Fresh wort kits for a learner brewer

[Matt trask]

Greetings !! I have been brewing mainly from kits. Ie: cans and pouches (complete learner !!) I saw fresh wort kits today Any thoughts on em ? I also would like to get outside the box or pouch with recipes What would be a good starter one Thanks in advance. Matt

[Matthew Vincent]

Hi Matt
Before I went 'allgrain' I use to dissolve 2kg of DME in a 30 litre barrel with boiling water, add and dissolve a can of extract (WilliamWarns were good) and top up with cold water to 20 litres. I'd then pour about 5 or 6 litrers of this into a large pot and boil it for 60mins. I used to use a mix of Nelson Sauv & Motueka hops at something like - 20g NS @ 60 mins and then 10g of each hop at 20, 10 & 5 mins. Once the 60 mins was up I then poured/strained the mix back in the barrel and topped up with very cold water up to 23 litres aiming to end up at about 20'C. I'd then sprinkle a packet of yeast on top and leave it to ferment. After about a week to 10 days I'd dryhop it with 50g of each hop and leave it for 5 days. On day 4 I'd put it in a very cold fridge and then bottle it the following night.
This made considerably better brews than just following the instructions on the can.
After about a year or two of doing brews like this (with different hops) I started doing allgrain ...