New and need help

[Scott Walters]

Hi,

I find it odd to be in here, as I don't drink heaps, but am looking for a new shed hobby. Me and a few mates hang out in my shed and do a little work on my old land rover often, and i thought wouldn't it be great to make beer, of similar quality to what I can buy, and put it out from a tap from the side of the fridge we already have there, and hence an idea was born.

So is that possible, can someone like me, with little experience make beer better than bought?

Secondly, what do I need to buy/do to get there? Does it have to be a really expensive operation, or could I do it at a decent price, and still keep the friday night club happy?

Anyway, I look forward to learning more, and hopefully one day I'll get there.

 

[Grott]

Welcome Scott. You certainly can brew a decent beer and I'd start off with a kit eg Coopers. It has everthing for your first brew including the bottles. ( then happy with, proceed with keg/tap etc purchases).
What style of beer do you prefer, what do you buy?
To get the "taste" of home brewing start simple, be happy then off off you go, never to look back.
Cheers

 

[Scott Walters]

Thank you, I did some kit stuff years ago, and I guess I was not that impressed with the results (I am sure it was user error).

I mostly drink IPA's, or Pale Ales, but I should also say the others in the shed are not that fussy!

 

[Grott]

Personally I don't think you can go past the Coopers IPA's and of course Pale Ale. Years ago? If many years ago the kits now a good. I use a liquid malt but dry is fine (better than the enhances or dextrose etc).
For a good brew- cleanliness, sanitisation and temp control of the fermentation process, 18 to 20c is tops and ferment for 14 days. This cleans out everything and allows things to settings to settle out.

 

[Meddo]

Hey Scott, welcome. If you're more interested in the product than the process then fresh wort kits (FWKs) are a cheap and easy way to get started and usually make a great beer (or at least they have the potential to be great beer if you don't bugger it up... - just pour the whole bottle in the fermenter, even easier than can kits. I think most FWKs go for $30-$60 for enough wort to make 19 litres of beer, price varies a bit depending on the strength or hoppiness of the beer - increasing one or both generally requires more raw ingredients hence unit cost goes up.

Fermenters are cheap using water drums from Bunnings for $20-odd. The main thing you'll need is a way to control the temperature of the ferment at set temperatures between 0 and 20 degrees, this usually (not always) means a second-hand fridge or freezer and a thermostat unit for switching the mains power, these are normally about $50 for a plug-n-play unit or less if you can wire and mount the controller yourself.

Bottling requires a lot less equipment than kegging and hence is a fair bit cheaper, gotta say though that it's hard to beat the feeling of pouring a fresh pint of your own brew off tap . The major expenses for kegging will be the keg(s) themselves - $140 new / $70 second hand for a 19L keg, a CO2 bottle - somewhere between $150-$300, and a regulator for $50-$100. On top of that you'll need miscellaneous fittings and tubing that might add up to $50, and a means of dispensing - guns are around $30 for plastic, $75 for stainless or $5 for a basic plastic picnic tap. Hard-mounted taps can be had but then you need to think about how and on what you'll mount them.

Systems for full volume all-grain wort production are many and varied - $50-$100 would probably get you started with basic or ghetto gear but you can spend as much money as you want up to many thousands of dollars, off the shelf all-in-one systems are popular at around $600-$1200. This is only relevant if you want to move beyond kits or FWKs, although there are intermediate steps as well such as partial mashing which requires bugger-all in the way of expenditure - a pot, a mesh bag and a stove.

Rough numbers only, and be aware that the rabbit-hole is deep and lined with shiny shiny stainless steel....

Enjoy!

 

[Scott Walters]

Hey Scott, welcome. If you're more interested in the product than the process then fresh wort kits (FWKs) are a cheap and easy way to get started and usually make a great beer (or at least they have the potential to be great beer if you don't bugger it up... - just pour the whole bottle in the fermenter, even easier than can kits. I think most FWKs go for $30-$60 for enough wort to make 19 litres of beer, price varies a bit depending on the strength or hoppiness of the beer - increasing one or both generally requires more raw ingredients hence unit cost goes up.

Fermenters are cheap using water drums from Bunnings for $20-odd. The main thing you'll need is a way to control the temperature of the ferment at set temperatures between 0 and 20 degrees, this usually (not always) means a second-hand fridge or freezer and a thermostat unit for switching the mains power, these are normally about $50 for a plug-n-play unit or less if you can wire and mount the controller yourself.

Bottling requires a lot less equipment than kegging and hence is a fair bit cheaper, gotta say though that it's hard to beat the feeling of pouring a fresh pint of your own brew off tap . The major expenses for kegging will be the keg(s) themselves - $140 new / $70 second hand for a 19L keg, a CO2 bottle - somewhere between $150-$300, and a regulator for $50-$100. On top of that you'll need miscellaneous fittings and tubing that might add up to $50, and a means of dispensing - guns are around $30 for plastic, $75 for stainless or $5 for a basic plastic picnic tap. Hard-mounted taps can be had but then you need to think about how and on what you'll mount them.

Systems for full volume all-grain wort production are many and varied - $50-$100 would probably get you started with basic or ghetto gear but you can spend as much money as you want up to many thousands of dollars, off the shelf all-in-one systems are popular at around $600-$1200. This is only relevant if you want to move beyond kits or FWKs, although there are intermediate steps as well such as partial mashing which requires bugger-all in the way of expenditure - a pot, a mesh bag and a stove.

Rough numbers only, and be aware that the rabbit-hole is deep and lined with shiny shiny stainless steel....

Enjoy!

Thank you so much for the answer. I guess I can see myself wanting to get into the process and getting to understand it all down the road, but for now, yes I want good, clear, drinkable beer. The fridge etc is pretty easy, second hand fridges are easy to find, and my dad was a fridge mechanic in the olden days. Probably the same can be said for the CO2 part of it all, just need some kegs! I really appreciate you taking the time to go through it, I have a lot more reading to do!

 

[Bonenose]

Started not long ago myself and would encourage anyone to give it a crack, like Grott says sanitation and temp control keep on them and you should be right. Keep up the research is a lot to learn but I think it is also a lot of fun. Easy to start out cheaply with some basic gear and work up so I would suggest don't get too caught up in needing all the latest and greatest gear to begin with.

 

[rude]

Welcome to the dark side Scott especially if you want perfection

Pales & Ipa's ahe next you will be craving a Kolsch or Munich Dunkle

Sodium Percarbonate for cleaning

Use a no rinse sanitiser

Temp control & using a hydrometer

Yeast health & numbers for correct pitch rate

Dont drink much you will but moderate

I wish you good luck & hopefully you will give me a tip down the track

Cheers Rude

 

[AJS2154]

[QUOTE="Grott, post: 1459284, member: 20191"
For a good brew- cleanliness, sanitisation and temp control of the fermentation process, 18 to 20c is tops and ferment for 14 days. This cleans out everything and allows things to settings to settle out.[/QUOTE]

This will be the third time it has been said in only a handfull of posts. Only 2 things to concentrate on when starting.....cleanliness and temperature control.

I bought a $10 fridge on Ebay.....an old ******* that looked like I paid too much, but she runs beautifully. I use it as a temperature controlled (with an STC1000) area when brewing 2 batches, and then use it to keep my beer cold in the kegs.

Buy some Starsan and wash everything thoroughly. I am almost OCD with cleaning my gear, but have never had an infection.

When you get this stuff right with kits like Coopers, come back and ask us about BIAB. You will be making beer better than commercial in no time.

Oh, and finally, if you brew because it is cheaper than commercial beer, then you need to consider the value of your time. I do it beacuse it tastes great, and is a challenge to improve process and techniques.

Anthony

 

[BrockHops]

Scott,
You've stumbled across a rich source of advice mate.
I'll agree with all of the advice shared above.

Be patient, be clean, use fresh stuff, try to improve on at least one thing each time & you'll be pouring liquid gold from that fridge in no time

 

[warra48]

Scott, if you post your location, then I'm sure an experienced brewer on here will be happy to sit in on your first brew day to help guide you.
Another option is to search out a brewing club near your location. They're a valuable source of advice, information, and good mateship. Look in the clubs section of the forum to see if there is one near you.

 

[Grott]

Good advice by Anthony (AJS2154) and Warra48. You won't go wrong.

 

[AJS2154]

Who would have thought you would get 12 responses to an enquiry in such a short timeframe. What a great bunch of people all willing to share their information!

I think most of my knowledge has come from this board, and the willingness to experiment and fail. Worse things have happened than to have a swing at a new technique and fail. Doctors burry their mistakes, my mates drink mine.

Lets get on with making some quality beer. Enjoy, Anthony.