Newbie here, anyone ever used a kit like this?

[Matt85]

I asked for a starter kit and an easy to brew beer kit for Christmas, I got all the required equipment and an IPA beer kit from Micro-Brew http://www.micro-brew.net/bienvenue.ws (New company and website seems from the 90s). It is simply 23 liters of wort in a big bag, according to the instructions I dont need to heat it or even add water. I asked for something easy to make but this seems just too easy.

The instruction also says to siphon everything to another bucket after the secondary fermentation before adding the sugar and then bottling. Is there a reason for this? Heres a copy of the instructions http://imgur.com/a/yMPBI.

Thought on that kit?

Thanks

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

The bottling seems straight forward, but IMO they are doing it backwards. You should add the sugar solution to the bucket and rack your beer on top of it, this will cause swirling in the bucket and cause everything to mix up on its own and not require you to stir, which in general is a bad idea on finished beer as it aerates it and causes it to go stale faster

 

[snowtires]

23 liters of already made wort does sound easy and it should make good beer. Probably better then extract. I wouldn't mind a kit like that for when I simply want beer on tap in an emergency beer shortage time restraint situation

 

[Matt85]

Thanks for the suggestions. I just looked up Festa Brew and it seems exactly the same. Another thing, They only gave me one 11g pack of dry yeast. This seems very low for a 23 liters batch?

 

[snowtires]

No, 11 grams is a standard size pouch for that size of beer

 

[boydster]

Just my 2 cents, but I'd ignore the secondary entirely on this one and just leave it in primary for 2-3 weeks before bottling. Also, if you can get a different sanitizer than chlorine bleach, take the opportunity to do so. Lots of people use StarSan or Iodophor, and they both work great.

I agree w/ FuzzeWuzze that adding the priming solution to the bucket first is the easiest way to make sure it all mixes in with the beer without needing to stir.

Also, one packet of yeast should be just fine for a typical 23L batch. While it won't make or break your brew, if you can rehydrate the yeast in warm water prior to pitching it into the wort, that will help ensure you pitch the most live, healthy cells possible (see this post for basic rehydration instructions). If that seems too involved, don't sweat it, especially given that it's your first brew. Lots of people pitch the yeast dry and still enjoy the beer they make.

 

[elreplica]

Greetings

I tried a Micro Brew Blonde Ale after working with Brewhouse and Festa kits for years. I have to say I wasn't impressed. Their product was more expensive than both Brewhouse and Festa and the end result was mediocre. I tried matching my results against a Festa Blonde lager wherein I switched out the Saflager S 23 with a Nottingham (same yeast as the microbrew) and the results were similar. Festa's Red, Pale, Bock, Brown and others all resulted in great brew. Brewhouses Red, Octoberfest, and Munich Dark have also worked out well for me. Hence I am staying away from Microbrew.