Beer Machine Or Brewing Kit, Hhmmm ?

[MelbourneNoob]

I was going to get a brewing kit when I saw this Brewing Machine you can put in your fridge like a keg and have beer on tap, you also get an attachment to fill bottles. I am too lazy to keep an eye on gauges and temp and stuff.

Beer Machine 2006

The Beer Machine seems fun and easy, it works out about $ 4 per 1 litre bottle. Do you think I could use other brew mixes in this machine ??

Has anyone tried the Beer Brewing Machine or brewing kits?


Has anyone tasted the beers from the brewing kits, I'm looking at


Coopers kit

Tooheys brewlion.lionshop.com.au/default.asp

Cascade www.cascadehomebrew.com.au/home/default.asp

BMBS www.bmbrews.com.au/?page_id=8

or maybe a keg system stores.ebay.com.au/keg-connections



Any drunken comments are welcome, cheers in advance

 

[brettprevans]

IMO it looks like a rip off. besides unless your located in the USA your not going to be easy to get over here. shipping will cost too much.

not sure what your asking in regards to the ebay keg selling link? looks a little expensive.

is this your stuff thats being sold?

 

[petesbrew]

Looks to me like something that would end up on a council cleanup, MelbourneNoob,
It probably only lets you brew with their mixes only (and they seem quite pricey)

A LOT of guys here start on the coopers/tooheys kits, some progress to bigger & better things, as you can tell by this site.
Plus you can get all the coopers kits just down at coles & woolies (rather than the net), and if you're just doing a very basic brew it's only about 50c/longneck.

Then you meet all other brewers, learn more, visit a homebrew shop, buy a hop teabag, and that's when the addiction starts.

My two cents
Pete

 

[Katherine]

I am too lazy to keep an eye on gauges and temp and stuff.

Thats the fun of brewing your own beer!

 

[Mercs Own]

I think if you want to start to brew your own then dont buy the Beer Machine because you will be brewing their own beer mix?!?!

Buy a Coopers home brew kit - my daughter bought her friend one two weeks ago for his 18th and he was stoked. They have everything you need to do your first including a how to video :lol: They also have a hot line, the Coopers Club and lots of available and diverse product. It's a no brainer I reckon.

Good luck with it all and no doubt you will be hooked before you know it and doing mini mashes and the rest!

 

[youngy]

Also the coopers kits are on special this time of year (Big W, Kmart, etc....)

 

[Katherine]

$65.00 at the moment.... keep the can of lagar for later though!

 

[brettprevans]

hmmmm I seem to have been a litle standoffish with my post. forgive me im a grinch at xmas.

as stated your best off getting a starter kit and going from there, yyou dont need a beer machine, as you miss out on all the fun. besides it doesnt look big enough to keep you in beer for long.

 

[petesbrew]

hmmmm I seem to have been a litle standoffish with my post. forgive me im a grinch at xmas.

as stated your best off getting a starter kit and going from there, yyou dont need a beer machine, as you miss out on all the fun. besides it doesnt look big enough to keep you in beer for long.

Yeah hard to tell on the net, but it kinda looks like the beer will run out before the nights over.

You've got a few days Chrissy shopping to go, MelbNoob, so get out there buy yourself a kit on sale, and throw it under the xmas tree with a note "TO ME, FROM ME".
You'll never regret it... (well, maybe when the gut grows a bit.... NAAAAA!)

 

[Cortez The Killer]

See my comments in the LL on Whirlpool

Also as Mercs said the video is very good - the host is very dashing

Cheers

 

[MelbourneNoob]

Wow, thanks for all the fast replies

I have been reading a lot of posts about people giving up on brewing because of the hassle bottling and bad batches. Plus I live in Melbourne in a small apartment where we have crazy weather and space is limited.


The Beer Machine is only $ 249 AUS http://www.latestbuy.com.au/beer_machine_2000.html

You can get other mixes

The Beer Machine 2000 includes one packet of The Beer Mix - Golden Lager Malt Extract (good for 28 x 355mL servings), yeast, CO2 bulbs, a defoamer disk, two additional draft beer "On Tap" style handles and a brewing guide (essential reading).

The Beer Mixes

American Beer Mix Variety Pack - 1 x Pilsner Light, 1 x American Lager (Golden Lager) and 1 x American Ale.

Canadian Beer Mix Variety Pack - 1 x Canadian Light, 1 x Canadian Dark Ale and 1 x Canadian Red Lager.

International Beer Mix Variety Pack - 1 x Vienna Lager, 1 x Czech Pilsner and 1 x Irish Stout.

Each three-pack of Beer Mix comes with yeast, 3 defoamer disks, a box of 10 CO2 soda chargers and produces approximately 30L of beer.

Each Beer Mix has been skilfully prepared step by step by professional brewers in state of the art brewing facilities made ready for fermentation. No additional preparation is required. Just add water and the brewers yeast (included with each Beer Mix) and The Beer Machine completes the brewing process.



RE : CityMorgue your post is fine. Not my stuff on Ebay just searched for brewing kits

 

[brettprevans]

well your halfway there - your doing research. which is the best thing to do. A brew kit doesnt take up much space. and if you have a look at Brew in a Bag (BIAB) on the site thats all grain AG setup and you can do that in tiny places.

I recon go the starter kit. you wont regret it. If space is an issue, maybe think about a keg and an a temprite as then you dont have to worry about bottles. or buy coopers PET bottles as they neatly stack in their own box and theres no capping involved.


Head out to grain and grape (online sponsor) and have a look around their store one saturday. You can even check out an AG brew or extract brew being made on the day and have a sample or 2.

 

[barry2]

Google has 207,000 references to it.

 

[pint of lager]

The chainstore homebrew kits may be a bit cheaper than the gear from a homebrew shop, but their advice is priceless. As a new brewer, you need big chunks of information, not just a leaflet. And, as others have said, the instructions in the kits are useless.

You cannot ask the person at the checkout to taste your brew, or how does a hydrometer work.

Once you have a good grasp of homebrewing, those Beer Machine mixes are very limiting.

Sanitation, temperature control and good ingredients is the mantra for the new brewer.

 

[Mercs Own]

See my comments in the LL on Whirlpool

Also as Mercs said the video is very good - the host is very dashing

Cheers

She is down right gorgeous!

Melbournenoob I get the sense that you are excited about the beer machine, in fact I get the sense that maybe you are wanting to market them here, maybe you are thingking about distributing them here? Buy one and use it and after you have tasted the product throw it out and buy the coopers kit or someone elses. You havent mentioned how much each 'mix' costs other then in your original post it was $4 a litre. A generic KK is going to cost 50cents a 750 ml or so people have said - you do the maths. Although your first brew will set you back about $2 a bottle since you bought all the equipment but after that it will be more like the 50 cents.

Making beer is about loving the process and the end result. This is the same for making cheese, sausages or any cooking /food artisnal produce. If you dont want to love it, the doing of it, the creative side of discovering and making your own and sharing that with friends then dont do it.

Dont buy the beer machine.

When it comes to quality there are no short cuts.

If you really dont like having to put too much effort into the whole process and just want some good beer that you made then go to Barley Corn Brewerys make your own beer but let them do the work for you.

 

[ausdb]

The chainstore homebrew kits may be a bit cheaper than the gear from a homebrew shop, but their advice is priceless. As a new brewer, you need big chunks of information, not just a leaflet. And, as others have said, the instructions in the kits are useless.

You cannot ask the person at the checkout to taste your brew, or how does a hydrometer work.

But if you pick the wrong store then all they will want to do is push their own line of cans of goo and converter mix 69b and will try and keep your eyes blinkered to what their idea of home brewing is. You can identify that type of store by the large numbers of cans and "beer kits" lined up on the walls and all of the spirits essences and stuff they stock

So if you are looking for a friendly LHBS then ask few questions of them:
DO you brew yourself ((it's amazing the number that don't!)
Do you stock all grain ingredients, malt and hops etc,
Do you stock liquid yeast cultures
If the answre to too many of the above is NO then that is not the shop for you.

On the other hand it's hard to beat the combined knowledge of AHB plus if you have a digital camera then you can always post a pic of your hydrometer in the test jar and get about 100 different opinions on what the gravity really is

So I say go the Coopers kit from Kmart

 

[MelbourneNoob]

Ok great thanks, I posted in the Whirlpool forum first, it's very active, posters( Vienna lager and Cotez) said to come here

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-repli...amp;p=-1#bottom



I'm thinking keg now, the less hassle the better, she is a neat freak, so the less stuff around the better

<My wife says I can spend her Xmas bonus, wootsee.


Anyone know of any brewer or keg shops in Melbourne close to the city.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Head out to Grain and Grape (online sponsor) and have a look around their store one saturday. You can even check out an AG brew or extract brew being made on the day and have a sample or 2.

Girls, I salivate every time I see the G & G weekly newsletter. Most Saturday's a new workshop - Party kegs making, partial mashes, full AGs, the range of wort kits, ingredients. I'd turn gay for those guys (except I'm that ugly even dogs turn away from me !!).

Melbournenoob, by posting here, you are smart enough to know what you are doing.

I hope you are smart enough to listen to the best free advice that anyone can get while holding a beer in their hand. Leave the gimmicks alone and start playing with big boys toys instead of uncle sam's junk. :icon_cheers:

 

[Mercs Own]

Go and chat with John, Chris or Rod at Grain and Grape you wont go wrong.

 

[MelbourneNoob]

Sweeeeeeeeeet I might go to that Mash making thing at Grain and grape tomm. at 11 am in Yarraville, thanks