G'day from Albury

[Count]

Hey there,

My name is Mason...

Totally new to brewing, but have enjoyed craft beer for as long as I can remember, so have been thinking more and more about brewing some myself.

I'm currently trawling the forum reading various threads and have Randy Moshers Mastering Homebrew on the way so I can do a little research before buying any gear and getting stuck right in.

I guess my goal to start would be to successfully & consistently brew a handful of beers of high quality that I can share with family and friends.

Cheers,
Mason

 

[kennek]

Welcome Mason,

You'll get many hrs of researching here and when you do start I've found there's always helpful members if you get stuck.
Cheers :chug:

 

[TheWiggman]

Hi Mason. I live in Corowa but work in Albury.

There is a sub-forum for the Border Brewers but it doesn't get too much action: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/66-the-border-brewers/
Cheeky Peak is becoming the hangout for monthly brew club meetings and they are more than welcoming to anyone who's getting into it. Tony and Jezza run the show there and go above and beyond to help out customers. They also post here as Cheeky Peak Brewery.
Meetings are the last Thursday of every month. Best to check with them whether a meeting is on as sometimes everyone can make it, other times people can't. I unfortunately never do because my wife works Thursday nights.
Also join the Facebook page Albury / Wodonga Brew Club to join like-minded folk who are more concerned about knocking up a decent beverage than liking pages of cat videos and unfunny 'memes'.

Best advice I can give you is get someone to help you out the first couple of times. There is lots of good and bad advice floating around but brewers are typically more than happy to point you in the right direction. If you want some help or sit through a brew day with me, send me a PM or see the folk at Cheeky Peak.

 

[Count]

Cheers Wiggman, I've snuck into Cheeky Peak on a few occasions now and noticed some club photos on the wall so I will definitely make an effort to get to a meeting. I've joined the facebook page so will keep an eye out for any events etc.

totally agree I'll need some guidance to get started, I'll keep reading but wouldn't mind giving someone a hand so I've got a rough understanding of what I'm really getting myself into!

 

[wambesi]

Those club photos are actually the social brewers club not the home brewers club.

That club is bigger but it's a social beer club (despite have brewer in the name) whereas the one wiggman is talking about is purely Homebrewing.

 

[Count]

I see, thanks for the clarification, I've gone down the home brew route so will stick to that for the time being. Cheers

 

[Xander]

Nice work Count!

Cheeky Peak are always helpful!

As a new brewer myself (a year) I found this website to be great for advice / tips, recipes etc. Everyone seems happy to help.

I enjoyed listening to different podcasts, particularly Basic Brewing. They also have a video casts which I found very useful in the early stages. BeerSmith was also a good one.

One thing to be mindful of around Albury is the extreme weather fluctuations! My first brew was had day temps of 30+ and night temps below 15. It turned out horrible!!
It's worth investing in a fridge for fermentation, with an external thermostat (Cheeky peak have these pre-wired for sale) and you can usually find a second hand fridge for <$100 on Albury Wodonga Recycled Items or Albury Wodonga unwanted items on Facebook.

Good luck with it!!! Be mindful, it can become an obsession!

Cheers :beer:

 

[Count]

Cheers Xander!

I have been reading through the forum and Mastering Homebrew (book) and am starting to build a shopping list before I get started, the first thing on said list is an old fridge and temp controller!
I haven't listened to any podcasts or watched any video's so once I get closer to brewing the first batch I'll be sure to watch a few to get a feel for what I'm up for.

I'm happy for it to become an obsession, so long as I'm producing a decent product and meeting some good people along the way!

Cheers