# Oz Brew Tubs Packs



## kbe (16/3/10)

I have tried to search for info on these kits, but could not find any. Has any one used them? what are they like?
I am thinking about trying one out, particularly the Kilkenny styled one. 
 OZ Brew 

TIA,
Ken..


----------



## Aus_Rider_22 (16/3/10)

Interesting site. Haven't run across it before. I would too wonder how close they would be to the commercial stuff.

Would be interesting too see what are putting in them.


----------



## Aus_Rider_22 (20/3/10)

Did you end up ordering one?

Anyone tried this mob?


----------



## kbe (21/3/10)

OK, as there were not a lot of responses to this post, so I have ordered one. It does not look like a 128 bit secure site. To be truthful, the online shop is crap. I just went back and added something else to my checkout to go through the process again to see what payment options there where, and it just went straight to thanks for you order as I was logged in. So it seems that I have purchased something else. It says that someone will contact me, I will make sure that I get the one thing that I want. If it goes pair shaped, then I will tell them that no one here will have my recommendation. Even Open Cart would be better. (Nothing against Open Cart - I have used it to set up a shop)

I will let you know how it goes and if they are any good. I am not that experienced with brewing, but I know what tastes good.


----------



## kbe (23/3/10)

Ok, was called today to say that they can get all the order for one postage. The online shop did not add postage (which I sort of thought was strange), but they can get them to me for $25, so I said yeah, no problem. It must weigh a bit. I suppose they will get here for the weekend, but I am working Saturday so I am not sure when I will be able to get one of them down.


----------



## Aus_Rider_22 (23/3/10)

Will be interesting to hear how you go kbe.

It seems a bit expensive compared to the costs of a normal brew. The $25 postage is a big hit. Just out of interest, what items/kit did you buy?


----------



## mfdu (23/3/10)

what i fail to understand is this - is it a concetrate goo (eg 1.7kg), or a fresh wort (eg 14 litres) ?


----------



## kbe (26/3/10)

Aus Rider....

I am getting the Irish Draught and the Extra Dry packs. I figured that postage would be a bit more as they are in the NT, but if they are not what I expected then I do not need to get any more.

mfdu...

I am of the thinking that they are concentrates with selected extras trying to clone different varieties of beer.


----------



## kbe (30/3/10)

The kits have arrived. They contain extract, yeast, hops and a mixture of sugars. It depends on what you get what type of extras come with them.

The instruction tell you (and this is paraphrased). First, put the hops in 250 mm boiled water and leave to soak. Put in 10 litres of water and add the bag of extract. Yes it is a bag not a tin. Mix well and add the bag of fermentables. Add water to 22 litres and the bag of hops and the fluid (or just the fluid if you want it less hoppy) and sprinkle the yeast over the top. 

They seem to be made for warmer climates as they say to ferment in temps ranging from 26-30C for around 7 days, longer if cooler. It is finished fermenting when after 3 days the FG is the same. The instructions tell what the FG should be for each kit. It also states how long that the bottles should be left before drinking. The instructions are very easy to follow and any beginner should not have any trouble with these kits.

The kit that I opened smelled very fresh. The hops and extract bag had a very nice aroma. The yeast in the one that I opened had Y2 on it, I think. Too tired to check, sorry.

So now I need to put one down, which will likely be Friday.

More reports to follow.


----------



## Aus_Rider_22 (30/3/10)

Thanks for the update, KBE.


----------



## kbe (2/4/10)

Today I put the Extra Dry kit down and in the fridge @ 26c. As i posted before, the instructions are easy to follow and the wort smelled quite nice.


----------



## Murdoch (3/4/10)

Are these Tubs packs "The Ultimate Brew System" ?
A bloke was selling it locally a few years ago & sounds very similar
It initially used the different Cooper bulk malts in 44 gallon drums to make up
But it proved so popular Coopers stopped selling it to him
He then went to Nestle malt but it was never the same & lost its quality
One day his shop was closed & despite the sign on the door never reopened


----------



## kbe (4/4/10)

The instruction pack says on it "Tailored Ultimate Brew System", based in the NT.


----------



## Murdoch (4/4/10)

Hmmm, ............. makes me wonder if its the same thing ?
This bloke was called Mark
Maybe he moved to the NT ?
Either that or someone is using the same idea ?
It was a really good product while the Coopers malt was being used
Not so when it went to Nestle
If it is the same bloke he would have had plenty of time to perfect it you would think


----------



## BeerBottle (5/4/10)

Hi Guys...
I just came along this thread but maybe to late to answer questions seeing you already bought it.
I'm in Darwin and its a local store up here. Actually 2 up here but both OZBREW.
It is extract except its in a bag instead of can.
Apparently the business started somewhere else and they did move.


----------



## Bribie G (5/4/10)

When I ran a LHBS in the late 70s there was a kit called "Brewcan" which was in a bag (work that one out :blink: ) with LDME, a tube of hop extract and yeast. They were fairly popular and I guess would not suffer from the extract darkening if left on the shelf too long. It's a good concept that works in practice. There were a lot of little kit making companies like Gympie Gold etc but most sank without trace when Coopers blitzed the market in the 90s.


----------



## Murdoch (5/4/10)

I`m guessing its the same person or at least same product
Mark used to run 2 LHBS here for a while but I cant remember what they were called
The LME was packed in returnable food grade plastic jar

BeerBottle : ask if there is a Mark who came from Townsville next time you go into one of the stores

BribieG : I can remember my father making "Brewcan" in the 70`s & 80`s ............ he & his mates seemed to enjoy it


----------



## BeerBottle (5/4/10)

I don't know the name but it was from Townsville. I was going to mention it in my last post but i wasnt sure if it was there or Cairns. I moved up here from Townsville and mentioned it to them. Thats why they said that to me.
I would frequent Mayfairs on Ross river rd.


----------



## jivesucka (5/4/10)

you've really gotta make sure it's a quality product to have a pricetag almost double of the standard tins @ woollies and coles. i think it's amusing the packaging for these $29.95 tubs emulate the logo of the beer. the brew shop @ peakhurst sells 4.5L bottles of a similar product called quikbrew. they emulate everything you can think of. i picked up a coopers pale ale and a james squier amber ale. both of them turned out very close to the real thing.


----------



## Murdoch (6/4/10)

Yes, the original TUBS was a good couple of dollars cheaper than the Coppers kits
So it was a no brainer to what ppl bought because the TUBS (at the time) was every bit as good if not better
It got so popular that Coopers investigated why their sales plummeted in the local area
They soon identified the TUBS was far more popular so they stopped selling the bulk unhoped malt to them
They then went to Nestle malt but I never had the consistent results as before so myself & most of the ppl I knew stopped using it
Who knows what they use know ? ................ its been so long that it has probably undergone many ingredient changes since then

BeerBottle : I am starting to think they may have traded under Ozbrew here as well ?
Mayfair's is pretty good if you know what your after


----------



## Pollux (6/4/10)

kbe said:


> Today I put the Extra Dry kit down and in the fridge @ 26c. As i posted before, the instructions are easy to follow and the wort smelled quite nice.




Am I the only one who noticed this high temp?? I personally would think an Extra Dry kit would want to be fermented on the lower end of the scale, seeing as though there are few other flavours to mask the off flavours most yeasts would throw at this temp...


----------



## QldKev (6/4/10)

jivesucka said:


> you've really gotta make sure it's a quality product to have a pricetag almost double of the standard tins @ woollies and coles. i think it's amusing the packaging for these $29.95 tubs emulate the logo of the beer. the brew shop @ peakhurst sells 4.5L bottles of a similar product called quikbrew. they emulate everything you can think of. i picked up a coopers pale ale and a james squier amber ale. both of them turned out very close to the real thing.




It seems the OzBrew are more Extract style kits, hence the higher price than a tin.

Have a look at the price of LDME between $8 & $9 a kilo. At a guess these kits would want at least 2 kilos.
Plus 'mixture of sugars' another $2 to $3
Plus a decent yeast $4.50
Plus fresh/iso hops at least $5 a batch (I assume some iso hops in the mix for the bittering, so you don;t have to boil for an hour)

QldKev


----------



## kbe (6/4/10)

Pollux said:


> Am I the only one who noticed this high temp?? I personally would think an Extra Dry kit would want to be fermented on the lower end of the scale, seeing as though there are few other flavours to mask the off flavours most yeasts would throw at this temp...


 
26C is the lower end of the scale, the instructions say ferment at between 26 - 30 C. I think it is because they come from the NT.


----------



## Pollux (6/4/10)

Sweet jesus, what type of yeast are they using? That's the sort of temps I use at the tail end of a Belgian ferment to get some funky flavours running.


----------



## BeerBottle (7/4/10)

I don't know what yeast they use but the company line is that it's a "special" yeast for warmer climates up here. 
As for the price it is because you are buying a complete kit. It come with the extract, yeast, brewing sugars and a hops bag.


----------



## BeerBottle (7/4/10)

After my last post i was cleaning up and moving things around and found a packet of yeast i have actually bought from the OZbrew store. The label says "Yeast Y1 " I tried looking it up an was confused by a whole lot of chemistry looking articles 
Maybe some one else can explain for simple folk like me


----------



## kbe (18/4/10)

I will, if I do not get side tracked again tomorrow, be bottleing this. It has been in the fermenter for 2 weeks which is a week longer than the instructions, but it has been in a fridge.

One thing that I have noticed is how clear the brew looks when I tap some off for a gravity test, very clear. It will be interesting to see how it goes after bottling.

As for the taste, not sure. I am not really a dry drinker and this kit was a mistake buy, but it seemed ok after taste testing out of the test tube. There was a little taste of something in it that I am not sure of and have no way of explaining (yet). It is meant to have 4 weeks in the bottle, so tell is still yet to tell. I am still so far happy with the kit.


----------



## kbe (19/4/10)

After bottleing I took a sample from the bottom of the fermenter. This is what it looked like.


----------



## kbe (23/4/10)

I have sort of stuffed this batch up.... I was so used to using stubbies that this time I have used PET bottles and only put one carb drop in each bottle. It will probably taste OK but there is likely not to be much head on them.... Oh well, as long as they taste good  I am going to do all my next brews with bulk priming to avoid this again.


----------



## Murdoch (24/4/10)

I was cleaning out & reorganising the brew shed when I found a "recipe" for the original TUBS
The original TUBS were in plastic containers (or tubs) & were color coded with a dot on the lid 
The color code indicated what malt or blend of malts was in it

This would have to be at least 10 years old


----------



## kbe (4/5/10)

I put one of these in the fridge today to see how they are going, and as expected there was no head on it. I can't decide if I should give the bottles a shake or to chill them down and try to get another carb drop in them. Oh well.

As far as taste goes, I like it. The blurb for it says 'crisp and clean' and I suppose that is what it is. There is no bitter after taste and I think that the majority of the flavour would be the hops with a bit of a fruity taste. I probably should have chilled two down too make sure, but it is easy to drink and I think that it would make a nice summer drink for sure.

For me, I like it and will likely enjoy drinking the other 29 x 750mls that I have.


----------



## manticle (4/5/10)

kbe said:


> I have sort of stuffed this batch up.... I was so used to using stubbies that this time I have used PET bottles and only put one carb drop in each bottle. It will probably taste OK but there is likely not to be much head on them.... Oh well, as long as they taste good  I am going to do all my next brews with bulk priming to avoid this again.



If it helps - head formation and retention are not reliant purely on how much carbonation is in the bottle. If there's no carbonation I can't see a head happening but it's not a parallel relationship. Head forms and retains due to various proteins, hop oils etc. How do you think English beers (not nitro -tap extracted) get a tight head that lasts the whole glass?
Leave at least some bottles for longer and see how they go but any head issues are not just the result of carb drop application.


----------



## kbe (4/5/10)

manticle said:


> Leave at least some bottles for longer and see how they go but any head issues are not just the result of carb drop application.


OK, I will go downstairs tomorrow and give all of them a shake up and then leave them again. I think they have been in the bottle for 2 weeks so far and I just opened one to try for taste.

Thanks


----------



## Yob (4/5/10)

kbe said:


> OK, I will go downstairs tomorrow and give all of them a shake up and then leave them again. I think they have been in the bottle for 2 weeks so far and I just opened one to try for taste.
> 
> Thanks




thank the sweet lord you are using PET bottles... shake them? [shudder] had a vision of a 7fiddy going off at face level... :blink: 
I have heard of people opening them...slowly.. and adding another drop.. re lid... wait... drink.. Im assuming the PET bottles are big ones? edit: 750ml as stated above and.. Redrop a few if you are in no hurry to knock em all down ad see..


----------



## kbe (4/5/10)

The way the first one opened.... it would not be a worry to open them all and add another drop. that is why I said I would shake them first. even if they where Crownies, I would do the same with this batch, that is how low on gas they seem to be.


----------



## kbe (3/6/10)

A month on and the taste of these are getting better. The colour seems to be darkening as well. (?) Still no head and a small amount of carbonation, but still, nice to drink.


----------

