New To Ahb

[Wyno]

Hi all,
I'm a noob to the world of home brewing (althought I can't beleive I've never thought about making my own grog before now!). I'm at the research stage and with the help of a friend and this forum have a list of all the equipment required to get started (which has been sent to Santa).
I was wondering how many of you are based in W.A.? A local pool of brewing wisdom.

To all those Westies and everyone else are there any DOs and DONTs with regards to the brewing equipment and setup? What recomendations can be made in sourcing brewing equipment (on a budget)?

Thanks in advance

Wyno

 

[keifer33]

There are plenty of westies lerking on here Wyno and we are pretty spread out all over this wonderful state aswell. You mention you are getting some equipment so maybe throw up a list and expand a bit of what method you are proposing to brew (Im guessing kits but you never know) and we can aim to help out.

If you wanna join a club and get involved check out the West Coast Brewers (link in sig) and come along to a meeting a check it out.

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

Best advice for Perth, don't go to malthouse unless you want shit advice and prices.

Everything else is already on here or other forums or in books.

And yeah put up your wish list!
Good luck

 

[HoppingMad]

Temperature control is king.

You can have the shiniest pot, the largest pump, the most amazing mill and all the bling in the world.

But without a temp controller attached to a fridge or an insulated spot/box or coolroom to control your ferment you're going to make bad beer with a homebrew twang, or at best beers that are inconsistent in flavour.

Starting out I invested a lot of time and effort in getting shiny pots, burners and the like - but should have started with temp control. It's the best way to make the cleanest tasting beer possible.

Plenty of options out there and the sponsors have a bunch too - manual temp controllers to attach to heat pads or fridges, tempmates, fridgemates, thermostats bought cheap on ebay. If you don't have one it would be the first thing I'd be getting.

There's a good article on here for moving to AG for $20 too - so getting all your gear doesn't need to be pricey.

Hopper.

 

[Wyno]

Thanks guys.
I am based up in Quinns Rocks and am keen to draw from the Westie pool of brewing knowledge .
With regards to set up, I plan to start with a couple extract brews before quickly moving onto AG brewing. With that in mind this is the list of stuff a friend and some research has suggested.
Equipment
Twoc supplies has been recomended to to me for my starter brewing kit (fermenter, airlock, hydrometer etc), and when I advance to AG brews, all my fresh ingredients.
I have priced a 40L brew pot (crabbing pot from BCF) and a tripod stand burner (BCF).
I then have on my list to source -

25L+ esky to use as mash tun
25L+ wort cubes
weldless fittings (for brewpot)
false bottom/manifold set up for esky
tubing/hose clamps
fridge (wageing a constant vigal with gumtree)
temp control setup (thanks HoppingMad)

that's all so far. I there are anymore suggestions or recomendations, please speak forth

 

[keifer33]

Sounds like you are going about it the right way so far. You can easily go electric for a lot less than the tripod burner if you are only doing single batches in the 40L pot. You can pick up a weldless 2200w element for $40 from Craftbrewer which will easily boil your average 23L batch.

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

Yeah TWOC is great, when you walk in have a set budget in mind and no credit card.

Also the Temp control advice is absolute solid advice. If you can't spend the coin on a fridge and a controller find the most constant temp place you have and try using a water bath situation. I.E fermenter in large tub of water. In this weather start freezing big bottles of water and rotate them through. keep a thermometer next to it and try not to fluctuate more than 2 degrees. Its possible but takes some mothering.

good luck mate

 

[manticle]

But without a temp controller attached to a fridge or an insulated spot/box or coolroom to control your ferment you're going to make bad beer with a homebrew twang, or at best beers that are inconsistent in flavour.

I agree absolutely that controlling temperature, especially for the first few days of fermentation and during storage of beer is the key to good, clean beer.

If you live in a warm state like QLD or WA, then it's probably pretty difficult to do without a temp controlled fridge.

However, if you live somewhere with a slightly cooler clime and you are aware of the importance of temperature, you can make good quality beer with simple methods - water baths, brewing to seasons etc.

In my experience, getting wort to temps a few degrees below intended ferment temp and keeping it there by whatever method for 3 or 4 days can result in good beer. I have a fridge for lagering but rely on a laundry sink for temp control. It works in all but the hottest times of the year, when I brew saisons. Struggling at the moment to get one to move and it's sitting at a constant 28 degrees (that's the wort/beer, not the surrounding environment).

Any newbs reading - saison is probably the only beer you could brew at these temps without them tasting like arse and hopper is right - overly warm temps are probably the single main cause of shit homebrew, followed closely by incomplete fermentation.

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

I agree absolutely that controlling temperature, especially for the first few days of fermentation and during storage of beer is the key to good, clean beer.

If you live in a warm state like QLD or WA, then it's probably pretty difficult to do without a temp controlled fridge.

However, if you live somewhere with a slightly cooler clime and you are aware of the importance of temperature, you can make good quality beer with simple methods - water baths, brewing to seasons etc.

even here it can be done with none fridge methods. It takes vigilance and care but I can maintain 19c with 1-2 c fluctuations using an insulated and water bath with ice water and ice and ice bottles. Don't get me wrong a temp mate would be awesome and is on the cards.

 

[pbrosnan]

Gryphon Brewing is a good source for malts, yeast and hops if Bassendean is within your range. I found that I moved from kits to extract to AG withing about 6 brews. The quality is the key and 130 brews later I have no regrets despite the added complexity and expense. It's not about cheap grog it's about beer.

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

Gryphon Brewing is a good source for malts, yeast and hops if Bassendean is within your range. I found that I moved from kits to extract to AG withing about 6 brews. The quality is the key and 130 brews later I have no regrets despite the added complexity and expense. It's not about cheap grog it's about beer.

Good beer
Pat I saw Hugh the other week and asked if a bottle of the beer we made is available. It's all kegged and not bottled but Hugh said well worth visiting Degrees for a $1500 pint.

 

[pbrosnan]

Good beer
Pat I saw Hugh the other week and asked if a bottle of the beer we made is available. It's all kegged and not bottled but Hugh said well worth visiting Degrees for a $1500 pint.

The beer is always good. When are your going up? Make it a Friday and I'll cadge a lift.

 

[benno1973]

Gryphon Brewing is a good source for malts, yeast and hops if Bassendean is within your range.

Yep, Nev at Gryphon is great and happy to help out a fellow homebrewer. Neil at Brewmart in Bayswater is also good, and caters to the AG brewer, as well as kits and extracts. Malthouse has always been average in my opinion.

And as said previously, temperature control is paramount. Get yourself a secondhand fridge and then search for STC-1000 on ebay. There's plenty of guides on here how to wire them up yourself. If you get stuck, PM me and I'll be happy to help out - I've wired a few for freinds and I have a sparky mate who checks all the wiring before I plug it in!

 

[Wyno]

Hey big thanks to all for advice. Soaking it all up like a sponge.

 

[warra48]

I use a 25 litre cooler as a mashtun. Its capacity is borderline for my average 25 litre batch, but a pain for higher gravity brews when I want to do the occasional one. If I had my time over, I would invest in a 35 litre job, it would give me much more flexibility. I use a homemade manifold in the mashtun, but plenty of brewers seem to manage OK with the braid.

My kettle is a 40 litre aluminium job. I can manage about a 35 litres pre-boil. Anymore, and it gets a bit problematic when it first gets to the boil. A 50 litre job would be more comfortable.
If you ever plan to do double batches of 30 litres or more, you'll need to plan to upsize your equipment.

Now, this is for 3V brewing. If you plan to Brew in a Bag (BIAB), then ignore my advice and listen to the guys who use that method.

By the way, I fully endorse the comments about temperature control. I thnk it's one of the most important issues in making good beer. I use a TempMate and a barfridge for my fermentations, and without it I couldn't ever contemplate brewing a lager, or brewing anything in summer. I've lived in Perth for some years, so I know what the temperatures are like, you will need some means of controlling your fermentations.

Congratulations on seeking advice before you plunge in, it's a far better option than diving in head first and trying to solve problems later!

 

[Anofre]

Budget extracts:
Do not buy a home brew kit.
Get a drum from the green shed (+-$17)
Cans from IGA on special (coopers eu lager is very Becks when fermented properly)
Glad wrap. No airlock.
Just do it.
Temp control can be ice & laundry tub but keep it LOW
Fridgemate from CraftBrewer very handy purchase (>$50)

Budget AG:
$19 pot from big ewe
Voil from spotlight.
BIAB

Spend the rest on good ingredients.

When u r ready for double AGs, switch to keggles & an over the side element (+-$100)

Taps are a blessing & curse. A siphon will suffice.

Save the $ to convert to kegging. Bottling (& bottle cleaning) always was my least favorite bit.

 

[drtomc]

Any newbs reading - saison is probably the only beer you could brew at these temps without them tasting like arse and hopper is right - overly warm temps are probably the single main cause of shit homebrew, followed closely by incomplete fermentation.

Interesting [in a good sense] advice, I reckon. Though, I'd suggest going and buying a bottle of Saison Dupont first and making sure it's a style you're going to be happy drinking (I love it, but I know people who really don't :blink: ). It does mean diving in with a liquid yeast, and I'm not sure how extract will go as far as attenuation (getting down to a good final gravity) is concerned, but I expect it'd be fine.

T.

 

[blakie21]

Isn't a Saison actually hard because you need to keep the temperatures consistently high? Meaning at night not letting it drop? (thinking of attempting one soon after trying a Saison Dupont)

 

[drtomc]

Keeping a fermenter warm is easy - just use a heat belt/heat pad. Cooling one is more difficult.

Also, with the Saison yeast, if you're not in a hurry, you could just let it ferment out over summer - it'll get there in the end. Of course, if you're just starting out and don't have multiple fermenters on the go, not to mention a stock of beer, knowing that it'll be done by March would be, um, cold comfort.

T.

 

[Doogiechap]

Free Fridges in Perth Linky
Cheap Temp Control of Free Fridge

Your path to beery enlightenment is looking good thus far bloke.
Roy at TWOC is very knowledgeable as is Nev at Gryphon.
Have fun !!