Any Advice For A Newbie?

[Beer Beer Beer]

Hi there brewers,

I have read a lot of the great advice on the website, but I just wanted to see if there was any new advice on what I should start with. I will probably go with the coopers starter kit, but I have seen a lot of talk about going to the keg at some stage. How hard is it to put a keg system in? Should I start big or just ease myself into it?

I have started brewing before, but it was about 15 years ago, I was at uni (therefore broke) and very keen for cheap beer. I want to do it properly as a hobby. Am I getting ahead of myself?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

BBB

 

[Flash_DG]

Baby steps imo

 

[MarkBastard]

Just depends. I knew I was going to get into home brewing seriously because I'd had previous experience including distilling, so I didn't bother trying to collect bottles and just went straight to kegging.

As for whether kegging is hard? No but it's expensive.

As for the actual brewing, yeah start with a Coopers kit if you want. First thing to try and get right is sanitisation and then temperature control IMO.

 

[bum]

The Coopers kit is fine. You might be able to save a few bucks putting it all together from bits at the big green shed and other places but if you can find the Coopers starter kit on special somewhere it is a fantastic starting point. You'll want to grab extra bits and pieces as your brewing progresses but I can't see any reason you might ever have to regret getting the Coopers kit (except for the tin that comes with it - you can do better than that).

 

[jacknohe]

Baby steps imo

+1 on that. Get a coopers kit or visit a homebrew shop. IMO stick to bottles in the first instance and work on your brew process. As you say, lots of advice here and you can only take so much in. Some things didn't make sense to me for a few months after I read it.

Get brewing first before you launch into the legging expense. Also, if you have a partner, gradual outlay for your hobby is the best approach. ;-)

 

[bullfrog]

As for the actual brewing, yeah start with a Coopers kit if you want. First thing to try and get right is sanitisation and then temperature control IMO.

+1

Start off small. Get your brewing processes right before you look at spending a whole bunch of cash on a keg system. You'd be kicking yourself if you spent all that money and your beer wasn't even enjoyable!

 

[dago001]

+1 as well for a coopers kit. I have been brewing for about 4 months and wondered the same, but was always going to go to kegs. I brewed for 2 months and went from k & K to extract. Got some great brews out of all this and some ordinary ones as well.Drank the great ones and the ordinary ones all get better with time . Went to kegs after 2 months, but it is expensive to set up.
There is some great advice on here, just ask and many people will help. My only advice that I would give to a new brewer is that if you are a carlton draught drinker ( what ever your beer is ) a lot of the recipes that are on here are very hoppy for a newbie. ie Dr smurtos Golden Ale is a great beer, but if you are a VB drinker, you will think WTF is this. Still, brew them (which I did) and they will grow on you over time, but find a brew that is close to what you like and work on your recipes from there.
Most of all, have fun, enjoy yourself and make beer. Thats why we are here !!

Cheers
David

 

[petesbrew]

The Coopers kit is fine. You might be able to save a few bucks putting it all together from bits at the big green shed and other places but if you can find the Coopers starter kit on special somewhere it is a fantastic starting point. You'll want to grab extra bits and pieces as your brewing progresses but I can't see any reason you might ever have to regret getting the Coopers kit (except for the tin that comes with it - you can do better than that).

Yep, the Coopers Kit's a good buy, esp. as it comes with the bottles. From what i know, some other starter kits don't have them. Best birthday pressy I ever got.

There is some great advice on here, just ask and many people will help. My only advice that I would give to a new brewer is that if you are a carlton draught drinker ( what ever your beer is ) a lot of the recipes that are on here are very hoppy for a newbie. ie Dr smurtos Golden Ale is a great beer, but if you are a VB drinker, you will think WTF is this. Still, brew them (which I did) and they will grow on you over time, but find a brew that is close to what you like and work on your recipes from there.
Most of all, have fun, enjoy yourself and make beer. Thats why we are here !!

Cheers
David

hehe. Yeah and just warning you if you ask for Draught, Extra Dry, etc. recipes here, expect to be laughed at. (someone may give you an answer if you're lucky!).
Once you start using hops.... oh boy.

Good luck.
Pete

 

[mxd]

Hi there brewers,

I have read a lot of the great advice on the website, but I just wanted to see if there was any new advice on what I should start with. I will probably go with the coopers starter kit, but I have seen a lot of talk about going to the keg at some stage. How hard is it to put a keg system in? Should I start big or just ease myself into it?

I have started brewing before, but it was about 15 years ago, I was at uni (therefore broke) and very keen for cheap beer. I want to do it properly as a hobby. Am I getting ahead of myself?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

BBB

I just started 3/11/9, in that time I have bought 3 fermenters, 80 grolsh, 10 kegs, fridgemate, 3 fonts, a chesty, gas bottle, regulator, beer and gas line, 12 "kits" (mix of kits and fresh worts) so spent plenty, but for me I wanted to setup a bar with taps and the ability to try different brews (love a stout, red and brown I have done, the others I enjoyed to 1 throw away).

If you think you would go to kegs they are cheap at the moment from sponsor4 for $200 with kit, so maybe buy them (they won't depricite and may appreciate) then buy a "micro brewery" do a brew, bottle it, and so how you enjoy it.


My errors. (that I have done and won't do again)
1) dropped a fermenter whilst moving it to bottle.
2) sent nappisan through a keg (went to pressurerize a keg I was cleaning and it sucked up the stuff from keg and started putting it in another keg)
3) over carbed at the moment
4) constantly playing with pressure
5) big co2 and beer leaks of gas
6) fermented when we had a 28 deg min temp over night
7) having beer flow through gas line to other kegs.


Still learning
1) temp control whilst fermenting
2) sanitising
3) patience
4) plenty more


good luck

Matt

 

[RobboMC]

Easy steps:
1) get a Coopers kit from Big W or K-Mart
2) THROW AWAY THE INSTRUCTION VIDEO
3) Seek new instructions on the website

Seriously though: try and brew at 20 deg C and clean - clean - clean.
If you get a fermenter in summer perhaps even wait until March before starting,
I started in Feb of whatever year it was and made 2 very poor brews before I learnt
to keep things cool and started brewing in the shower recess.

 

[Beer Beer Beer]

Thanks for the help brewers. Although I don't mind drinking mainstream beers I am looking forward to something different. I think that I will start slow and build up to the more refined tastes. Can't wait to get started.

I noticed that there was a comment about starting after summer to ensure that the temperature was closer to 20 degrees. I have an old fridge which has good seals. Would that be OK in a dark garage?

 

[Pennywise]

If it's a working fridge you can hook up a temp controller to it so you can set and forget, or if it's a dead fridge you can just rotate frozen bottles of water every day to keep the temp fairly constant. Brewing in summer is a breeze with a fermenting fridge, wish I'd gotten one sooner.

 

[RobboMC]

If it's a working fridge you can hook up a temp controller to it so you can set and forget, or if it's a dead fridge you can just rotate frozen bottles of water every day to keep the temp fairly constant. Brewing in summer is a breeze with a fermenting fridge, wish I'd gotten one sooner.

Even without a temperature controller you are far far far far better off with a fridge. You can just run it for a few hours each day to cool the brew, I use one of those kambrook timers to cycle the fridge on and off. You can make excellent beer without the expense of a fancy temp-mate thingy, but of course if you have unlimited funds by all means get one. I also store as many bottles as I can fit in the brewfridge to protect them from the December heat. My garage with be 50+ today. I run my stocks intentionally low in November so that by today ALL of my bottled beer is protected by some sort of fridge.

I also have stuck a thermometer strip ( like the one's you get for the outside of the fermenter ) inside my fridge, so I know the temp of the fridge as well as the fermenter.

 

[MarkBastard]

Temp controllers are like $50 and compared to a lot of other costs of brewing it's the most money well spent after the humble fermenter in my opinion.

Sure there's other ways to maintain temp, but they take a fair bit of effort and don't give you the same accuracy.

Nothing beats controlling the fridge temp and being able to crash chill and all that.

 

[Snow]

Hi there brewers,

I have read a lot of the great advice on the website, but I just wanted to see if there was any new advice on what I should start with. I will probably go with the coopers starter kit, but I have seen a lot of talk about going to the keg at some stage. How hard is it to put a keg system in? Should I start big or just ease myself into it?

I have started brewing before, but it was about 15 years ago, I was at uni (therefore broke) and very keen for cheap beer. I want to do it properly as a hobby. Am I getting ahead of myself?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

BBB

Mate, skip the coopers kit and read www.howtobrew.com then start with extract brewing using fresh hops, yeast etc. It'll only take you a bit longer per brew but your beer will be 200% better. When you're comfortable with the basics, start using specialty steeping grains, etc before you eventually move on to partial mashing and then all-grain!

Cheers - Snow.