Brew Buddy Beer 40 Pints Home Brew Starter Kit

Bought this for my husband, he totally loved it. Very easy to follow instructions and only needed to buy some sugar. Kit suggests brewing sugar but normal is fine. Would suggest you buy bottles or a barrel in advance, the kit makes loads so you need to be prepared! Tastes fab, much better than we were expecting.

Bought as a Christmas gift for a beer enthusiast, and it went down incredibly well. Within the first 24 hours, he was brewing his first batch and since Christmas, I've been getting daily updates on his progress. Although I cannot speak for the quality of the beer as of yet, I can confirm that if you have a beer lover in the family who enjoys a new challenge, this will go down an absolute treat!

I noticed one of these on offer and after considering trying out homebrew a few times in the past, decided to finally take the plunge. I'm a student and the idea of supplying my own beer at effectively 25p a pint is obviously very appealing! I haven't even finished my first batch and I can already tell this is going to become a hobby. If you're anything like me this 'beginners' kit will set you off reading all sorts of forums and planning for future beverages before your first beer is even done fermenting! This kit is good value to set you off brewing and, in addition to the yeast and wort needed for 40 pints (you'll also want 1kg of sugar. I'm just using table sugar for my first batch, great taste isn't a huge concern) you get: A 5 gallon fermentation bucket (this can be used instead of or prior to transferring to a demijohn if you wish). Steriliser a basic tube and clip to act as a siphon a hydrometer (for checking alcohol content and if fermentation is finished) You can bottle into standard PET plastic bottles and to start out you can just buy budget supermarket carbonated water for cheaper than the bottles would cost on their own! I'm already looking out for glass bottles in people's recycling!! (Don't worry, you have to sterilize them anyway). Now my only words of advice for brewers-to-be are these: If you think there's a good chance you'll take to brewing as a hobby or even a primary source of booze, CONSIDER IN STARTING OUT WITH A MORE COMPLETE KIT! This kit gives you the essentials but after some reading I have already invested in extras such as: A measuring cylinder, turkey baster, stirring spoon, better syphon, bottling stick (prevents spillage and oxygenation), bottle brush, thermometer and will eventually get a capper when I've got some glass bottles. A fermentation vessel with the option to add a tap would also be helpful in the long term and doesn't cost much extra. I'll also get a glass demijohn if I ever try cider. I guess the bottom line is a bit of research might leave you wanting to customise your kit a bit. The non-airtight fermentation bucket does emit odours. For bitter this is actually a lovely yeast smell in the first few days, and the smell dies down once the yeast has turned the bulk of sugar into alcohol. As I understand it lager fermentation is not quite such a pleasant smell, if you're thinking of trying that out. Despite the popular concept of fermenting in the airing cupboard, you actually want to ferment and a cool room temperature of 18-21 degrees. Rushing the fermentation with warmer conditions produces bad tastes apparently. The beer is coming along nicely but as starter wort I wouldn't expect miracles. Think of this as purchasing the equipment, with some cheap beer ingredients to practise with as a bonus. I'm delighted I went for this set, and having taken to the hobby my only regret is I didn't fork out a bit extra for the more 'premium' version! There's little to lose: At 40pints the kit basically pays for itself with the very first batch, and will hopefully provide you with many more.

Excellent value and service

Very much a starter kit as you'll have to buy more things before you can slurp your beers. You get enough equipment to ferment the beer and that's it. You also get a tube to transfer your ale, but it's as basic as they come. You'll also need a thermometer, bottles, caps, a bottle capper and a bottling wand.

Bought for my partner who is happy with it!

Husband loved it, surprise gift to keep him busy during lockdown, fast delivery, very easy to use.

I’m new to beer making, first batch came out well, but I neglected to realise I needed bottles so a had to buy a load