# Iron Brew More Than I Can Chew?



## raistlin_kell (16/8/07)

Having now received the AG kit for the Iron Brew comp, I've come to realize rather quickly that I've got no idea what to do with all this stuff.  7 years making beer from kits and converter packs, i find myself suddenly out of my depth! I always knew I'd be going down the road of making beers using all grain brewing techniques.

You'd think the simple answer would be to plough into the forums contained here at AHB and do a little self-help research?! Problem with that is time, or lack thereof. The only real time i get is sitting on the train each workday commuting too/from work. TransPerth are still yet to adopt my idea of providing each train seat with 100mbps of synchronous internet connectivity - when will they learn?

If anyone knows a good book that'll help me with my dilema, I'd be very appreciative in knowing whats worth reading and what not?

If anyone would like to earn some beer-tickets and would be happy to let a complete novice into their lab for a demo, I'd be even more grateful?


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## Fents (16/8/07)

so you entered an AG brewing comp and have never brewed AG before? or have just never created your own AG recipe before?


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## Jye (16/8/07)

Transparent Proxy said:


> If anyone knows a good book that'll help me with my dilema, I'd be very appreciative in knowing whats worth reading and what not?



Download the BJCP style guidelines and start reading, they should give you a good idea of what can be brewed with the ingredients.


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## Gerard_M (16/8/07)

Find a brew shop that does AG demo's. Attend a brew club brew day. Walk around your neighbourhood on the weekend sniffing out the wonderful aromas of an AG set up at full tilt! Reading books & forums may get you part of the way, but there is no substitute for sitting in a shed with a bunch of guys with only one thing on their minds.........beer & what to do with the spent grain!
Cheers
Gerard


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## Vlad the Pale Aler (16/8/07)

Did any WCB'ers miss out on a kit? <_<


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## ausdb (16/8/07)

Transparent Proxy said:


> Having now received the AG kit for the Iron Brew comp, I've come to realize rather quickly that I've got no idea what to do with all this stuff.  7 years making beer from kits and converter packs, i find myself suddenly out of my depth! I always knew I'd be going down the road of making beers using all grain brewing techniques.


Hi Josh

It sounds like something may have gone awry as 4 extract kits were prepared and you were supposed to get one of them! what exactly came in your packet? 

Extract kits should have had 3x 1kg bags of dry malt extract in them with some other bags and the all grain kits had 5kg of pale malt loose in the bottom of the bag.

Please let me know and I will see if we can sort it out


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## raistlin_kell (19/8/07)

ausdb said:


> Please let me know and I will see if we can sort it out



thanks to ausdb and to everyone else also.. seems i actually DID receive the right extract kit. I just didn't know it. Bags of hops and malts confused me somewhat. Seems my lack of brewing knowledge has caught me short, but WHY ELSE join the WCB'ers!?!

Time to do a little research, and buy myself a cracker of a mill. You'll all be able to bag me for the September meet.

TP


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## Vlad the Pale Aler (19/8/07)

Unfortunately you live just south of Geraldton, otherwise there are plenty of people to mill the grain for you.
If you are coming along to the next meeting let me know and I will bring a mill and do it there, same applies for any other extracters.


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## Kai (19/8/07)

Too late! I've just "crushed" mine with a coffee grinder.


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## ausdb (19/8/07)

Transparent Proxy said:


> thanks to ausdb and to everyone else also.. seems i actually DID receive the right extract kit. I just didn't know it. Bags of hops and malts confused me somewhat. Seems my lack of brewing knowledge has caught me short, but WHY ELSE join the WCB'ers!?!
> 
> Time to do a little research, and buy myself a cracker of a mill. You'll all be able to bag me for the September meet.
> 
> TP



TP if you want to borrow a copy of "how to brew" I will bring it to the next meeting.


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## Belgrave Brewer (20/8/07)

Yep, "How To Brew" by John Palmer is a very good start.

BB


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## raistlin_kell (20/8/07)

I've arranged the Handbrake (aka the missus) to order me copy of "How to Brew" by John Palmer. When I'm up at Brewcraft @ Joondalup next I'll buy myself a mill. 

I can't wait to be doing a little sampling with all the WCB'ers and i intend to enter the Iron Brew comp. Even if i score dead last, i'll have won anyway by just joining in!

Thanks heaps gang!


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## kook (20/8/07)

Transparent Proxy said:


> I've arrange the Handbrake (aka the missus) to buy my "How to Brew" by John Palmer and i'll invest in a mill when i'm up at Brewcraft @ Joondalup next.
> 
> I can't wait to be doing a little sampling with all the WCB'ers and i intend to enter the Iron Brew comp. Even if i score dead last, i'll have won anyway by just joining in!
> 
> Thanks heaps gang!



I could be totally wrong here, but I don't think brewcraft stock mills. If they do, I'd imagine it would be a porkert (flour mill) as opposed to a grain mill. If you're going to invest the money in a mill, I'd go for something intended for the job.

TWOC in Bibra Lake stock both Barleycrusher and Crankandstein mills. I'm pretty sure Craftbrewer stock the Marga mill too. Whilst this once again isn't intended for crushing barley, it's at least a roller mill which will do much better than a screw mill like a porkert.

You don't buy a whipper snipper to trim a hedge. Sure, it'll do the job, but not as well as a hedge trimmer. 

Just my 2c


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## raistlin_kell (20/8/07)

kook said:


> Just my 2c



Kook, thanks heaps  . I do remember seeing a mill (think it was a mill anyway) @ BC in Joondalup however it might have been for the spirits or wines. I'll have a quick looksee @ Rossco's website. BC in Joondalup aren't the cheapest however Eric (works @ BC on Sat) does me good deals.

I just found this also and for a novice like me *this is gold!*
http://www.elogicmedia.com.au/homebrew/

Just checking these photos out, already I've got a much better idea on what to do. I'm looking forward to spending some time cooking this weekend already... but won't rush into anything just yet!


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## ausdb (20/8/07)

kook said:


> I could be totally wrong here, but I don't think brewcraft stock mills. If they do, I'd imagine it would be a porkert (flour mill) as opposed to a grain mill. If you're going to invest the money in a mill, I'd go for something intended for the job.
> 
> TWOC in Bibra Lake stock both Barleycrusher and Crankandstein mills. I'm pretty sure Craftbrewer stock the Marga mill too. Whilst this once again isn't intended for crushing barley, it's at least a roller mill which will do much better than a screw mill like a porkert.
> 
> ...



My $0.02 worth
For someone starting out the Marga mill with a few mods is more than suitable, and there are many of us still using them and I have crushed 25kg (actually GL did it for me!) with mine before in about 20 minutes. Marga's are a three roller design just like the high end crankanstein but built on a much lighter scale. They also fared pretty well when the club did a mill off one meeting and then seived the crushings to determine the percentage of flour to husks. 

At the moment I would still just get your grains crushed by another member as it is not a huge percentage of the brewday and there are better things you could spend your money on getting your setup going with, such as a decent sized brewpot/kettle and burner.

As for HB shops probably at this stage of your brewing try Brewmart in Beechboro RD Bayswater they cater for more AG than BC shops do and also sell bulk DME by the kg for a lot less than you can buy it in 1kg bags or tins every where else. Neil who runs the show there whilst he doesn't brew a great deal is a very friendly and helpful guy. If you are going down spearwood way then definitely check out Roy at TWOC in Bibra Lake, he knows a lot and has the best range of brewing equipment and ingredients in Perth. Once you get into using grains a bit more then also try Gryphonbrewing in Bassendean. Neville is just starting his business up and caters for mainly AG brewing supplying grains, hops and liquid yeast and is a veritable font of knowledge.

Anyway these are the guys who helped me get the Iron Brewer comp of the ground so I think it's fair to support those who support us!


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## raistlin_kell (24/8/07)

ausdb said:


> My $0.02 worth
> Anyway these are the guys who helped me get the Iron Brewer comp of the ground so I think it's fair to support those who support us!



thanks mate - excellent tip. I'll give WestOzBrew a ring when i want to do a little grain crushing and check out his setup also. 

As for supporting the blokes who support you - Agreed 100%! I'll drop into visit Neil @ Bayswater as soon as i can!

:beer:


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