Barons ultra premium beer kits

[twentyfootwilf]

Has anybody tried one of these yet? http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/public/cat ... AR20272138 it appears they consist of 7.5 litres of 'concentrated brewing wort'. They are a bit expensive but does the quality of the finished product justify the extra few quid? It seems that more and more of these premium kits are appearing on the market, are we just being duped by phrases like ' Ultra Premium '

[oldtom]

Not tried one and not likely to at that price. And just what does ' Ultra Premium ' mean?

Paul.

[twentyfootwilf]

I don't think I shall be guying one, just wondered if anybody actually had. Someone, somewhere must have had one or they'll go out of business

[oldtom]

They`re probably quality kits. It`s just that phrases like ' Ultra Premium ' tend to sound a bit patronising. A bit like, "We`re telling you how good this kit is in case your too stupid to know by just tasting it".

Probably way off the mark but that`s my opinion.

Paul.

[Dominic]

Also it smacks of desperation to flog it. If the kit is that good, the results speak for themselves

[Aleman]

I've got one of the Dutch Pilsner on the go.

Where they differ to a lot of kits is that they are made like a conventional wort (I.e Mashed and boiled with hops) at a high gravity then a slight amount of concentration using vacuum, before being packaged. The majority of kits are made with blended concentrated extracts and pre isomerised hop extracts, and never actually see a boil.

The extract tastes good out of the bag, and remember you only need 13L of water to dilute them (I very nearly made a fundamental error at this point).

The one disappointment so far with the kit was that the T90 pellet Saaz hops smelled really cheesy . . . so they went straight in the bin, and I made a hop tea using some fresh saaz flowers I had.

The kit instructions are good (supplied with an ale yeast ) and there are a good selection of improvement ideas Here.

In my case as I had an out of date Wyeast Dutch lager propagator pack, which I had made into a starter, I used that and fermented at 12C, before going up to 18C for a day as a diacetyl rest

Currently it is sat at 5C to settle out some yeast, before Transferring to a fining tank (Polyclar Plus 730 and Isinglass - Bentonite is supplied with the kit, but I'm reusing the yeast so didn't want that in the FV at the start.)

[twentyfootwilf]

Thanks for that Aleman, so it seems there is a difference to the way the kits are produced compared to most kits and that no doubt is the reason for the higher price. I suppose it all depends on whether your happy with the usual 'Premium' kits or fancy a punt at these 'ultra premium' jobs. I could be tempted if I was certain of the final beer.

[Greatcthulhu]

So these kits work out at approx 70p/pint. I could be tempted to try one if the beer is that good- still a lot cheaper than buying bottled premium ale.

[oldtom]

All well and good and if Aleman gives a good report of the tasting than they may be worth a go. However, what sort of ' Ultra Premium ' Pilsner kit comes with an ale yeast and "Cheesy" saaz pellets?
The link to Hop and Grape in the OP say that the kits come with "Premium brewing yeast", which it may be, but if it isn`t a lager yeast in a Pilsner kit then can it really be an "Ultra Premium" kit?

Premium salt probably tastes better than road salt but it`s not as sweet as sugar

Paul.

[Monkeybrew]

All well and good and if Aleman gives a good report of the tasting than they may be worth a go. However, what sort of ' Ultra Premium ' Pilsner kit comes with an ale yeast and "Cheesy" saaz pellets?
The link to Hop and Grape in the OP say that the kits come with "Premium brewing yeast", which it may be, but if it isn`t a lager yeast in a Pilsner kit then can it really be an "Ultra Premium" kit?

Premium salt probably tastes better than road salt but it`s not as sweet as sugar

Paul.

I'd have expected an Ultra Premium Pilsener kit to come with some w-34/70 dry yeast!

[Aleman]

Ok well I've had a few bottles of this now . . . If I'd made this myself from all grain I'd be proud to tell everyone I had. It really is that good . . Ok its an amber in colour rather than the pale yellow most expect a lager to be, but clean no sign of THT, Aroma wise, its beer with a floral spicy note. Taste slightly sweet with a good body, and a bitterness that comes through on the finish.

For me, I would prefer slightly more bitterness, but otherwise a damn good result