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Scuba Dan

New Member
Joined
26/9/14
Messages
2
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0
Location
Mount Austin NSW
Hi everyone. My name is Dan and I am a complete Noob to the brewing scene. A bit about me:
I am a car nut, a muso and obviously I like beer (I have testicles so that means I am genetically predisposed to liking beer so don't have a choice), I also like wine and am a massive foodie. I like travelling to other countries when I can (time and money allowing) to experience food from different cultures and also their beer and wines as well. Over the last few years with there becoming far more boutique breweries around Oz I find myself looking for local breweries when visiting new towns instead of the local wineries I used to be on the lookout for. In the last couple of years I have "come to the dark side" of beer and am far more partial these days to stouts and porters. I have thought about brewing in the past but I never really got around to it but a couple of weeks ago I was at a restaurant in Sydney and rather than looking at the wine list I was working my way through the beer list, tasting various dark beers, then I ordered a Brewfist Spaghetti Western Stout.....damn! So after leaving I jumped on the net to find somewhere I could buy a carton but by the looks of it I would have to pay around $250 per 24 beers. Don't get me wrong, I loved it but I ain't paying that sort of money for it! This has of course led me here.
So the question is, for a complete noob who knows nothing about brewing, how do I go about making stouts and porters? Where do I start? I would like to try my hand at vanilla milk stouts, a chilli stout or porter and porters with chocolate/roasted coffee flavours. I hope those flavours aren't four letter words around here, I just know I have had these styles before and am quite partial to them.
..........dammit, now I feel like a beer!
 
Well I just had a beer, it was great and yes it is my first brew.
Go all out and start experimenting. I got my fourth brew down (rushing alot) and really enjoying it so far.
My friend did the mangrove jacks stout for his dad and really loved it. So I suggest this if you wanna start simple. Or go all out, it is all fun!
 
Hi Dan, and welcome. Step one - update your location in your personal profile so people in your area can point you towards the local clubs, shops and maybe even invite you around for a beer.

There are so many ways to brew, but a simple kit will allow you to get a feel for whether it's the hobby for you without a big outlay. You'll keep using most of your original gear regardless of which direction you take.

Stouts and porters are pretty forgiving beers to learn on, so you're in luck. If you are as clean as possible and keep your beer's temperature at the right level while it is fermenting, you will eliminate 95% of what could go wrong.

When you have the time, reading this will give you a good grounding in the basics: http://www.howtobrew.com/
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Glad to hear dark beers are forgiving, I think that will work in my favour big time what with my no experience in brewing!
I am in Wagga Wagga NSW. I have tried to get back into my profile but can't get the website to work, it keeps coming up with a server issue so I am using the app but I can't find a option on the app to make profile setting changes?
 
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