Malt Shovel Kits

[big d]

just wondering for those of you that have tried the malt shovel kits what the general consensus is.
i love there beers so was wondering about there kits?

cheers
big d

 

[Batz]

Your going to get all sorts of comments here big d , cost etc , but a mate made a couple and I recond they were a nice brew , simple two kit thingy

 

[big d]

long time before i try one batz.just curious
will stick with there bottled stuff for some time yet.

love the new avatar

 

[kook]

Do a little search on here, there was a previous thread about a few of us trying them.

Personally I found the kit I made pretty boring and bland. Very lacking in hops too. I thought Muntons Premium Gold was better for a similar price.

 

[big d]

cheers
kook
searched before but must have missed the outcome/taste post

 

[Jovial_Monk]

Very surprised at your comments, Kook

What I have heard was that the MS kits made pretty good beers







Jovial Monk

 

[Batz]

Yes I thought they were ok
I do agree with kook , I perfer a more hoppy beer , but I was talking about the kit , and I believe it's pretty good for a kit.

:blink:

 

[kook]

I tried the "Deep Roast Ale" I used less water than specified too. I still found it bland and boring. Very lacking in everything.

Heres my original post about it:
OK.

MSB Deep Roast Ale:

Linz, you definately wouldnt want to kit/kilo it, you'd end up with incredibly bland beer. I just tasted the first glass from my keg of this, and I was, well a little dissapointed. Great texture (due to my high FG of 1015 I presume). Lovely appearance, clear very dark brown, red tinges when you hold it up to the light. Great head, and suprisingly good retention too. The aroma was very lacking though. Smelt slightly malty/biscuity, that was about it really. Flavour was dissapointing too, rather bland malty taste with an aftertaste of chocolate malt. No real burnt or bitter tastes to it at all.

IMO this beer could benefit from some steeped dark grains (bit of choc malt, and a touch of roast barley?) and finishing hops. Its completely lacking in hops.

Not a bad kit beer, but nowhere near as good as the Muntons Premium Gold brew I tried (Smugglers Ale).

 

[kook]

Yes I thought they were ok
I do agree with kook , I perfer a more hoppy beer , but I was talking about the kit , and I believe it's pretty good for a kit.

:blink:

Try a Muntons Premium Gold kit, ESB fresh wort, or Woodefordes kit.

Theyre all around the same price $40 mark or so.
You'll be suprised

 

[jayse]

Never done one but i would have thought they would be awesome.
Just before the lid goes on these cans they get hit with another dose hop extract.

Which of course is how the mega breweries do all their hops. So it doesn't really mean that much.

I have heard of some of the mega breweries only having hops on the premises once a year. They make up their extracts with them which last them the year.

Iam no expert on this practice. so this is just all a bit of brewing triva.


drinking irish tonite.
slainte.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Of all the kits I tried, the Muntons premium gold got closest to a good beer with a complex malt profile and decent hop character. The Smugglers was good. But for that money you can get the bits and pieces to do a partial mash which is easily the equal. Havent tried the MSB kits though, so I guess I will go and saw my arm off for mis-posting.

 

[Trev]

I made up a MSB Pale Ale recently. I wanted enough for my 19 litre keg so I added an extra kg of LLME and about 15g of Saaz that I steeped for about 10 mins in boiled water. Also about 250g of wheat malt, just for a bit better head retention. I added Saaz only because the label indicated that the kit had been bittered with Saaz and I didn't want to change the hop profile too much.

Primary for a week, secondary for 2 weeks, CC for another week before carbonating. It was a very nice ale, medium level of flavour/bitterness so it didn't shock the unitiated. Ended up being well liked by all who tried it, didn't last very long at all.

Not the best beer I've made but a long, long way from the worst. Will probably do it again real soon to have on hand for New Year.

Trev

 

[Trough Lolly]

Of all the kits I tried, the Muntons premium gold got closest to a good beer with a complex malt profile and decent hop character.

I used a Muntons Connoisseurs (1.8Kg) Yorkshire Bitter as the base extract for a Kilkenny Clone.

Very, very nice with fresh EKG hops.

Sorry to drift slightly off topic!!

Cheers,

TL

 

[johnno]

Well I'm going to be doing a few of these as my understanding is that you only make 11 liters per can.
This is good for me coz I have minimal temp control in the summer and I cant brew large amounts. At least with a batch this small I will probably be able t CC then store at a reasonable temp after bottling in my very big esky. Wont be able to make many but at least its better than having to stop totally for the summer.
Cant wait till next autumn when the wetaher cools to try jayse's porter recipe. yum

cheers B)

 

[johnno]

Put one of these on last night. The Pale Ale.
Bubbling away nicely this morn.
Forgot to take OG but what the heck. Had a taste tho. Smelt and tasted just like any other kit. Oh well gotta wait and see.
I've been eyeing out the water cooler containers at work. They are 15 liters and a perfect size for a brew this size.
Asked the water man if he had any "spares".
All he replied was a firm NO.

 

[johnno]

Tried one of these today. Put on the Pale ale a while back. Still needs a couple of weeks more in the in the bottle .
Tastes very nice but definately needs more hops.
if i ever do one of these again i'll give it a hop boost one way or the other

 

[joecast]

thanks for the info johnno. msb do make great beers, but i suppose any "kit" would really only be a starting point and whatever you add to it (hops, more extract or grains) shuld only improve it.
joe

 

[johnno]

just finishing the very last of these ones now. the Pale Ale
gotta admit its probably the best tasting kit beer I have tried so far .
it has been really clear as well. Every other kit has had the "chill Haze".

I like Trev's idea as well.
I would definately put one of these on again.

cheers

 

[wedge]

i hear that they do not come from the same factory as James Squire beers but rather from someplace in New Zealand

 

[Batz]

And I hear the Coopers special brews , Herritage etc are not made by Coopers either
Notice the different lables on the cans , different lids ???

I remember when Coopers moved away from those lids because of people where pinching the yeast , seems funny if you have a factory set up to produce a wort can you would make some completely different hey? :unsure: