Brewbarrel the all-in-one homebrew kit - Father's Day Review ... The Yorkshire Dad Blog ...

With Father's Day fast approaching i got the chance to try out a product that i have been wanting to try for years. This last week i have been brewing my own craft beer, using a brilliant all in one home-made beer making kit from brewbarrel.co.uk.

Brewbarrel were kind enough to provide me with a kit to test and i would now like to share my experience with you all ladies and gents as i believe that a beer making kit could make the perfect Father's Day present for your other-half or dad.

So how did it go, would i recommend it and what do you get for your money?

Packaging & Contents

My Brewbarrel arrived in the post a week after placing my order, it came in a strong and sturdy unbranded box. Upon opening it you are greeted by a very nice looking branded box that is packed full of useful information about the company, products and processes. Did you know it only takes 10 minutes to prepare the Brewbarrel.

Everything i needed was packed together neatly, the delivered contents were:

One empty five litre keg (Fermentation tank)
One bottle of malt extract
One bottle of hop extract
One package of yeast
One pressure control value
Three Brewbarrel beer mats

Customisation

The best thing about the home-brew kit is that i got to customise it to taste the way i wanted it to. Brewbarrel.co.uk offer 100,000 different varieties of beer. You will get all necessary ingredients perfectly weighed to your order. All ingredients and all necessary equipment is in the Brewbarrel home brewing kit included.

I picked the following combinations:

Beer Style: Pislner
Hops: Standard
Flavour: Oak Timber

The Process

All you need to do is remove the lid from the top of the keg, then begin to fill the keg with the bottle of malt extract. Once the bottle is empty it is then time to fill the bottle with a little but of cold water and then boiling hot water to the top, pouring it into the barrel. - Be careful the bottle is very hot and it is wise to use oven mitts.

Being honest pouring the boiling water into the barrel is the hardest thing about the process!

It is then time to reseal the barrel with the transparent lid and then give it a good old shake for 30 seconds. Pressing down on the lid whilst you shake to ensure the water doesn't come out. The barrel is very hot at this stage so make sure you protect your hands!

The next step requires you to refill and empty the extract bottle with cold water five times, you can throw away the lid after this step. Now it is time to pour in the hops and the yeast, as well any any additional flavours. It might be a tight squeeze to get in the ingredients!

The next step in the process is a rather tricky one as it requires a careful pair of hands as you need to add in the pressure control value. Use the palm of your hands to push down on each side of the value making sure your avoid pushing down or snapping the red inner part.

Then you need to stand your keg up vertically so that the value is on top. Now the beer needs to ferment for five days at room temperature. After twenty four hours you then need to turn the keg upside down for 10 seconds! You will then need to leave the Brewbarrel to ferment for four days without moving it. After five days,the first stage of the fermentation process is complete. After this it is time to put the barrel in the fridge for at least two days. I had to take a shelf out of the fridge to fit the barrel!

Once you have the beer a the perfect serving temperature it is tapping time. You need to carefully lift the red pressure control value and release the pressure. During this process i found that foam was being released from the value which is normal, it is wise to keep a cloth to hand to soak up the liquid. To serve simply lift and turn/pull the bolt of the value. The beer will come out slowly, to make sure you pull the perfect pint it is wise to release as much pressure as possible in the keg.

My beer had a light, sweet and refreshing taste. I confess that it's colour doesn't look overly appealing but i can assure you the beer was well worth the wait. You can pick a barrel-up for £25 which makes each pint you pull £3! I personally enjoyed the process and think that any person that loves their largers would enjoy going though the process.