best enhancements for your buck

[squirrell]

Hi,

I have put through 5 brews now. The first 4 basically used Coopers kits (ale/lager/draught/pale ale) with a BE or Coopers malt addition (and golden syrup added in another). The last brew ingredients I got down at my LHBS which consisted of a mangrove jacks classic bitter, a brewcraft beer converter (light amber malt and galaxy hops), as well as a Safale yeast.

The coopers stuff is nice enough but the latest one is a vast improvement in terms of head retention, body, refreshing taste etc. My only issue is cost, going from around $20 for Coopers all up to $45 for the last one.

Any ideas on what makes the most difference? is it quality yeast, decent malt, hops, are the mangrove jacks cans a big step up OR all of the above??

Ta

 

[sp0rk]

If cost is an issue, once you've forked out the $200 or so for a BIAB setup, all grain is the way
My house session ale costs under $18 a batch because I buy the ingredients in bulk

 

[pk.sax]

45 bucks was just about the same as what my second batch from a kit cost me. I read up on NickJD's $20 BIAB method and the next batch was perhaps almost 2/3 of that cost and the beer was terrific for my third only brew.

All Grain brewing IS the best bang for your buck.

Since then, I buy malted grain by the sack and hops in 250g. The cost of brewing became trivial.

 

[Camo6]

The cost of shiny equipment, however, is not so trivial. Come........join us.......you know you want to.

 

[zeggie]

As practicalfool said, jumping into stovetop BIAB is the best bang for buck to improve your beer.

http://www.bigw.com.au/home-garden/kitchen/cookware/pots-pans/bpnBIGW_0000000006395/smart-value-stock-pot-19-litres

Grab 1 of these for $19 and start doing half batches of all grain, or buy 2 and do full batches. You won't regret it!

 

[squirrell]

thanks guys - i guess my only question is whether this will stink out the kitchen?

 

[MartinOC]

The cost of shiny equipment, however, is not so trivial. Come........join us.......you know you want to.

Sure, there's the initial outlay & the extra time involved in AG stuff, but the improvements in your beers, plus the reduced costs & degree of fine control you get far outweigh the downside.

Trust your feelings, Squirrell....Come over to the Dark-Side & together we can rule the Galaxy!

 

[sp0rk]

I prefer to think of it as a wonderful aroma

 

[Pokey]

thanks guys - i guess my only question is whether this will stink out the kitchen?

Me and the wife thought the smell was nice, the kids claimed they were going to gag the whole way through the boil. The bigger problem I had was all the condensation in the house, open windows and doors are a must during the boil.
Or you can get a 40 litre crab pot and a gas burner and do it outside. Or a Buffalo 40 litre urn, I think I should have got 1 of these instead of the crab pot.

 

[pcmfisher]

If you ask a lot of women and kids, yes it will stink your kitchen out.

 

[BeerNess]

IMO the best bang for your buck is cheap 2nd hand fridge off gumtree or such and a STC temperature control unit to make yourself a fermentation chamber.

If you can control your fermentation temperatures it will make the single largest difference to your beer.

After that then start playing with your ingredients, adding steeping grains and hops, then different yeasts, by then you will probably want to start looking at BIAB as advised above.

Fermentation control 1st of all, no other changes will mean anything if your yeasts are throwing bad flavours because they've been working at high (22*c +) temperatures

 

[mxd]

as above, start with temp control for fermentation, then yeast, get those under control and then can move onto to kit and bits, partial, AG etc..

If you want to try an AG type beer grab a fresh wort kit from Grain and grape or keg king (grab a grain and grape brand one) and ferment that out, it'll be similar price $45 ish but IMHO a hell of a lot better (if you've got the temp control mastered)

 

[squirrell]

thanks lazy cat. So far most of the fermenting I have done is in Melbourne in late spring, we have a brick house so no issues with higher temperatures. Gen the ferment temp has between 18 to 22 degrees, so I think I am ok on that front although will need to watch it more in Summer. Does temperature control matter that much if the ferment temp variance is on the lower side? (eg ferment at between 17 to 20 as opposed to constant at 20)

 

[Alex.Tas]

Hi Squirrell.
I haven;t moved to AG yet, so cant comment on how it improves your beer. I would say from personal experience that if your temps are around 17-20 your fermentables would be your first port of call when looking to improve your beer. Use either liquid malt extract (LME) or light dry malt extract (LDME/DME). using this compared to dex/brew enhancers costs more, but i reckon its a good improvement. it gives your beer more body. its around 9 bucks a kilo for the dry stuff i think, bit more for the liquid. However if you prefer lighter style beers such as some dry lagers, maybe stick with the brew enhancers for now and go down the temperature control path using proper lager yeasts. If you prefer hoppy beers like little creatures etc, have a go at dry hopping, where you throw in 20-40g or so of hop pellets into your fermenter on day 5 or so. the variety of hops called "cascade" may be a good starting point. dry hopping will make your beer smell awesome, and give it a small change in taste.