Homebrew beer kits?

No.

For a plausible beer bur some malt extract and boilt with fresh hops

For a good beer you need a full mash.

Good beer needs two things:

1) Boiling - to drop out the harsh proteins as trub. 2) Hops. Most kits use isomerised hops which are destroyed by boiling.

Hence most kits don't work - they taste very metallic.

Alan

The kits made bu Munton's - eg Woodeforde's Wherry , Norfolk Nog etc are quite good , and surprisingly enough the beers are recognisable! But they aren't cheap either. Keep clear of kits which require added sugar - sugar adds nothing of quality to beer , it thins it and dries it too. If you go the full mash route - keep your eyes open for Burco boilers at car boot sales - I bought both mine for a few pounds each this way.It's better to have two , when sparging I run off the wort into one and rinse with hot water from the other. If you have any micro breweries nearby they may sell you ingredients at the right price - I get malt and hops at cost ( very little this is too) - and free genuine brewers' yeast which makes all the difference. Good luck.

The cheap kits are not very good at all, but in my experience a good kit can produce very acceptable results. As someone else has said avoid the kits which require the addition of sugar.