Calling The Jovial Monk

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fingers

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J.M. have you read the how do you brew poll? would appreciate your comments.
 
i can believe the poll

K+Kers don't join groups like this, or if they do they don't stay K+K

I get very very few k+k customers (the s/marts whip me on price alla time) though I had a few more of those just after i opened the shop

most customers buy a can kit + one of my packs which are extract+specialty grain+hops (kept in the fridge). Most also buy a packet of decent yeast: Danstar Nottingham or Windsor, the 34/70 etc

I have quite a few full mash customers and sell lots of grain just about every week


So, yes, the poll is likely accurate reflection of the AHB list









Jovial Monk
 
ok........... who is embarrased to say they brew K+K?
I'm not ....I have found its a great way to get into brewing.
hehehhe i can just imagine trying to do an AG on your first brew ever. Now wouldn't that be fun.
What about the AG and partial mashers ?
did you start on K+K's and then progress?
whats the story?? :)

cheers B)
 
I brewed my first brew with kit (munich lager coopers) it was old and given to me, i followed the instructions and used some sugar.

It was the worst thing i have ever smelt or tasted even 3 yrs later it was crap so i threw it.

I gave up on home brew beer for some time, i returned to brew kit + brewing sugar (the $5 bags of malt etc)

i brewed this way for 7 yrs, untill 6 months ago starting to steep, i tried one part mash, and now second AGT mash.

Kits give great beers and are dam easyer and quicker/cheaper/cleaner :)

each to there own though the AG is fun.

I dare say all grain may be able tomake a better beer?!?! if you do everything right, but easer to stuff up, wherekits are easyer to make a good beer / harder to stuff up

I love them both :) mmmm beer

I am drinking a coopers IPA with cascade hops etc, and the all grain is waiting to be tested once i finish this keg so i will let you know the difference :chug:
 
Yep started K&K and did it for years , enjoyed it and enjoyed the beer I made
Like the beer I make now much better but hey , you gotta crawl before you walk
 
man .....its hard!!
40 years and still crawling :D :D :D
one of these days i'm going to evolve and get up on those legs

B)
 
Well I was doing K&K on and off for about the last 8 yrs then I did a few Grumpys kits and the HBS near where I moved to(TWOC in WA) has heaps of good stuff so I started adding some finishing hops ..............

Then I looked up grumpys on the web, read about all grain and being one to get into the nuts and bolts of things made the plunge straight into the deep end. Have thrown together an AG setup for probably $300 which is giving me excellent results :lol:

Nothing wrong with K&K! Since visiting sites like this I just had to experiment with all this new stuff! Going from K&K to AG is a big step but if you do the research it aint that hard, you learn very fast (my first brew went nowhere near to plan, but still tasted great).

I now fear I will expand with my increasing beer consumption .... especially since I just got my keg system for xmas :p
 
My first 3 brews were k+k, god I was so bored by brew 3

Now I am back to doing the odd kit, to test out one of my Packs

did one extract batch earlier this year, a hefe, cuz I was busy with the shop and beer stocks were zero. the beers was OK but just no depth to it



Jovial Monk
 
I did a couple of kit n kilo's.. decided i was doing something wrong so i went researching :)

i now do extract with steeped grain..
 
I guess I'm like a lot of other guys. I brewed k&k for years - didn't know any better. Then found out about substituting dextrose for cane sugar, then stumbled onto racking in an effort to get a less mud in the bottles and cc'd (sort of) in the cellar without actually knowing that was what I was doing. It wasn't until I found this site, the craftbrewers & Grumpies & Palmer's book that I really started to understand what was going on. Now it's partial mash until I put the gear together to step up to full mash - pretty soon now. :p
 
Not dissimilar to everyone else. Got interested in K&K, never used sugar though. I did a bit of research before I bought my kit and did my first brew and found out very quickly that sugar is a no no (Thanks Palmer, good book that too). All grain was a bit intimidating at that time, so brewed K&K plus specialty grains and hop additions for a year. Decided that I like making beer as much as drinking it so thought I would have a crack at a partial. So I bought a beverage cooler and had a go, went ok but needed a bigger kettle and found I was lacking some gear to make it all run smoothly. So I got a bigger kettle and then realised I nearly had all the gear for all-grain. So, with one partial under my belt I started constructing my brewery and had a ball doing it. Now, I can brew all-grain (still learning bits and pieces) and having fun doing it. :D

It was great to hook up with a few guys in the area that brew all grain and watch over them doing a few brews. Helped me realise that it's not that hard at all.

JD
 
Similar story to everyone else I guess. Started out K+K years ago, stopped brewing for a while due to the results and then got back into it 2 years ago much more seriously. Extract and grain recipes now as well as some experimental part mashes. I'm ready to go AG pretty much, but have to sus the time/child related issues with my wife - maybe in the Xmas break.
I'm really glad this hasn't degenerated into a bagging session between the different types of brewers. All of us are learning - even blokes like jayse who are at the more advanced end of the forum openly discuss probs they've had and plans they are making for improving their beer which is one of the best things about this forum. Grumpy's is good for similar reasons. Other forums I've read take themselves far too seriously and wouldn't be able to handle this type of discussion without it degenerating into a flame session. So I guess I'm saying well done fellas and long live respect and equality among the brewing fraternity. Whether it comes from a can, or from a crushed grain it's all beer and we are all having a go ;)

Top darts to the Aussiehomebrewers...

Shawn.
 
i started with k&k, not nice.
with a bit of sutdy found malt, then hops & steeping grain.
done some brew kits (grumpys etc.)
just getting my all grain set up going by xmas.
i plan to do mostly all grain, but still dont mind doing a steeping grain with a kit for a quick table type beer for after work.

crackers
 
k + k for years.enjoyed it for awhile but knew something was lacking.i was getting sick of that cidery after taste.
on holidays i ventured into a hbs and saw brew booster kits.mmmm
so there i was packing my bags with brew booster kits to take back to far flung arnhemland.
all went well for awhile until i got sick of this as well.gotta be more to this brewing caper i thought to get closer to a real beer.
next holiday bags are packed with malts hops and different cans of brew.only woolies up here so varieties are homebrand and coopers.

went well for awhile until a trip to adelaide and a quick visit to grumpys and when arriving back home had developed an even greater desire to brew better.

currently doing partials but am gearing up for all grain.
what a headache sorting out 100kg of grain to this far flung part of oz.
road freight adelaide to darwin then sea freight to gove.
its finally sorted so am looking forward to the new year and some real beer brewing.
 
well i had been doing k+k for 6 years on and off using brewcrafts improvment pack which was ok then i had some masterbrews which was better and since i like expermenting a bit now i part mash and soon all grain but we all started from the same place
 
Johnno,
quit crawling about the place, stand up and take those bloody sunglasses off, you look heaps better without them,comb your hair while you're at it. (snigger snigger)
Batz,
c'mon bloke,me and the other 3 k&k brewers in Australia don't like to think we are still crawling, although we quite often end up on our knees, elbows and bums.

after reading the above posts I was quite amazed at the responses from everyone. Seems all of us started off with k&k, but because of unsatisfactory results, ventured out into A.G. mixtures. As so many chaps have said, they made foul smelling and tasting brews and had to throw them out, I was the same, but after a while, and learning all the time by one's shittas, one becomes more hygienic and efficient in what one is doing. My greatest quantum leap forward in brewing was when I discovered the difference that constant fermentation temperature control makes. Without trying to sound like I'm giving myself a jolly good pat on the back, I have tasted quite a few A.G. brews, made by chaps who went to university and then got a job and were then paid to make the brew in a micro brewery,,,,My beer (out of a can) tasted every bit as good (to me anyway)
I guess it comes down to horses for courses, after all it's a hobby, if it feels good do it.
I myself would not have the time available to do the stuff you masher blokes do, I drive a truck for a living and home time is limited and precious and besides that I think I'm a pisspot more than a fusspot.
It's a bit dissapointing that there aren't more k&k brewers on this forum, it would be good to swap info on different brands and sugars etc.
cheers, Fingers.
 
I was enjoying my kits, but the reason i am now starting AG is because it gives me even more things to "play" with like what grains to use etc.

there is so many things more i can try now, eg what grains do what, mash temps etc.

Dont get me wrong once i get sick of all the long brew days i will now and then slap down a kit to make a quick brew to keep my stocks up. :chug: :chug: :chug: :blink:
 
Hey Fingers,
It takes me ages to style that hair every morning. :D
Ive only been doin this for 7 mths so far and i am pleased with the results. I noticed from some other posts that some people had bad experiences from the start.
Well Thankfully i havent had any brews go off yet so i am happy bout that. I can understand how a bad batch at the start would put you off.
I did a fair bit of research before starting up. One thing I really took notice of was the sanitisation required.
I have never used plain white sugar in a brew. I started with Coopers brewing sugar then progressed to brew boosters.
While I havent tried AG to compare yet I'm still happy with the way they are coming out.
missus likes em as well.
I have minimal temp control at home and i still havent had one go off yet. (I think, unless i just like crap tasting beer) But then again I like crown so who knows... :lol: :lol: :lol:

cheers
 
after reading the above posts I was quite amazed at the responses from everyone. Seems all of us started off with k&k, but because of unsatisfactory results, ventured out into A.G. mixtures. As so many chaps have said, they made foul smelling and tasting brews and had to throw them out,


what???! you guys threw them out? i've got about 50 bottles of the stuff sitting under the house as we drink.....uh, speak!!
 
bloody hell fingers
go straight for the jugular why dont you.
arent more k+k brewers on this site to swap info?
give us a break.

ask a question and im sure you will have heaps of answers.
k+k malts partials full grain whatever you will be answered.

i would bet my left nut the majority of posters here started out k+k except for one person that i know of and will be of great help.

the beauty of this site is that it is becoming for quite a few people a good learning curve from k+k to ag brewing.
keep looking and asking questions and you too may wish to go ag.

cheers
big d B)
 
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