Brewferm Triple

Type: Kit Brew
Sugars: About 600g of Golden Syrup
Yeast: Kit Yeast
Additions:Water de-chlorinated with 1/2 Campden tablet.
Time in Primary: 2 weeks
Secondary method: Bottle
Time in Secondary: 6 weeks plus
O.G. 1064
F.G. 1010


An interesting range of kits, these, mostly comprising of Belgian beers, but with the odd pilsner thrown in. Most of them make up smaller batches than your standard kit, despite the kits themselves being in the usual size cans. The instructions are also more complicated than standard, suggesting the use of Belgian Candi Sugar, and insisting on batch priming (explained below). OK, I know many people will batch prime their brew if bottling as a matter of course, but it's interesting that Brewferm suggest this as a required step (and no bad thing, that).

I couldn't get Candi Sugar easily, and making up the required amount manually (i.e. inverting normal sugar myself) appeared a bit of a faff, so I used golden syrup, which is a partially inverted sugar. Searching online gave me the required quantities (you need to use 20% more Candi sugar than if using simple sugars, and then have to take account of the liquid in the syrup, so 600g appeared about right). I also used a smaller 15L fermentation bid, as I thought the 9L that this kit makes up would look a little lost in a 5 gallon bin!

Have a look at the original and final gravities, and you will notice this is one string brew. Online opinion suggested a good 3 month maturation would be required in the bottle, but mine was smashing after 6 - 8 weeks. But, boy, is this stuff strong. It has a slightly syrupy, spicy taste, but isn't sickly. It also has the effect of preventing your legs from working if you drink too much.

Really impressive stuff, this. One of the best brews I have ever done, and will be trying others in their range. Next time, however, I am going to to set this down in smaller bottles, as a pint of this stuff is just a bit too much.

Coopers European Lager

Type: Kit Brew
Sugars: 1kg Brewing Sugar (Dextrose)
Yeast: Kit Yeast
Additions:Water de-chlorinated with 1/2 Campden tablet.
Time in Primary: 3 weeks @ 15 degrees C
Secondary method: Bottle
Time in Secondary: 3 months
O.G. 1040
F.G. 1006


I've done this kit twice. The first time, it was the first kit I did after returning to home brewing after many years. I didn't do my research on this one, didn't brew it at the correct temperature, didn't leave it long enough in the King Keg, forgot to prime the King Keg, didn't De-Chlorinate the water, and generally ended up with a rather poor brew.

However, after getting a number of sucsessful kits under my belt, I thought I'd try this one again. Unlike many 'lager' kits on the market, this one ships with a proper, bottom fermenting, lager yeast. This means that it really needs to be brewed at a much lower temperature than those that ship with an ale yeast. I managed to find a spot in the house that was a nice steady 15 degrees whatever the time of day, and left it to ferment there for three weeks under an air lock. I also learned, from my online research, that using spray malt instead of simple sugars can throw the balance of this kit off a bit, so I stuck with 1Kg of brewing sugar.

As warned in the instructions, the yeast gave off a rather 'bad egg' smell at various times during fermentation, and that was still detectable at bottling time. Although I was determined to leave this for the advised (online) 3 months, I opened a bottle from time to time to check progress. After 2 - 3 weeks, it still had a rather sulphuric king of twang and wasn't nice at all. Over the coming weeks, this dissipated and gradually it started to taste like a proper lager.

After about 3 months the result was totally transformed. A lovely, crisp, Beck's like lager that has great carbonation. Not an especially complex beer, but nice and refreshing all the same.

If you like Becks, give this one a go. Just be prepared to bottle it, and wait. Oh, and don't forget the lower fermentation temps!