Home brewing kits ....

Bought a mango today, so gonna try to make a mango Cider in the next couple of days, I'll put up the recipe and Pics when I do it, although it'll be the same method as the Raspberry Cider.

Oh and the Raspberry Cider and the 20% alcohol are both fermenting away nicely :)
 
Has anyone done an 18-20% turbo cider? I'm thinking of getting one going and feeding it to max out the yeast, then sweetening it so it's like a cider liquer. Trying to decide if a) it'll be appley enough to stand up to the alcohol; and b) what else to put in it, like tannin.
 
How close would a kit be to a real ale? My old man used to brew his own beer years ago (mainly to save a few bob really) so I have all the kit knocking around and I’m really tempted to give this a go.
 
I've not tasted a kit that didn't have the 'home brew' taste to it. My other half's uncle always has home bre on the go and he said they pretty much all have that taste. I'm happy to be proved wrong over this though, just make sure you tell us what kit it is so we can go brew it up :D
 
I'd say that the higher end kits are comparable with beers at many pubs. The homebrew "twang" is often associated with refined sugars, so the quality kits (with 2 cans) generally don't have the taste you mention. 1 can kits can be equally good if brewed with DME.

I really love my real ales (and luckily have many award winning pubs / breweries on my doorstep), and would go as far to say some of my brews from kits equal that of pubs (good ones too). But do bear in mind to get there the beer needs to condition for ~ 6 - 8 weeks.

I'd love to go all grain, but sadly really don't have the space where i am ATM :(
 
HeadlessChicken said:
I really love my real ales (and luckily have many award winning pubs / breweries on my doorstep), and would go as far to say some of my brews from kits equal that of pubs (good ones too). But do bear in mind to get there the beer needs to condition for ~ 6 - 8 weeks.
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Excellent stuff, any particular kits you'd recommend for a beginner? :)
 
Woodefords Wherry is a very good starter kit, reasonable price, good finished beer and the taste is relatively middle of the road so you if you like Ale you wont end up with 40 pints of something you dont like because its not to your taste.
 
Well I didn't get down to the brewery shop today, but I did manage to find some of the equipment knocking around. Found it located in the deepest corner of the attic, must have been there for at least 10 years. Anyway they were in quite a state:

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There was some moisture in the kegs and when I unscrewed the top they made a nice fizzing noise, smelt terrible and the mould around the top was pretty bad. So I decided to make the most of the nice weather and spent a few hours this afternoon scrubbing and cleaning them in the garden, pretty pleased with the result.

homebrew4.jpg

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I decided I probably won't use the rotokeg as it seemed much harder to clean and the other keg came up so well. Still need to do another final clean and then I can begin sterilising them ready for the beer :D
 
PlacidCasual said:
Don't forget to buy a new float and gas bottle for your keg. If it's and S30 you'll probably want some new rubbers for the valve too.
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Went down to the brewery shop today and bought myself a few toys, couldn't get the nut off the keg lid so wasn't able to get some new rubber (decided that if gas is leaking I'll just get a new lid).

Anyway here's what I got:

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Cleaned the kitchen up nice and proper this evening then started the brew. It's a bit of pain sterilising all the equipment though, but one it was it was done I could get on with it:

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Now it's all bedded down for a week or so, fingers crossed! :D

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HeadlessChicken said:
I'd say that the higher end kits are comparable with beers at many pubs. The homebrew "twang" is often associated with refined sugars, so the quality kits (with 2 cans) generally don't have the taste you mention. 1 can kits can be equally good if brewed with DME.

I really love my real ales (and luckily have many award winning pubs / breweries on my doorstep), and would go as far to say some of my brews from kits equal that of pubs (good ones too). But do bear in mind to get there the beer needs to condition for ~ 6 - 8 weeks.

I'd love to go all grain, but sadly really don't have the space where i am ATM :(
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Space? You don't need much space my kitchen is only 7m^2 and I do just fine, just need to be extra organised :) (see my sig)
 
Sort of result you can get from a kit (Woodfordes Nelson's Revenge). Head is gone as I poured it a few mins a go. I also really need to learn how to photograph beer properly, as it's crystal clear but never quite looks that good on photos :(

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HeadlessChicken said:
The Wherry is an immense pint, you won't regret it. Altho I do prefer the Nelson's Revenge ;)

How man barrels do you have to mature your beer?
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I have to say that's a very fine looking pint :D you enjoy that!

I've got one good barrel to mature the beer, I have another but it didn't clean up very well. I'll see if this beer is any good before making the decision to brew another batch :)
 
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