Grumpy's Brewhaus

[barfridge]

If I find out that Grumpys have stolen my patented "intestinal mashing" technique legal action will follow. Theres only room for one "Big **** Porter" in this market.

[post="55620"][/post]​

Dont be so litigious GL, its not like you know any good lawyers anyway

It would be good to compare and contrast the results from different animals. I could take some up to the farm and try it out on sheep, cows, ducks and chooks.

 

[Hoops]

and if you need a large enough mash for a microbrewery maybe an elephant :huh:

 

[tdh]

You fellas are full of animal ****!

Mal, stop #50 in Verdun en route to Mt Barker will get you to the door.

Call 8210 1000 for timetable info, we are open 10-10 7 days.

tdh (aka GT)

 

[kitkat]

just to say I received my first order from grumpy's, and apart from a mistake at their end (wrong masterbrew), it looks pretty good, I'll probably do one on Monday.

The only slightly negative comment I'd make is that their masterbrews don't actually list the contents, or specify which hops are used as finishing hops (that I could see). In that regard they're basically an up-market version of the Brewcraft converters, in that we can't know what's inside and how to use that information to do our own version or make changes/additions. Which is probably the aim, incitating us to buy from them again

 

[Jazman]

no go with that kit kat as grumpys will not give recipies away for their packs like u would find white wings giving away their recipe for their packet cakes

 

[dicko]

just to say I received my first order from grumpy's, and apart from a mistake at their end (wrong masterbrew), it looks pretty good, I'll probably do one on Monday.

The only slightly negative comment I'd make is that their masterbrews don't actually list the contents, or specify which hops are used as finishing hops (that I could see). In that regard they're basically an up-market version of the Brewcraft converters, in that we can't know what's inside and how to use that information to do our own version or make changes/additions. Which is probably the aim, incitating us to buy from them again

[post="56128"][/post]​

In that regard they're basically an up-market version of the Brewcraft converters, in that we can't know what's inside and how to use that information to do our own version or make changes/additions.

Yes, upmarket they are.

The masterbrew kits can hardly be compared to 500 gr of dextrose 250gr of dried malt and 250 gr of - dare I say it - dried corn syrup.

I dont think Grumpys want anyone to know exactly what they put in there masterbrew kits for obvious reasons.
Yes they do want you to come back and buy another Masterbrew kit.

When you stop and think about it, how many times was the masterbrew recipe changed and re formatted by Grumpys to achieve the end result.
It would be good( for other brew shops and others ) to know their recipes, then they could make up some close facsimile and sell it in their shops.

Oh! but there is just one or two things to consider.
Do the people employed behind the counter have the knowledge to actually tell you how to "steep the grains" or would the "kits" be stored in the correct manner, and then of course there is the question of "which yeast will I use".

"Liquid yeasts" - "waste of time" as was told to one of the forum members recently.
I can also recall a post from another member that was told quite ademently(sp) that "Cascade" hop came from Tasmania.

So we all might concur(sp) that the knowledge and advice that you get from a specialist HB shop like Grumpys is worth paying the price for the kit.

If you want to "formulate" your own extract recipes for most styles then a good book to buy would be "Designing Great Beers" by Ray Daniels, or
"Beer Captured" by Tess and Mark Szamatulski.
The recipes in these books will give you a basic start in making the style of beer you want and then you may "fine tune" to achieve the desired result.

My rant in this post is not to discredit brew shops, but more to explain that Grumpys (and some others ) do care about the results each brewer achieves and it might be that you only get what you pay for.

Cheers

 

[Borret]

Hey KitKat,

I too have had a stuff up from Grumpies when they sent me the wrong extract and accidently omitted an aditional item that was agreed on via email. However I just let them know and they sent a replacement free of charge that I got within a week.
It would be nice to have the masterbrew grain packaged seperately to steep properly but that would allow easier measurement of their secret quantities and the short boill doesn't sem to lead any noticable tannins in the brew anyway.
Can't give grumpies anything but praise. They run a great forum that they are active on and have a wealth of knowledge and a good cross section of products available. :beerbang:

Only complaint that I have heard before and agree with......They're too far away to drop in for emergency supplies!

Borret

 

[kitkat]

Just to say that the reason I ordered from them in the first place is because of the excellent work they do on their forums, and the great reviews the masterbrews have.

And of course I understand why they don't want to give their recipes away.

I was just saying that I see people (especially in these forums) throw crap on brewcraft products, amongst other reasons for not listing ingredients - the same can apply to grumpy's. The fact that their product may be better does not mean that the same remarks can't be made, that's all.

I'm looking forward to making the first 3 masterbrews, I'll wait to see if they email me back about the 4th (ordered a pilsner, got an irish red, but they still put in the lager yeast and High IBU extract - how would the red taste? ). And they have so many masterbrews that I'll probably put another order in later

And dicko, as for local HBS, you'll probably have to agree that "grain and grape" is probably one of the best HBS in Melbourne, so you won't have to worry about which advice I can get It's a testament to Grumpy's quality that word of mouth (or forum) was enough to convince me to give them a go instead of just getting some ESB 3Kgs or Fresh wort at G&G, or trying a few extract recipes I've had my eyes on. I'll gladly spread the word once I've had a taste, shame it'll take a month to be ready

 

[jayse]

Good afternoon gentlemen.
Firstly you'll notice i posted this in the pub/brewery reviews forum and it looks like its gone a bit off track. We have whole forums for discusing home brewing and brewshops and hoped people would see that and keep there comments in this thread to that of the restuarant.
Anyhow since kitkat has posted some comments i'll throw in my bit in aswell.
That is i think your a bit of track and iam not even gunna comment on how grumpies masterbrew compare to a brewcraft blend except to say brew up your masterbrews and post about them in the brewing forums.
By not telling people whats in the masterbrew range noone here is gunna go and put brewcraft and grumpies in the same league.
You say you use ESB kits and fresh wort, do they tell you exactly what goes into them and if not are they no better than brewcraft either?
Anyway i think you have the wrong end of the stick and barking up the wrong tree at the same time. :blink:


Jayse

 

[kitkat]

You say you use ESB kits and fresh wort, do they tell you exactly what goes into them and if not are they no better than brewcraft either?

You got it. All three are the same with regards to the fact that they don't say what their ingredients are.

And that's all I was saying. People don't need to run for the stables and get on their high horses to defend the honor of whichever brand they prefer - just because in that regard they are all the same.
That doesn't mean brewcraft or esb or grumpy's are crap, and if you read my posts I never said that - some people just didn't read properly.

I happen to think there is value in educating the consumer and making them realise that, say, the reason one kit differs from another is because different hops were used. This allows the consumer to then make subsequent buying decisions, and possibly also incite them to look further into more advanced brewing techniques, get more information from HBS, etc.
Another example is the lack of IBU measurements on the kits (except for grumpy's). That's a relatively easy thing to provide without giving away trade secrets (given that they'd make the beer within guidelines anyway), that can help consumers decide what they'd like to try next. Someone who thought his last beer was too bitter for his taste wouldn't get an IPA fresh wort next, for example. The lack of information on the yeasts provided (esb and grumpy's excluded) is also annoying.

The lack of information is what leads to dodgy HBS comments like "nah mate, grain is useless, just buy this kit", and worse, to customers actually believing it.

Of course brewrcaft, ESB and grumpy's want to keep their recipes to themselves so people buy from them again. Does it mean I can't say that I think they should give us more details?

 

[Boots]

No offence kitkat, but in your last post, you seemed to be knocking several brands of kits, and twice mentioned that your comments didn't apply to grumpy's.

As Jayse said, if you want to review kits, do it in the right location, not a thread giving a review of Grumpy's the pub.

And I simply can't imagine someone at grumpy's saying

"nah mate, grain is useless, just buy this kit",

People will read this thread for a review on grumpys not a discussion on the practices of the greater Homebrew Industry.

 

[kitkat]

lol you'd think I've been saying they're crap, which I didn't. I ordered 4 MBs from them :lol:

And I've no idea which forum this is in, I just use the "latest threads" link at the top