Premium kit VS modified budget kit

[Brewhunter]

Okay so modifying kits is good fun but it doesn't take long before
the price starts to rocket so...
I'd be interested to hear whether you guys would prefer a reasonably
priced 'premium kit' say the £20 mark or a fully tinkered with lower
priced single can kit?
Fire away..

[Pinto]

Never made a "premium" kit because I'm a tight arse - taking something lowly and raising it up appealed to me more as well. Add in the fact too that a premium kit is also what they choose it to be, not what you want then being able to take a basic kit and steep with your grains, add your hops and ferment your way with a plethora of yeasts seems the way to go.

And once you really get the bug for modifying kits - you're already sliding rapidly down the slope to BIAB or All grain anyway

[cellone]

As Pinto said.

[Geezah]

Coopers kits with additions.
My brews tend to come in at sub 50p per pint even when using expensive hops.
I've done a Wherry twice and the 3rd is still sitting in my cupboard awaiting to be brewed... it''s been there for nearly 12 months now.
I have a Best Of British English ale (premium kit) sat in a corny about 1/3rd full that is older then the last 2 coopers I have brewed and drunk.
Once you start making good ale with added hops and grains you realise that the premium kits arn't as good.

[neilmcca]

I've not done many premium kits, i get a lot of satisfaction from taking a standard kit and improving it,
I bought a load of "Richies Simply" kits a while back when they were on offer, were something like £6 each (A shade under £8 at the moment,
i did a pale ale with a kilo of dextrose and a Chinook hop tea, was bloody gorgeous and cost less than a tenner for 40 pints
another favourite is Coopers wheat beer which i made with Hersbrucker.

the premium 2 can kits aren't all that expensive when u take into account u don't have to buy spraymalt, if anything, a Coopers kit may end up as (or even more) expensive if spraymalt is used !

[Hopping_Mad]

Ditto neilmcca with the Simply Pale Ale. I've done the with 500 gms spray malt and 1kg of brew enhancer and they have come out as good as the best premium kits. Tried 'as is' and dry hopped. All been very good. There is actually 2.1 kg of LME with this kit so it's better than the 1.8 kg x 1 can kits.

I can't say I've had good results with other 1 can kits, even where using brew enhancer, so the Simply kit was an exception.

That said, there are some 2 x 1.5 kg kits that are very average. Woodefordes Wherry was underwhelming. Kits with 3.2/3.4/3.6 kg of LME have all come out good for me, so I'm still a fan of 'ultra premium' kits such as the Festival and Youngs Craft American ranges.

You could say, then, that I have a 'foot in both camps'. Try a few kits of each type to find your favourites - don't be dogmatic and just do 1, or 2 can kits, but not both!

[Brewhunter]

It's quite interesting that on here there appears to be many fans of coopers kits,
I've only done one (unmodified) and it was probably the worst result I've had..
That said it will not put me off trying some of the recipes/ideas found on JBK.

Also on certain other forums people seem to adore Wherry but on here it does not
seem all that popular here, I've not tried it yet..

I have tried the youngs craft kits which include pellets for dry hopping and
achieved good results and that was really what prompted me to start this thread.

[WalesAles]

Cheap kits great for modifying!
Then count the cost! Just looked back in my BrewBook from 29/3/14.
1/2 price IPA from `The Range` £7
I made a Strawberry Beer with this, 3Kg Strawbs £12
1Kg Light Spraymalt £8
Weiss Yeast £3
Cheap kits YES, but when you get carried away with additions, it soon mounts up!
Beautiful Beer was the result!
Take a look in `Beer Reviews / Members Bottle Swaps` Post. Great review off Armchair!
Just don`t let the Mrs see the receipts!
MrsAles still thinks I made Beer for £7

WA