BeerBorg

Hi new brewer here, made my first batch in the plastic carboy, now settling in the bottle. I'm taking advice I read on here and pulling one each week for four weeks and placing in fridge, then taste test them.

So I really liked the idea of the brew demon ,and bought one, made another 1 gallon kit (Brewers best) I had in it now fermenting! Heres my question, the canned kits brew demon sells (bought one) how do the stack up to a kit of dry ingredients like brewers best or others?

Is it cheating?

Do they taste as good ?

Sure looks easier

Thanks for response
Disasterdave

Some people consider it cheating. Some people also consider brewing extract kits cheating. Some people consider any kind of kit (or even using another person's recipe) cheating.

There are all kinds of brewing snobs.

I say you should brew what and how you like. If you like the beer you're making, that's what's important.

I haven't made a batch with prehopped extract in a long time. I remember I thought some were really good and I was less impressed with others.

Beer goes into my fridge after 2-3 weeks conditioning at room temperature.

Canned kits v dried ingredients comes down to personal preference and how well it turned out.
Definitely not cheating.

Hi Dave! I don't think hopped malt extracts (cans) are cheating either. I do think that extract steeping grains and hops are a little more interesting. My brewing improved (slowly) when I moved to mashing grain, but I don't think that was necessarily because of the method. Part of it was certainly that I was learning more, partly because some of the canned recipes didn't impress me. People brew for different reasons, I know a guy who only brews radical experimental or rare styles. He figures he can buy pilsners and pales. I brew what I want to drink because I enjoy the process and for me it's much cheaper than buying craft beer. I like mashing grain but if I don't have the time I'm happy to use extracts.

Welcome, brew what you're comfortable with till you get a couple under your belt. There is no cheating if you're brewing in the end, still need to boil, cool and ferment it!

Thanks for all the cool thoughts and comments. I will try grain brewing eventually, I live in 800 SF condo so space is limited And I still want my wife to like me.

Cheers

Disasterdave wrote:Thanks for all the cool thoughts and comments. I will try grain brewing eventually, I live in 800 SF condo so space is limited And I still want my wife to like me.
Cheers

When you decide to try it, you can do little 1 gallon batches on your stove top using something like a Brooklyn Brewing kit to start with to learn - and then if you want to go bigger, an all in one electric brewing device like a Mash & Boil or whatever like it is available then is just the ticket. Doesn't take a lot of space, and is easy to clean.

Disasterdave wrote:Thanks for all the cool thoughts and comments. I will try grain brewing eventually, I live in 800 SF condo so space is limited And I still want my wife to like me.

Cheers

I completely understand. I brew outside for the same reason!

John Sand wrote:

Disasterdave wrote:Thanks for all the cool thoughts and comments. I will try grain brewing eventually, I live in 800 SF condo so space is limited And I still want my wife to like me.

Cheers

I completely understand. I brew outside for the same reason!

I have even less room outside and I'm on the 4th floor

Disasterdave wrote:

John Sand wrote:

Disasterdave wrote:Thanks for all the cool thoughts and comments. I will try grain brewing eventually, I live in 800 SF condo so space is limited And I still want my wife to like me.

Cheers

I completely understand. I brew outside for the same reason!

I have even less room outside and I'm on the 4th floor

There are some electric options that would let you brew in an apartment. I've got a mash and boil, but there are other options.

There are even little all in one appliances that fit on your counter top that are good for small batches. Those get poo-poo'd as "not real brewing" by snobs as well, but it is real brewing, it's just real brewing made simple and convenient (although more costly). I may get one of them one day but if I do it, it will be one where I can build my own recipe. (some of them use little pre-packaged "pods" like coffee makers, except for beer).