All the gear and almost no idea!

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

TMcKenzie91

Member
Joined
2/2/22
Messages
13
Reaction score
11
Location
Chisholm, NSW
Hey everyone, I was fortunate to come into a heap of home brew gear from a mate who moved interstate and didn't want to take it with him.

After much umming and ahhing giving my first brew (extract tin) a go this weekend.

Wish me luck!
 
Good luck TMcK. Keep everything as clean as you can mate.

Cheers @razz - I've got a rough game plan:
1x tin Morgan's Cerveza extract (included in the glut of brewing gear I inherited and rapidly approaching is used by date)
1KG Bodybrew (60/40 Dextrose/Maltodextrin)
500g Dextrose monohydrate
Lallemand Kveik yeast

I haven't got any sort of temp control other than the laundry cupboard that will hopefully stay at a fairly consistent temp throughout, and from what I've read/heard Kveik can work across a fairly wide temp range so hopefully will be more forgiving.

Going to use a 30L plastic fermenter and then rack off into a corny for keg conditioning. Aiming for a~5% ABV.

Not going to worry about hops, dry hopping or finings for this first go. Just want to make sure I can handle the nuts and bolts of it all. If its drinkable and avoids an infection it'll be a win in my books.

Going to pick the brains for the staff at my LHBS when I grab the yeast and sugars, but do you think I need to worry about water? I'm in Maitland NSW and I have checked the water report, looks good. To be honest I think for this real meat and two veg brew I'm look at its not the water profile that's going to make or break me.

Sorry for the novel, but thanks for coming to my TEDTalk haha
 
Hey mate, i brew in maitland and you're right, the water is pretty good off the tap. I recommend getting a $30 caravan water filter from supercheap to filter the chlorine out. Sounds simple but will make a noticeable difference to even the simplest brew and will last you a year or two depending on how much you use it.

If it's just temp you are concerned about with your yeast selection, and you want to set a basic baseline for future brews, you could just use the kit yeast. It will taste differently at the end (better or worse is a matter of personal taste) but you shouldn't have too many issues fermenting with the kit yeast in your cupboard providing it has been stored reasonably well.
 
(1) The water: in general, with extract brews, the rule is, don't mess with the water if it tastes alright. If it tastes like bats roost over the source at night, get a big container of the bottled stuff or use a charcoal filter. Chlorine is another matter. The filter will work, but you can also let the water stand for a day and then bring it to a boil for a minute or two before adding the ingredients. Unless your water has chloramine, rather than chlorine. In that case, use the filter or Campden tabs according to your LHBS's directions.

(2) The kit yeast may be older than me. Since it's summer, kveik might work out better. Lallemand provides these specifications: "LalBrew Voss supports a wide range of fermentation temperatures between 25-40°C (77-104°F) with a very high optimal range of 35-40°C (95-104°F)." If you can pitch in the high 20s or more, fermentation will raise the temp in your cupboard into the optimal range and finish fast. You will get some yeast flavours from kveik. Opinions on them differ,

(3) That looks like a low-flavour recipe. Calling a kit "cerveza" is a peeve of mine. Cerveza is Spanish for beer, not a style, and Mexicans brew a good variety. It's like packaging a kit for "Australian beer." But Morgans probably mean Corona, which is pretty bland. Hop flavour will be slight.
 
Good luck on your first brew.

I did kits for a few years before I took on AG. This was so I could have more control of the raw ingredients as kits always turned out a bit darker in colour than I wanted and the type of hops added is preset by the manufacturer.

Best advice is sanitisation and time. The kviek yeast will eat through the sugars quick and summer temps in the cupboard shouldn't cause any off-flavour issues. Still will need some time to condition. Try to give yourself 2 weeks before drinking. Resist the urge if you can.
 
Back
Top