There is a great range of beer kits to use for home brewing
The best thing about beer kit selection is that it all depends on what kind of beer you want to make.
So the choice is up to you.
No one wants to screw up their beer, they just want a great tasting beer that they can share with their mates.
Or drink it all themselves while watching the Footy.
But you gotta make that choice.
So.
Maybe ever something more fancy like a 'saison' which seems to be all the rage at the moment?
So the choice is up to you.
No one wants to screw up their beer, they just want a great tasting beer that they can share with their mates.
Or drink it all themselves while watching the Footy.
But you gotta make that choice.
So.
Are you after a hearty ale or a light lager?
Maybe ever something more fancy like a 'saison' which seems to be all the rage at the moment?
There are many kinds of beer kits from all kinds of sellers. They are all intended to be used to make great tasting beer so let’s review a selection of the best beer kits and see if we can find the best one for you.
Things to consider first when buying a beer kit
What kind of beer do you want to brew?
Beer kits are made to cover just about every beer style that there is.
If you are a beginner brewer we would recommend that you go for a more darker beer like an ale or stout (we love nut brown ales with some fuggle hops ourselves).
This is because it's more likely you will get a better tasting beer, especially as most first time brewers will not be patient enough to wait for their lagers to properly age!!
Speaking of lager...
Is the kit reasonably fresh?
If it’s been sitting under the kitchen sink for three years the ingredients may not be in an optimum state and the condition of the yeast will certainly be questionable.
You want your beer kit to be in the best state so as they say, fresh is best. When making your purchase feel free to inquire with the seller or check the batch data.
If it’s old, show the kit the door.
If you are buying from a popular beer specialty store or online site, chances are you will be buying a product of an appropriate age and there should be no reason for you to wonder.
One handy trick brewers often do is discard the yeast pack that comes with the beer kit and instead they add their own fresh yeast they have sourced elsewhere, the Safale yeast is a popular choice with homebrewers.
Many brewers believe that the yeast in beer kits are not as good as specialty yeasts. We say each to their own, and if you can afford it, go for it.
Lager beer kits
Lagers can be a challenge to make as they need lower temperatures during fermentation to achieve the desired result.
Since lagers are generally light in body it is very easy to tell a lager that has been fermented at too warm a temperature as they may taste too fruity or spicy due to too much ester production.
Since lagers are generally light in body it is very easy to tell a lager that has been fermented at too warm a temperature as they may taste too fruity or spicy due to too much ester production.
So what are some good beer kits to use to make a lager?
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| Getting the malt ready |
I’ve used plenty of Black Rock Kits and they are just the best for basic home brewing and produce very drinkable beers.
You could think of these kits as being your 'standard' kit - nothing to fancy but you can be confident they will help you produce good beer.
You’ll also find that Cooper’s DIY Lager is well worth a crack – we do recommend you add some hops of course! We did a great brew of a Cooper's larger with the combination of both Moteuka and Saaz hops
.
Cooper’s kits have been reviewed by drinkers as being “a great beer to start with for new brewers and veterans alike. The flavor is very smooth, has a creamy head and ends with a slight bitterness.”
. Cooper’s kits have been reviewed by drinkers as being “a great beer to start with for new brewers and veterans alike. The flavor is very smooth, has a creamy head and ends with a slight bitterness.”
Another popular choice in the American home brewers market is the Munton’s Premium Lager Kit, which has a 5 star review on Amazon
What are the popular ale kits? Is IPA the way to go?
Some of the tastiest beverages around are ales. There’s something about them that just makes you feel good when drinking them (other than the obvious alcohol effect!).
They are hearty to drink, and pair well with many food dishes.
A well-crafted ale can explore all kinds of taste sensations and they are certainly a great session beer where you can just get on them.
Also, the best ale kits are pretty forgiving to brewing mistakes and they are also able to be brewed at warmer temperatures than those pesky and pernickety lagers ;).
So what are the best ale kits?
We are going to focus on the IPA, the good old Indian Pale Ale.
A style of apparently that was apparently invented by the British during their efforts to colonize India, the IPA is a hoppy style beer from the pale ale family.
There are three kinds of IPA’s American-style, English-style, and Double or Imperial. All have good things going for them, especially Mr Beer’s Diablo IPA
It is a very popular beer kit. It has been described as being “a very nice dark ale with subtle hints of winter spices, and takes kindly to many different yeasts.”
Get your thrills from your pils (kits)
Let’s have a think about Pilsner beer kits.
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| Hand tip - use a hydrometer to check the gravity |
Take that with a grain of malt, but there’s no doubt as to the popularity of a good pils (if you ever get the chance, try the Three Boys Pils, it’s one of our personal favourites).
The pilsner has a long history coming out of Germany. The modern pilsner has a very light, clear colour from pale to golden yellow. It will usually have distinct hop aroma and flavour.
Pilsner beers have become nearly synonymous with the four so called 'noble hops'. These are varieties of hop called Terrnanger, Spalt, Hallertauer
and Saaz
.So what are the best pilsner beer kits?
Here's a handy selection of the popular sellers on Amazon:
Stout beers are... strong!
You may always want to try a stout.
Stouts are not for the shy beer drinker, they are a full on ‘meal’ in a glass. A dark beer, they are often 7 or 8 percent ABV and have been around as a beer style since the late 1600s.
The stout, like most beer families, comes in a variety of styles. Milk stouts, Irish, Porters and oatmeal are popular versions.
The most well-known Irish stout is the Guinness Draft, the mostly drunk beer around the world on Saint Patrick's day!
Stouts are not for the shy beer drinker, they are a full on ‘meal’ in a glass. A dark beer, they are often 7 or 8 percent ABV and have been around as a beer style since the late 1600s.
The stout, like most beer families, comes in a variety of styles. Milk stouts, Irish, Porters and oatmeal are popular versions.
The most well-known Irish stout is the Guinness Draft, the mostly drunk beer around the world on Saint Patrick's day!
There’s even a method of brewing stout that uses oysters but we recommend the home brewer stay away from adding some of Bluff’s finest export to their brews!
Stouts will often use East Kent Goldings hops
but the classic Fuggle hop is used, as are several others.
but the classic Fuggle hop is used, as are several others. So what are the best stouts to homebrew from a kit?
Here's a handy selection of popular options from Amazon.
So there you go, there are plenty of quality beer kits to choose from. What to choose depends on what kind of beer you want and how much you want to spend!
We would recommend you go with popular beer kits when you are starting out.
This way you can have some confidence that many brewers have been there before and voted with their wallets as to the quality and taste of the kits.
This way you can have some confidence that many brewers have been there before and voted with their wallets as to the quality and taste of the kits.
Always bear in mind that having a good kit is not a guarantee of success – attention to good brewing technique and adhering to the mantra of sanitizing your equipment are also fundamental to the chances of brewing a tasty beverage! A good choice of hops will go a long way too - our Riwaka hops experiment was a great success.
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