BrewOnBoard

Recipes 

Although AG is to be strived for, sometimes pre-hopped kits make sense, especially for me because of long shelf life and ease of process. In other words it's quick, cheap beer on hand.

So let's rate the pre-hopped kits that have been tried and see if we can figure out which ones are worthwhile. Also any general tips for improving the kits are welcome here. Notice that in an attempt to be realistic, even the 5 star isn't as good as a well crafted micro or a top-rated homebrew ingredient kit because I doubt that's possible with these kits.

Here's the system, 1-5 stars:

* A starving college student would drink it, but nobody else. (think hooch/icehouse)
** Drinkable in a pinch. Wouldn't serve it to guests or brew it again. (think MGD)
*** Drinkable. Worth brewing again. (think PBR)
**** A decent table beer. (think Carona)
***** As good as the better macros or a good ingredient kit. (think RedHook)


My first brew was a cooper's Dark ale kit with the recipe followed exactly:


I give this one 2 stars. I drink it when I'm out of store bought beer and I'm feeling poor. It has some weird flavors/smell that I don't like. It could have been a bad process but as brewed by me, it's a 2 star. Won't buy it again.

Let's hear your experiences!
BrewOnBoard

Theogard

Recipes 

My first brew was an Ironmaster Imperial Pale Ale to which I added 2 lbs of DME. I din't leave it in the primary long enough (only 3 days!) and then two weeks in the secondary. After it was in the bottle for about 6 weeks it got to tasting pretty good.

I would give it 3 stars.

If I were to brew it again, I would add some flavor and aroma hops.

Tlylebrew

Recipes 

I brewed a Muntons Stout for my second batch of beer, it was a pre-hopped canned kit. I did a partial boil on it. It was by far the worst tasting beer I have ever made.
I attribute it to the pre-hopping and the fact it was canned. I think the can gives the LME off flavors.

STB

Recipes 

I have done 7 of these kits (BeerMakers) so far but never just brewed as per instructions. I started with a stout kit and modded per experience from this forum, some dark spray malt and 6 OZ of Cocoa for 10 min ect.. I took a draught kit and instead of corn sugar used honey. I also did a lager kit and added corn syrup and Lime to try to get that BMC lime beer. Turned out pretty well. My first try at making beer was the chocolate stout and I spent a lot of time sampling to understand the green beer thing but by the time I got down to the last couple beer (aprox 2 months post bottling) I had a beer snob sample it and comment on how it was the best stout he had ever tried. I have also taken 2 prehopped ale malt cans and used them with an extra fuggles hop addition and some dark spray malt to make a corn sugarless IPA. You might say why don't you just get a unhopped Kit from Northern Brewer or something? Around here I can get those pre hopped malt cans for 12.99 Canadian. So my IPA cost me under 30$. So if I was giving a star rating I would give my modded kits 4 stars and my chocolate stout a 5 star.

Shooter

Recipes 

I still have Coopers Mexican Cerveza on hand. I purchased the kit, with the additional fermentables brew pack, from Austin Homebrew. I would probably give it three to three and a half stars. I honestly wasn't expecting too much from it. It's not a great beer, but it's very drinkable and not bad on a hot day. I have to say, it was as easy as a Mr. Beer kit to brew.

ZooBrew

Recipes 

Of all the pre-hopped kits, my favorite is Cooper's Sparkling Ale. Properly aged, this brew is up there with the more advanced full-boil kits. As far as Pre-Hopped Extract kits go, I'd have to give this one 5 stars.

Shooter

Recipes 

After my success with the cerveza, I was really strongly considering trying the Sparkling Ale. Thanks for the recommendation!

SMOKEU

Recipes 

Muntons wheat beer, used in conjunction with 1kg of German wheat spraymalt (brewcraft I believe); I have to give it a 3.5 star rating. Very drinkable, and I would happily serve it to my friends. The only bad thing about it is that once people have a taste of it the want to drink the whole bloody batch of it. Primary for 2 weeks with no finings, then bottle conditioned for 2 weeks; very impressive head and a smooth drink at that. Very little, if any noticeable banana or clove notes, even when the yeast is shaken up. Would happily brew this again and again.

BrewOnBoard

Recipes 

I was wondering about the cerveza. I had a theory that these kits are at their worst with dark beers, and what did I do? Try their dark ale! I've been drinking a lot of Carona this summer. For a very average beer, it's amazing how different a carona tastes on a really hot day.

How does the cerveza compare to carona?

BrewOnBoard

Shooter

Recipes 

I wouldn't say it's a clone of Corona. It's similar, a light smooth beer that I've found to be quite nice on a hot day. If you add a bit of lime to it the experience is a little more like a Corona. Like I said, I'd definitely do this beer again if I wanted this style and something that was REALLY easy to brew. The additional fermentable kit from Austin Homebrew made the whole "brewing" process take about ten minutes.

Let's just say I was pleased enough with this Coopers kit that I am considering the Sparkling Ale in the future. I enjoy the process of steeping grains with extract and am looking to try a partial mash in the next couple of brew sessions, but I still like these pre-hopped kits for their ease and am surprised that they can actually make a decent beer.