MYO Overview

M A K E YO U R OWN

MYO TRAINING DOCUMENT

O Gifting Line
O What is MYO?
O Homebrew?
O Our Objective
O Basic Instructions
O Product Portfolio
O Brand Guidelines
O FAQs

Launched in 2013 as a homebrew brand aimed at new brewers, Make Your Own Drinks is a
cost-effective, easy to make, good quality wine, beer and cider kit brand. There were 12
varieties in total plus all equipment items you’d need to get started.

These products were designed to introduce homebrew as a new hobby, making it as easy as
possible for the user to make good quality alcoholic drinks at home.

Unlike most homebrew brands which are sold in specialist homebrew stores, Make Your Own
(MYO) was launched into The Range; a multiple retailer in the UK which sells a large variety
of products with departments including Garden, Pet, Homewares and Kitchen. As a one-stop-
shop, The Range attracts a broad range of customers including students, mums and the
retired.

Make Your Own products are therefore often an impulse purchase or a gift, although it also
has a repeat customer base. The Range was the sole continual stockist of MYO from 2013 to
2018.

In 2019, Make Your Own Drinks rebranded to MYO, with updated logo, packaging, website
and offering.
MYO’s range now includes 9 kits giving the user a good choice of well-known styles of beers,
wines and ciders. 5L Starter Kits were also introduced through HEMA, a large European
retailer not dissimilar to The Range.

All kits utilise the same equipment items within that batch size, so you only have to buy a
starter kit (5L) or the necessary equipment for Full-Batch once.

The message behind Make Your Own Drinks is that it is quick, easy and tastes great! The
cost saving compared to buying a commercial equivalent has also been heavily advertised.

The word “homebrew” throws ups all sorts of images in the general consumer’s minds, from moonshine, to mess, sheds and a lot of equipment and
it is usually something that was done in the past, in a bathtub by their Grandfather.

In 2019 when Make Your Own rebranded to MYO the decision was made to not use the word “homebrew” because of these connotations and
stigma that surrounds it.

Instead, “homemade beer/wine/cider” is preferable, however internally or B2B it’s acceptable to use, as it’s often the easiest way to describe the
product.

Please refer to “The H Word” article found on the website: https://makeyourowndrinks.co.uk/articles

From launch until 2018, the MYO brand changed very little, with marketing, advertising & promotions, new product development, and growth into new
channels all taking a back seat. Instead, sales of MYO products to The Range simply rolled along with no effort to grow or improve.
In 2019 and the brand refresh, the aim changed to give MYO a fresh new look and to improve the brand in these areas which have previously had little
focus; marketing, new product development and brand growth.

With this new direction in mind, goals for Make Your Own are to:

O Appeal to new retailers
O Promote the brand
O Have a good level of user-brand interaction
O Improve product offering and availability

On the 4th point, the new website will have a shop in 2020, increasing availability to customers who can’t easily visit one of our stockists. As well as
opening the brand up to untapped markets, it is also important to appeal to the existing customer base, and improve their experience of the brand. This
customer base return to buy MYO products repeatedly and should not be forgotten about.

With the introduction of 5L Starter Kits, MYO now has a more appealing all-in-one, shelf ready product perfect for the gifting sector. This product is now
being used as the ‘hook’ for this brand. All varieties are available as 5L refills to be used with the equipment from this kit too.

Full instructions can be found on
makeyourowndrinks.co.uk, however
please see a very basic guide to the
right for a brief idea for how to Make
Your Own.

Please also refer to the MYO
Instructions Videos – these are a
great visual resource when showing
people how to make the kits.

MYO Kits are very similar to Mangrove Jack’s kits in how they’re made and the equipment is similar too.

However, it’s worth pointing out some differences, where MYO has tried to keep the number of items down to a minimum and
keep the process as simple as possible.

1) We don’t sell or instruct customers to use a hydrometer – how does the user know when fermentation has finished? With
MYO if the kits are made properly and stored at the right temperature, then they should have finished fermenting in the
time suggested, however to be sure we advise to taste the drink for any sweetness and if they’re not sure to leave for a
few more days, tasting each day until they’re sure there’s no sweetness left.

2) We don’t sell or instruct using an airlock – how does the user know their drink is fermenting? Similar answer to above, if
the kit is made properly it will ferment and when they come to taste it, there will be other signs of fermentation such as
Krausen, sediment and the taste will have changed.

3) There’s no bottling tap/wand – how does the user bottle their beverage? We sell a simple siphon as part of the Equipment
Starter Kit which works by sucking the end of the tap to start the flow and continues until the tap is closed each time in-
between bottles. We found this the easiest and most cost-effective way for users to bottle, when developing the kits.

4) You can’t buy items from the Equipment Starter Kit separately – what if someone needs a replacement? We used to sell
the Thermometer Strip, Mixing Paddle and Siphon items separately, however these items should be a one-time purchase
as they can be used over and over. The decision was made to discontinue the individual items as part of the rebrand, to
simplify our offering and increase shelf space. These items may be sold as ‘Spare Parts’ on the website further down the
line.

5) Winemaking – is the equipment different for wine compared to beer and cider? No, they all use the same bucket, mixing
paddle and siphon, the only difference is the bottles are bigger – 750ml and they’re sealed using corks and a hand corker
– which is quite difficult to do, so an improvement would be good – although we don’t get many complaints about it.

6) Equipment Sanitiser – is it the same as MJ’s Sanitiser i.e. sodium percarbonate? No, we changed this during the rebrand
too as sodium percarbonate isn’t a certified biocide. So we now have a slightly different sanitiser that is pink/purple in
colour and needs rinsing, but it acts quicker (5 mins) and is a better performing product to sodium percarbonate.

There are probably more differences but these are the ones that stand out. Please ask the team if you have any further
questions.

MYO’s products can be categorised in to 2 areas; Ingredients and Equipment. Below lists all products in each category as well as some explanation as to what they do. Note – “Full
Batch” is 23L.

Ingredients Equipment

Product Available In… Product Available In…

Red Wine 5L Starter Kit, 5L Refill Kit, Full Batch Refill Equipment Starter Includes Siphon, Mixing Paddle,
Kit Kit Thermometer Strip, Equipment Sanitiser 80g
White Wine 5L Starter Kit, 5L Refill Kit, Full Batch Refill Tub
Kit 32L Fermentation For Full Batch Kits
Rosé Wine 5L Refill Kit, Full Batch Refill Kit Bucket
American IPA 12 x Swing Top 500ml bottles for Beer and Cider
5L Starter Kit, 5L Refill Kit, Full Batch Refill Bottles
Premium Lager Kit 12 x Wine Bottles 750ml bottles for Wine
Irish Stout 5L Refill Kit, Full Batch Refill Kit
Apple Cider 12 x Corks For Wine Bottles
Dark Berry Cider 5L Refill Kit, Full Batch Refill Kit
Strawberry & Hand Corker For Wine Bottles
Lime Cider 5L Refill Kit, Full Batch Refill Kit
Dextrose Sugar Equipment 80g ‘Tub Refill’ Packs in sachets*
5L Refill Kit, Full Batch Refill Kit Sanitiser

5L Refill Kit, Full Batch Refill Kit *It’s suggested that customers refill the tub they get in their
Equipment Starter Pack with the Tub Refill sachets. This
1KG Packs sanitiser is a rinse-sanitiser, refer to pack for instructions.

MYO has specific fonts, logo usage and tone, all outlined in our Brand Guidelines. Click below to download.

It’s good to know some answers to some of our more commonly asked questions in case you’re asked, or come across the problem yourself. You can find them on
our website - https://makeyourowndrinks.co.uk/UK/resources/faqs.html – or see below.

Q: Why is my MYO kit missing a sachet?
A: We pack all of your MYO kits by hand, and although processes are in place to ensure
kits are packed correctly, very occasionally a sachet is missed. Please email
[email protected] including the product name e.g. “Rosé Wine”, what’s
missing, batch number (found on the back of the carton) and your postal address and
we’ll send the missing item asap.

Q: Why doesn’t my Wine/Beer/Cider appear to be fermenting?
A: There are a few reasons why your fermentation might not have started, but the most
common reason is temperature control. Ensure your Fermentation Bucket is kept at a
constant temperature as indicated in your instructions and check the temperature on the
Thermometer Strip at the start and end of each day.
If your kit is close to or passed its Best Before End date (found on the back of the carton)
then the yeast’s performance will have declined dramatically and may not work at all.

Q: How do I know when fermentation has finished?
A: With all MYO kits you need to taste your drink after the advised amount of time
(usually 7-10 days) and you’ll know if fermentation has finished when it no longer tastes
obviously sweet. If you’re unsure, we always advise to play it safe and leave it for a few
more days, tasting each day until you’re sure it no longer tastes sweet.

Q: Why hasn’t my wine cleared after adding the Finings?
A: Your wine should be clear within 3 days of adding the last finings sachet. If it takes longer then it’s likely the wine
was not fully de-gassed (see instructions) or the wine had not finished fermenting in the bucket (yeast doesn’t drop
out if sugars are still around). Be patient, it will eventually clear but could take up to two weeks.

Q: Can I buy online as not all stores sell the kits I want?
A: Although we don’t have the facility to deliver directly to customers at the moment, we’re working ways to
increase the availability of our kits – including an online shop – in the near future.

Q: Where can I buy in the EU?
A: Sorry, MYO is currently only sold in the UK. Keep checking back to see if this changes.

Q: Don’t I need an airlock for the fermentation stage of making beer/wine/cider?
A: You don’t need an airlock to make any MYO products. We’ve designed MYO to be as simple as possible to use
and to keep the number of items you need to buy/clean to a minimum.

Q: Will air/oxygen get in the Fermentation Bucket if the lid is not sealed all the way round?
A: As long as there are no obvious gaps between the lid and the rim of the bucket, then oxygen won’t get in. Avoid
lifting the lid at any time (other than to add hops if your beer kit includes them) during fermentation to avoid
contamination.

Q: Are your kits vegetarian/vegan?
A: All Beer and Cider MYO varieties are suitable for vegetarians and vegans, however the wine kits include
crustaceans in the finings so these are unsuitable, however we are working on sourcing a plant-based replacement.
If you’re unsure, check the back of the carton.