Introduce Yourself.

[Punkal]

Cheers Andrew, thanks for the welcome
Yeah, I can't wait to try kegging. I think I'm going to learn a lot from this forum.

I'm really happy with BIAB. BIAB in an urn really does make AG a snap. Brew day is not really any shorter, but it's certainly simpler and let's me multitask in between steps.

Regards,

Mule

The leap into kegging can be expensive but if you can get a few items at a time and buy them when you have the money or they are on special it can be cheaper or at least seem that way... Also a freezer can work as a fermentation fridge until you turn it into a freezer and crash chilling in one works a lot faster.

And welcome.

 

[Punkal]

Hi all


I've been reading this forum for months now and excitedly awaiting my chance to start homebrewing. Finally got some equiment, some extract, some hops and some yeast and am gonna put down my first brew just as soon as I get some free time on a day that isn't a total fire ban.


Thought I'd introduce myself and thank all those from whom I've learnt while spying on the forum these last few months.


Cheers

Lol I was lurking for months before my first post too. Welcome.

 

[braumiesterblake]

Hello! Blake Here, I'm an all grain brewer from good old Chicago USA. I've been at it 6+ yrs.

I started out doing Partial Mashes and then went to all grain after about half a dozen. I have a decent steel 3 tier gravity rig with burners for HLT and BK. I use a cooler for my MT. I still have a big floor burner that I use for traveling brews, decoctions, and cereal mashes.

I'm a BJCP Certified Judge and love to make any kind of beer really.

Currently, My strengths are Belgian Dubbels and Dark Strongs, and I have a APA that is pretty well received. I don't mind consulting people for ideas, but generally spin my own recipe in Beersmith.

I saw the site when digging around for 3 Tier Brew Stand plumbing ideas.

 

[Woj]

Hi,

I'm Woj visiting from Elk Grove Village, Illinois, USA, a Northwest suburb of Chicago... and a friend of Braumeister Blake from the previous post.

I've been brewing since August 2008. Started out with a friend using a Mr. Beer kit and then progressed to kits and original Extract brews etc. In February 2012, I switched to all grain brewing and have cranked out a lot of good beer since then.

I have a few recipes that are tried and true but I'm all about experimenting with new ideas and techniques. All of my recipes since January 2011 have been original and I'm not afraid to give anything a try.

My current brewing projects include: a mango cayenne cream ale; dark mild; belgian pale ale; three ciders: lightly spiced apple cider, sweet bing cherry sweetened apple cider, and a wild yeast cider with yeast propagated from apples growing in my backyard; aging two variations on a soured robust porter that aged for awhile in a bourbon barrel - one on peaches and vanilla bean and the other on dates; and finally, I'll be brewing a foreign extra stout this weekend to finish off 2012 and possibly a Viking mead if time permits.

Thanks for reading.

Woj

 

[Screwtop]

Hello! Blake Here, I'm an all grain brewer from good old Chicago USA. I've been at it 6+ yrs.

I started out doing Partial Mashes and then went to all grain after about half a dozen. I have a decent steel 3 tier gravity rig with burners for HLT and BK. I use a cooler for my MT. I still have a big floor burner that I use for traveling brews, decoctions, and cereal mashes.

I'm a BJCP Certified Judge and love to make any kind of beer really.

Currently, My strengths are Belgian Dubbels and Dark Strongs, and I have a APA that is pretty well received. I don't mind consulting people for ideas, but generally spin my own recipe in Beersmith.

I saw the site when digging around for 3 Tier Brew Stand plumbing ideas.

Hi,

I'm Woj visiting from Elk Grove Village, Illinois, USA, a Northwest suburb of Chicago... and a friend of Braumeister Blake from the previous post.

I've been brewing since August 2008. Started out with a friend using a Mr. Beer kit and then progressed to kits and original Extract brews etc. In February 2012, I switched to all grain brewing and have cranked out a lot of good beer since then.

I have a few recipes that are tried and true but I'm all about experimenting with new ideas and techniques. All of my recipes since January 2011 have been original and I'm not afraid to give anything a try.

My current brewing projects include: a mango cayenne cream ale; dark mild; belgian pale ale; three ciders: lightly spiced apple cider, sweet bing cherry sweetened apple cider, and a wild yeast cider with yeast propagated from apples growing in my backyard; aging two variations on a soured robust porter that aged for awhile in a bourbon barrel - one on peaches and vanilla bean and the other on dates; and finally, I'll be brewing a foreign extra stout this weekend to finish off 2012 and possibly a Viking mead if time permits.

Thanks for reading.

Woj

Welcome to the fold brewers, look forward to your input. Internationals provide great depth to this forum.

Screwy

 

[Punkal]

Welcome to the forum, hope you find some useful information and don't be afraid to contribute.

 

[pommiebloke]

G'day all

I'm just getting back in to brewing after a long break, mainly due to having young kids and them taking up my brewing space and time! A lot has changed since then, I'm no longer a pom as I became an Australian citizen a few years back so my username is a bit out of date.

Just bought an upright freezer off eBay and wired up a FridgeMate from CraftBrewer. Currently fermenting an amber ale FWK also from CraftBrewer (thanks Ross). Got some marine plywood shelves in there with plenty of space for another fermenter so planning on getting a cider on the go for the missus (hopefully getting some buy-in from her will make it easier for me ).



I've got a nice rubbermaid mash tun from when I used to do all grain brews which I'm planning to get back in to service soon.

Emailed the site owner to sign up and found out that I had already signed up back in 2006. It's good to be back in the brewing game.

 

[zindello]

Hi All,

Name's Josh and decided to look at "this home brew thing" after a friend of mine recommended it.

I picked up the "Coopers DIY Home brew kit" and thus far I've been mucking around with the can kits. Thus far I've got:

-My take on a "Son of a fermentation chiller" made from wood and enlarged to take the Coopers Fermenter
-1 Bottled and conditioning "Pale Ale" (2 1/2 weeks in the bottles at time of writing) by accident I used the Brew Enhancer 1, and it's not too bad (I only have 12 bottles left and I'm a bit of a fussy beer drinker)
-1 Bottled and conditioning "Lager" (3 days in the bottles at time of writing - not had any yet) again, used the left over "brew enhancer" I had, which was Brew Enhancer 2
-1 Fermenting "Draught" (on for two days thus far at time of writing) all ingredients as per the recommendation on the can

Next I'm hoping to put together another "Pale Ale" kit, using recultured yeast from a few stubbies as well as look at kegging every second brew. I have a fridge that will handle up to 2 cornelius kegs at a time, so the plan is to have 3 kegs - two on tap and one conditioning at any point in time. Any excess to that will be bottled.

After figuring out the kegs and nutting out the cans i want to have a bit of a muck around with extract brewing, and then maybe move on to my first all grain.

Cheers!

 

[pk.sax]

Welcome to brewing/back fellas.

 

[cavey]

Hi there,
Thought I would introduce myself, new to this game and this forum. Have been having a good look around reading and learning plenty!
Thanks for all that I am learning and hope to get a few brews under by belt soon.
Cheers
Cavey

 

[AJ80]

G'day,

I've also been lurking here for a little while...up to my fourth brew and have learned pretty much everything so far from AHB and Palmer's How to Brew.

After this brew I'm going to move to all extract, I really like the idea of being in control of bittering and tweaking with specialty grains. No doubt I'll be seeking some guidance from AHB members on planned recipes (particularly on hop additions/timings) as I work out the different taste/aroma of different hop types (i'll be using Ianh's awesome spreadsheet).

As an aside, it is damn hot here in Melbs, but I've been able to keep my brew at 19 in my garage with an ambient temp in the high 30s using a water bath/wet towel. Quite happy with that.

Cheers,

AJ

 

[Nedg]

Hi everyone new on this site, ive been kit and kilo brewing for about 8 years but recently decided to start brewing nicer beer. ill still just kit brew i think or kits and bits at most id say. looks a good site on here and i have a couple good brewing buddies on here also so look forward to it all, cheers Ned

 

[JDW81]

ill still just kit brew i think or kits and bits at most id say.

Give it time mate. Before you know it you'll be sourcing stainless fittings for boil kettles, mash tuns etc and have spent more on gear than you could ever save from brewing your own.

Welcome aboard!!

 

[flaggycreek]

Hi All


Just returning to brewing from my student days. Back then it was out of need for quantity vs quality. Now more of a hobby & creative outlet. This site is great for info. I have secured a chest freezer and set up a stc1000 controller. I've put down a coopers mexican brew as a summer drop. My plan is to brew a full range of beers, starting with kit stuff and eventually get a keg system & AG


Thanks to all who offer advice to noobs, this site is a wealth of info. I've also made friends with my local brew shop, Marks Home Brew in Newcastle, the guy is a walking encyclopedia on beermaking


Andrew

 

[AntonW]

Hi All,

Happy new year!

I'm Anton. About 6 or 7 months ago I thought it'd be a good idea to make some beer (5l stovetop BIAB with strainer sparge - I know to call it that now) and some mead. Both turned out really well. I took care when I made them, and read up on what I was doing first on this forum, others and of course, how to brew. I made very many small batches. Got them down to about 3 hours. With a coil of copper my sink makes an excellent externally recirculating internal chiller and the space under my kitchen sink held pretty solid cool temps over winter. My note keeping was terrible but it's getting a bit better.

I live in an apartment but I'm member of a hackerspace here in Canberra and wouldn't you know it, the other members don't mind the idea of beer. A few unused homebrew kits came our way so we got off to a pretty good start. A 100l kettle with heat source and tap (at the least) would sort us out nicely but the rig is going pretty well. I've done enough small brews for now.

I think I'm about to learn the hard way about underpitching on a high gravity beer. 2 lots of my attempt at Revvy's Leffe Blonde clone have been sitting since the 27th. Double batch, half yeast. A Russian Imperial Stout and a English? Imperial Stout since the the 3rd and 4th. They've got plenty of yeast though. The guy who contributed the kettle to the rig (good dude) has gone overseas for a year so hopefully these beers will be awesome when he gets back. There's also a slightly bitter lighter beer that could probably do with another month or two to relax a bit (7kg pilsner malt, 100g target & Nottingham yeast fermented at 14C to make about 40 litres). Probably could have done with more yeast too. And there're all the small batch beers under the kitchen sink. They're pretty good by now those ones.

I'd like to make a video of a whole brew day and compress it into a few minutes and post that up. One day.

Anyway, thanks for all the useful information and for the help you've given everyone, everyone.

a.

 

[Pixiedust]

Howdy,

I was given my first keg and tallies a few years ago from my father in law. It sat in the shipping container until recently. I was looking for a new challenge, so decided to give some Home Brew a go. Ciders and Ginger Beer (aswell as anything else like that) for myself, heavier stouts and the like for hubby.

I think I have found a new passion! I have been a cook (short order, camp and station) for many years, and I find brewing an enjoyable offshoot from that.

We live in inland Central Queensland, as I type this its hovering around 42 degrees, welcome to summer!

I am also a QCWA president, lol, youngest one in the area.

Two young children, both in their early schooling.

Aswell as the keg I got from the FIL, Sister in Law got me one, and 2 doz flip cap bottles, which seem to be good for the ciders. And then today, other Brother in Law turns up with another 3 kegs, a couple of cappers and other equipment!

Think they are trying to tell me something

Anyway, thats me Hope to learn lots from on here!

 

[AntonW]

Hello Pixiedust,

sounds like we've had a similiar start. lots of fermenters and lots of kits appeared. People try homebrewing, get bored and give up but hang onto their fermenters until they can find them a good home. It sounds like you'll give them a good home. Have you got some sort of temperature control sorted?

The first serious bit of kit I paid for myself was some old chest freezers and some stc-1000s. less than $250 for the lot. Do it if you haven't already.

Aswell as the keg I got from the FIL, Sister in Law got me one, and 2 doz flip cap bottles, which seem to be good for the ciders. And then today, other Brother in Law turns up with another 3 kegs, a couple of cappers and other equipment!

 

[Pixiedust]

Hello Pixiedust,

sounds like we've had a similiar start. lots of fermenters and lots of kits appeared. People try homebrewing, get bored and give up but hang onto their fermenters until they can find them a good home. It sounds like you'll give them a good home. Have you got some sort of temperature control sorted?

The first serious bit of kit I paid for myself was some old chest freezers and some stc-1000s. less than $250 for the lot. Do it if you haven't already.

I have an airconditioned room that I used for the Stout I did before Christmas And I will use it again for my next brew.

 

[AntonW]

I have an airconditioned room that I used for the Stout I did before Christmas And I will use it again for my next brew.

that'd work. yeast like nice consistent temperatures.

 

[Drew CR]

G'day everyone.

I've been wanting to give brewing a try for some time and finally put my first batch down at the start of this year. Been lurking around for a while, learning plenty and decided it was time to jump in and get involved. I'm from the Northern Beaches in Sydney and love big beers - IPA, Imperial Stouts etc.

Opened the fermenter for the first time last night to take a reading. Took a nice deep breath only to get a lung full of CO2. Rookie mistake. Was a touch concerned about infection as the little remaining foam on the top was two distinct colours. Tasted OK though so I'm not too concerned. Am planning to take another reading tomorrow and see how it looks.

Looking forward to learning and contributing more.

Cheers