Which kit for first brew?

[Wekslap]

Hi all. Sorry to bother you again. This will be my first brew for over 20 years. I've bought a coopers international range English bitter, a wherry, and a wilko 2 can golden ale kit. Before I dive in, which one of these would you advise me to choose as my first brew? EG for ease of brewing, least chance of going wrong, least time to drinkability, and of course a nice taste?

Thanks
John

[mickhew]

I'd do the Coopers first, that's the easiest one . The Wherry causes me problems, (cloudy, stuck fermentation), Coopers are quick, easy and reliable. they taste better the longer you leave them conditioning though. I haven't done a Wilkos kit.

[Wekslap]

Also, the coopers kit advises to add 500g of light DME. I only have 1kg of BKE. To get the same finished strength do i add 500g of bke? I also have some sugar, honey and golden syrup in my cupboards.

[Geezah]

1 tin of Coopers
1 tin of LME or 1KG of BKE or 1KG of DME

[Monkeybrew]

+1 to Geezahs suggestions if you go for the Coopers EB.

I would have thought the the Wilko GA would be the simplest kit to brew and the quickest to condition, but any fermentation temperature fluctuations will have nowhere to hide in such a pale ale

Cheers

MB

[Wekslap]

I'm sorry I don't quite understand your comment about the golden ale. Do you mean its susceptible to being cloudy if I don't closely control the temperature? Please excuse my brewing terms ignorance.

PS also, if I add the the full 1 kg of bke will it boost the finished strength too much? Ideally, I want it a nice quaffing 3.5 to 3.8.
Thanks

[cwrw gwent]

If you want a quaffing beer I suggest you stick to the Coopers English Bitter recipe and buy a new 500 grams pack of light or medium spraymalt. Keep the 1 kilo BKE for another kit that requires that amount.

[Ditch]

I want it a nice quaffing 3.5 to 3.8.
Thanks

Keep the f**k away from my stuff then! The Three Gallon version would f**kin destroy ye! (It did me!)

[Monkeybrew]

I'm sorry I don't quite understand your comment about the golden ale. Do you mean its susceptible to being cloudy if I don't closely control the temperature? Please excuse my brewing terms ignorance.

PS also, if I add the the full 1 kg of bke will it boost the finished strength too much? Ideally, I want it a nice quaffing 3.5 to 3.8.
Thanks

Sorry for creating confusion, should have explained myself a bit more. You certainly won't get any cloudiness issues when brewing the GA, as it comes with a yeast that clears very well.

It's still quite warm for fermentation (depending on where you live) at the moment, and if your brew gets too warm or yoyo's up and down (day and night), the yeast gets stressed and can leave your brew with some unwanted fruity flavours they may not be as noticeable in a darker brew.

It's worth buying (IMO) one of those min/max greenhouse thermometers to monitor temperatures around your house for a few days, to get an idea of what's going on.

In an ideal world an ambient temperature of 18-20 is good for ales.

As for the 1kg of BKE in a Coopers EB, you would probably end up with something around 4%.

Cheers

MB

[Deebee]

I want it a nice quaffing 3.5 to 3.8.
Thanks

Keep the f**k away from my stuff then! The Three Gallon version would f**kin destroy ye! (It did me!)

you know, i have a mate who wants me to brew him a stout for a keg.

i think i might just brew him a Ditches, to say 18 litres. must get some DME:)

[twentyfootwilf]

If you brew the Coopers English Bitter with the Ikg of brew enhancer (assuming it is 50/50 Detrose/light dry malt extract) and allowing for about 80g of priming sugar made to 23 litres I reckon you'll get a beer of about 4% ABV. If you use the just 500g of light dry malt extract recipe and allow for 80g priming sugar made to 20 litres I think you'll end up with a beer around 3.7%ABV. Those calculations are made using Graham Wheelers Beer engine. I'm in a similar situation myself at present I have a Coopers English Bitter to do and I want something around 4% ABV. I usually brew stuff around the 5 to 6% mark, the trouble is when I'm cooking Sunday lunch and supping home brew (which is when I enjoy a good drink) I usually find on Monday morning I have very little recollection of actually eating Sunday lunch , although the rest of the family always tell me it was lovely! So something that's not going to make me legless is called for I think.

[Wekslap]

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions.

John

[WalesAles]

I want it a nice quaffing 3.5 to 3.8.
Thanks

Keep the f**k away from my stuff then! The Three Gallon version would f**kin destroy ye! (It did me!)

you know, i have a mate who wants me to brew him a stout for a keg.

i think i might just brew him a Ditches, to say 18 litres. must get some DME:)

DB,
Ditch`s to 18Lts is about 6.3%. Nice little Drink!
WA

[Deebee]

DB,
Ditch`s to 18Lts is about 6.3%. Nice little Drink!
WA

so to 3 gallons( 14 litres ish) gives a mindblowing fecker:)

[WalesAles]

DB,
Ditch`s to 18Lts is about 6.3%. Nice little Drink!
WA

so to 3 gallons( 14 litres ish) gives a mindblowing fecker:)

DB,
In theory, Yes! Strangely enough, my 3 Gall Stout came in at 6.3% as well.
Keep us posted on what you decide to brew!
WA