# Brigalow Or Tooheys



## ASYLUM_SPIRIT (22/9/11)

I'm just curious does anyone here brew Brigalow or Tooheys kits? And if so how do you rate them?

I normally stick too Coopers, but sometimes I see Brigalow and Tooheys kits on the shelf and think to myself should I give them a go?? 

People must be brewing it otherwise they would not stock them nor would they be the same price as the Coopers.


Cheers. :drinks:


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## Bribie G (22/9/11)

I recommend you brew a Brigalow kit with the supplied yeast and a kilo of sugar.
Then report back here if you are still home brewing after such an appalling and traumatic experience.


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## ASYLUM_SPIRIT (22/9/11)

Bribie G said:


> I recommend you brew a Brigalow kit with the supplied yeast and a kilo of sugar.
> Then report back here if you are still home brewing after such an appalling and traumatic experience.



LOL thats what I heard.

Makes you wonder how the charge the same pirce as the Coopers kit


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## sic_vl (22/9/11)

I dont recommend the Tooheys kits at all, very crap. Ive tried the Draught and Larger. I saw price, $7 a can, and thought great. I did a toucan with 2 of the larger kits and some hops which turned out ok.
My advice, stick to coopers.


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## Tanga (22/9/11)

The Toohey's Dark can makes a pretty decent beer.


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## yum beer (22/9/11)

I once made a decent brew with a Tooheys lager, just keep straight sugar away from it...extra malt and a small amount of dex....brew coolish and give it

time in the bottle....


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## QldKev (22/9/11)

Brigalow is :icon_vomit: 

Tooheys and Coopers are not too bad. I used to love a Tooheys Draught when I made kits. Just your normal simple aussie style.

Have a look at your LHBS, there are heaps of better kits available, such as Morgans, Muntons and more.

QldKev


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## scooza (22/9/11)

hi, i do a tooheys dry lager and find it easier to drink than coopers. (imo) saying that i find it needs to ferment around18c. we all have our preferences though. never tried brigalow though.


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## ASYLUM_SPIRIT (22/9/11)

Thanks guys for your responses, seems like Toohey's can make a decent drop if you do it the right way. Anyone have a nice recipe for a Tooheys it?


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## Bats (22/9/11)

In the past, I have always spent a bit more at my LHBS and bought a decent K&K combination. If I'm feeling tight, I'll go to Big W, buy a Coopers kit and tweek it with some leftover hops from an all grain.

I must admit though, when I was last in Big W, I saw they now stock Brigalows. What I found interesting is they also stocked a finishing hop in a tablet form. Apparently you just drop half the tablet in to dissolve over the fermentation period. It didn't even say what hop it was!

My curiosity got the better of me and I bought a Briglow Premium Bitter and added one of the weird finishing hop tablets.

It's 4 or 5 days off being transferred to the keg so I'll let you know how it turns out.


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## Kiwimike (22/9/11)

I tried a Brigalow once but the yeast must have been old and it didn't ferment. Had to add a separate yeast sachet to get things working. Tasted okay in the end. I seem to recall it was a ginger beer.


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## bignath (22/9/11)

ASYLUM_SPIRIT said:


> I'm just curious does anyone here brew Brigalow or Tooheys kits? And if so how do you rate them?
> <snip>
> People must be brewing it otherwise they would not stock them nor would they be the same price as the Coopers.



Brigalow stuff is shit. The lot of it. The cans, the sugars, the hop tablets, the fining agents......stay away!!!!!!

Yeah people are brewing it. They have no tastebuds. That's why they keep restocking them. Turnover and quality don't relate.
Absolutely they can be the same price as the coopers, particularly if said people keep brewing them...Shops like that type of customer. 




ASYLUM_SPIRIT said:


> Makes you wonder how the charge the same pirce as the Coopers kit



They'd be less than half price of coopers kits if people stopped using them.

Seriously though, not trying to be a prick. I'ts just i've never had any positive experience using anything with Brigalow written on it.



Oh, wait.....I reckon i used some bottle caps that were brigalow ones about ten years ago. They were ok. They kept the beer in my bottles i 'spose.


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## Clemo (23/9/11)

I used to always make tooheys draught with half a kilo of raw sugar. Came out a good mid and everybody, including non home brew drinkers, seemed to like it. Im not saying it was a great beer though.....


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## ASYLUM_SPIRIT (23/9/11)

I'm not not going to brew a Brigalows but I have always been interested in what other people thought about the beer. 

Toohey's well I may try a Toucan with one day, if they are on sale.

Thats it big Nath I guess as long as people keep buying they will keep their price the same, why would they change it.


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## ASYLUM_SPIRIT (23/9/11)

Bats said:


> In the past, I have always spent a bit more at my LHBS and bought a decent K&K combination. If I'm feeling tight, I'll go to Big W, buy a Coopers kit and tweek it with some leftover hops from an all grain.
> 
> I must admit though, when I was last in Big W, I saw they now stock Brigalows. What I found interesting is they also stocked a finishing hop in a tablet form. Apparently you just drop half the tablet in to dissolve over the fermentation period. It didn't even say what hop it was!
> 
> ...



Let us know how it turns out, I'd be very interested.


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## govorko1974 (24/9/11)

i bought a tin of tooheys special lager for $7 at woolies once...brewed with us-05 and some ldme with some extra hops to...turned out ok after being in bottle for 12 plus weeks..but i wouldn't recomend it or brew it again myself..i had only brewed coopers up to that point and cos it was cheap gave it a go..have stuck with coopers since then


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## Anofre (24/9/11)

Stick with coopers.
Wait until they have a special & buy up.
The euro lager 2can fermented low & aged 4-6 months cold is very similar to becks.
Pale ale is a great base to fill out a centennial/Amarillo extract boil like Neil's & then it's a slippery slope to AG


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## jivesucka (26/9/11)

the brigalow munich lager is drinkable but is way off the mark if it's actually meant to be a munich lager. is just too thin and watery.
as for tooheys. don't waste your money that crap, those bastards have a lot to answer for.


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## Bats (2/10/11)

I am drinking my Brigalow Premium Bitter now. It's not completely disappointing. It is pretty average in flavour. Not saying it's aweful but lacks flavour really. But it's not completely rubbish like some think. It's drinkable and cost me very little so it's a pass as far as I'm concerned.


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## jaytea (21/8/15)

I went looking for the Wander Munich Lager today (for old times sake - dad used to brew it) but I was unable to find it --- unfortunately (now that I have read this post) I picked up the Brigalow Munich Lager + and 1kg Brigalow Dextrose as it was all that was on the shelf.

As I am kegging, I dont stand to lose that much in effort if it fails, but I'll endeavour report back here in a month once it is on tap. 

(I was looking for the EBC and IBU for the kit to try it in the AHB kit designer spreadsheet if anyone can help me out)


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## Austrian (22/8/15)

Recently brewed a batch of Brigalow ginger beer and it turned out really well - better than any other brand that I hve tried


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## Bribie G (27/8/15)

When I ran a LHBS in the late 70s Brigalow was the most popular kit range. It produced a bland watery "creamy flavoured" distant relative of beer. When I took up home brewing again in 2008 I tried a tin again, also for old times sake. It still tastes as dreadful as in the 70s.
Brigalow was basically sunk by Coopers when they went into kits that could make a fair approximation to beer as opposed to a distant one.

Interestingly the manager of Brigalow at the time, Grant Sampson, left Brigalow and started up Morgans just down the road at Beenleigh. Coopers now half own them.

Wander used to supply our bulk malt extract that we sold from a big bucket on the counter using a "honey gate" tap. They briefly went into kits but they haven't been around for yonks. Problem with Wander malt extract was that the colour and flavour would vary wildly from batch to batch, I believe their main customers were baking and cake making companies such as Arnotts.

Even so, you could make a good drop with Wander malt extract, some glucose syrup that was also available in bulk back then, POR hop pellets and the UK Edme Yeast, fermented during the QLD Winter.


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