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I made a batch of Newcastle Brown Ale today. I used a Brewcraft Newcastle Brown tin, a packet of Brewcraft #72 converter / enhancer, 2 plugs of Fuggles hops and a packet of SAFAle.

I was really surprised how much grain there was in the Brewcraft #72 kit. I boiled it for about 20 mins and then strained it into the fermenter. There was almost a standard kitchen strainer full of grain. Should I have strained the grain or have tipped it into the fermenter? Same with the hops, I let the two plugs soak in boiling water for 10 mins and strained them in the fermenter. Should I have thrown them into the fermenter?

I'm looking forward to some great Newcy Brown regardless, hopefully.

The grain swells as it takes in more water, it should be strained out. The hops don't have to be strained really but doesn't matter.

The grains in these kits really should be steeped first at 70 degrees for half an hour,but the problem is that they mix the malt and dextrose with the grain so it means boiling the whole bag together and extracting astringent compounds from the grain.I suppose you could always heat the mix till it just starts to simmer and then turn the heat off for 15 mins.and then repeating this again and turning off for the last 15 mins.This would dissolve the malt and dextrose as well as steep the grains .You would then strain that mix into another pot and boil for 10 minutes or so.