History of homebrewing in Australia?

[zarniwoop]

Hi All,

I've only been brewing for a little under 2 years and being in my mid 30's I don't really have a good understanding of how home brewing has developed in Oz. A couple of comments in different threads regarding the lack of brewing yeast availability in the 70s and how bulk grain buys were the only way to source grain in the early days of AHB has got my interest as to how it used to be when home brewing in the last few decades. I've only been exposed to dodgy kit brews from a girlfriends father 15 years ago and now all ingredients and equipment appear to be available without many issues.

So come, tell your stories of what life was like in the olden days .


Cheers

Zarniwoop

 

[zarniwoop]

Bump!

 

[wbosher]

This is NZ, but probably very similar to OZ. I started brewing with my old man back in my late teens (over 20 years ago ), back then we had a choice of Black Rock or Muntons kits if memory serves me right.

We could brew a Draught, Bitter, or Stout...that was about it. Of course with each kit went a kilo of sugar or dex, and the yeast under the lid. I don't think separate yeast was available then. Even if it was, the average home brewer had no idea of it's existence or even how/why to use it.

The only advice we had was the instructions with the kit. The people at the LHBS knew about as much as we did and could offer no additional info, they pretty much just supplied the gear.

All grain brewing was unheard of for the home brewer, as was extract. Getting hold of grains or hops was impossible...although no one knew anything about them anyway.

Temp control, what the hell is that? As long as the airlock was bubbling, all was good. If not, wrap a heat belt around it and give it a stir up.

We fermented for about a week, or until FG was reached for a few days, then bottled for a week or two.

Taste? Bloody awful. I think I made three brews then gave it away until a little over a year ago. The old man continued and only quit recently, in fact I started again using his gear after he gave it away.

Times have changed significantly for the best. :beerbang:

 

[zarniwoop]

Thanks interesting. That would pretty much tie in with my experiences of drinking homebrew in the late 90s.

 

[Bribie G]

I ran a LHBS in Maryborough QLD in the late 1970s for my mate who owned stores in Bundaberg, Maryborough and Gladstone.

There was little or no AG, mostly malt extract brews and kits. There were a lot of kits around, the main one in QLD being Brigalow that retailed for around $3 a tin. If you want to hop in your time machine, get a Brigalow kit and brew it up. It hasn't changed one iota since the 70s. Just as dreadful.

Other popular kits were Unican which strangely was a LDME kit :unsure: similar to those "beer machine" packs nowadays , Sundowner (that later went on to be Morgans, I think) and the odd UK import.

Malt extract came in big drums from Wander and we served it from a honey dispenser, along with glucose syrup.

Yeast were available, Edme being the most popular.

Hops were either liquid hops or POR flowers or pellets that we packed in 30g lots.

Typical recipe would be:

1.5 kg liquid malt extract
1 kilo glucose syrup
500g raw sugar

30g POR boiled for 30 mins

Edme Yeast

Gelatine finings

Actually made a very nice drop during the winter months if you could fluke some good temperatures.

There was no kegging and PET hadn't yet come in so hand and bench cappers were necessary.

At the same time, Coopers brought out Fresh Wort Kits of Stout and Sparkling staight from the brewhouse, in 20l cubes, basically identical to Ross's current offerings. They were sublime but freight killed them and after a short experiment with bag in a box, Coopers went onto kits themselves and the rest is history.

Really not a lot has changed for kit brewers but the main modern difference is temperature control and more thorough sanitising. Back then the major sanitiser was sodium metabisulphite that could kill you if you were asthmatic.
Lance and I used to complain that the cold months were bad for business as it was generally too cold to brew :blink: :blink: - ah the good old days.

 

[tiprya]

S-33 is edme yeast I believe, for anyone wanting to recreate the past.

 

[TimT]

For a few years Dad did the classic Australian thing - ginger beer. He told me he used baker's yeast - the sort that came in those clayish grey blocks that you don't get anymore. Some of it was just sweet without fizz or a gingery taste - 'lolly water' my folks called it. Some of it was super fizzy but still no ginger taste - I learnt to open these with a pot at the side and quickly flip the bottle into the pot so as not to lose any. He only got the balance right in a few. Still, what with the exploding bottles under the house and all it made for a fun few years. No idea where he got the recipe from - maybe an old bushcraft magazine.

A mate tells me his grandpa used to do mash beer back in the 50s or 60s, but then switched to the cans when they came out.

 

[Dunkelbrau]

My mum has some old cook books with some beer recipes.. I'm not sure how old they are though. Might have a look next time I'm around there..

 

[zarniwoop]

Anyone know who was the first shop to start offering AG supplies in a serious way?

I suspect the availability of cheap pre-built temperature controllers would have helped push the move towards fermentation temp. control? Prior to that it would have been build it yourself that would have been pretty daunting for a lot of people or an expensive industrial controller?

 

[Goose]

I ran a LHBS in Maryborough QLD in the late 1970s for my mate who owned stores in Bundaberg, Maryborough and Gladstone.

There was little or no AG, mostly malt extract brews and kits. There were a lot of kits around, the main one in QLD being Brigalow that retailed for around $3 a tin. If you want to hop in your time machine, get a Brigalow kit and brew it up. It hasn't changed one iota since the 70s. Just as dreadful.

Really not a lot has changed for kit brewers but the main modern difference is temperature control and more thorough sanitising. Back then the major sanitiser was sodium metabisulphite that could kill you if you were asthmatic..

I first became interested in homebrew in the early eighties, and tried a kit I think they sold in Woollies at the time, a Tooheys draught can, a black plastic carboy that came with a packet of caps and a hammer sealer. Tasted like absolute shit, but I was undeterred. I realised the way to go early was to make my own recipes with dme but at that time I had no idea of the merits of temperature control nor the importance of yeast or the quality of water.

There was no internet, and so information came from expensive books and the occasional magazine... I scrounged up enough money to buy myself a book called "brewing beers like those you buy" by Dave line which I think was first published in 1978. I never knew what "flaked maize" was and to this day probably still don't, but I used to like Fosters at the time (don't hate me) and tried hard to emulate it, a lot of the recipes in there called for it.

Used to get my supplies from Chatswood Home Brew on the Pacific highway, and today I find its still there though have long since moved away from Sydney.

http://www.localbuzz.com.au/business/chatswood-home-brewing-supplies-pty-ltd/356067

Its now 34 years on...OMG WTF has the time gone

 

[Bribie G]

Yep life's a bitch then you die

 

[dicko]

Anyone know who was the first shop to start offering AG supplies in a serious way?

I suspect the availability of cheap pre-built temperature controllers would have helped push the move towards fermentation temp. control? Prior to that it would have been build it yourself that would have been pretty daunting for a lot of people or an expensive industrial controller?

I can't talk for the other states but in Adelaide Grumpys Brauhaus was a leader in AG brewing supplies in the late 90's and early 2000's
They ran a pizza restaurant and brewhouse and sold supplies on the side.
Other suppliers along around the same time were "The Jovial Monk" (classic brew days there :lol: )
Brewmaker at Holden Hill - some grain but mostly kits and an offshoot from Grumpys was Goliath Brewing which was owned by an ex employee.

Without taking it away from GandG and maybe a couple of others, Ross at Craftbrewer was the guy who made it easy for us in remote areas the get quality AG supplies and some basic equipment all at reasonable prices.
The rest is really history with many brew shops moving to AG supplies due to demand and many others opening up to fill market voids....
If you go back even 10 years there was very few options with ingredients and equipment compared to today.

In the ealy 70's we used to use DME (probably made for baking rather than brewing) POR flowers and Bakers yeast and some sugar...all fermented in an open vessel like a plastic bin with a tea towel over it.....bloody terrible most of the time. We used to mix it with lemonade. h34r:

At those times there was a couple of good brewers that I knew but they protected their methods and their recipes with their lives....how things have changed.

 

[Goose]

Yep life's a bitch then you die

thought you were supposed to marry one first ?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I remember visiting ( and staying ) at Ross's place before he even started doing hops. I remember his first "bulk buy".....the hops where double bagged in glad zip-lock bags and posted. From there he went onto bigger and better things.

But Grumpy's & Grain and Grape where prob one of the first to offer online ingredients. Then came Craftbrewer. Unfortunatly for Gumpy's the owner had a heart attack and Thomas moved on into the wine industry. It was Voosher ( ? ) and Brad who took over the online supply business. Great times back then. I still remember when wyeast first came out. We where all sharing knowledge about use and growing starters...fun times.

And the Jovial Monk....and his "herb" beers. ...Does anyone know what became of him.

 

[Toper]

Started brewing about 1988/89.Standard K & K for a few months and then found a little book by Laurie Strachan and discovered how to use DME instead of sugar,and how to add hop pellets.What a change that made ! Not long after that Australian Home Brewer magazine started and I discovered partial mashing,another revelation ! Then liquid yeasts started to become available,WOOT! WOOT! :super: :lol: Quickly moved to stove top full mash and haven't looked back since. Those days I got most grain supplies from the predecessor of G & G,Southern Homebrewing. No internet,no brewing software of any kind.You worked out IBU's,etc with a calculator and pen and paper. Kids today have it soooo easy

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Yeah......No Promash back then. IBU's was more of a guess and good management.

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

I have a general view that I am lucky to be in the generation I am. Grew up with technology, health, and comfort. Threads like this make me realise my theory extends to brewery as well. 'Spect to the brewers in the late 90s and early 2000s that set up the AG paradise I have found myself in.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

But the principles are still the same.

 

[Airgead]

I used to get my stuff from Chatswood Home Brew in the 90s as well. Brewed kits once (guy convinced me to do a two can stout with a bag of "brew enhancer" and it was awful). Rest of the time I used extract and steeped specialty grains. Partial boil with stale hops. Brewed more mead than beer back then. IBU calculations were pure guesswork as you never knew how fresh the hops were.

Learned about AG brewing on here in 2005 and switched pretty much straight away. Still using the first rig I built (though my mash tun esky finally died last brew... need to see about a replacement).

Ingredients were available but still not easy to get. Used to get a lot of stuff by phone/online from Gerard at Northern Districts till he moved away.

Ross for hops and yeast was a lifesaver. Bulk grain from Asquith home brew (my new LHBS fro the last 20 years) or more usually ESB online.

Life is so easy now.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

But the principles are still the same.

Bleach to clean
Leave it in the shed to ferment.
Use your airlock as your guide.

I think the commonly followed principles might be a little different now...