Liquid ready-to-make kits

[AndyRoss]

Hello all! I've been looking for a new hobby for a while (just got out of spudguns and rocketery) and I stumbled across this forum. While I knew some people made their own wine (and those I tasted were rarely any good), it never occured to me one could make beer.

So I began reading tons of threads on the forum and the urge to at least try it once has grown on me. I've acquired some equipment, namely a super agatha bench capper, 23L Plastic Carboy, 7.5G primary fermentation bucket, tubes, racking cane etc, basically what most sites or stores sell as a begginer kit.

I live in north-eastern Canada so availability of supplies and ingredients is limited and shipping is expensive so whenever I have the chance of knowing somebody doing a trip to montreal I try to get some supplies, free of shipping.

Here's my question though : I tend to be too intense and burning myself out when I get into a hobby or somebody but this time I wanna do it right and take my time. Has anybody tried something like this (its a brick and mortar place I know to be reliable) http://www.cachettedubootlegger.ca/supbatch.html as opposed to canned kits like coopers or full worts like Magnottas' Festa Brew.

Does it seem like a good idea for a first try ? Any comments or tips ?

P.S. From all the reading I've done, the consensus seem to be that making your own beer is generally more expensive (especially if you factor in your time and required equipment) than buying it at the store. I'd like to weight in with the fact that in my area, and in many others, alcohol is taxed as a luxury item and is very expensive. At the very least, the rock bottom price of a standard 12oz bottle of the cheapest beer possible is something around 1.20$ per bottle (and microbrews are 2.50-4.00$). Seems to me it is very easy to at least break even while enjoying what you do!

Thank you all for everything and you can expect to hear from me again if it all goes wrong...or well!

 

[McGarnigle]

I've never tried those kits, but there's something to be said about the notion that your first batch is largely about sanitation, yeast handling and temperature controls. Don't complicate things yet...you can still make good beer.

As far as cost, homebrew can be cheaper than expensive commercial beer (but not than cheap swill). If you get into it, then realize the money's coming out of your hobby budget as well as your beer budget.

 

[AndyRoss]

As far as cost, homebrew can be cheaper than expensive commercial beer (but not than cheap swill). If you get into it, then realize the money's coming out of your hobby budget as well as your beer budget.

Well it would seem to be that in my case/area, even a batch ending up costing 60-70$ (and realistically, they would average 40$) is still cheaper than the cheapest swill beer available!

 

[TheWeeb]

Just to echo McGarnigle's comment on keeping it simple at first... my first was a Bock out of a can, and I could not leave it alone, so on the side I boiled raisins and cranberries in rum, cooled the mix, and added it to the primary. My fermentation was way too warm, around 80 degrees, and the thing took off and blew the airlock off. In 36 hours it was still, no fermentation; and the specific gravity reading was only 20 points lower than when I started. I waited a week, racked it to a clean carboy, re-pitched another dose of yeast, got one or two bubbles and then nothing. After another week I decided to bottle it anyway, but the sample I tasted has caused me to name it "AssBock." In retro-reading, I found that boiling fruit releases many nasties, and of course the fermentation should have been closer to 65 degrees. Moral of this story: Baby steps, follow the directions precisely, and as McG said, sanitation and temperatures are key!

 

[iron_city_ap]

If you are serious about getting into brewing, then I would go with a basic extract kit. Not the 'just add water' kind. You don't have much control over what you get, and the sense of accomplishment you get is higher the more 'complicated' you get. All Grain > Partial Mash > Extract > Canned IMO. Think of it as buying a rocket that you just stick a motor in and launch. Not much fun there I'm guessing. Same thing applies here. In the end, go with what you want, but you definately have the equipment to start off with Extracts.

 

[AndyRoss]

If you are serious about getting into brewing, then I would go with a basic extract kit. Not the 'just add water' kind. You don't have much control over what you get, and the sense of accomplishment you get is higher the more 'complicated' you get. All Grain > Partial Mash > Extract > Canned IMO. Think of it as buying a rocket that you just stick a motor in and launch. Not much fun there I'm guessing. Same thing applies here. In the end, go with what you want, but you definately have the equipment to start off with Extracts.

Well the first rocket I flew....I didn't even have to stick a motor in, somebody else did it for me and I still managed to **** it up and launch almost horizontaly ! I know, or at least I hope, I'll eventually want to do PM or AG but the reason why I want to start with something really basic is because I want to get the hang of the process, understand how it works and get a grip on sanitation while having to worry about the least details possible. The location I'm in doesnt help either, I'm driving 1200km to the nearest large city that has brew shops (Montreal). I picked up my equipment from there. You have no idea how far in the boonies I live...the kind of place where if I had neighbors, I'd know them hehe. Thanks for your input though, but I'd rather start really simple to get a practical understanding of the process in order to get it right when I'll try something more advanced. I'd rather make mistakes with a kit I don't care much about.

 

[iron_city_ap]

Good point. The thing is, your sanitation is the same if you use a canned kit or a regular extract kit. Sanitation really becomes an issue for things after you boil. Before you boil, its not as big of a deal. Go with what you are most comfortable with, but regular extract kits are really simple and don't involve all that much more of a process. You soak some grains in a bag that come with the kit in some hot water for a bit. Add more water. Start to boil it, add hops, and its the same from there on out. You don't even need any extra equipment.

That really sucks that you live that far out in the boonies. But, the good side is that you probably have the space to start growing your own hops . That would be a nice option to have.

 

[AndyRoss]

That really sucks that you live that far out in the boonies. But, the good side is that you probably have the space to start growing your own hops . That would be a nice option to have.

Haha yeah, I have a backyard that is about 1 square mile, half is covered by a forest, the rest used to be a farm so it's pretty good...but lets not get ahead of myself, I aint there yet! I'll try to brew something that is drinkable at first. I would've prefered to try an extract kit like those offered by AustinHomebrew but the shipping cost is very prohibitive (a lot more than the cost of the actual product) so I wanna sharpen my teeth on something more readily available to me.

 

[BeerJorge]

As far as cost, homebrew can be cheaper than expensive commercial beer (but not than cheap swill). If you get into it, then realize the money's coming out of your hobby budget as well as your beer budget.

Agree... but also keep in mind that home brew will taste 10 times better than most commercially available brews...

The beer kits will give you good tasting beer, but most of them will lack the quality of extract and all grain brewed beers. They'll taste watery or characterless... that is unless you add malt instead of sugar which most of them have you add, in which case, you are pretty much doing extract brewing...

 

[Homercidal]

Sanitation
Fermentation control

2 biggest things factors in making beer. Lots of other stuff to think about, but those two are the most important.

Homebrewing can be expensive if you want it to be. However, if you forego the "upgrades" and use the simple kit, you can and will save money. Especially if you can mange to buy in bulk, either extract or grain.

 

[McGarnigle]

Agree... but also keep in mind that home brew will taste 10 times better than most commercially available brews...

The beer kits will give you good tasting beer, but most of them will lack the quality of extract and all grain brewed beers. They'll taste watery or characterless... that is unless you add malt instead of sugar which most of them have you add, in which case, you are pretty much doing extract brewing...

Canadian no-boil kits are different than the ones in the US. Some are actually wort-in-the-bag (no extract). I don't know about what the OP is looking at. They don't look like added sugar kits, and may be half decent. They may also be hack-able, which isn't a bad thing to play around with.

 

[akryder]

I brewed my very first batch yesterday. It was an extract kit, and quite straight forward and manageable. It was easy to focus on the sanitation and temperature process as well as enjoy the act of brewing.

 

[hudsonj6]

Canadian no-boil kits are different than the ones in the US. Some are actually wort-in-the-bag (no extract)

You bet. My first batch was a barons redwood ale which turned out SOO good and all it is, is 7.5L of wort that you add water to and dry hop. My second batch was from brewhouse which is the same thing but double the wort which I made some extra additions to. My third batch was a true extract brew but these liquid ready to make kits are an awesome way to get started in my opinion as I've been able to learn so many things from books and this forum as well as develop good sanitation habits.

 

[iron_city_ap]

I would've prefered to try an extract kit like those offered by AustinHomebrew but the shipping cost is very prohibitive (a lot more than the cost of the actual product) so I wanna sharpen my teeth on something more readily available to me.

I'm really surprised that home brewing isn't bigger up there. Especially considering how you guys are kinda known for being fans of beer.

With the growing hops, from what I understand, it takes a season or two until the plants will start to give you good, usable hops. If you plant now, down ther road you will be set.

My next house will have a small hop garden. Even if its only 1 or 2 types.

 

[AndyRoss]

I'm really surprised that home brewing isn't bigger up there. Especially considering how you guys are kinda known for being fans of beer.

With the growing hops, from what I understand, it takes a season or two until the plants will start to give you good, usable hops. If you plant now, down ther road you will be set.

My next house will have a small hop garden. Even if its only 1 or 2 types.

We really do like our beer...but the problem in Canada is the population density. Our country is significantly bigger than the USA, yet we only have something around 1/11th of the population. It is kinda hard to make a living out of selling homebrewing gear and supplies when your customers are so scarce and spread far away. Its not a problem in any of the major cities but once you get to the boonies, well you're boned. Long distances and low population density also makes shipping very costly, which makes it very expensive to get items shipped to you.

I live in Montreal for 8 months out of 12, during the winter for school so yeah it would it doable to grow hops but I'd like to make sure I really enjoy brewing before I start planting stuff around but it would easily be doable. We already grow some stuff like potatoes, tomatoes, corn, raspberries, strawberries and some fine herbs. Wouldn't be too much of a hassle to add another crop, we got so much space!

 

[iron_city_ap]

I have faith you'll love the hobby. Stock up when you are in Montreal and either ship it home or take it with you. One of the good things with this hobby is that its fairly portable. You can easily brew when you are in Montreal, then carry it over when you are home.

 

[binaryc0de]

I started with Mr. Beer which uses no-boil kits. It produced good beer and I'm sure those kits will as well, but I would move quickly to extract brewing (more rewarding/exciting and produces better beer). As to the cost... Go All Grain. You'll have the added upfront cost of equipment but if you buy grain in bulk and mill it yourself your talking about some cheap options (depending on the style you brew).

 

[Vekta]

Getting started can be really simple and still give you that feeling like you're doing something. I actually skipped kits and threw together my own very simple kit based on some that I saw. I don't recommend doing what I did but if you have any doubts getting into this, trust me it's worth it. My kit is nowhere near as big as yours. I can only do 1 gallon at a time...for now. But once you take that first step...first simple step like other have said. You'll see it's great.

Just read some more and keep things simple the first time and it'll probably be great.

 

[Marsdude]

I would also suggest that you start with an extract brew. You could do a simple amber ale that would just be extract and hops with no specialty grains. It would give you a good start.

I would also suggest that you do not do what I did - think about home brewing for 5 years before doing it! Just do it. Give it a try. You will be glad you did.