Beginner in Perth looking for advice for equipment, supplies and BIAB

[Darren Waszkinel]

Hey Everyone

Very excited to be a part of this group and looking forward to learning as much as I can.
I am at the beginning of my journey and I wanted to ask some advice from anyone that is willing to share.
I live in Perth and I am a lover of Belgian beer, especially Trappist and Abbey beers. Really enjoy the Grimbergen Dubbel and have the Westmalle Dubbel and would really like to have a go at making this type of beer. I have heard about the brew in a bag approach for the all grain method and I wanted to ask you all if you think this is a good way to start?

I have a couple of other questions to if I may and I really appreciate anyone willing to take the time to answer. Thank you in advance

1. Any advice for a good place to buy the type of grains that I need to make Belgian beer ? Same thing for Yeast really. Preferably in Australia and even better if its in Perth .
2. What about equipment, if you were just starting out, would you buy from one of the Homebrew places locally, or online somewhere like EBay or something ?
3. As I am just starting out, should I be doing small batches ?
4. What about recipes ? I know there are a stack out there, I purchased the Beersmith 3 app today but I wanted to ask anyone’s advice on this.
5. Any good recommendations for YouTube channels for newbies ? I have subscribed to a few already

Any other advice would be appreciated and would like to connect with other brewers from Perth. I am in North Perth.

Darren

 

[Darren Waszkinel]

I also wanted to mention that i already feel myself going down the rabbit hole which i enjoy but i would like to head in the direction of learning to make Belgian beer so any advice would be great to get started

 

[YAPN]

Welcome Darren, I think you're going to end up with too much advice rather than not enough. Buy the equipment from whoever gives you the best deal (think Kmart) and if it's not right for what you want, then buy some more gear. I think we've all done that.

As for your beer styles, again, you're going to get a lot of advice. At some point you just have to jump right in and brew something. Write down everything you did so you can go back and change/refine your recipes. Just remember that when you succeed and hold up that goblet of Dubbel, know that the first thing you will do next is change the recipe. I think we've all done that.

 

[Lix]

Darren

Endless hours of entertainment in homebrewing. Welcome. I have found Brewmart in Bayswater to be a good source of equipment, ingredients etc. If you have not done so already check out Palmers Hot to Brew (http://www.howtobrew.com/).

Alex

 

[beer gut]

Hey Darren

Big W sells 19 litre SS stockpots that are good for about a 10l batch.
I did my first biab brew about a year ago, after my second batch (first successful brew) I bought a Robobrew (now rebranded as Brewzilla).
Head out to Brewmart in Bayswater they have all the gear and helpful advice you want and they’re not too far away from you.
Good luck and enjoy!


*edit

If you’re on facebook join Perth Homebrew Share group.

 

[Darren Waszkinel]

Welcome Darren, I think you're going to end up with too much advice rather than not enough. Buy the equipment from whoever gives you the best deal (think Kmart) and if it's not right for what you want, then buy some more gear. I think we've all done that.

As for your beer styles, again, you're going to get a lot of advice. At some point you just have to jump right in and brew something. Write down everything you did so you can go back and change/refine your recipes. Just remember that when you succeed and hold up that goblet of Dubbel, know that the first thing you will do next is change the recipe. I think we've all done that.

Thankyou

 

[Darren Waszkinel]

Hey Darren

Big W sells 19 litre SS stockpots that are good for about a 10l batch.
I did my first biab brew about a year ago, after my second batch (first successful brew) I bought a Robobrew (now rebranded as Brewzilla).
Head out to Brewmart in Bayswater they have all the gear and helpful advice you want and they’re not too far away from you.
Good luck and enjoy!


*edit

If you’re on facebook join Perth Homebrew Share group.

Cool, I will def check out Big W. I would like to start with All grain brewing and from what I am reading, it looks like BIAB could be a decent way to get into it with a very large outlay. All though I have been checking out videos on YouTube about the Brewzilla and it looks good. I will head to Brewmart next week and take a look what they have there. Thanks for the advice mate !

 

[RobB]

Hello and welcome Darren. I'm one suburb away from you in Mt Hawthorn. I usually go to Brewmart in Bayswater which is only a fifteen minute drive away. You'll be like a kid in a toy shop in there. A few minutes further away in Bassendean is where you'll find Nev of Online Brewing Supplies. He runs the business from his home rather than a shopfront, so you have to arrange a pick up time.

You're on the right track with BIAB. It's a great way to get started quickly and cheaply. If you "upgrade", any pots etc which you used for BIAB will probably become part of your next set up, so you won't have done your dough. And I wrote upgrade in quotes because BIAB isn't just a beginners method. Many brewers stick with it and regularly produce medal winning beer.

As for batch size, most recipes are for 19 litres because that's the volume of a keg. If you're bottling, choose whatever batch size best suits your set up and thirst and just scale the recipes down.

All the best!

 

[markp]

Look at one of the single vessel systems on the market, robo, guten, grainfather, far easier and more efficient and very reasonably priced. Buy once cry once [emoji106]

 

[Darren Waszkinel]

Hello and welcome Darren. I'm one suburb away from you in Mt Hawthorn. I usually go to Brewmart in Bayswater which is only a fifteen minute drive away. You'll be like a kid in a toy shop in there. A few minutes further away in Bassendean is where you'll find Nev of Online Brewing Supplies. He runs the business from his home rather than a shopfront, so you have to arrange a pick up time.

You're on the right track with BIAB. It's a great way to get started quickly and cheaply. If you "upgrade", any pots etc which you used for BIAB will probably become part of your next set up, so you won't have done your dough. And I wrote upgrade in quotes because BIAB isn't just a beginners method. Many brewers stick with it and regularly produce medal winning beer.

As for batch size, most recipes are for 19 litres because that's the volume of a keg. If you're bottling, choose whatever batch size best suits your set up and thirst and just scale the recipes down.

All the best!

That’s great advice and I will take all of it, I plan to go to Brewmart and take a look. Regarding BIAB VS Robobrew and grainfather etc, is this the same approach or is it totally different ?
I am still researching but am I right to say that you can use the same approach with a single pot/bag and a Robobrew and that the Robobrew is just an easier way to do it ?

Also, to scale the recipes at the start so that I can make smaller rest batches, is there a tool/excel doc/software that you use to plug in the original recipe into and then select your desired batch size?

I know that there is a stack of info on this site, it’s just that I am a little overwhelmed right now and try to learn as much as possible

 

[Darren Waszkinel]

Look at one of the single vessel systems on the market, robo, guten, grainfather, far easier and more efficient and very reasonably priced. Buy once cry once [emoji106]

Any particular one that you would recommend ?

 

[Paddy Melon]

Hi Darren, I'm next door in Menora, Brewmart is where I go also, and I trawl Gumtree for equipment.

 

[markp]

Any particular one that you would recommend ?

I run a grainfather and am very happy with it, I did notice twoc in Bibra lake had a very good package deal for them today for Black Friday.
Robo and guten both ok but lesser quality on the build and material [emoji106]

 

[Peterbrew]

TWOC in Bibra Lake offer good advice, have lots of equipment, grains, partial grain kits etc etc.
My gear I got from kmart like others have said stock pots and stainless sieve, some things from eBay measuring beakers and cleaning products.
I'm still relatively green at brewing but glad to start from basic fermenting kits to now doing partial grain kits. Good to walk before you run. It's slippery slope this brewing thing

 

[Darren Waszkinel]

Hey Darren

Big W sells 19 litre SS stockpots that are good for about a 10l batch.
I did my first biab brew about a year ago, after my second batch (first successful brew) I bought a Robobrew (now rebranded as Brewzilla).
Head out to Brewmart in Bayswater they have all the gear and helpful advice you want and they’re not too far away from you.
Good luck and enjoy!


*edit

If you’re on facebook join Perth Homebrew Share group.

Great advice mate, i went down to Brewmart and had a chat, they were super helpful and i will be going for the Brewzilla i think. I have joined the facebook group also. They mentioned that they sometimes do "brewday demos" but they would not be doing another one until Feb 2020. I am looking for other places that might offer it.
Beer gut (great name by the way ), do you , know if there are any meetups of social get togethers for brewers in Perth ? As i have noticed so far, its a rabbit hole and i reckon there would be a bunch of guys out there that have plenty to talk about. I would like to be a part of that if you know of anything like that
Thanks

 

[beer gut]

G’day @Darren Waszkinel

Glad to hear that your trip to Brewmart was worth it.
I usually only get out there if I need something my local shop (TWOC in Bibra Lake) doesn’t have it or Brewmart has a good special going. Their service and knowledge is great.

Check out some Gash Slugg videos on youtube his videos are the reason I ended up getting a Robobrew (now rebranded as Brewzilla).Easy to follow and show you how simple the process can be.

I’m not a member of any local clubs but am a member of Perth Homebrew Share group on facebook that’s good for information, advice and recipe sharing. If you ask on there I reckon there would be a club or brewers close by to connect with.

Enjoy your new, rewarding hobby