New To Home Brew

[sab]

Hi All Im a Newbie to home brew and would like some info on the morgans beer kits. I got talking to the guy at my local HBS and he recomended the Morgans brand, He said that they make a great beer compared to other brands, I also asked about purchasing some different type of yeasts to use other than the one that comes with the kit ,allthough he told me that they come with a good yeast and that I should use the yeast that it comes with. Its a Morgans stockmans draught.
Thanks for any help.

 

[Gough]

G'day Sab, welcome to the madness...

Most of the 'recognised' brands of kit such as Morgan's, Cooper's etc. are pretty similar as there is only a limited number of manufacturers of malt extract around the place. Munton's is one that springs to mind that seemed better than others when I was brewing kits, but don't panic too much about brand names is basically what I'm saying, other than to maybe avoid the 'BILO' type brands... You should be able to make a decent beer.

If it is your first ever beer, then maybe just gho with the kit yeast, and try and keep your brew between 18-22 during fermentation as best you can. If you want to buy a different yeast, the Saf-56 or Safale S04 are good options in dried ale yeasts. Ask around. Once you get the hang of things try some liquid yeasts, they are even better.

Type in some searches on kits and yeasts etc and you'll find a lot of helpful info. Morgan's is a decent brand though and you should brew a good beer - just keep things clean and keep your temps below 22 if you can.

Good luck,

Shawn.

 

[GMK]

Morgans make good great kits...

Golden Saaz Pilsner - won best kit beer category in ACT State Tittles and 3rd best kit beer in Aus same year.

Royal Oak Amber Ale - top 3 placing in ACT states twice - as an irish ale Killkenny Clone.

Dockside stout is really good - use as a base for all my partials.

The wheat is a very good base for a redback clone.

Blue mountain lager - no good by itself but great as a base for the Kit Packs.

Other great kits are:
Coopers IPA& Blonde, Beermakers Old, Muntons Barley Wine.

Hope this helps...

 

[Bilph]

I started almost exclusively on Coopers kits, so I can't help with an opinion on the Morgans.
One of the regular posters here has set up this site which may help:
Kit Reviews
Some of the Morgans get reasonable wraps there.
My favourite kit is the Coopers Pale with the Coopers Brew Enhancer 2, but it's much better when made with Coopers yeast recultured from their bottles. That step will come in no time.
Hopefully you'll find kits are just the start. Soon you'll be adding hops, moving onto better yeasts (which ultimately means liquids), adding specialty grains, partial mashes, all grain... whoops, you're addicted.
Plenty of people to help out with every step.
Enjoy.


Edit: No affiliation with hbkitreviews...

 

[sab]

Thanks for the advice guys will take it on board.

 

[deadly]

Hopefully you'll find kits are just the start. Soon you'll be adding hops, moving onto better yeasts (which ultimately means liquids), adding specialty grains, partial mashes, all grain... whoops, you're addicted.
Plenty of people to help out with every step.
Enjoy.

...collecting fridges,converting freezers,getting kegs,adding another shed to the backyard...

 

[sab]

Deadly . Yep The addiction is starting to kick in.

 

[Lebowski]

Royal Oak Amber Ale - top 3 placing in ACT states twice - as an irish ale Killkenny Clone.

Hey GMK, dont suppose you have the recipe that was used?

I find the blue mountain lager to be very nice with 1kg Light Dry Malt Extract and some cascade hops, goes well with the US-56 yeast.

 

[matti]

do a search on rehydrating dry yeast!
Also I do recommend to use different yeast then what's under the lid.
The better the yeast the better the Kit will taste.
As said before enjoy the madness
US- 56 tick
S-04 tick
Safale yeast the best for starters by far
get brewing
It is spring time :chug:
matti

 

[Screwtop]

G'day Sab and welcome, for directions on rehydrating dried yeast check out manufacturer sites such as Fermentis

Simply: Use some sterile boiled water at 25C, 10 times the weight of the yeast. So for 11.5g sachet 110ml of water at 25C. Mix the yeast and water to a paste and let sit covered with glad wrap for 20 min. Then whisk a little to aerate and wait 30 min before pitching. Gives your yeast the best start. Using this method pitch at fermentation temp. If you want to simply sprinkle the yeast into your wort then make sure your wort is at 25C when you pitch, you can then drop to ferm temp.


Go Brew