Hello fellow brewers, my first post on this forum woo hoo !!
I have been brewing my own beer for about twenty years now and always have a well stocked supply of bottles of my own brewed lager, Scottish style heavy beer (well I am from Glasgow) and stout. I have many friends who enjoy sampling my stock but every time I’ve encouraged them to try it themselves its always the same response of ‘that’s too much hassle’.
I always recommend the standard kits that are readily available but it’s the transferring to bottles etc which seems to be the biggest turn off. This is the way I do it and must say there is very little ‘hassle’ involved in my opinion. Anyway with this in mind, if somebody asks me nowadays for how to start I always suggest the very simple brew in the box/micro brewery type kits.
I was recently given as a gift the Brewzer kit ( see http://www.miracle-beer.com) which I found produced a very nice pint while being incredibly easy to use. It’s the simple add water type of kit that can be drunk from the original container (although you can still bottle if you prefer). Its this ‘ease of use’ reason that I would have no hesitation in recommending it to total newbies except for one little thing. Its incredibly expensive. For just under 25 quid all you get is 10 pints. I mean for that price you can buy a brew in the box kit that will do the exact same but give you 40 pints. I can see no reason to justify this high price. Was just wondering what everybodies opinion on this was ??
I see its being advertised heavily at the moment, obviously for the Christmas gift market but sadly for this little kit I find myself advising people against it. Its easy to use yes but its not a new product and the price alone is a turn off for me. The re-fills are also very expensive or is this just the tight fisted jock in me appearing just before Christmas ? LOL
The Brewzer ??
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Dave d
Hi John
Ive recently just started on kits, but before I did I was very close to buying one of these http://www.beermachine.com/. I have seen the Brewzer before and for me personally it did'nt offer me anyway to customise the beer at all which is why I decided against something of this sort. I find with any gadget the easier it is and the less work you have to do there is always a down fall ie less customisation.
Dave
Ive recently just started on kits, but before I did I was very close to buying one of these http://www.beermachine.com/. I have seen the Brewzer before and for me personally it did'nt offer me anyway to customise the beer at all which is why I decided against something of this sort. I find with any gadget the easier it is and the less work you have to do there is always a down fall ie less customisation.
Dave
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Johnthehop-head
There is no customisation since everything comes in the one container in a powder form so this is the big draw back.
I can see the apeal for newbies in drinking from the original container i.e. not having to clean a batch of glass bottles after drinking etc. but I just find the cost of the Brewzer to be really expensive for what it is.
And having put the time into the brewing process only to achieve ten pints of beer is another turn off for me.
Its a tidy kit that did give a nice pint but too expensive for me so not one I'd be recommending for newbies. You can get a better return for far less cash elsewhere.
I can see the apeal for newbies in drinking from the original container i.e. not having to clean a batch of glass bottles after drinking etc. but I just find the cost of the Brewzer to be really expensive for what it is.
And having put the time into the brewing process only to achieve ten pints of beer is another turn off for me.
Its a tidy kit that did give a nice pint but too expensive for me so not one I'd be recommending for newbies. You can get a better return for far less cash elsewhere.
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steve_flack
Adding cold tap water to a bunch of prehopped DME is hardly a time-consuming process. From the instructions it seems it's all presterilised and you stick it together, chuck in DME, water and yeast and that's it.Johnthehop-head wrote: And having put the time into the brewing process only to achieve ten pints of beer is another turn off for me.
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Johnthehop-head
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nicktherockstar
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Dave d
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chopperswookie
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EYE JAY
one word, gimmick. 
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It reminds me of the brew bag in the late 90's.
just add water shake and leave for 7 days,and hey presto beer!!.
I have made some great beers using a fv and a pressure barrel and untill someone comes up with a faster and a more cost effective and time saving method I'm going to enyoy my home made beers.
.It reminds me of the brew bag in the late 90's.
just add water shake and leave for 7 days,and hey presto beer!!.
I have made some great beers using a fv and a pressure barrel and untill someone comes up with a faster and a more cost effective and time saving method I'm going to enyoy my home made beers.