anyone use brewhouse?

Brew House kits do always seem to turn out great for me, although I've never tried different yeasts so perhaps that is the next step!

I also use these kits quite a bit: Festa Brew. They're very similar to Brew House except
1) You don't add any water, the kits are a full 23L of wort
2) Every different style of beer comes with the proper style of yeast (as opposed to the 15G coopers yeast that seems to come with Brew House).

Anyways both always seem to turn out great and are super easy!

Anyone done any hacking with the Festa Brew kits?

okay so how does one open the plastic cap on the wort bag!? it is on there like crazyglue and i suspect i will tear the damn bag long before getting that thing to come off......

I find using a regular bottle opener and a very firm grip helps. If at first you don't succeed and tear the plastic of the cap (so the bottle opener has nothing to grip to) rotate a few degrees and try again.

They definitely don't make them easy to open so if anyone else has a better way I'd be happy to find out how!

Vice grips work good too.....

Kronin said:

okay so how does one open the plastic cap on the wort bag!? it is on there like crazyglue and i suspect i will tear the damn bag long before getting that thing to come off......

Click to expand...

Make sure you use the box with the cutout to put the cap through and NEVER take it out of the box thinking there is an easier way to pour it. I've tried it and it's always messy. Even cutting a corner of the bag inside the fermenter thinking "no mess" resulted in too much splashing coming out onto my arm and floor

I use the dull end of my Swiss Army knife to pop it and always have the box on a ledge above the fermenter to make it easy to pour.

Another thing is I shake the hell out of the box B4 pouring to get the deposits in the bag out and I add some water/wort in the bag to get the most I can.

I use a bottle opener to open the pouch. I learned to leave the bag in the box too. I have the Mexican Cerveza brewing right now. I used Wyeast 2112.

Kronin said:

okay so how does one open the plastic cap on the wort bag!? it is on there like crazyglue and i suspect i will tear the damn bag long before getting that thing to come off......

Click to expand...

I find that if I pull on it really hard and use just the right combination of swear words it comes off with minimal spillage. The problem is, is I never remember what the right combination of swear words to use the next time I'm trying to open one of the them.

BoyScout said:

I find that if I pull on it really hard and use just the right combination of swear words it comes off with minimal spillage. The problem is, is I never remember what the right combination of swear words to use the next time I'm trying to open one of the them.

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This is why keeping notes is so important

I guess I'm the lone holdout here. I made 2 kits a few years ago and didn't like the results. Could have been the municipal water, but I have used that water for the past 4 years with great results. I did try Barrons kits, which were almost the same and had much better results.

If I were that close to PW, I would try some of their kits. I thought they made 23 liter wort kits. And while we are on the wort-in-a-bag type kits, have anyone tried Festabrew kits? I have had beer made from them a buddy sends me from Nova Scotia and must say they are awesome.

Edit, didn't see Chips post... oh well

well, i used a knofe to loift the edge of the cap and that worked okay... got a bunch on my socks, but whatever , lol


okay im nort correntig my typos.. im a few brews in and am RDWAHAHB....

I was just checking out these kits at Winning Wines Plus and thought i would do a quick search on the site to see the reviews. Looks like everyone is happy with there results so i will try one out.
I think that they were selling them for over $30 as well.

The Cream Ale is a favorite by many, I would give that a try if you like that style. You can't go wrong.

I bought the IPA and its been in primary for 2 weeks now.... smells great. a bit pricey over here at $38 but still... for good beer, what the heck...

Kronin said:

I bought the IPA and its been in primary for 2 weeks now.... smells great. a bit pricey over here at $38 but still... for good beer, what the heck...

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Let us know how that IPA turns out!

That IPA kit is a good one, especially if you didn't add all the top-up water it calls for. Adding some dry hops in the secondary really makes it outstanding! Darn, I may have to do one of those soon.

I made the Pilsener kit. After 2 weeks in the bottle I wasn't too impressed so I waited another month and it made a huge difference, turned out to be a pretty good brew.

FlyGuy said:

That IPA kit is a good one, especially if you didn't add all the top-up water it calls for. Adding some dry hops in the secondary really makes it outstanding! Darn, I may have to do one of those soon.

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i would like to try this....

what do you recommend? it is in secondary at the moment and i have a couple ounces of Fuggles, and a couple ounces of Goldings... (both pellet)

Kronin said:

i would like to try this....

what do you recommend? it is in secondary at the moment and i have a couple ounces of Fuggles, and a couple ounces of Goldings... (both pellet)

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I like to use American hops, like Columbus, Centennial, Cascade, Amarillo, etc. But if is a choice between Goldings or Fuggles, I would go with the Goldings. I like the aroma better personally. But honestly, either will improve the beer.

I generally make the BH Red Ale and the BH Cream Ale every year....the cream ale I add 2 1/2 cups of honey at primary fermentation, and it really adds a lot to the ale.

BH is, imho, awesome.

Yes.
That was one of the first I tried. Not impressed. couldn't get a decent head, tasted like brown water. It may have been doing something wrong.
The best results that I have had is with Coopers; but use a wooden spoon when you clean the out the can. There is a white plastic coating on the inside that scrapes of quite easily.

When I got back into brewing a couple of years ago I started with one of these kits and every batch I've made since then has been with them.

Here is my rundown of them

Wheat - very nice tasting alittle too light
India Pale Ale - only made once and it had a weird after taste
American Lager - on tap right now (love it)
Cream Ale - love it but kind of an weird after taste but goes away after a few sips
Mexican Cerveza - I love this one it is a great very light beer. Excellent for sitting on the deck with. Great for friends that claim all homebrew sucks.
Stout - never made on it own but have made it with chocolate and coffee added. It was very rich and hard to drink more than a glass but I think its because i put in too much coffee.

Drustanos said:

$38 is too much. I get mine for 10 bucks less. That being said, these are good super easy kits. I have done the pale ale, pilsner and american premium lager is in the 2ndary right now.

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they seem to be going for $40-42 in calgary

How did the american lager turn out?

just bottled the IPA today, i left in primary for 12 days and 20 days in secondary and dry hopped with 1oz of pellet kent golding hops... tastes awesome so far

ryanK said:

they seem to be going for $40-42 in calgary

How did the american lager turn out?

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Welcome to HBT ryan!

Are you a Yeast Wrangler???



[http://www.YeastWranglers.ca]

I started drinking my Mexican Cerveza kit. Mighty tasty.

I have tried them and they produce good beers. Use a quality yeast though. They give you crappy yeast I think its Coopers. I would use a liquid yeast or better suited Ale yeast.

I usually go to safeway and buy 2 4L bottles of spring water.

FlyGuy said:

Welcome to HBT ryan!

Are you a Yeast Wrangler???



[http://www.YeastWranglers.ca]

Click to expand...

I checked that out the other day. Hopefully i'll make it out to the next meeting!

I've been doing partial extracts the last few times I've made beer but this time I went back to using a brewhouse kit cause I was lazy and just wanted to get a batch of beer ready in a shorter period of time.
I've "hacked" one of the brewhouse kits before, I made the Imperial Oatmeal Stout, turned out fantastic actually, and my "Double" Honey Blonde was pretty good too, this time I decided to do the IPA they suggest with a few alterations, just to see what happens.
So here's the recipe

1 Brewhouse Pale Ale kit
.5lb Biscuit Malt
.5lb Honey Malt
1.25kgs. Golden Syrup
1.5 cups Amber DME
1 pkg. Wyeast Pacman yeast
2ozs. Fresh Cascade Hops
2ozs. Fresh Sterling Hops
4ozs. Fresh East Goldings Hops
Add water to bring it up to approx. 18litres

like the mix of imperial and metric?...heh

Bring 8 litres of the wort up to 170oF, add cracked grains, keep them there for 30 mins. remove grains, bring wort to a boil.
Add Cascade Hops, boil for 10 mins, add Sterling Hops, boil for another 10.
Allow to cool, add yeast.

OG - 1.062

Primary fermenter - 5 days
Secondary - 20 days
Rack to a clean secondary, add 4ozs. East Kent Goldings hops - 30 days

Bottle and wait at least 2 months.

It's in the primary now. Going to be a long 4 months.....

This is very interesting. Too bad they don't sell the wort unhopped. That would make it far more interesting to me. But, this is the first time i've seen/heard anything about them. Will keep an eye on this thread.

Cheaton said:

This is very interesting. Too bad they don't sell the wort unhopped. That would make it far more interesting to me. But, this is the first time i've seen/heard anything about them. Will keep an eye on this thread.

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Not hopping the kits would sort of defeat the purpose, though -- these are meant to be no-boil beer kits (as easy to make as wine kits, or so they are marketed up here in Canada).

The quality is truly spectacular, though. And they do make a broad range of various beer styles, so you can create quite a diversity of beers, especially if you are willing to 'hack' them.

I see. I think the no boil kind of takes the fun out of it. But to each his/her own! I can see how the results could be very good considering the wort is made under highly controlled/controllable conditions with no evaporation or concentration process. However, if I could buy unconcentrated, unhopped wort I think I'd do that over buying extract. But, thus far my extract results have been pretty stellar all things considered.

BoyScout said:

1 Brewhouse Pale Ale kit
.5lb Biscuit Malt
.5lb Honey Malt
1.25kgs. Golden Syrup
1.5 cups Amber DME
1 pkg. Wyeast Pacman yeast
2ozs. Fresh Cascade Hops
2ozs. Fresh Sterling Hops
4ozs. Fresh East Goldings Hops
Add water to bring it up to approx. 18litres

like the mix of imperial and metric?...heh

Bring 8 litres of the wort up to 170oF, add cracked grains, keep them there for 30 mins. remove grains, bring wort to a boil.
Add Cascade Hops, boil for 10 mins, add Sterling Hops, boil for another 10.
Allow to cool, add yeast.

OG - 1.062

Primary fermenter - 5 days
Secondary - 20 days
Rack to a clean secondary, add 4ozs. East Kent Goldings hops - 30 days
Bottle and wait at least 2 months.
It's in the primary now. Going to be a long 4 months.....

Click to expand...

amazingly this sounds ALOT like the brewhouse pale ale kit i hacked (including exact same OG i just used 1 lb of crystal malt thjough and only dryhopped with one ounce


my first beer was the munich dark lager kit and i just followed the directions exactly, things i would definitely recommend changing even if it were someones very first brew would be to use a related yeast, as the "lager" had generic coopers ale yeast and to let it sit in primary for at least 10 days, and to use less than the 250grams of dextrose, probably only half to 2/3 of the package provided.

ill say how the IPA turned out in a bit

i added a ton of hops to the pale ale kit and some crystal malt and it turned out AMAZING.

I LOVE BREWHOUSE!

I went into a Winning Wines Plus in Edmonton about 6 months back. I had never made beer before, so I was at a complete loss. The lady showed me the different types of beer kits, but HEAVILY emphasized that the Brewhouse kits were the best.

They were a little more expensive, but I've often noticed that you get what you pay for - and I wanted quality beer! So, I picked up a Dark Lager and a Red Ale. Loved them both.

Since then I've gone through Stout, Cream Ale, and Cervesa. Now I'm going back and trying out the kits with different styles of liquid yeast.

I made the Munich Dark with actual lager yeast - at first I didn't care for it...such a difference in flavour. But, after a couple more weeks in the bottle, it is wonderful!

I'm in the middle of modding the Stout kit, using Wyeast Irish Ale yeast, and just 4L of water -Tropical Stout - It looks/smells/tastes great. I sampled it when I transferred from Primary to secondary - and I was surprised to already enjoy the flavour at that point...usually, the beer still tastes a little off at that point.

The kits are really fabulous. I love how easy they are to mod and create new styles. Every beer I've tried so far has been full of flavour. I will never drink store bought swill again!

By the way, I am so in love with the kits that I started a Facebook page to promote them/share recipes/ideas, etc. If any of you would like to make an appearance, that would be highly welcome.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=302973104086&ref=ts

Just cracked the first IPA this weekend that I "hacked" according to the recipe I posted earlier in the thread.
They've only been bottled for a week now and are a little green still but it was really good. Nice and hoppy, just the way I like it.

I hacked an IPA kit, adding only 4L of water in which I had mashed some carafa III and carafoam. Added some extra hops and dryhopped with Falconer's Flight. Used Pacman yeast. It is a beautiful black IPA, very dark in colour but hints of dark red when held up to the light.

I gave a bottle to a coworker this weekend, and he told me today it was "the best f***ing beer I've had in a long time", which I was quite pleased with.

I agree - it is a pretty good f***ing beer.

I have been brewing all-grain for a few months now, but the BH kits are great when you want to get a batch going and don't have a lot of time for a brew day. An hour or so of preparation, and you can have something quite special on the way. It costs a bit more, but I've never had a complaint with the way the beers have turned out.