Starter Kit

Irishrossoblu

I know its done to death, but am looking to buy a starter kit. I am looking at the Coopers Micro kit for €85. I will be shiping it abroad with me so I am looking for a one box solution. Has anyone used it or could someone reccomend a different kit.

Thanks

sweep22

It's a very good starter kit and it's amazing what they fit in the one box. I would recommend it.
My one criticism is that the instructions aren't great, particularly with regard to temperatures and length of fermentation.

Irishrossoblu

sweep22 wrote: »

It's a very good starter kit and it's amazing what they fit in the one box. I would recommend it.
My one criticism is that the instructions aren't great, particularly with regard to temperatures and length of fermentation.

Thanks for feedback. Yeah, it seems to be compact, which is good for me. As regards temperatures and length of fermentation, sure isnt that what boards.ie home brewing forum is for!

oblivious

Hi Irishrossoblu
Here are some very good instructions of kit brewing http://www.beoir.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33:getting-started-brewing-beer-with-beer-kits&catid=17:kit-brewing&Itemid=48

Drummersession

Coopers does the job. Reasonable price too.

fryup

Drummersession wrote: »

Coopers does the job. Reasonable price too.

cooper's canadian blonde is supposed to be lovely

Titan28

I got the Coopers microbrew kit a couple of months. It's an excellent kit for beginners.

The instructions are very basic alright but that's what you need when you are starting out. When you really go into detail it can get a bit overwhelming.

They do a great job of packaging all the kit into a fairly handy sized box (which is worth holding on to, its great for keeping bottles in during conditioning).

The_B_Man

where did you buy this?

My missus is gonna buy me one for christmas, and has asked me to pick it out as she hasnt a clue about what to get, or where to get it. Truth be told, neither do I!

All I know is I want a temperature indicator sticker! My old housemate (his one was a "brewcraft" i think) messed up a cupla batches due to temps so I reckon I'll need one definately, since I'm a beginner.

But yeah, long story short, where can you get good ones online? Thanks.

EDIT:
Found these two. Any advice, based on what parts they come with?
this 25litre for 70euro
or
this 33litre for 75euro

The_B_Man

The_B_Man wrote: »

where did you buy this?

My missus is gonna buy me one for christmas, and has asked me to pick it out as she hasnt a clue about what to get, or where to get it. Truth be told, neither do I!

All I know is I want a temperature indicator sticker! My old housemate (his one was a "brewcraft" i think) messed up a cupla batches due to temps so I reckon I'll need one definately, since I'm a beginner.

But yeah, long story short, where can you get good ones online? Thanks.

EDIT:
Found these two. Any advice, based on what parts they come with?
this 25litre for 70euro
or
this 33litre for 75euro

I was looking online myself, but to be honest I went down to the homebrew shop in Rathmines myself (near the domino's) and chatted to the lads in there, gave a rake load of advice they did. Price was €80 for everything (bar the water!) for the first batch of beer, seems like a pretty good price for what we got.

oblivious

The_B_Man wrote: »

where did you buy this?

My missus is gonna buy me one for christmas, and has asked me to pick it out as she hasnt a clue about what to get, or where to get it. Truth be told, neither do I!

All I know is I want a temperature indicator sticker! My old housemate (his one was a "brewcraft" i think) messed up a cupla batches due to temps so I reckon I'll need one definately, since I'm a beginner.

But yeah, long story short, where can you get good ones online? Thanks.

EDIT:
Found these two. Any advice, based on what parts they come with?
this 25litre for 70euro
or
this 33litre for 75euro

I use both sized fermenters, the 33l one is handy for beers that might have a big blow-off. But the 25 litre one is perfect to start with

poitinstill

a lot to be said for going into a premises....there is the place in Rathmines, Homebrewco in mountmellick or Donals in athlone. I'd recommend going in to one of them as a start as loads of people buy gear on the net and when they get it never actually brew as they arnt sure how to start. Get into the physical shops and chat to the lads is my advice...

The_B_Man

I'm not sure but i think the link i gave there was for that company in rathmines.
The missus lives down that way and got a flyer in the door. Might pop over next weekend so.

I was really only asking which of the above 2 were better, since they both come with different bits in the kit. I dont mean just the different sized fermenter, but all the other bits are different too. I'm assuming some pieces may be better/easier than others, so thats what I was curious about.

guildofevil

The_B_Man, the only difference between those two starter kits is that the larger buckets have lids which are designed to take an airlock without a rubber bung, which is why you don't get one. Other than that, the equipment list is identical.

Oh and the links are to TheHomeBrewCompany, which is in Mountmellick. http://www.mybeerandwine.ie/ is the Rathmines one. They have a much cheaper starter kit, but if you look at the list of stuff it includes, you can see that you get what you pay for.

The_B_Man

I've actually gone and purchased the Coopers Starter kit from Rathmines. Does anyone know if thats decent, or is it a loada rubbish?

I got the other kit there (which was a tenner cheaper) and it contained some of the coopers stock. Made the Coopers Wheat Beer, and it was nice enough. Have the Irish Stout bottled now, looking forward to trying that out.

I've no doubt that as you get into it there'll be many more purchases but it works perfectly fine for me.