@daviddallas4607
I made (not brewed) two of this same kit. The first one I followed the included directions with the same results as you. The second one I pressure fermented in a five gallon Corny Keg using only 4-1/2 gallons of water instead of 5 gallons to allow some head space in the Corny Keg. I pressurised the Corny Keg to 10 PSI and connected a spunding valve set to 10 PSI. I didn't have any issues with Krausen getting into the spunding valve. After two weeks I closed transferred to a clean sanitised Corny Keg. The results were the same as the first kit except maybe a little more body due to a little less water.
@Papashappyplace
New Brewer myself. I really enjoy your content. I have learned alot from what you share. I have done 2 flash brews so far. Hefeweizen the first time (56 hours in primary under pressuere @ 65°F) which turned out quite tasty and after 2 weeks sharing with freinds and faimily had to start a second. I went for the best buds kit and have it just finishing up in the fermentation chamber (48 hours in primary under 25PSI @ 80° F). I am just finishing cold crash and will share this weekend. Again thank you for sharing and keep putting out the content with the channel. best to you and yours. PAPA D
@ElementaryBrewingCo
Pretty much the same here. Had low expectations but was very surprised. I’ve used the Pinter and this beer was hands down better than any beer I could make with that! I too would like to try the red to see how a maltier beer would taste. Side note-video quality is awesome! I know you got a new camera but the lighting and bokeh in this one is spot on! Very clean and professional 🫡
@irondalebrewing
I did the Citra Session Pale Ale and the I Heart IPA kits -- very similar opinion to yours. For the level of effort you wind up with a quite good, very drinkable beer. I took the Citra to a party and it was a crowd pleaser. The I Heart IPA was a little less successful IMO but still pretty darn good. To be fair, with the Citra I did my usual process of fermentation temp control, cold crashing, and closed transfer to the keg, whereas with the I Heart IPA I just threw it in a Fermonster, left it uncovered at room temperature, and siphoned into the keg because I was curious how it'd work with a more hostile process (and one that people with less equipment would probably use). It didn't get skunked and after two weeks in the keg is settled out pretty nicely both in clarity and flavor. The way I look at these kits is it's a great way to get another beer in the pipeline quickly and fill the kegerator if you're running low and short on time, and it's definitely a great entry point for people interested in brewing. Based on good experiences with the first two kits I'm going to try some of the others, probably the red next. Thanks for the video! Cheers!
@Baloo1856
I brewed the Irish Red kit for my homebrew club. It was a nice light body beer that was drinkable. Better than we thought it would be. I would recommend using an Irish ale yeast to get the esters you would want. Our only complaints on this kit was the very light body and no esters, otherwise for the very little effort it made a nice lawnmower beer.
@carlkessler303
I've brewed the Irish red. In the YouTube videos they said you could brew beer in a week. I took them at their word. I did tweak the recipe by modifying the water chemistry and I also did a mini mash of some specialty grains just to pump up the flavor a little bit. We started drinking it after a week and it was cloudy. It had a nasty Homebrew yeasty flavor. After that I let it set for about 2 more weeks. So after about 3 weeks out it was completely cleared. I didn't use any fining agents like I normally would. After the 3 weeks people loved it. It had a delightful fruity flavor to it and just the right amount of hot bitterness. Maybe it could have been a little more bitter. Based on that experience I did buy the pale ale kit. So as a quick Brew in between my bigger all grain bruise I can recommend it.
@NWsmallbatchBrewing
Thanks for giving us an honest review my braj. Cheers.
@BanjosBikesBrewing
I made this same kit. Your review is spot on! The session citra pale ale kit was very drinkable, and it peaked my curiosity so that I now have their Ugly Fish IPA in my fermenter to see if it has a better mouthfeel and deeper hop/malt characteristics than the session pale ale. But that will probably be my last flash brew kit. I only played with these kits because most of my brewing equipment and my brewing space have been inaccessible due to a house remodel, and my kegs were empty.🙂 I'm excited to get back to all grain brewing!
@deckerhand12
I’ve been waiting for someone to review this. My red ale come out great. Some points that I came to it says you don’t need to stir I did so everything came into contact with the water. The fermentation wasn’t as vigorous as I thought it was gonna be. I’d get. More kits if I needed to beer in a pinch for an event. I did make sure everything was sanitized even my spoon.
@JamesChurchill3
In the UK, kits like this are very popular, only using liquid hopped malt extract instead of the dried extract like you have. It's where I started, and can make some actually decent beer, and serve as a basic introduction to the process. I'm now brewing on an all grain system but wouldnt hesitate to make another all extract kit, I think they're a good option for anyone short on time or equipment, all you need is space to put a bucket and something to put the finished beer in, I started with bottles and it took up basically no room. I can see these being very popular with college / university students.
@AlbeeSoaring
So glad to here you be honest about this product. Ive seen so many other Brewtubers do it and they just cant help but latch onto the teet of more beer and make wild outlandish claims like " You cant tell its not a commercial beer" or " just as good a any all grain beer out there". Yeah I can see that its super easy and low effort and thats a appealing thing for a beginner or a person on a time crunch. But there is going to always be a trade off between effort and quality.
@tysenbibb6118
I've brewed the Blonde Ale and Hefeweizen Flash kits. Both were solid. I've been all grain brewing for 11+ years and thought the novelty was too good to pass up. I agree with your review. Best beer ever? Nah. Perfectly serviceable beer? Yes. I'm wondering if a little maltodextrin powder would bump up the body (for those not opposed to it). Also, playing with yeast choices could yield a little more complexity in the flavor. For what they are, it is impressive to make 5 gallons of beer in so little time. Thanks for the review!
@MegaStamandster
Have a friend who's a new brewer and he started with these kits, he's on his third and has been really happy! It's also given him enough confidence to do partial specialty and next up all grain BIAB.
@MikeN1990
I have also made a few of these kits as I am also limited on time at the moment. Citra Session, Fresh squeezed, hefe and the blonde ale. I feel the same way, pretty good drinkable beers that I would not hesitate to make more of when pressed for time. I will say, the hefe was by far my least favorite. Other than the slight banana aroma, I wouldn’t have known it’s a hefe, the flavor did not follow through. Granted I did switch to the new W68 dry yeast, so maybe that was a mistake..
@albrough
Maaate… you need to come to Australia 🇦🇺 and use a fresh wort kit. I’m surprised they are not popular state side. Pour into your fermenter, top it up, add yeast and let her rip. Brew day done in 5 minutes flat. Keep up the awesome work on your channel!
@Raddadbrewing
I very much appreciate the honest review! Thank you
@Bisonman80
Your video production is blowing my mind. Great work
@Dan-Lloyd
Welcome to the world of late night brewing once the children are asleep 😀 Thanks for your great content
@daletherail
Good video, Your review is right in line with most others. I purchased the Cali Mountain Pale Ale kit and mixed it on 11/10/2024. Water was Geneva IL tap water, which reportedly is RO water blended with the original well water. The water tastes good and is used by two local breweries. I did stir it so I could get an OG reading. I'm using a SS Brewtech brew bucket with temperature control set at 68 degrees F. I topped up the fermenter to the 5.5 gallon mark for an OG of 1.058, much higher than expected. Active fermentation was observed within a few hours and was vigorous the following day. I expect this will be at least as good as my first batch made with Ireks Weisenbier Extract back ibn 1997. I'll report back in a couple of weeks
@jymferrier