Course For K&k For $180?

[chadjaja]

I take it from the fact that Brewcraft is running this course its only kit and kilo with some overpriced finishing hops? Also they actually call the guy running it 'interesting' so I assume its the talkative guy from the Richmond store too.

Two part course, $90 a session is a bit steep when you may not even learn how to steep

QVM brew course

 

[bum]

Looks like process should be covered 'completely' in the first session given that there is a break of a few weeks between the two "to allow for the brewing and resting time that is needed to make the perfect pint". So what does the $90 charged grant the participants in the second session (apart from the world's most expensive pint of kit beer)? An hour of high pressure sales tactics perhaps?

Does Vince offer anything similar at this level? What does he charge?

 

[QldKev]

Get into BIAB for a lot cheaper than that!


QldKev

 

[bum]

Less than $30, I am led to believe.

 

[bignath]

"from the brilliant Brewcraft in Richmond"...... bwaahaaaahaaaa :lol:

hilarious. I don't know the "interesting coach" running this course, and i've never stepped foot in his store, but if Brewcraft is a franchise, i would hardly call any one of their stores "brilliant".

I smell a marketing and sales push coming...

If my local brewcraft is anything like that it will go something like this.

"cheers mate, thanks for paying me a shitload of money - here's how you make beer.
First you need this can of shit right here. What's in it? I don't know, hey it doesn't matter. It makes beer for you.
Put this can in the fermenter. Yep, that's right now add your water and yeast. Now this little tea bag thingy with the 6 year old pellets inside will help to "balance" your beer. Throw that in there mate.
Now, this little packet of US05, that'll be $8 mate. Throw that in there too. Now, put the whole thing in a spare room in the house. You really want it at 28 degrees for a fast ferment. Wait three or four days and she'll be done. There, easy as, we made beer........"

EDIT: Added liberal doses of sarcasm

 

[geoffd]

I take it from the fact that Brewcraft is running this course its only kit and kilo with some overpriced finishing hops? Also they actually call the guy running it 'interesting' so I assume its the talkative guy from the Richmond store too.

Two part course, $90 a session is a bit steep when you may not even learn how to steep

QVM brew course

very dear indeed when it says it all on the tin

seriously though, it's a bit rediculous paying for a kit class, go down to the Grain & Grape & you get all grain demos for free, $180 would pay about 5 years membership of a homebrew club, which would be a far more valuable resourse for trouble shooting / climing the learning curve, and the flexibility of changing direction to more advanced brewing if desired.

 

[Pennywise]

Can mods move this to humour & jokes?


It is a joke yeah?

 

[petesbrew]

Wouldn't Merc do all that in the Coopers instructional DVD?

$180's pretty steep for something that's pretty basic. Geez, if you can clean, boil a kettle, and use a can opener...

 

[DU99]

i agree its a bit steep for learning to do what..open a can and pour some water...as said above brewcraft promo..there's plenty of stuff on youtube..and its not like your taking home the completed product..

 

[chadjaja]

Its just disappointing that the Vic market that prides itself on local fresh food and vegies etc etc would put this on. All this based on 'INGREDIENTS' not canned or pre packaged product.

I'm pretty certain the cooling school there uses produce from the market and not packet food with an instructor telling you how to follow the instructions.

 

[Malted]

cooling school

Too cool for school!
Sorry I just couldn't resist that one

 

[Steve@PMF82]

Wow thats some serious $, especially if they are going to be spouting the sales lines that i got at LHBS (brewcraft - agent)
when i went looking for supplies for my first brew.

If i had my time over again, there are so many things that i would laugh at now, there in the game of selling you things you
dont really need.

 

[argon]

Can mods move this to humour & jokes?


It is a joke yeah?

gotta be a joke! <_<

I'd be surprised if any one goes along... i'd be pretty pissed if i turned up to one of these, handed over my $180 and the "interesting" coach whipped out his can opener, poured it into a big plastic drum, added some dex and topped up with water.

I reckon some Melbourne brewers should get along and heckle the bloke with questions about, Hochkurz double decoction mashes, including doughing in for an acid rest and it's effects on todays highly modified malts. With the occasional water chemistry query thrown in.

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

Sounds like a rip to me.

If anyone on here is intending on going I would point to other sources of info for K&K. AHB has a vast amount of info kits.

JZ and Palmer have a episode of Brew Strong dedicated to K&K and talks to a couple of Aussies from memory. Check it out. http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/698

They do talk a bit of shit at the start and sometimes I think they just like the sound of their own voices but some good info for the keen K&K none the less.

 

[fawnroux]

Also they actually call the guy running it 'interesting' so I assume its the talkative guy from the Richmond store too.
QVM brew course

Man, that guy is full on. However, when I first started brewing, I went to that store on the suggestion of a friend. I got talking to him (well, he talked for 45 minutes while i tried to leave) and upon asking a few newbies questions I got the following information from him -

1. Don't buy our brewcraft books, they're crap. Buy the following books from Amazon 'The Joy of Homebrewing" "The Homebrewers Companion" "Brewing Classic Styles" and "Sacred Herbal and Healing Beers".
2. He showed me a little program called BeerSmith.
3. He showed me some beers I should try by some little breweries called Rogue and BrewDog
4. I shouldn't be steeping grains yet as I needed to 'learn to walk before I run'.

Armed with this new information, I clearly never needed to go to a BrewCraft store again. I should thank that guy actually, that was some great reading for a newbie. Got me to extract brewing right away!

As for $180 for a K&K brewing course? WTF???? Heres what I would do. Call in sick on a Friday. Spend $30 on getting the doctors certificate. Spend the other $150 of some really decent craft beers. Kick back and, read this forum, do some research on the net, watch some brew videos online and drink said brews. Much better education and a better day to boot!

 

[DU99]

Any good local brew store,should run courses..Grain and Grape run them so does Brew2you..and there FREE..it would be even cheaper to go here least for your money you come home with something..
http://www.ubrewit.com.au/

 

[bum]

Any good local brew store,should run courses.

Nice idea as a stand-alone statement but in the context of the discussion (i.e. reality) this just isn't the case. I know the info at G&G brew days is of a high quality but there might not be much in it for the new k&k brewer. Jim seems to be about additions to make kits better so perhaps his displays are a bit more useful for kit brewers. The fact remains these guys are in the vast minority. I'm not sure there is anything wrong with the suggested course, could be very helpful for new brewers - it just seems like a complete rip-off. Might be different if you walk away with all the gear and materials you need to brew and bottle your first batch though.

 

[chadjaja]

Well they sell the kits for about $90 Bum. Getting that as well would make it much more worthwhile I think too.

 

[Supra-Jim]

9am-11am Different types of can openers and how to use them
11am-12pm Why the yeast under the lid is the best yeast to use
12pm-1pm lunch
1pm-2pm How to boil specialty grain
2pm-4pm Improving your beers with mystery brew enhancers

Cheers SJ

 

[manticle]

$180 seems a bit stiff to me but there is a lot more to making beer than just the wort production. Understanding yeast treatment, fermentation temperatures, what's actually happening in ferment, the role the ingredients play etc etc.

IF (and I have no idea if they do or not) they go into these things clearly and in detail and IF you get to walk away with some of the beer you made at the end, it might not be so bad.

I think it's a little disparaging to say kit brewing is just opening a tin - there's a lot more to making it taste any good in the fermentation stages and how many noobs know nothing about what is actually going in in that plastic drum?. The course may also cover extract brewing and steeping (although hopefully without instructing noobs to boil their grains for 20 mins)