New mangrove jack craft series kits

[Memnoch]

So has anyone tried the new mangrove jack craft series kits

Pink grapefruit IPA
Red Irish ale
Elder flower and lime cider?

Dunno if you Aussie boys have them yet but available in NZ

I have the IPA one but yet to put it down, doing it this weekend

 

[Brewnicorn]

Have seen them online - keen to hear what you think! Irish red ale sounds good.

 

[mongey]

I just ordered the pink IPA myself to put on this weekend. A fan of Elvis juice so shops be interesting.

Keen to hear how yours goes. It sure if I should up the dry hop level over what they give you

 

[Lowlyf]

So has anyone tried the new mangrove jack craft series kits

Pink grapefruit IPA
Red Irish ale
Elder flower and lime cider?

Dunno if you Aussie boys have them yet but available in NZ

I have the IPA one but yet to put it down, doing it this weekend

I just ordered the pink IPA myself to put on this weekend. A fan of Elvis juice so shops be interesting.

Keen to hear how yours goes. It sure if I should up the dry hop level over what they give you

Boys, how did these turn out? I'm interested to hear about both the Irish Red and the Grapefruit IPA

 

[mongey]

Boys, how did these turn out? I'm interested to hear about both the Irish Red and the Grapefruit IPA

The grapefruit IPA came out really good. I only used the dry hops they give you and it had a good hoppiness. It was actually fairly close to the brew dog beer.

I'd make it again for sure.

 

[Lowlyf]

The grapefruit IPA came out really good. I only used the dry hops they give you and it had a good hoppiness. It was actually fairly close to the brew dog beer.

I'd make it again for sure.

Struth really? I'm strapped for time today and I'm thinking of putting this one down. What was the process? Tip extract in fermenter, fill with water and ferment?

 

[mongey]

Struth really? I'm strapped for time today and I'm thinking of putting this one down. What was the process? Tip extract in fermenter, fill with water and ferment?

Yeah. And dry hop when ready.

I also cold crashed for 4 or 5 days

 

[PaulG79]

My LHBS said to add a kilo of LDM as well, but I haven't gotten around to trying it yet, you think that would add to the Grapefruit IPA or make it too malty?

 

[mongey]

My LHBS said to add a kilo of LDM as well, but I haven't gotten around to trying it yet, you think that would add to the Grapefruit IPA or make it too malty?

whoops forgot that

yeah I added 1kg LDM as well instead of the sugar or their enhancer in the instructions

 

[Lowlyf]

whoops forgot that

yeah I added 1kg LDM as well instead of the sugar or their enhancer in the instructions

**** mate. WHAT THE HELL! Haha all good. Alright 1kg of LDM. I'll brew it this weekend

 

[PaulG79]

How do you guys think the Mangrove Jacks craft kits stack up in general? Like against Coopers? Any picks for best kits? I'm keen to give them a go. I've just got back into brewing and have been mostly brewing Coopers kits n bits.

 

[Lowlyf]

How do you guys think the Mangrove Jacks craft kits stack up in general? Like against Coopers? Any picks for best kits? I'm keen to give them a go. I've just got back into brewing and have been mostly brewing Coopers kits n bits.

Give one a go and report back?

 

[PaulG79]

that's the problem, I can experiment much faster than I can drink need another fridge and a cellar for all the bottles

 

[Lowlyf]

that's the problem, I can experiment much faster than I can drink need another fridge and a cellar for all the bottles

Yep I completely understand. I have the same issue

 

[Lionman]

I have a brother who visits every couple of months and drinks everything. EVERYTHING.

 

[PaulG79]

That's rude hey. I have a mate I sometimes send home with a crate full of tallies, but that's on MY terms the last pissup we had, someone got into the amber ale I'd just bottled that day... I didn't get around to labelling it. Rude! But surprisingly it got good reviews so that's something.

 

[Lowlyf]

Jesus it still would have been green Paul!

 

[mongey]

How do you guys think the Mangrove Jacks craft kits stack up in general? Like against Coopers? Any picks for best kits? I'm keen to give them a go. I've just got back into brewing and have been mostly brewing Coopers kits n bits.

I've done the pink grapefruit IPA , aussie pale ale and the Helles. the APA and Helles were presents

the pink IPA was the best one by far . Other 2 were drinkable but nothing special . no better or worse than a standard coopers tin with a kg of LDM an some dry hops

 

[PaulG79]

That's good to know. They tend to charge a bit more and have classier looking marketing, but I didn't want to let that trick me into thinking they'd necessarily be better than Coopers. Although MJ's have better yeast and sometimes include hops so that's something.

 

[Reedy]

Have done the elderflower & lime cider for the missus & she loves it. She's also a fan of the raspberry & lime cider variety.

 

[mongey]

That's good to know. They tend to charge a bit more and have classier looking marketing, but I didn't want to let that trick me into thinking they'd necessarily be better than Coopers. Although MJ's have better yeast and sometimes include hops so that's something.

its true on the yeast and hops. I never use the coopers yeast and pretty much always dry hop so that adds to the cost


on the negative for the MJ kits I find the pouch to be a messy pain to deal with . tin is way eaiser to get the dregs out without getting sticky crap everywhere

 

[PaulG79]

I totally agree with that. Haven't done an MJ's yet but I've been doing some craft ROTM's from Coopers and those little malt pouches are a massive pain compared to the tin.

From my calculations the Coopers selection tins and/or any decent recipe done using them ends up costing a bit - so it probably works out about the same if you're dry hopping or adding grains etc. Initially I got back into brewing to save money, but I'm less bothered about that now. If I can make a decent beer - 23litres for say $50 that's still loads better than buying a carton of War Hog - for which I'd have to draw back on the mortgage

 

[Lowlyf]

I totally agree with that. Haven't done an MJ's yet but I've been doing some craft ROTM's from Coopers and those little malt pouches are a massive pain compared to the tin.

From my calculations the Coopers selection tins and/or any decent recipe done using them ends up costing a bit - so it probably works out about the same if you're dry hopping or adding grains etc. Initially I got back into brewing to save money, but I'm less bothered about that now. If I can make a decent beer - 23litres for say $50 that's still loads better than buying a carton of War Hog - for which I'd have to draw back on the mortgage

$50 is a bargain! I brewed an IPA and total cost came to $90!!!

 

[Digga]

$50 is a bargain! I brewed an IPA and total cost came to $90!!!

Wtf! How did that come about you must be buying your hops at a inflated rate or something.

Try brewman.

 

[PaulG79]

$50 was for a stout. Seems like stouts are an easy beer to do well with kits n bits. A lot of the AG and extract/kit recipe packs for big IPA's seem to be around that $90 at some of my local HBS's. Unless they're only using one type of hops. I've heard Yakima valley in the US is good for bulk hops - might look at Brewman too. My local store tends to be a bit pricey. Any other stores I should know about?

Ended up ordering the Pink Grapefruit plus a grain pack so I'll see how I go.

 

[Aussie Mick]

I use this fella:

mashout.com.au

He's based in Perth, but happy to post. Great prices and great service.......

 

[DU99]

take a look at this site.

 

[Hambone]

I've done the Raspberry and Lime Cider for the wife. Turned out OK. But next time I will up the lime by using zest I reckon. Not enough lime flavour in the kit.

 

[SnailAle]

Can I jump on this thread with another question.

My missus wants a cider and given I don't have apples or a crushed I figured a kits the go.
She doesn't like really sweet cider so is there a way with the mangrove jacks apple cider to make it less sweet?

Haven't tried it but from what I've read it's a sugar bomb.

 

[Hambone]

The raspberry and Lime cuts through the sweetness pretty well.