yankinoz

I brewed years ago, when brew shops carried little but cans, hops and yeast and were a long horseback ride away from anywhere I lived. So I brewed when I could. After that I drifted from the path; even when I lived not far from the Briess maltery, I never took the plunge again. The low cost of beer in the US was a factor.<br />
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Retired and living in Australia, I'm getting back to it. I like most beer styles except barley wine and most macrobrew US or Australian lagers; the worst are anything called light ones and the US brand Coors. So far I make mostly pale, amber and blonde ales. At the moment and for several practical considerations I lean toward partial mash brewing, figuring Briess DMEs can replace most of the base malts.<br />
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Aussie brewing innovations I like so far: BIAB and Galaxy hops.<br />
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Aussie brewshops: great selection at several. I could stretch out a sleeping bag and live in Grain and Grape. <br />
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What I miss homebrewwise about the US: basements in nearly all older homes in the northern 2/3rds of the country. The right ones offer good year round ale fermentation temperatures. Also, when I did brew there I used a tornado shelter in summer for ales and in winter for bock. Hard to beat. Ergo, you should have more tornadoes here, and the shelters would be available for brewing.