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"Ale Man":2o1f9wci wrote: Are the pre hopped kits pre boiled so, ......[/quote:2o1f9wci]

I boiled a kit a while back, but only so i could add fresh hops as opposed to the extract sachet that came with the kit. It worked out to be quite pleasant, but nowhere near the flavour quality of extract brewing.

My advice is not to waste too much time with kits.
They are a good way to learn to how to use all your equipment, but i think they should be considered a stepping stone for serious beer lovers.

Here's how i did it
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I'll take your advice so, I've 3 kits left and that will give me enough time to sort out a boiler for extract brewing, I'm excited already. <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

Myself and Beermad have been pondering this for a while now. We are finding it very hard to get a rolling boil going, never mind maintaining it. We did a brew yesterday, the majority of the time leaving the lid on and I think we only managed a rolling boil for a couple of minutes. This may or may not be down to the electrim boiler. I have read on here and on a few other sites about how important this is to the final product.

For your basic plastic boiler you always have the option of adding a second element. Get your element and lead, drill a 38mm hole and away you go. I got mine from Hop and Grape but there may be cheaper options.

That's a good idea Big Ears, will look in to that

The degree of evaporation is the most effective way of determining if your boil is vigorous enough.

There is something to be said for the swirling of hops and such in a rolling boil, but the intensity can be guaged by what evaporates. As I said in an earlier post, most boils will do everything necessary, and in fact the perfect boil would be a waste of energy because we wouldn't filter out the resulting break material anyway.