired recipe and leave at that temperature for an hour. There are loads of recipes for BIAB (as it's the desired homebrew style in Australia). When you've finished your mash pull the bag out and use a strong stick/metal bar/rod whatever and twist the bag dry. Add your hops, and then boil. Much better than extract, better control over style, more room for experimentation AND the only 'specialist' equipment you need over an extract brewing kit is a hessian/hemp sack. It's basically no more complicated than making a pot of green tea (where you put the leaves in cage). It's just larger. Personally I don't do BIAB because I have a mash tun and prefer the extra level of control this gives me over my process, plus I'm able to get much larger volumes out of this set up than brew in bag (my set up is 30l). I have been tempted to come to the darkside a few times though just for when I'm in a pinch and need a brew done in a couple of hours.

http://biabbrewing.com/

For those wanting to know more about the brewing process or to better understand even just extract kits I heartily recommend John Palmers book How to brew. Conveniently located on http://www.howtobrew.com and it's 100% free! Now that's a bargain!

I drink plenty of ales, mainly pale, golden or ambers not really that keen on darker ales and never really considered home brewing before. So what type of ale/beer will this produce?

A great price for a home beer kit. I'm still enjoying the ale from my first ever Wilko home brew kit and it's lovely. It was very simple to make and didn't cost the earth. The rest of the kit cost around £30 (excluding the ale). Costs can be reduced by sourcing used ale bottles from your local pub and sterilising them (Westherspoons are great for this). Once you have the basic kit (all available from Wilko) you just need to purchase further ale kits to continue to brew more batches of ale.

Last line made me LOL! I've literally done a batch yesterday that's in the fermenting bin right now. I used this one for my first attempt last year and it was bloody lovely so I'm doing it again. I used a big barrel with a tap rather than bottles then just helped myself to a pint as and when. Make sure you get the proper steriliser :wink:

Syphon £2.50

Fermenting vessel £12
Steriliser £1.75
Hydrometer £3.50

Plus this kit is all you need.

Bottles as I mentioned you can use empty fizzy drink bottles.

I like all grain too, but it takes most of a saturday, whereas this wherry kit is almost no more complex than making a cup of tea. Sort of.

From what I've read this is probably the best "kit" you can buy.

That Youngs brewing kit mentioned above is how I started but you really only need a bucket big enough to ferment, some sterilising solution and a syphon. You should have everything else around the home except a hydrometer (not essential for a kit if you follow the instructions). Bottling, just use 500ml and 2L Coke Bottles, washed and sterilised.

I'm an all grain convert but I'd like to try this kit. I've no Wilko's near me tho.

Thanks OP

Love my beer & ale so ordered, haven't ever done this before but worth a go, cheers OP, Heat! So all I need to do now is order the mentioned above? I.e the home brew online starter kit? Thanks!

what else would I need to buy to brew this beer? I am considering buying this but I have never done this before so I would like to know if anyone has any idea of how much more i will need to spend to make the 40 pints?

Meh, full grain only for me, but still decent for those who like this

Don't waste your time.... Think brewing from grain...

Thank you very much for advise. now I just gotta convince the better half :smile:

You can either bottle or barrel the beer when it is finished and the equipment you need for either is slightly different. There are a lot of starter kits that just come with a bunch of plastic bottles that you probably wouldn't re-use, and they're not a bad shout for a first crack at homebrewing.

Here's an example of a full starter kit including plastic bottles, which even comes with a beer kit as well.

http://www.home-brew-online.com/starter-kits-c47/beer-lager-c50/coopers-complete-kit-lager-p838

Most of the things in that kit are essential or a good idea.

The brewing sugar is to suplement the kit. Beer is made from malt extract, which is essentially a kind of sugar, and it's the sugar that becomes alcohol.

The cheaper kits anticipate you'll add additional sugar. You won't need that with a wherry kit, as there are two tins of malt extract in the pack and it's enough to make 30-some pints of good beer. (Some people do add a little extra malt extract - google 'Wherry Tweak' - but it's not needed).

The brewing drops are also sugar - but they're to give the stuff some fizz in the bottle. (Plenty of CO2 is generated during fermentation, but the beer will be flat when you've left it to ferment for long enough to bottle.)

I'll hint to the missis for crimbo then :wink:

Id say near £50 bucket, syphon, cleaner. and some bottles (capper if not flip top or plastic).

Thank you, I haven't got a clue where to start but before I purchase this I want to know how much I will need in total. I guess im looking at about £70?

One of the better kits that I've tried and good price

One of the best kits you can buy and a great price.

Wilko sell all the gear you need. I bought a Coopers kit from Tesco for £50 that had everything bar steriliser in but will now last me years. For £15 this is a great buy.

Brewing bin, syphon, big saucepan to contain around 10 litres, bottles, sterilising solution... I think you can buy kits that contain all the necessary items...

Brilliant price for a two can kit, cheapest I've ever had it before is £18, as already said, it is a good brew also.

Great price and a fantastic kit too.

Heat from me

heat added.
good value at this price and makes a really nice brew

Usually £20+ so a good price

What is the normal price?