We had been homebrewers for a while before we started selling homebrew beer kits. We’ve shared the success of brewing with the frustrations of brewing. Now we want to use that experience to help others make the best beer they possibly can
In recent years there have been significant changes in the homebrew beer kit market. That makes me question the existence of the cheap substandard kits that had previously been around. Have they served their purpose and are they actually damaging the current homebrew market? I am starting to think so. You see we want home brewers to consistently brew better beer, we want your beer to excite and reward your efforts. At the end of the day if you brew successfully you’ll do it time and time again and tell your friends. If you have a nightmare, well we all know you won’t make it again, too many homebrew shops are focusing on the sale and not on the education
Homebrew kit overview
Let’s look at some options on homebrew beer kits and see what’s right for you…
Modern-day home brewers are spoilt for choice. You can now enter the market at any level and brew with success, even the modern beer kit pouches allow you to make rehydrated extract kits with great results. There are three levels you can enter the beer making world at:
1. Beer Kits (Isomerised hopped liquid malt extract is rehydrated by you the homebrewer in a fermenter at home and yeast added and it ferments out in a plastic fermenter) You then transfer to a bottle or keg for secondary fermentation/ carbonating.
2. Extract Beer Kits (includes steeping grains) Again this process includes liquid malt extract but you usually have some steeping grains which replicate the mashing process in all-grain brewing. It adds a fresher taste to the beer and as you boil and add your hop pellets you get a feeling that you are a lot more hands-on. This process requires slightly more equipment than a basic beer kit but does produce a better beer in all fairness
3. All Grain Brewing is the way you should aim to be brewing beer. You are using four key ingredients Water, Malt, Hops & Yeast. You Mash (Steep in hot water) the grains to convert the starches in the grain into fermentable sugars (wort), sparge to rinse the grains of all the residual sugar and then boil the wort and add hops at different stages to create your hop bitterness and hop flavours. The wort is cooled and then put into the fermenter and yeast added.
That’s a crash course on some options open to you, today I’m going to focus on the simplest way at level one, BEER KITS.
Beer kits at Get Er Brewed
Geterbrewed decided to discontinue a wide variety of homebrew beer kits, we felt they just weren’t of a high enough standard and were damaging the hobby of brewing at home. We chose to focus on a narrower range that we know are tried and tested and of a standard that will make your brewing very rewarding.
When we started this business we wanted to offer a customised service that allowed people to design their own beer kits and recently we have been able to do that with our customised beer kit. We followed it up with our customised grain kit for all-grain brewers. We could have bought cheap liquid malt in bulk and made our kits up like other retailers have tried and failed at but instead, we sourced the finest liquid malt pouches we could and trialled all different ways of introducing the hop bitterness. We are very pleased to be the first homebrew shop that allows you to select the bitterness of your homebrew beer kit (International Bittering Units – that’s how we measure the level of bitterness in beer). You then add an element of real brewing as we have innovative hop teabag technology. What that means is we seal hop pellets in a nylon hop bag that can be added to your fermenter to give real hop flavour and aroma. This hop teabag adds an aroma that before now wasn’t experienced in beer kits. You can choose from a range of brewers yeast that makes a massive impact on the flavour of the beer. Plus we have a range of additional flavour additives to achieve a beer perfect to your taste. We can help you clone your favourite beer with this service also
Check out our Custom All Grain Kit here: https://www.geterbrewed.com/customgrainkit/
TOP TIP
No matter what beer you brew remember to SIT (Sterilise, Information, Temperature). If you have everything clean, read the instructions and monitor a steady fermentation temperature, you’ll brew successfully.
The other beer kits we have in our range are from UK Manufacturers, we don’t believe in shipping the likes of Coopers Beer Kits from Australia to the UK. To be honest, that journey can’t be good for the ingredients and they use the same generic yeast in every beer kit and quite frankly there is a lot better out there.
Look at the likes of Mangrove Jacks they are storming the beer kit market with their new offering of beer kits, they aim for the craft beer lover. They are creating styles like Berliner Sours and Barrel-aged beer kits, offering an amazing limited edition range of the likes of Simcoe Single Hop and Grapefruit IPA. They have hop pellets and brewers yeast strains. A beer kit manufacturer who isn’t afraid to take a chance. The classics are still there if you like a traditional real ale beer kit.
Then there are commercial ales replicated in kit format from Woodfordes & St Peters, these kits are consistent sellers and have helped many a homebrewer start their brewing journey. The Ruby-red Ale from St Peters is a really popular seller, as is the Woodfordes Wherry Ale Kit. The Muntons beer kit range is now dated and screaming for a revamp so we have removed them, we hope they move with the times.
Homebrew wholesalers in the UK have created some ranges on their own and Ritchies created the Festival World Range, which is a range of really solid popular worldwide craft beers. They produce a great quality beer kit and many have ranges of brewing yeast and hop pellets to lift the flavour profile. Hambleton Bard has also replicated their own range of beer kits in the form of Bulldog Brews, with DIPA’s and the like in the offering.
In conclution
If you are genuinely wanting to try it and you have no experience, checkout our youtube channel for helpful tips or drop us an email ([email protected]) we will be happy to help give you advice. Plus sometimes a call to reassure you is all it takes to give a little confidence so we can have a quick chat on the telephone if that helps.
Basic Starter Homebrew Beer Equipment is very cheap and usually, as you take the step to the next stage you can continue to use that equipment as you add to your collection.
Brew the best beer you can. Don’t be fooled by a super cheap beer kit as it will destroy your opinion of a very rewarding hobby. Make better beer and stay excited about the beers you brew. Ever hear the phrase “it’s got that homebrew twang”, well I have and it’s those bulk bought liquid malt tins and cheap beer kits that create this taste. Geterbrewed are passionate about the quality we want you to be excited about the beers you make so you will share and tell your friends and family and continue to brew with us
LINKS
YouTube: How to brew a beer kit
YouTube: Custom Grain Kit