China Challenge

[LBW]

Hey guys

I'm an Aussie from Sydney living in China and started brewing several months ago with a mate from Melbourne. We bought some home brew gear of an American who was going back home but pretty much stumbled and bumbled out way through the first few batches blindly to the point where we've made a few nice brews. Switched to BIAB from our 4th Brew onwards and given our limited kitchen space it's been great.

Just been cruising to find a recipe for Brew 8.

But here's our challenge, every recipe I see I can't get the exact ingredients over here. Imagine this, you use a translator to find your way to a couple of online shops then find out what you can get, translate back into English and see how that matches any recipes you can find but in the end everything is an original production. Which is kind of the fun of it all.

So feel lucky you lot can pop into a Home Brew store and know what you're getting.

Anyway, i'll be cruising around this website and thanks in advance for all the tips and advice I'll be getting in the future.

Gavin
AKA LBW- Lad's Brew Weihai
-Met the Melbourne guy playing cricket and stuck with the theme

 

[Feldon]

Welcome aboard.

Can't help directly, but have you thought about taking one of your translator friends along to a local brewery? You could ask the brewery crew if they can sell you the ingredients you need, or the brewery might be able to put you on to their supplier and you can go to the source.

Good luck.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Nice spot Weihai, what you could do is get in touch with the Boxing Cat Brewery in Shanghai, he brings in his ingredients direct from the US, considering the size of China you are almost neighbours, if you get to Shanghai often and he is agreeable to help you, it would be easy getting the right ingredients and shipping by train.
He did try to use local ingredients but it was to hard.

 

[Bribie G]

We had a bulk buy on this forum a few years ago and imported about half a tonne of really cheap Chinese hops. Not a good outcome

If you can get a reliable source from overseas you'll be right. Forum members often buy from Yakima Valley hops in the USA and other similar suppliers, so you are actually a tad closer there geographically.

 

[LBW]

Yeah, there are a few brewers in Beijing and shanghai, but for the most part there are also plenty of websites but across the country there are plenty of ingredients, just not the full range. I also would never consider Chinese hops. Using Lemon Drop and Hersbrucher on a brew today to see how they mix.

As for the local brewery here, it makes perhaps the worst beer in the world so wouldn't ask them for advice. My 3rd ever brew was already better than any Chinese beer I've ever had.

No worries though, all it means is I don't follow anyone elses recipe and just try different things on my own. Kind of more fun in the end

 

[spog]

Would that beer be Reeb ?