Moving from overseas, what gear to bring/not to bring

[Meklenborg]

Guys,
I recently relocated to Canberra. At the moment we are living in a small city apartment and we are living out of what we could fit in 4 suitcases. Next year we will move our belongings to Australia and buy a house. So far I haven't brought any of my homebrew equipments, but I plan to do that next year. So I am trying to figure out what I should and shouldn't bring. From looking at the Department of Agriculture and Water and whatnot I think I will leave/sell anything with traces of biological materials. I.e. My Monster Mill and Therminator. Also I probably won't bother bringing my fermenters as I imagine they would be quite cheap to buy over here. Talking about buying. Where do you guys buy your homebrewing equipments, malts, hops and yeast? I am used to buying in bulk, i.e. 25kgs of malts etc. Do you know if there are any stores in the ACT area that carry a decent selection of malts, yeasts and hops?

Thanks

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Lots of sponsors here are online (if not all) and offer competitive prices. Australia is a massive place, so mail order is an option many of us take up.

Bunnings are fantastic for fermenters - the 25L water drums are about $18 IIRC.

Look out for any brew clubs, and bulk buys that may go on here.

 

[mtb]

Brew Your Own At Home in Kambah will take care of you, they're my go-to. The only home brew shopfront in the ACT that sells grain, both cracked and uncracked. Good selection of whatever you should need.

There is a place in Kaleen also, Butts'n'Brew, but they don't refrigerate their yeast (heresy!) and the only grain they sell is pre-packaged, in short supply, and generally of poor quality. Prices aren't great there either. Only go to them if you're really in a pinch.

 

[Drew]

Canberra Brewer's club is a great place - you'll get all your answers there. First couple of meetings a free (annual membership is cheap as chips anyway). http://www.canberrabrewers.com.au/meetings/

Bulk grain probably best bet - Belco Brew Supplies http://www.belcobrewsupplies.com.au/ have a bit on offer.

Brew your own at home in Kambah for premium advice and products. Not the cheapest.

Butts and Brew Kaleen...don't have much in the way of grain but have few misc items.

Personally I get my stuff (typically 5-10kg) online from cheekypeak brewery http://www.cheekypeakbrewery.com.au/ or brewman http://www.brewman.com.au/web/index.asp.

 

[mtb]

Canberra Brewer's club is a great place - you'll get all your answers there. First couple of meetings a free (annual membership is cheap as chips anyway). http://www.canberrabrewers.com.au/meetings/

Bulk grain probably best bet - Belco Brew Supplies http://www.belcobrewsupplies.com.au/ have a bit on offer.

Brew your own at home in Kambah for premium advice and products. Not the cheapest.

Butts and Brew Kaleen...don't have much in the way of grain but have few misc items.

Personally I get my stuff (typically 5-10kg) online from cheekypeak brewery http://www.cheekypeakbrewery.com.au/ or brewman http://www.brewman.com.au/web/index.asp.

Completely forgot about Belco Brew Supplies.. +1 for them too.

 

[mtb]

My Monster Mill and Therminator

Surely you can have them heat-treated or something of the like? That's a fairly expensive bit of gear to be leaving behind.

 

[Mardoo]

Where are you coming from? That'll affect which threaded items will be worth bringing, e.g. gas bottles and regulators.

 

[fraser_john]

Surely you can have them heat-treated or something of the like? That's a fairly expensive bit of gear to be leaving behind.

Yeah, when moving from the USA I was told just to wash stuff, they are more worried about grass/dirt, I had to pay to get my big CubCadet ride on steam cleaned, even though I had it professionally cleaned before packing it into the container.

So if there is just dust on it, pressure wash it and just bring it!

 

[Bribie G]

Which country have you moved from? Of course you'd be aware of our 230 / 240 volt electricity and funny plugs.

 

[Stouter]

Fresh jocks and a towel brother.
Don't worry about your thongs, you can get a new pair down the Servo (double pluggers with the dragons on the straps of course!!!).

 

[spog]

You have a monster mill and a therminator,2 parts of your brewing gear that you don't want to leave behind, the rest can be had here in Aus.

 

[niftinev]

anything made of metal or bling will cost you your left testicle here, so i would bring these and just be aware of our 230v here as bribie g said

 

[Kingy]

Fresh jocks and a towel brother.
Don't worry about your thongs, you can get a new pair down the Servo (double pluggers with the dragons on the straps of course!!!).

no wonder there gettin hard to find in the shops, I didn't know they where selling them at servos? Must be 7-11s as I never go there.

 

[Meklenborg]

Thanks for all the response guys.
I guess I will have a go at getting the mill and the therminator cleaned. By the way I'm moving from Norway so the voltage should be fine.
I was about to ask about gas bottles and threading. Do you guys use the dimension/sizes of the US or not? If not, then I will definitely bring the gas bottle and regulators

From what I can remember from the Monster Mill owners manual you shouldn't use water in the cleaning process. I guess some sort of heat treating might work (no Idea where I would go to get this done in Norway, but I'll try the Norwegian homebrewers association for help on that).

 

[sp0rk]

Thanks for all the response guys.
I guess I will have a go at getting the mill and the therminator cleaned. By the way I'm moving from Norway so the voltage should be fine.
I was about to ask about gas bottles and threading. Do you guys use the dimension/sizes of the US or not? If not, then I will definitely bring the gas bottle and regulators

From what I can remember from the Monster Mill owners manual you shouldn't use water in the cleaning process. I guess some sort of heat treating might work (no Idea where I would go to get this done in Norway, but I'll try the Norwegian homebrewers association for help on that).

We use POL fittings for gas

If there are no plastics/meltables on mill, I'd throw it in an oven at 200C for 20 minutes
I may be wrong though, wait for others to confirm...

 

[HBHB]

Thanks for all the response guys.
I guess I will have a go at getting the mill and the therminator cleaned. By the way I'm moving from Norway so the voltage should be fine.
I was about to ask about gas bottles and threading. Do you guys use the dimension/sizes of the US or not? If not, then I will definitely bring the gas bottle and regulators

From what I can remember from the Monster Mill owners manual you shouldn't use water in the cleaning process. I guess some sort of heat treating might work (no Idea where I would go to get this done in Norway, but I'll try the Norwegian homebrewers association for help on that).

as above, the mill and therminator will be fine. the gas bottle won't get packed into the container due to safety issues with them in shipping (even empty) give the mill a thorough strip down, brush and vacuum and it'll be fine.
Welcome to 'Straya M8

 

[damoninja]

Thanks for all the response guys.
I guess I will have a go at getting the mill and the therminator cleaned. By the way I'm moving from Norway so the voltage should be fine.
I was about to ask about gas bottles and threading. Do you guys use the dimension/sizes of the US or not? If not, then I will definitely bring the gas bottle and regulators

From what I can remember from the Monster Mill owners manual you shouldn't use water in the cleaning process. I guess some sort of heat treating might work (no Idea where I would go to get this done in Norway, but I'll try the Norwegian homebrewers association for help on that).

Gas bottles are fairly cheap, not sure if it'd be worth the cost to move it or not depends on how you're moving... A lot of companies won't ship bottles even if empty, if they do they charge a lot... May be cheaper to sell before moving and buy one or two when you get here.

Re the mill, get in touch with Australian Customs and explain to them what it is, what's been in contact with, how it's been cleaned and what borders it's crossing(ed), there's a good chance they won't care as long as you declare it on entry.

I came back in to the country with muddy shoes from Fiji and they didn't care, just gave them a little brush.

 

[n87]

strong starsan solution and a nail brush will bring the mill back to its shiny self pretty easily

 

[Maheel]

yeah give the mill a good clean and you should be good.

NO grain etc customs will not like that....

Gas bottles can be sent but you have to get it certified empty and have paper work but not worth the costs.
sell it there or leave it with a mate etc buy another here.

Some employers will pay some % of "loss" of what you have to leave behind / replace.
So if your relocating with a job (paid relocation) have a close read of the relocation policy etc.

 

[peteru]

A new empty 9kg LPG cylinder can be purchased for around $30 and a refill/swap will cost about $16-$30, depending on where you go. Not worth shipping from the other side of the world.

You should probably bring your burners and regulators.