bobthebrewer - Reviews
Cherry (Kriek) Lambics | July 11th 2022 | |
Cherry Beer by BrewfermBrewed according to the instructions on the tin. Fine cherry beer when bottled but nothing like the dessert beers you'll find in the supermarkets. Can't knock it taste wise etc. BUT, there is not really very much difference between the cherry beer and the raspberry beer from the same maker. For a single tin of extract, this has to be the most expensive LME kit on the market, is it worth it ? I don't think so, I would rather save some $ and go for the raspberry version. Can't knock the beer but the I'll not be brewing this one again purely for price reasons. Hence, not a five star review. |
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Muntons Old Ale | August 11th 2021 | |
Munton's Old AleSingle can kit, no sugar to be added. No need to add any priming sugar when bottling, do follow the instructions here to avoid over carbonation. The brew will carbonate without priming sugar. Results. Well, definite home-brew zing from this one. Thick almost cloying beer with distinct notes of liquorice and a fairly prominent background bitterness. First try after 6 weeks in the bottle, the brew will probably improve with time as the flavours meld. Not really to my taste and the home-brew zing doesn't help. A kit that is similar in profile to the Brewferm Winter Ale. Well, second try after 5 months in the bottle. There is a definite improvement, the liquorice notes have almost disappeared, the home-brew zing has attenuated and this has turned into a not bad at all beer. I can't help but think that Munton's just wanted to put a copy-cat version of the Brewferm Winter Ale onto the market. The Old Ale is a very similar brew indeed but the Brewferm version gets the nod, it is a better brew, at least to my tastes. I have added an extra star to the review seeing as the brew has improved with time. Bumped the review up another star, this brew just gets batter & better with time. 19 04 2022 Still getting better ... five star review |
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Wheat Beer (Wit) | April 30th 2021 | |
Brewferm Wheat TripelBrewed as instructions on the tin. Spot on again, true to style, it does everything a wheat beer should. I can't fault these Brewferm kits, they have to be the best available. |
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Ambiorix | March 6th 2021 | |
Belgian BrownBelgian Brown, perviously Ambriorix, rebranded, it's the one with Super Saison yeast. Brewferm have updated their range of brews and they now have varietal yeasts that come with the kits. Super Saison yeast is a super attenuator. (diastaticus) Brewed with no mods, instructions on the tin followed. Excellent results. This is a highly attenuated brown ale that manages to give a balanced profile despite the 8% abv and the limited amount of residual sugars. You could mistake it for a 4% beer. Perfectly balanced bitterness with strong hints of acidity, it works all the way. Five star rating for me, i'll be going back for some more.
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Woodfordes Wherry Bitter | February 16th 2021 | |
WherryWherry, 1st rebrew since 2013. Not overwhelmed, in your face caramel, some bitterness, makes me think of a toy beer, a facsimile.
4 star all the same, outha tin intatha bin & youn got beer.
couldn't be easier |
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Raspberry (Framboise) | January 7th 2021 | |
FramboosDone Kit & Kilo wise, no mods. Lovely balanced beer at the end, raspberry background with some hop bitterness that blends beautifully with the sweeter red fruit. A spot of home-brew that compares very favourably with commercial beers even though this one is not entirely like the dessert raspberry beers that I have found on the supermarket shelves. Brewferm Framboos is a beer first, it tastes like beer with raspberry in it. Five star for me, excellent, straight out of the tin no mods, home-made beer within 3 - 4 weeks and it is just SO easy. I was so impressed, I went out and bought another two tins, the last batch just disappeared.
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Old Flemish Brown | December 16th 2020 | |
Flemish BrownRebrew, sugar replaced by DME this time, 1 kg. Excellent results within a month start to finish. 17 x 75 cl bottles of Flemish Brown Ale at £1.5 a shot, bargain. Spot on kit. |
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Winter Ale | November 7th 2020 | |
Previously Called Christmas AleExcellent kit, spot on. Five stars, no problems. Easy brewing, decent results at the end even though it requires at least six months conditioning. The beer just gets better and better as it ages. Edit November 2021, this has become one of my regular brews, fantastic beer albeit a little odd maybe for newcomers. |
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American Pale Ale - Brewery Pouch | September 24th 2019 | |
Mangrove Jack's APAFollowed instructions on the kit, brewed with 1 kg of DME instead of sugar. Bottled. It took about 2 months for it all to mellow and come into form. Bang on five star rating for this one, brewing just couldn't be easier and the results are better than reasonable. A very drinkable beer at the outcome, definitely better than a lot of generic beers I have picked up off of supermarket shelves. A decent session beer that slides down easy and remains drinkable for the duration. |
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Christmas | June 10th 2019 | |
Christmas AleNothing added to the kit, done according to instructions apart from bottling. Fermented out fully to 1010 and then 4gr of priming sugar per litre at bottling time. No carbonation problems at 6 months, all is well. First taster at 2 months ... horrible Second taster at 6 months and everything has mellowed and it is bang on. It's as good as it comes, results as good as anything you can buy in a supermarket. Interesting complex flavours, non-hop bitterness that reminds me of Chartreuse. Definitely not a session beer. A sipper. Definite five out of five, you can brew better than commercial quality beer from a kit, I am impressed. |
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Diabolo | July 7th 2018 | |
DiaboloTried a year old version brewed by a friend. Tastes true to style to me, actually like a Belgian beer, even if I did find it a bit sweet. But that's what Belgian beers are like .... I'm not a fan but I can't fault the kit, it does what it says on the tin, it makes beer that tastes like it's Belgian ! |
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Hammer of Thor | March 18th 2017 | |
Hammer of Thor III have just tasted a bottle of Thor brewed by a friend who was a COMPLETE novice before he did this very brew. For a first ever brew, the beer is not mind blowing but is fairly decent, drinkable if on the sweet side. For a KIT beer it's about as good as it gets ... I really can't fault Bulldog ... the product allows the complete novice to get onto the first rung of the ladder ... and produce a beer of moderate quality out of a tin ... or two. And you can actually get drunk on it too, if you want to. Five star again ... for kit of course |
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Geordie Scottish Export Beer Kit | April 12th 2016 | |
A Grim ExperienceKit & Kilo, some yeast nutrient added. First, the yeast was VERY slow to take off. Difficult fermentation, very weak yeast and on inspection it smelt bready ... maybe I should have fermented the brew with baker's yeast instead, it might have worked better ! Kegged after two weeks in primary, it spent another 8 days in the keg and it still had not carbed up correctly. On tasting, you have guessed, it was somewhere between cider and vinegar and with a lot of imagination a hint of beer in the background ... shame it did look nice when I managed to get a glass out of the keg. I do not have fermentation problems with my AG brews ... so the brewer is not at fault here. Everything was done correctly The moral of the story, I will not be buying single can kits again ... a grim experience, I have been vaccinated. |
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Coopers Australian Pale Ale | April 12th 2016 | |
Drinkable ?Kit & Kilo, no mods. This one reminded me of what my HB tasted like when I started back in 1988 ... pretty grim in other words. The result would be just about drinkable if I were young, stupid, unemployed, totally broke and I needed to get drunk. I could force it down. Just. Most of the reviews on the site seem pretty positive. Most of the reviewers however seem to have tarted up the kit in some way. Maybe I am spoilt and the comparison with AG puts this kit in a poor light. ? Drinkable? Not for me, not today. I would not buy this kit again. It gets a two star rating solely because the kit does produce a beer of some sorts, just. |
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Easter Chocolate Stout | March 6th 2016 | |
Bulldog Chocolate StoutKit done according to the instructions. Six weeks in the bottle before tasting. A difficult one this. I am sure the kit does what it is meant to do ... the problem is, I don't like the beer. On the nose : 100% cocoa, dark chocolate Nice tight tan head, thick and creamy, perfect carbonation. On the tongue : there are the roasty bitter flavours that are typical of a stout coupled with a fortified wine, port type flavour.. On the tongue, it tastes more like a fortified wine or port than a beer. Did someone design the recipe thinking of putting a tot of port into a pint of stout ? If so, then the kit works perfectly. But I just don't like it. I have given the kit a two star rating because I don't like the beer. There is no way I would repeat this kit. But there are perhaps people out there who would find it excellent ? I hate bananas ... a lot of people think they are gorgeous. I think this is a question of personal taste, so please don't take my word for the truth ... I would recommend finding a few more reviews before making a final decision. |
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Muntons Nut Brown Ale | December 7th 2015 | |
Kit & KiloKit & kilo, no mods, out the tin, add the sugar and you are away. Three weeks later, out of the bottle. It's a fine pint. There is the very slight acidic zing that comes from adding all of that sugar relative the malt extract but other than that, it's fine. There are no major roasty flavours, it's wet, fizzy, tastes of beer. I would rather drink this than a lot of commercial beers out there on the supermarket shelves. It is not a universe stopper, a perfectly fine session beer but considering the price and the ease of use, what more could you want? For me, the kit gets a five star because it does "what it says on the tin" so to speak ... it's cheap, easy to use and the results are reasonable, if not mind-blowing. And it still works out far cheaper than those beers you'll find in the stores ... |
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Coopers English Bitter | July 6th 2014 | |
Cooper's English Bitter IIAn update following my previous review. After THREE whole months in the barrel, the beer has mellowed and become drinkable. Considering the price of the kit, and if you are willing to wait, okay, it's an okay pint for the money, but it's not a beer that will keep pulling you back for more, acceptable is about the most flattering adjective that I could throw at it. I still think that this beer is not true to style, it's beer, but it is not English bitter. I haven't increased the score because I wouldn't bother buying this kit again, there are better ones out there where you get a decent result and don't have to wait three months. |
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Coopers English Bitter | May 11th 2014 | |
Cooper's English BitterDone according to kit & kilo. I don't like this one at all, the hops are overly aggressive to the point where the brew is actually acidic from the alpha acids in the hops. This is not a fermentation problem, it is actually the hops. I mean we are in sucking on lemons territory here. I don't think that the kit respects the beer style either, English bitter is just not acidic. Nope, I really don't like this beer. On the positive side, the yeast provided with the kit did its job very well. The beer coming out of the barrel definitely looks the part, lovely colour and good head retention too. Were I to do the kit again, I would give the wort a quarter of an hour boil to soften up the hop profile, it might work. |
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Hammer of Thor | May 11th 2014 | |
Bulldog Hammer of ThorI reckon the Bulldog kits are the best kits available. Extremely easy to do, just put the malt extract in your bucket and away you go. And the results are there too, Hammer of Thor gets a five out of five for me for the simple reason that my neighbours enjoy drinking it. Don't expect to get German Pilsner lager out of the kit, it more so resembles a strong Belgian beer than a lager, it is quite fruity and has more of an ale profile. Suits me. |
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Old Flemish Brown | May 11th 2014 | |
Oud Vlaams BruinLast bottle went down after six months in the cellar ... best kit beer I have ever drunk. Magnificent, if this is home-brew, I am not going to buy commercial beer ever again. |
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Wheat Beer (Wit) | April 17th 2014 | |
Brewferm Wheat BeerThis one was brewed with half a kilo of standard sugar. Even so, it comes out as a top of the range beer for a kit, no problems at all, Brewferm produce some of the best kits on the market, that makes it a five out of five for me. A final brew that had lager characteristics but was heading towards the complexity of a wheat beer, albeit not up to Paulaner on draught in Germany, quite honestly it is spot on, couldn't recommend it more highly. |
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Traditional English Ale | February 6th 2014 | |
John Bull BitterA one can kit that gives a pint of standard bitter. It's not brilliant but it's perfectly drinkable, reminds me of basic keg bitters, I have read elsewhere that it is a John Smith clone ... true or not, I don't know, but it is that sort of beer. A light bitter, it would be perfect for a large batch brew for a summer party, BBQ or something like that, supplying beer for the boys sort of logic. Quite honestly, for the price, and with a few weeks conditioning ... it's spot on. I would do it again. |
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Old Flemish Brown | December 27th 2013 | |
Oud Vlaams BruinAn excellent kit that gives excellent results. Done according to the blurb on the box. The Oud Vlaams Bruin is a malty brown ale with very little to no hop character and a slight acidic bite to it that counters the sweetness of the dark malts. The flavour profile is complex ... it keeps you coming back for more. The kits are more expensive than others out there but the extra cost is fully justified when you taste the results. |
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Muntons Gold 3kg India Pale Ale | December 24th 2013 | |
Munton's Gold IPAFor a premium kit, this is quite honestly rubbish. The brew was done according to the instructions and I even left it a good six weeks to condition in the keg. At the end, a disappointing watery brew with almost no hop character and very little malt character to boot , insipid, tasteless, uninspiring ... nothing like an IPA at all. If you like real ale and particularly beer with character then give this one a miss. If you are looking for generic supermarket beer out of a tin, this might suit you ! |
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Woodfordes Wherry Bitter | December 24th 2013 | |
Woodforde's WherryAn excellent kit, dead easy to do, good results and a very drinkable pint of standard English bitter at the end. Recommended.
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Bitter Ale | December 24th 2013 | |
Hambleton Bard Old English AleHambleton Bard Old English Ale This is quite a surprising kit. At the lower end of the market these days and based on dried malt extract instead of the more usual syrup in a tin, the results, although not brilliant, are very respectable. After six weeks conditioning, the old ale turned into a very drinkable brew despite it still having some of the ye olde home-brew tang coming through. Quite honestly, for the price, you can't go wrong and the kit compares favourably with more expensive two can kits and the like. It's worth brewing this one. |