First time Brewer HELP!

[Mikey.ritchie]

Hey all I was chatting with a few people and I think home brewing is for me. I've been given a gift voucher for a brew shop. Where do I start and what do I buy and where is a good place to brew. I live in chermside in Brisbane

 

[Benn]

G'day mate,
Joining this forum is a great first step into brewing. There is tons of information to be found by having a browse around the various forums.
To make a decent Extract beer you'll need less than you'd think. A fermentation vessel, aka "barrel" a Hydrometer and some suitable cleaner and sanitiser will get you started. Bottles can be found easily but stay away from thin walled stubbies & longnecks (Carlton/VB), they are not designed for repeated use therefore not ideal for homebrew.
If I lived closer to a Homebrew club I'd join one, this might be an option for you. You may find a few second hand bits and pieces i.e bottle capper etc and save your voucher for quality ingredients and other equipment you might need.
Cheers,

 

[paulyman]

Welcome Mikey. You've come to the right place! I wish I'd found this place BEFORE I started brewing, had done a few brews before making my way here and had to unlearn a lot of incorrect processes my now defunct homebrew store and the kits I was using had shown me.

I'll let the more knowledgable brewers go into more details. But at a bare minimum I think you will need the following:

1. Bunnings 30L water drum (http://www.bunnings.com.au/icon-plastics-30l-blue-tint-wide-mouth-water-storage-drum-with-bung_p3240534) and tap. Once you've setup your brew you just cover it with clingwrap and hold it in place with the lids oring.

2. Cleaner and sanitiser, such as "PBW" and "Starsan". PBW cleans all your equipment, and once clean Starsan sanitises your equipment.

3. Hydrometer and Measuring cylinder. To track how your brew is fermenting and to know when it has finished and is safe to bottle. (Unlike my sister in law and her partner who just "Wing it").

4. Bottling Wand. To transfer the finished beer into your bottles without splashing.

5. PET bottles.

6. Priming sugar.

7. A Coopers kit, 1kg Dextrose and the kit yeast.

Kmart or woolies should sell 4-7. You could use your gift voucher on 2 and 3, it definitely pays to concentrate on 2, that's 90% of your brewing right there.

Kits will allow you to learn the basics of brewing, and the Kits and Extract forum is filled with great info. As Benn said, finding some locals and a great local home brew store will be great. Craftbrewer is probably your quality local store, (not affiliated) just a happy customer from out of state.

 

[btrots87]

I'd recommend getting a starter kit like this: http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/products/Premium-Brewer%27s-Starter-Kit.html. Most HBS seem to have them and they'll get you most of what you need to get started. I'd recommend paying the extra money to get the bench capper rather than the hand capper though.

Other than that, start collecting bottles (good excuse to drink beer), or you might find someone on gumtree, ebay or AHB who is selling some fairly cheap. Try and find a nice cool area with a fairly constant temperature to put the fermenter, and then I would be looking at trying to find an old fridge or freezer and an STC1000 to use to control ferment temps. Best thing I ever did to improve my beer.

 

[Barge]

Here's a few things I wish I knew when I started brewing.

1. Temperature controlled fermentation. The most important aspect in making a decent beer from a can of hopped extract. The instructions say to ferment at around 21-27 celcius. Forget that. It varies but most ale yeasts will be happy at 18-19C. Forget about lagers for the time being. They need to be closer to 11C.

2. Before I had temperature control I never typically brewed from december to after Easter. It was always too hot in Brisbane to make decent beer. I recommend you spend the time reading/planning etc but hold off on brewing until it's much cooler.

3. Don't bother brewing a can of extract and a kilo of sugar(horrible) or dextrose(better, but not good). Have a look at the recipe of the month on the coopers site. A good plan will be the can + 1kg of dry malt extract for your first brew. If you're feeling up to it you could maybe boil some hops as well.

4. Sodium metabisulfite is not a sanitiser.

5. Don't be put off by any early failures. It is possible to brew good beer with hopped extract. I've been brewing all grain beers on and off for about 8 years. The beer I'm drinking now is a can of coopers international pale ale, some dry malt extract and hopped with galaxy and cascade hops. It tastes quite nice. Not as good as an AG brew but much, much, much better than my efforts 10 years ago. I put that down to temp control, good sanitation and running a good fermentation.

Good luck with it.

 

[madpierre06]

Welcome mikey....knowing what I know now, I'd look to grab something like this http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/wynnum/miscellaneous-goods/beer-making-kit/1096981262%C2 to give myself a leg up, then use the voucher to get what else you need to get going with a brew. The LHBS down Webster road just past the Stafford Tavern has a good range and the blokes there are pretty knowledgeable and good brewers. I understand the recommendaion of buying little bits and pieces at the KMarts etc, but for me, I'd rather get them at a LHBS and support the bloke who also has the knowledge which he is going to be willing to pass on. Things like bench cappers, bottle trees and such you can pick up off gumtree as you go along.

As has been said already....temp control!! I picked up a wine fridge off gumtree, was a decent option.

Sanitation...absolutely key. I and many others use Starsan (from craftbrewer). Will last you ages.

Nos. #3 & #4 from Bargearse's post above.

Good luck with it.

I'm just up the road at Stafford Hts, so if you ever want a yarn about drinking beer, or just drink beer, drop us a PM.

 

[madpierre06]

And get yourself along to the next beer swap as an attender (rather than swapper), that way you'll get to meet fellow brewers (obviously), try different styles of beer you've probably never heard of, and be the tipping point to complete your transformation from kit to AG brewer.

 

[Killer Brew]

Welcome! Start by reading the Bible (Book of Palmer). Wish I had found it before I commenced.

http://www.howtobrew.com/

 

[Beamer]

Welcome Mikey, I have only been brewing for a little while now, my best advice is read and research, be super anal with sanitising and get amongst it!!!!!

Look forward to hearing more from you,

Cheers

 

[hooper80]

The only shop you need is Craftbrewer in Capalaba. It's the best and the guys are so helpful. If they can't set u up no one can. Ross the owner is on this forum also.

 

[Colo]

Here's a few things I wish I knew when I started brewing.


4. Sodium metabisulfite is not a sanitiser.

What the?

What the hell is it then, when I say I need sanitiser at my LHS this is what they give me...

 

[Barge]

Basically, sodium met is a bacterial inhibitor. It slows the growth of bacteria, which is why it is used as a preservative in wine. Coupled with the fact that you have to rinse it with tap water, most brewers opt for genuine no-rinse sanitisers such as starsan, iodophor or peroxide.

 

[chrisluki]

Welcome! Start by reading the Bible (Book of Palmer). Wish I had found it before I commenced.

http://www.howtobrew.com/

+1 for this!

 

[Davo74]

Hi Mikey,
Welcome to homebrew. I live in Inverell and the owners of the store down here have two in qld. Strathpine and Morayfield. Its called The Brew Shed. I cannot recommend them enough. The people in the stores all brew themselves and are genuine and honest.
You can purchase a starter kit for around the $95 mark. It has everything you need. I mean everything.
The assistance the staff give you is great. Highly recommended.

 

[Bridgey23]

The only shop you need is Craftbrewer in Capalaba. It's the best and the guys are so helpful. If they can't set u up no one can. Ross the owner is on this forum also.

+1 on this.
Once your set up being on the north side you should check out Hoppy Days for brewing supplies. Steve the owner is very helpful has a great selection and you can organise pick up as your close by to save on postage.

 

[WhiteLomu]

Basically, sodium met is a bacterial inhibitor. It slows the growth of bacteria, which is why it is used as a preservative in wine. Coupled with the fact that you have to rinse it with tap water, most brewers opt for genuine no-rinse sanitisers such as starsan, iodophor or peroxide.

Sodium met is an effective disinfectant. It is used in lower concentrations in wine (the dose maketh the poison) which is why it slows rather than kills the bacteria. The no-rinse, no-blowtorch-your-sinuses aspect is why it is not preferred to those you've mentioned.
Cheers

 

[husky]

Not sure if its been mentioned but in my early days other than temp controlled fermentation, the second biggest improvement was to ditch the kit yeast and spend the extra few bux on a good dry yeast such as US05.
I was also glad I went the lever bottle capper, worth the extra 50bux.