A Few Questions Fron A New Bloke

[FIGJAM]

Hi guys and girls.


Ive been searching for ages and ages trying to find some info on this stuff. and then by pure chance i came across this forum


My dad and i (dont worry i am over 18 ) will be rebuilding our whole shed in the next 12 months, making a man cave.

And i am going to purchase a kegerator, which im sure you would of heard of.


Now i know i can get the kegerator, the co2, and the 50ltr keg itself. all fairly easily.


The problem is i wont have the room to brew the beer myself, nor the time.


I was wondering if its possible anywhere in melbourne metro area wher ei can take my keg, and have it filled with beer?

or if you can swap n go like with gas bottles?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers guys,


FIGJAM(Aka Marty)

 

[manticle]

http://www.ubrewit.com.au might be a possibility. You may also be able to buy full kegs from a brewery (have been to art openings and house parties that supplied beer from a keg). The keg will remain property of the brewery.

 

[Brewman_]

Hey,

Sounds like the man cave has a design flaw - no room to brew. That sounds like the problem to me, lol.

But otherwise,
In NSW, not sure about Vic, there are some brew sheds, where you can go to brew your own. It's not my thing, and it does take your time to do the brewing at their site - just an idea that may get you started. Then you can re-design the man cave and do it yourself.

Edit: Manticle hit the nail on the head with the link.

Fear_n_Loath

 

[bum]

The problem is i wont have the room to brew the beer myself, nor the time.

If you have time to go to Ubrewit you have time to brew a kit beer. A fermenter doesn't take up all that much room.

The guys above have given good advice though if you really couldn't be arsed making it yourself though (but most here would suggest that that is half the fun).

 

[FIGJAM]

Yea, i like the idea of that link.

Because, i really wont have the time for brewing. or the space. the space that could be used for it is dads part of the mancave thats going to be the tools and workbenches etc.


And to be brutally honest i cant be stuffed to brew my own, haha.

That link u posted for urbrewit, doesnt have prices anywhere i can find. do anyo of you guys know what kind of price it is?

 

[manticle]

Much more expensive than brewing your own. Send them an email.

To be brutally honest this is predominantly a site where people can be stuffed brewing their own.

 

[FIGJAM]

cool, thanks mate

 

[boingk]

Slap a kit down, honestly. My father is over 50 and does shift work while raising a 6 year old and running/working a primary produce holding. He puts down enough beer to keep him drinking - whats your excuse? Seriously, its not very hard or time consuming, especially if you keg. Say, for example, you start at 12 noon.

12:00 - Start cleaning fermenter.
12:05 - Finish cleaning, put ingredients in (1.7kg kit & Brew Enhancer)
12:10 - Rinse can out with hot water a few times and empty into fermenter, then swirl ingredients around to dissolve.
12:15 - Top with cold water from the tap to 22L.
12:20 - Sprinkle yeast on top, fit airlock.

And thats a simple, easy brew for you. If you don't have 20 minutes to put a brew on every now and then, I suggest you tell your boss to shove it. It may take you a half hour, but I've been pretty generous with that timing - assuming you don't stuff around of course.

Space isn't an issue. I sit my fermenter on top of a bar fridge in my bedroom, there are two of them on there in fact. I'm sure you could stick it under the stairs, a desk, the bottom of your wardrobe, the end of your bed, an empty corner, the laundry...anywhere really.

Not having a shot at you, just outlining that the process isn't too hard or space-consuming.

Go on, put a brew on - boingk

 

[kelbygreen]

I was looking into ubrewit. You still have to go there and help brew it and you have to bottle it yourself its more like your paying for the storage then the time you would to brew your own. Do what I am doing make a lean to off the shed enclose it and fully insulate it so you get a more constant temprature then brew your own will be cheaper in the long run and you will be able to experment alot more on the brews you want.

I am going all out as I will be brewing for a long time and its going to save me a heap of money so a few hundred $ on making a brewing room, buying a old fridge and a temp control is really nothing in the long run! Mind you most the material for the room has been gathered from jobs so the cost is cut alot

 

[ajdougall]

The problem is i wont have the room to brew the beer myself, nor the time.



Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers guys,


FIGJAM(Aka Marty)

Hi Marty,

I have a full time job, a two year old, reno jobs on the house, no shed and a high maitenence wife and I still brew.

Does not take much time and believe me, once you start you can't stop. So why not ask Santa for a micro kit. You will be an addict in no time.

Cheers

Doogs

 

[FIGJAM]

The time is one factor,


But from what ive ehard from anyone who brews, your supposed to set it for a few months or something before you can drink it. and even then if is hard to make a good tasting beer.

And also ive heard you can only brow in certain times of the year.


If i was consiering it though, how much would a basic kit set me back? if i wan tto fill a 50 lite commercial keg.

 

[j1gsaw]

Mate, you can brew all year round and brew damn fine beers.
Temp control is always a bonus though.
Certain beers need resting more then others.
Basic HB kits range in price, i think 80-100$ would be about right for a good one. You might need a 2nd carboy if your wanting to fill a 50l keg though.
If i had my way again, id never have done kit beers, straight into AG FTW!
Though it is a good learning curve to start somewhere.

 

[clean brewer]

He doesnt want to brew, stop trying to get him to...

Bit of online research helps FIGJAM, surely you have a computer, just buy 50ltr kegs full of beer....

LINK. LINK.
LINK.

 

[mxd]

But from what ive ehard from anyone who brews, your supposed to set it for a few months or something before you can drink it. and even then if is hard to make a good tasting beer.

And also ive heard you can only brow in certain times of the year.


If i was consiering it though, how much would a basic kit set me back? if i wan tto fill a 50 lite commercial keg.

I'm in melbourne, I started brewing on the cup weekend 09, since then I have done 9 brews ( I have 3 fermenters (not temp controlled), and 6x18 ltr kegs).

so the following is my experiance in approx times.

1 hour to get into fermenting bucket (clean, boil, mix, pour, move)
1 week to ferment (I use hydrometer)
20 minutes to clean keg, fill keg, clean fermenter/
1 week to keg carbonate (you can force carb)

I have started drinking/trying most of mine after the week and except for a little cloudy there all fine.



price, coppers micro kit $90 will brew 23 ltrs and give you everything you require, a LHBS will charge about the same (upto $180) but you won't get pet bottles.

Then for 19 ltrs I have paid the following $20 (kit and kilo), $30 (kit and partial) $45(fresh wort, partial).

keg and couplers (19ltr) $80
gas line $1.5/ metre
co2 reg 80
gas bottle (170 up to buy, or 31 and up per year to rent)
taps $50 and up,
beer line, $4 / metre

if you just want to tap VB or the like, goto your local pub and buy kegs from them.

Or like me go the 19's and brew/try lots

 

[manticle]

The time is one factor,


But from what ive ehard from anyone who brews, your supposed to set it for a few months or something before you can drink it. and even then if is hard to make a good tasting beer.

And also ive heard you can only brow in certain times of the year.


If i was consiering it though, how much would a basic kit set me back? if i wan tto fill a 50 lite commercial keg.

Once you start you can get a rotation going so you always have something ready.

Different styles take different amounts of time so some might require a few months conditioning etc but some are very quick. Why not buy a few kegs from a commercial brewery and while you drink them get set up with making some simple batches? Control the temp and be patient and you'll push out some good, easy beer. I promise you it's not hard- just don't be tempted to wack in loads of sugar and ferment too warm.

 

[FIGJAM]

He doesnt want to brew, stop trying to get him to...

Bit of online research helps FIGJAM, surely you have a computer, just buy 50ltr kegs full of beer....

LINK. LINK.
LINK.

That first link looks good, the other 2 i think ive seen before.

With dedicated hire kegs. is it the kind of deal where you hire it for x amount of time. or pay a hire price once and use it until the grogs gone?

 

[clean brewer]

That first link looks good, the other 2 i think ive seen before.

With dedicated hire kegs. is it the kind of deal where you hire it for x amount of time. or pay a hire price once and use it until the grogs gone?

I would say that you would pay a deposit for the Keg + the cost of the Beer and you would have to return it once its gone.... Its a easier enough way to have beer on tap, its about the same price as buying cartons but its beer on tap, which is what you want...

 

[manticle]

He doesnt want to brew, stop trying to get him to...

We're like religious zealots in that regard.

 

[clean brewer]

We're like religious zealots in that regard.

I know mate... :icon_cheers:

 

[FIGJAM]

Thanks for all the help lads.

Ill do some updating when i finally get it going