# K Mart Kits



## keef12345 (15/11/07)

I have heard so much negative feedback from beer kits bought from 
coles, k mart etc 

Are their mixes really THAT bad? 

Is there anyway to fix them up and get a good beer out of them.. 

Im a newbie thanks for the help guys this forum is gold..


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## hoganknowbest (15/11/07)

my last kit was from coles

Coopers real ale 1.7kg
Brew enhancer 2 1kg

Just bought some cascade hops and salale us-05 yeast to improve it

Still waiting to taste the goods though, just racked it (first time racking and bulk priming)

Everyone has their own preferences though! each to their own!


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## wambesi (15/11/07)

Do you mean homebrand, savings type brands?
Apparently they skim out on some of the ingredients and use basic sugars instead, I'm no expert but remember reading somewhere about it.

In saying that though there are ways of course to dress it up, some hops, specialty grain etc


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## keef12345 (15/11/07)

wambesi said:


> Do you mean homebrand, savings type brands?
> Apparently they skim out on some of the ingredients and use basic sugars instead, I'm no expert but remember reading somewhere about it.
> 
> In saying that though there are ways of course to dress it up, some hops, specialty grain etc



as a test I made a farmland lager and it is currently 2.5 weeks old. 
I used the coles brand yeast that came with the tin. 
I used a coopers no 1 adjunct mix Ill let you know how it goes 

But when I added the yeast to the farmland wort (which had a temp of 23) the yeast went crazy. Within an hour air lock was bubbling like a fishtank filter and the next morning a large mango sized ball of foam covered the airlock completly. The airlock continued to bubble burp and cary on for about 4 days straight and after about 5 days after that I got a 1011 reading for two days straight so I bottled her up. 

Cheers


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## keef12345 (15/11/07)

hoganknowbest said:


> my last kit was from coles
> 
> Coopers real ale 1.7kg
> Brew enhancer 2 1kg
> ...



I have used cascade kits and tooheys kits (I know they are not top class) 
Interested to see how people go with them. 

best wishes


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## wambesi (15/11/07)

keef12345 said:


> I have used cascade kits and tooheys kits (I know they are not top class)
> Interested to see how people go with them.
> 
> best wishes



Only cascade kit I have used is the Choc Mahog Porter, there's a beaut honey porter recipe using this kit. Quite a nice drop.
Haven't heard many other good things about the brand though.


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## Adamt (15/11/07)

ANY kit can produce quality beer., as long as it's fresh and handled correctly.

The problems are:

-Kit instructions are too lenient on temperature.
-Most kits sit on the shelves for a while before being sold.
-The poor yeast strapped to the top of the can is usually subject to some awful conditions and is never in good enough condition to ferment properly.
-Too many people use a kilo of sugar/dextrose with the kits, leaving it dry, cidery and plain boring

Kits can be improved by:

-Controlling fermentation temperature.
-Using the freshest kits and malt extracts possible, limiting the amount of sugar/dextrose/maltodextrin used.
-Using better quality, better-handled yeasts.
-The addition of hops if it suits the beer.


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## Kleiny (16/11/07)

kits from the supermarkets sometimes are so far out of date its not funny.
ithink you always need to check the dates

but then i have not had any trouble with kits from the big stores i just prefer to support the local HBS


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## matt white (16/11/07)

...and if you are going to see the LHBS you might as well start buying liquid yeasts and unhopped extract that are usually fresher and you can then control your own bitterness, flavour and aroma, only an extra hour or so and oh what a big difference it makes. Makes beer not homebrew!


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## ibast (19/11/07)

I've done a Brewieser once. Never again.

Thought their Ultrabrew is a handy product. Stay away from the Breweiser liquid brewing sugar.

Given how bad their beer is, I'd never do a Tooheys home brew.

As for generic labeled kits, they'd be made by one of the bigger brewers, but you can bet the brewer is giving them the worst of it. So I wouldn't use one of those.

Occasionally I do a standard Coopers, but usually tart it up a bit with liquid malt and some hops.


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## Fatgodzilla (19/11/07)

ibast said:


> I've done a Brewieser once. Never again.
> 
> Thought their Ultrabrew is a handy product. Stay away from the Breweiser liquid brewing sugar.
> 
> ...




Life's funny though. Got a mate who won't brew anything but Tooheys. Sometimes he makes something drinkable but I reckon its more accident then design. Three retired blokes in town brew nothing but Coopers Draught (the yellow cap ?). Another local only brews Coopers Lager. All are K & K brews - none of that fancy mucking around for these blokes !! I drink their brews to be socialable and they won't drink mine - too malty, too hop etc etc. 

SUCH IS LIFE


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## petesbrew (19/11/07)

Check out this site for various reviews about the different kits.
www.hbkitreviews.
Lots of mixed reviews on each kit.
There's some good - some bad, as with everything in life.

I don't mind the coopers kits myself. Love the dark and the stout kits especially.
Just give em a go.


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## peas_and_corn (19/11/07)

Adamt said:


> ANY kit can produce quality beer., as long as it's fresh and handled correctly.
> 
> The problems are:
> 
> ...



Of course, then there's the time the can spent sitting in a hot warehouse


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## ibast (20/11/07)

Adamt said:


> ANY kit can produce quality beer., as long as it's fresh and handled correctly.



I have to disagree a bit there. If the manufacturer has used shitty malt and shitty hops then it's hard to recover from that. You can make it better but with some kits it's going to be like making a silk purse out of a sows ear.


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## SJW (20/11/07)

I like to think that in this life you get what u pay for.
Don't expect a Pilsner Urquel clone from a Farmland Lager kit.


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## brettprevans (20/11/07)

SJW said:


> I like to think that in this life you get what u pay for.
> Don't expect a Pilsner Urquel clone from a Farmland Lager kit.


no but you can make something a lot better than carlton draught with it providing you use some other good ingredients like hops, malt etc. Which I think is the point.

SJW is right, you wont get a magnificent beer from a really cheap kit but you can make it into something better than commercial megaswill. Even with all extract brew you cant beat some commercially available beer. 

you've just got to be realistic about what you want to brew. If you want something nice then farmland is ok. if you wanting to make a Rodenbach Grand Cru then your going to have buy some better quality ingreients.


imm sorry I think post turned into a ranting mess somwhere along the lines. but you get our point...


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