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I just asked G+G to provide the ingredients. Turned out a bit expensive, for example they don't do 500g of dried malt extract, so I had to order 2 Kgs instead of 1.5, etc. Of course if you plan to make 2 in a row then it might work out, but I had other plans for my next few brews, so it was a...

I'm in Melbourne and have no specialised insulation or modified bathroom fixture. I just leave my fermenters outside. In winter I brew pils/lagers, they take about 2 weeks to ferment. No big issue with temp as it seldom gets above 15 degrees anyway. For Ales/wheats, I brew in spring and autumn...

Just to recommend the Wit recipe from the Grain and Grape website (http://grainandgrape.com.au/BeerOTMonth/riggers_wit.htm). I followed the recipe and used Wyeast 3942 Belgian Wheat (was half price :) ), and at 2 weeks in the bottle it is absolutely yummy. Very nice taste by itself and quite...

Bit of a mongrel mine, made with 20g Hallertau for 10', 20 grams for 1', then 2035 American Lager yeast, so kind of a mix between german and american lager :) Very nice taste, surprised me to begin with as I'd been favoring Pils lately and had to adjust my tastebuds from saaz to hallertau :)...

LOL, I rinse with water after I empty them, then put them away (uncapped, except for the PET bottles), and rinse them again with plain tap water just before bottling. Never had an infected bottle so far. Even if I do, so what, it'll be just one bottle, plenty more available :) Maybe if I kept...

I thought it was better to boil, to get the best out of the hops. Don't worry about color, most lagers I've made are pretty brown when first put into the fermenter, but come out blonde as expected in the bottle/glass.

Apart from the obvious, ESB Octoberfest fresh wort? :)

I'd agree with someone else above that for the first brew you don't really need to rack - just make sure you add priming sugar when bottling, though :) After that first brew, IMO, racking will let you get a clearer beer. Leave it two weeks in primary, then rack for a week, and you'll still get...

hate to nitpick, but - Toohey's bar mat? :P Nice work :)

Rack, it will only help clarity anyway, and leave it a few days. Also if you can, next time brew at 18-20 degrees, not 24 :)

first 2 kits were coopers lager + pale ale, brewed with some dodgy HBS kit enhancers, fermented too warm, tasted like crap. Third attempt was a wheat extract with way too much coriander which completely overpowered the beer and ruined it. It's a wonder I persevered :) Then a pseudo-Alt extract...

G+G suggest using candy sugar. And of course a belgian liquid yeast would help. I am not experienced enough to suggest hops to go with those kits as they seem to be tailored for specific taste targets.

given the originals are lambics, it'll be pretty hard to reproduce in a kit. Where do you get kriek and rasperry on tap? Anywhere in Melbourne? I think I saw some aussie-made fruit beers but only ever saw them in bottles, not on tap.

I was thinking of either getting the brewferm wit (tarwebier) or the ingredients to do the extract wit recipe from G+G, but if there is the ESB belgian fresh wort kit out there I might get that instead :) But as you say it's not shown on the ESB website. I got the oktoberfest fresh wort a few...

I've done a few ESB fresh worts (the pilsner was quite nice, didn't like the irish red, bottled an octoberfest two weeks ago) and one G+G lager is in secondary now :) The wetpacks and grumpy's kits kind of give you the impression that you're doing a bit more in terms of brewing, you know, all...

The same crew also did a video (http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbv06-20-06.mov) where they tried two identical brews, but one with xx grams of hops at 60 minutes, the other with xx*2 at 15 minutes (I think?) - the reasoning being that the longer you boil the more bitterness you get...

Just wondering if people have tried those two or three brands of "deluxe kits" and may give some feedback on how they compare? I've bought a few grumpy's Masterbrews last year, and they turned out quite all right. With the grumpy's price increase from a few months ago and no more half-price...

thanks Ross for the excellent advice :)

Weizguy, I was just planning on following some recipe, for example one of the grain + grape recipes (in the extract/partial category), so I would not be coming up with quantities on my own :) That or a TCB wetpack, not sure yet. Blackbock, FWIW, I've done a few grumpy's masterbrews and they...

quickly, another plug for http://www.hbkitreviews.com. It'll both give you an idea of comments on kit quality (for example the malt shovel kits are sometimes rated quite low even for the extra price), and how people made the kits (for example adding hops to secondary, making a hop tea, various...