G'day

[famousguy]

Hello to all standers and sitters!

I've been to this site a few times before but decided it was time for me to join up so I can constantly nag everyone for information (well maybe not constantly )

I live in Enfield, Sydney and am just getting into the brewing scene:
[longish short story]
It all started when I was living up on the northern beaches of Sydney and there happened to be a council pickup. Being the tightarse that I am I scrounged around many streets searching for "treasure" and found it in the form of a "Wander Home Brew Kit" that had never been used as all ingredients were still in original packaging. (threw away the sugar etc... for "fresher" ingredients) and now I brew!
[/longish short story]

So there it is.. after a terrible first brew, and a "not so sure" second, my third is in the fermenter .... so we'll have to wait and see

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Indy]

good luck, i've got the same barrel - but mine was given to me... (bigger 35ltr capacity instead of my ~25ltr)

my first was alright, second a bit better, third was [satanic voice] evil [/satanic voice] you can read about it somewhere here in AHB (Pub-bottle bombs)
B)

i'm soon to go into the racking, liquid yeasting and bulk priming world with my next batch... *fingers crossed*

 

[famousguy]

I have been doing a fair bit of reading and research into home brewing over the past few days... I never knew it could get so complex :blink:

so many different techniques and lots of different terms! Anyways looking forward to getting right into it (read about racking and thinking of doing this myself) but haven't looked into liquid yeasts...and surely got no clue on bulk priming wtf is that?

anyways like I said going to get right into it so hopefully I will learn shiteloads from people here (and the homebrew thread over at OCAU)

 

[kook]

I have been doing a fair bit of reading and research into home brewing over the past few days... I never knew it could get so complex :blink:

so many different techniques and lots of different terms! Anyways looking forward to getting right into it (read about racking and thinking of doing this myself) but haven't looked into liquid yeasts...and surely got no clue on bulk priming wtf is that?

anyways like I said going to get right into it so hopefully I will learn shiteloads from people here (and the homebrew thread over at OCAU)

If it hasnt already been mentioned to you, www.howtobrew.com

Great resource, great reading.

 

[kook]

Btw, do you find the yellow lid on the wander fermenter is .. ****?

I've got one thats a bitch to get on, i'm almost tempted to stop using the fermenter (I only use it for secondary anyway now, its too small for primary).

 

[Indy]

yellow lid :huh:

blue 1 for me B) like a glove...

might get a new 'o' ring soon befor this 1 gets a little more shabby...
smoothed out the top of the barrel now tho, slightly sharp where the 2 sides are pushed together, scrapped and marked my 'o' ring so i cut them flat with a knife...

 

[famousguy]

Blue one for me as well!

But it is pretty well up to **** anyway, doesn't seal properly which is a bit of a bugger...no visibly signs of fermentation through the airlock as all gas escapes throught the effed' up lid (even though I bought new O'rings)

going to get a new one and use the old one as a secondary as well!

 

[Indy]

does the lid sit on an angle or somthing? :huh: cause they have pretty big thread 'n all that... it winds down further than it needs to too...

i guess it's just one of those things... hey check the top of your barrel to see how flat it is, maybe it's a bit warped, not that this is going to fix it but i'm curious (sp?) maybe it's been washed under boiling water too many times??....

 

[Indy]

Btw, do you find the yellow lid on the wander fermenter is .. ****?

maybe it's the lid that is warped from hot water or somthing?...

 

[RegBadgery]

This is the funniest first homebrew story I've read - I'm a happy scrounger for bottles (and have cast more than a sideways glance at those lovely SS kegs outside the pub) - but getting your first homebrew kit from the rubbish - that's a hoot.

As for complexity - it gets easier the more you brew - regardless of whether you brew from kits/extract/grain.

I've found that it's very useful to brew smaller batches - I brew more often and this all helps technique. It all depends on how much you and your friends can consume.

I certainly enjoy finishing off a sack of grain and ordering a new one.

cheers
reg