Learn to Brew – Using Beer Kits

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If you have never brewed your own beer before then an easy way to get started is by using beer kits.

The benefits of brewing beer from a kit

Cost:

It’s relatively inexpensive to get started brewing you own beer from a kit. The kits themselves are very reasonably priced and as a rule of thumb the more you pay for a kit the better the quality. What ever you decide to pay for your beer kit you’re likely to make some real savings over the retail cost of ready made beer.

Then there’s the equipment to think about. When you brew using beer kits, the equipment you’ll need to get you started isn’t that expensive. We’ll delve into this a little more later.

Choices:

There a vast array of choices between brands and type of beer. When we use the term ‘beer kit’ that includes all types of beer such as Lagers, Bitters, Stouts, Cider, Pale Ales and Continentals.

Once you’ve gained some experience you can then start to experiment a little to widen your choice even further. For example, you could try adding flavourings. You could also try swapping out the sugar, which is often required as an addition to making your beer, for a malt extract. There are various malts both light and dark that you could use to enhance the flavour of your beer kits. Simple things like leaving the water you intend to use for brewing to stand overnight with the lid left slightly open. This would allow for chlorine in you water to evaporate. Substituting the yeast pack in the cheaper beers that the kit comes with for another may also improve the flavour.

Easy to Learn:

The methods used for producing you own beer from kits is quite simple. If you follow the simple steps in the guide which comes with the beer kit, then you’re likely to get good results every time.

You’ll have to watch that you pay attention to cleanliness, temperatures and hydrometer readings. Other than that, it takes very little of your time and certainly isn’t that technical to do. A tip when you first starting out is to take notes of what your doing and when your doing it.

It’s Fun:

Your saving money, making choices and learning new things. Your also being creative and what you produce will usually taste good.

Choosing your beer kit

Before you make decisions on which beer kit to buy, maybe give some thought to what equipment you’re going to need. Do you have any beer brewing equipment at all? If not, then you could start out by buying a ready‐made bundle. Bundles usually include everything! You'll normally get a choice of beer kit which comes with all the equipment you need to get started. Doing it this way you can save you a lot of time, effort and money.

You are likely to have to make a couple of decisions. Firstly, whether you want to use bottles or a barrel to serve your beer. Secondly, decide on the type of beer you want to brew. The bundles also come with instructions on how to go about making your brew. Once you have all the equipment it just a matter of buying additional beer kits from that point on.

If you already have some equipment and you’re not sure what else you’ll need to buy, then see the heading below “What equipment do I need’.

If you just want to buy a beer kit and get started, then we can offer you some great suggestions!

What takes pride of place in our list is the  Beerworks - Craft Series . The Beerworks range has taken many years to develop. Every kit has been carefully thought out and Beerworks have gone to great lengths to make sure that only the best quality ingredients are being used.

These beers will produce great results every time. Just be aware that some of them require that you boil the grain which although not difficult requires extra steps. Read the instructions before you buy! Because of their excellent quality they remain one of the bestselling home brew brands in the UK.

Here is a list of others we recommend purely based on their good quality:

If you are looking to brew beer on a budget, then you could give some of these a try. Do remember though, that a beer kit which cost £20.00 is only 40 pence a pint!:

What Equipment Do I Need?

Bundles

As mentioned earlier, a great way to get started is to buy a bundle where everything is included. This means you’ll get both equipment and all the ingredients (including a beer kit) too! You have a choice of bundles and for the most part that choice is based on whether you wish to go with a barrel or bottles to serve you beer. We also included some other option too. Have a quick look at the bundles below:

Starter Packs

However, there is an alternative. You could go for the Equipment Starter Packs. Again, this takes all the time and effort out of having to choose each individual component that you’ll need to get you started when buying your equipment. It won’t include a beer kit though, but that simply gives you a wider choice when looking for a beer kit.

Required Equipment to Get You Started

If you’ve brewed before or acquired some brewing equipment already, then you may wish to know what additional items you’re going to need before you start brewing with your first kit. It might be that you could save some of your hard-earned money buying just the equipment you need.

Here is a list of the required items your going to need to go through the process of making your beer:

  1. 30 Litre Bucket With Lid, Grommet & Airlock
  2. Hydrometer
  3. Thermometer
  4. Easy Start Siphon (MEDIUM) With Flow Stopper And Bucket Clip
  5. Mixing Spoon
  6. Cleaner Steriliser 500g

Then choose whether to use a barrel or bottles:Using BottlesWith PET (plastic) beer bottles - you don't need a Crown Capper here as these have screw caps:

Glass Bottles:

Using a Barrel

All barrels we sell come with the S30 injection & Pressure release valve.

Following the Instructions

All beer kits will come with instructions on how to go about brewing your beer. The guidance you receive from one type of kit to another may vary. So, its important that you follow the instructions carefully according to each kit. Don't get caught out thinking that because you did things one way for your previous brew that you will necessarily be doing the same thing with your next brew.

When you browse for beer kits on our website you find that many have instructions which you can read online. This can be really helpful if you are just starting out as some beer kits require more technical ability and additional equipment. This is especially true if you are brewing with Part/All grain kits.

Learning More

There are also other guides available which will help you understand how to go about learning beer brewing and make your own wines and spirits too.

You'll also notice when looking at some to the products that they have a video attached to them. These are usually very helpful to anyone wanting to learn the brewing process. Not, only that we've also uploaded more than 100 videos to our YouTube Channel.

VIDEO LINKS

We have lots of videos available on our website for you to learn the craft of brewing.

Our Love Brewing YouTube Channel covers all aspects of of brewing. Here you find videos on brewing beer, making cider, wine and spirits.