With the right ingredients and appropriate brewing instructions, you can brew beer yourself in your own kitchen. At least that’s what the Braukönig company claims: The beer brewing set includes a plastic fermentation container, beer wort, yeast, a fermentation tube, rubber stoppers and an instruction manual.
The product tester from askgeorge.com noticed the following points positively during the self-test:
What was negative, however, was that the cooking container was made of plastic and the result tasted like beer, but not like a real pilsner – it was more reminiscent of the taste of wheat. Nevertheless, the shower set was elevated to first place with a solid grade of “good”: “I have to admit that I am positively surprised by the final product,” was the tester’s final verdict.
The brewing box of the “Helles” variety is significantly more expensive, but that doesn’t automatically make it better: The included ingredients and accessories (fermentation bottle, beer pump, fermentation bung, malt mixture, hops, brewer’s yeast, oxy-cleaner, doser, thermometer) made Jonas a high-quality one Impression. What was also positive was that in this test you really had to brew the beer yourself: i.e. the mashing and lautering was also done on your own – this part was omitted with the other brewing sets.
However, you should also plan more time here, as the preparation takes significantly longer. The result was nevertheless sobering: “Unfortunately, the high expectations of the final product could not be completely met.” In particular, the lack of taste of light beer and yeast deposits on the bottom earned the brewing box the overall grade of “good” (2.3) and second place.
Two different varieties of the same brand were tested here: one was the wheat beer brewing set and the other was the dark beer brewing set with oak wood and honey – both received the grade “satisfactory”.
The wheat beer came with the following: An empty 5 liter keg (as a fermentation tank), a bag of malt extract, a pack of yeast, a bottle of hop extract, a pressure valve and an instruction manual. He still found the result disappointing due to a dominant banana note. In addition, the beer ended up with too little carbon dioxide, which should not be missing in a good barley juice. With a grade of “satisfactory” (2.6), the brewing keg landed in third place.
Closely followed by the dark beer brewing set in 4th place, also with the grade “satisfactory” (3.3). Very easy to use, but in the end the product lacked flavor and carbonation. In return, it motivated the tester to “brew his own real beer”.
Fifth place goes to Kwik beer. Just as easy to use as its predecessors, the hop drink was not particularly convincing due to its taste. The finished product had hardly any carbonation and tasted more like a cider than a beer. This was also made clear by the lack of foam, which is an important factor in freshly tapped barley juice.
Conclusion: All in all, the five products are suitable for beginners who want to brew their own beer. The beer brewing sets are also particularly suitable as gifts – but if you want to become a real master brewer, you should delve deeper into the subject.
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