Home Brew Beer Kits

Choosing a Beer Brewing Kit

The best place to start is with the type of beer you already enjoy drinking. Beer brewing kits all follow a broadly similar process, but the ingredients, strength, body and flavour can vary considerably.

Popular Beer Kits to Compare

• Classic lager: Geordie Lager Beer Kit — a value one-can kit for up to 40 pints; additional brewing sugar is required.
• Traditional real ale: Woodforde's Wherry Beer Kit — a two-can malt extract kit for a classic amber ale.
• Hoppy IPA: Coopers Brew A IPA Beer Kit — a hopped extract recipe requiring the fermentables specified in its instructions.
• Fruit-forward craft IPA: Mangrove Jack's Juicy Session IPA — includes its hop addition but requires extra brewing sugar or another recommended fermentable.

Product availability and recipes can change, so check each listing for current stock, batch size and additions.

Standard, Two-Can and Premium Beer Kits

One-can beer kits can be an affordable way to start and usually use hopped malt extract as their base. Many require additional brewing sugar, beer enhancer or malt extract to produce the intended strength and volume. For example, Geordie Lager lists an additional 1kg of brewing sugar. Always follow the instructions for your specific kit.

Two-can and premium beer kits may include a larger total quantity of malt extract and can reduce or eliminate the need for separate fermentable additions. Craft-style kits can also include dry hops or special yeast strains, although some still need extra sugar or extract. A premium label does not guarantee that a kit is complete on its own: compare the actual ingredient list and additions required.

A more expensive kit is not automatically the right choice for every brewer. Standard kits are reliable and easy to customise, while premium kits are a good option when you want more depth and a recipe closer to a particular commercial beer style.

Beer Kits or Complete Starter Kits?

A beer kit contains the ingredients for the beer, but it does not normally include all the equipment required to ferment and package it.

For a first batch, you'll generally need a suitable fermenter and airlock, cleaner and sanitiser, hydrometer, syphon and bottles or an appropriate pressure barrel. Some beer starter kits include both these essentials and a beer ingredient kit, while other starter sets provide equipment only. Read the contents list so you know whether a separate beer kit and bottling supplies are required.

If you already own the equipment, you can buy an individual beer kit and add any brewing sugar or enhancer specified by the manufacturer.

What Else Might I Need?

Check the individual product description before brewing. Depending on the kit, you may need brewing sugar or beer enhancer. Replacing ordinary brewing sugar with a malt-based enhancer can improve body, flavour and head retention.

You may also want to customise a kit with additional brewing hops, a different beer yeast or extra malt extract. These additions are optional unless the kit instructions state otherwise.

Tips for Better Kit Beer

Cleanliness and patience make a bigger difference than complicated equipment. Properly clean and sanitise everything that will touch the beer, ferment within the recommended temperature range and use a hydrometer rather than relying only on the number of days in the instructions.

Do not bottle or barrel beer until fermentation has completed, confirmed by suitable stable gravity readings and the recipe instructions. Allow time for carbonation and conditioning after packaging. Many kits take several weeks from mixing to drinking, while stronger and more complex styles may benefit from longer maturation.

For a complete walkthrough, read our guide to brewing beer at home.