Cheap v expensive kits

[rossbaker]

How good can a can of goop really be? I'm amazed at the price difference between the basic (coopers) and the premium cans. I tend to subscribe to the notion that you get what you pay for, but some cans are twice the cost of others. I guess a case of craft beer can be double the cost of the standard swill.

The guy at the LHBS asserts that the better cans will make a much better beer. What do you all think? I've used good ingredients so far, but I'd love to get the cost down a bit more.

 

[QldKev]

Back when I brewed kits, I found it was the good kits that made good beer. Have you tried a good one vs a cheap one?

Not being negative but how cheap of a beer do you want? $20 odd for over 2 cartons is pretty good going. But if you want cheap beer drink cheap beer.

 

[Lodan]

Twice the cost is a fair bit but i would have to know the can in question for comparison. I think it can sometimes be the difference between an imported kit and a local kit, eg. Muntons or Blackrock vs Coopers

I think the Thomas Cooper premium cans make a good beer whilst being only slightly dearer than the base cans.


Edit:
A can is also only as good as the rest of your ingredients. If you buy a premium can and throw a 1kg of sugar in there you will still have an ordinary beer

 

[slash22000]

I found that the Thomas Coopers cans are 10x better than the "Original" cans you get in a supermarket. The only cans I was ever satisfied by (besides Thomas Coopers) were the Pale Ale (with hops etc added to it) and the English Bitter (decent enough to stand on its own with some extra dry malt).

It helps that Coopers only sell them to brew shops (or online) so they haven't been sitting around for 5 years before they go on the shelf.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

When I used to do kits and bits I made some really good beers (IMO) by adding some spec grains, ldme and hops.

Its a great way to learn about brewing

 

[reardo]

I found that the Thomas Coopers cans are 10x better than the "Original" cans you get in a supermarket. The only cans I was ever satisfied by (besides Thomas Coopers) were the Pale Ale (with hops etc added to it) and the English Bitter (decent enough to stand on its own with some extra dry malt).

It helps that Coopers only sell them to brew shops (or online) so they haven't been sitting around for 5 years before they go on the shelf.

I agree with you Slash with the Coopers Pale Ale. As my 'session' beer, i use the basic brew enhancer it comes with and add some Amarillo hops to it. Usually comes out spot on. I am about to throw together a Mangrove Jack Belgian Ale this week, and with the kit converter and hops, it cost me $42, so compared to the CPA, it'd better be a good drop or ill not visit that can again...

 

[Droopy]

Dude, brew a batch of both - the cheap one and the more expensive one - decide for yourself on what you like, cause it'll guide at least some of your brewing decisions in the future.

 

[jaypes]

I have done both Coopers kits and Black Rock kits

I read that Black Rock won Homebrew Kit of the year 2012 for its East India Pale Ale - I brewed it and it was utter crap

Needless to say that was the last kit brew I did

 

[Mardoo]

I noticed a distinct difference moving from the usual home brew kits to Breiss and Weyermann malt syrups. Finally got the intense maltiness I was looking for. Then immediately went to BIAB so I didn't do many repeat attempts with those syrups, so this is (heavily) anecdotal.

 

[rossbaker]

Back when I brewed kits, I found it was the good kits that made good beer. Have you tried a good one vs a cheap one?

Not being negative but how cheap of a beer do you want? $20 odd for over 2 cartons is pretty good going. But if you want cheap beer drink cheap beer.

Yeah, I was thinking Blackrock v coopers. So far I've used muntons and Blackrock only. $20 total would be fantastic, but by the time you swap a kg of sugar for a good dry malt, use a decent yeast, and add in some hops it gets a bit steeper. Perhaps it's time to order some hops online to get that cost down a bit.

I'm also pretty knew to it all, so I'm not at the point yet where I can be confident that what I produce will be up to scratch.

Dude, brew a batch of both - the cheap one and the more expensive one - decide for yourself on what you like, cause it'll guide at least some of your brewing decisions in the future.

Yeah, good idea Droopy. Still interested to hear what people here prefer. A fair few recipes get thrown around using basic coopers cans.

 

[carniebrew]

I have done both Coopers kits and Black Rock kits

I read that Black Rock won Homebrew Kit of the year 2012 for its East India Pale Ale - I brewed it and it was utter crap

Needless to say that was the last kit brew I did

Great call...someone needs to call in the all powerful ACCC (cough) on Black Rock for this abomination. A buddy of mine was all excited to be brewing his first IPA with a can of that stuff and a pack of brew enhancer. When he cracked the first one he thought he was drinking a wheat beer. Turns out that Black Rock's IPA has a whopping 17 IBU built into the can (and that's based on only 19 litres). Even the web page for their IPA is stupid...it calls IPA a 'medium hopping beer', and the "You might also like" section at the bottom of the page suggests their Mexican Lager can! Yeah...I remember the last time I was torn between a Feral Hop Hog and a Corona.....

At least Coopers IPA adds 47 IBU to 19 litres.

/rant off

 

[citizensnips]

Thomas coopers sparkling ale was the best kit I did, didn't do too many but I would be spending the extra cash, especially with what's said here

 

[wbosher]

Great call...someone needs to call in the all powerful ACCC (cough) on Black Rock for this abomination. A buddy of mine was all excited to be brewing his first IPA with a can of that stuff and a pack of brew enhancer. When he cracked the first one he thought he was drinking a wheat beer. Turns out that Black Rock's IPA has a whopping 17 IBU built into the can (and that's based on only 19 litres). Even the web page for their IPA is stupid...it calls IPA a 'medium hopping beer', and the "You might also like" section at the bottom of the page suggests their Mexican Lager can! Yeah...I remember the last time I was torn between a Feral Hop Hog and a Corona.....

At least Coopers IPA adds 47 IBU to 19 litres.

/rant off

Over here we have a beer called Tui, on the label it calls itself an "East India Pale Ale"...carbonated cats piss. About as bitter as a woman receiving the Cullinan diamond on Valentine's day. I wonder if the Black Rock kit tries to emulate that delightful drop?

 

[brente1982]

Over here we have a beer called Tui, on the label it calls itself an "East India Pale Ale"...carbonated cats piss. About as bitter as a woman receiving the Cullinan diamond on Valentine's day. I wonder if the Black Rock kit tries to emulate that delightful drop?

Bahaha I almost spat my coffee out from laughing when I read that post. What a pisser

 

[pk.sax]

Yeah, I was thinking Blackrock v coopers. So far I've used muntons and Blackrock only. $20 total would be fantastic, but by the time you swap a kg of sugar for a good dry malt, use a decent yeast, and add in some hops it gets a bit steeper. Perhaps it's time to order some hops online to get that cost down a bit.I'm also pretty knew to it all, so I'm not at the point yet where I can be confident that what I produce will be up to scratch.Yeah, good idea Droopy. Still interested to hear what people here prefer. A fair few recipes get thrown around using basic coopers cans.

You are probably at the stage I was after doing my second kit and bits. Added up the cost of the kit, malt, yeast, extra hops etc and never did a kit brew again. Look up NickJD's "all grain for 20 dollars".

 

[Silver]

Back in my kit days I tried a shitload of "Better Quality" kits only to be regularly disappointed. Always ended up going back to Coopers for quality and consistancy. It doesn't take much to tart up one of their products.

 

[wbosher]

Some of the Black Rock kits aren't too bad, especially if you pimp them up a little...just not the IPA one. Having said that, you can't really go wrong if you just stick with Coopers.

 

[brente1982]

I just bottled black rocks new golden ale, will be interesting to see what it's like. Mind you the 2 last brews I've done I have over carbonated severely, so anything would be an improvement. I bulk primed this time so should eliminate that problem.

 

[mxd]

I find the 3kg ESB's are nice (well the ones I tried)

if your getting upto $45 in kit and bits grab a fwk from G+G (keg king sell them as well if s/e melb)

and stay off the peptides

 

[QldKev]

Yeah, I was thinking Blackrock v coopers. So far I've used muntons and Blackrock only. $20 total would be fantastic, but by the time you swap a kg of sugar for a good dry malt, use a decent yeast, and add in some hops it gets a bit steeper. Perhaps it's time to order some hops online to get that cost down a bit.

I'm also pretty knew to it all, so I'm not at the point yet where I can be confident that what I produce will be up to scratch.


Yeah, good idea Droopy. Still interested to hear what people here prefer. A fair few recipes get thrown around using basic coopers cans.

Also rather than swapping to the cheapest kit have a look at other ways to save on brew day.
Di-San from Aldi is $2.49 a kg, and makes an awesome cleaner.
Reuse your yeast multiple times (assuming you are not using the kit yeast)
Buy your LME in bulk packs
Order hops online. http://www.yakimavalleyhops.com does 2oz bags. You just need to order up a lot (3.5lb) to make the postage viable.

The other thing AG ingredients can be a lot cheaper than a decent kit. My house Aussie Gold is about $10 a batch if buying ingredients in bulk.