Fermenting or not?

[alimac23]

This one?

Wow i thought it was $70 for the kit alone, then i realised it included the carboy and airlock etc

Still seems fairly pricey for a kit that makes two 6 packs though $70!

 

[Scobieb]

Yep thats the one.

 

[bum]

$20 for a refill?!

$70 for a refill and a sherry bottle?!

You can totally fill one of these with great beer for less than $5. Look into extract brewing.

 

[alimac23]

Have you got another fermenter Scobieb? You can make 23l of beer (just under 3 cartons) for much less than that, my last extract brew cost me about $45 all up and it made some amazing beer.

It might be a little bit of a cheaper way to go for you.

 

[wbosher]

Love the FAQ

What temperature do I need to brew at?
As long as your brew during fermentation is above 10 degrees Celsius and below 30 degrees Celsius, it will turn out just fine. Even if the temperature does sneak up past 30 degrees on those hot summer days, it will still be drinkable but drier than usual since the heat causes faster fermentation.

 

[Scobieb]

Yep....I thought that about the FAQs to. I've homebrewed in the past, but because of limited space, I have a couple of these at the moment. I also quite like the idea of experimenting on a small scale without having to potentially waste 23 litres worth.

The kits I'm making came with the fermenters, so I'm just getting them out of the way, before brewing my own. I've used the spreadsheet on this site, to design my next beer and popped into Brewcraft in Oakleigh on monday to pick up the ingredients.

The price you guys are right on...they actually have these size fermenters in Brewcraft which sell for $20 so the profit margin for Brewsmith must be massive.

 

[alimac23]

That's cool, I totally understand the experimenting with a small batch thing.

It's good that you are buying your own ingredients for a much cheaper price, those kits definitely aren't the way to go!

 

[Scobieb]

I've got another question on the steeping of the grain. Would you suggest using a bag of some sort? At the moment, i've just been putting the grain in the pan and sieving the whole mixture after.

 

[wbosher]

You can buy ready made bags from most home brew shops for bugger all, I think some use paint strainer bags, or you could just use some voile material.

 

[Scobieb]

Will look out for them. Will be in Geelong on the weekend and pretty sure there is a home brew shop there.

 

[Yob]

where abouts in Melbourne are you?

 

[Scobieb]

Im in North Melbourne.

 

[alimac23]

I find a bag is the easiest way to go, for a few dollars its a worth while investment.

 

[Yob]

you 'could' go one of THESE but I used to have plenty of success with cheap arse pantyhose... single use but much less cleaning (stretch the 'panty' part over the pot you are steeping the grain in so you can stir it, cut the legs off and tie up the stubs... save all the cut off legs.. they will come in handy in the future!!)

TBH I found that within a few washes the bags were starting to fray and wear so price wise it all rounded out but the bonus is I had to do less cleaning.

:icon_cheers:

ed: someone mentioned the other day that the asian shops stock similar bag products, so if you find yourself near Victoria Street, may be worth checking out a few stores.

 

[Scobieb]

Thanks guys. The second beer now has about an inch of foam on top, I think the problem is the bung keeps coming loose. I've now purchased another bung so will see how I go with that.

Managed to get hold of some grain bags today too!

 

[carniebrew]

I've got another question on the steeping of the grain. Would you suggest using a bag of some sort? At the moment, i've just been putting the grain in the pan and sieving the whole mixture after.

I don't bother with a bag, just steep in a separate pot while getting the water in the main brewpot boiling...then strain from the steeping pot into the brewpot.....add more hot (~65C) water to the steeping pot to give the spec grains one more rinse, and strain one last time into the brewpot.

Then make doggie biscuits from the grain...

 

[nathan_madness]

Never trust a airlock. I've just done back to back brews both lagers using the same yeast from the starter I made and one of the airlocks never bubbled and the other one went crazy bubbling away.

 

[petesbrew]

Yep....I thought that about the FAQs to. I've homebrewed in the past, but because of limited space, I have a couple of these at the moment. I also quite like the idea of experimenting on a small scale without having to potentially waste 23 litres worth.

The kits I'm making came with the fermenters, so I'm just getting them out of the way, before brewing my own. I've used the spreadsheet on this site, to design my next beer and popped into Brewcraft in Oakleigh on monday to pick up the ingredients.

The price you guys are right on...they actually have these size fermenters in Brewcraft which sell for $20 so the profit margin for Brewsmith must be massive.

I know all about limited space, but if you can grab a coopers fermenter or similar it'll take pretty much the same time to brew.
FFS, 5L? For roughly a month's brewing & fermenting from go to whoa, Most of us can finish that in a few nights.
Just saying.

Oh yeah, it's winter... brewing takes longer (but the quality is better).