On A Budget

[reviled]

Seeing as were talking about investing to save money, have a look into investing in some BIAB gear, that way all of your brews will be cheap as chips and taste fantastic! :beerbang:

May cost a little to get set up, but the long term savings are there!

 

[Interloper]

Well I only have the plastic bottles at home, do glass ones make that much of a difference?

Oh look out, there's a can of worms right there! I wouldn't store anything in plastic long term. Glass rules. But everyone has a different opinion on the forums...

Then there are those who love glass but hate green glass. Also it's a matter of what you can lay your hands on. But I would rather have 2 brown stubbies maturing in the cupboard than a 1L plastic bottle.

 

[Peaka]

Ok whats BIAB all about?

 

[Swizzle]

No probs with plastic IMHO. Easier to handle and clean, doesn't matter when the kids using them for toys, can re-use the lids, lighter, and the taste seems to be no different once you've poured God's nectar into a glass....
Having said that my collection is probably 80% glass just due to availability and cost.

 

[Swizzle]

btw there's a link to BIAB in 'articles' under beginner partials/ag

 

[reviled]

Oh look out, there's a can of worms right there! I wouldn't store anything in plastic long term. Glass rules. But everyone has a different opinion on the forums...

Then there are those who love glass but hate green glass. Also it's a matter of what you can lay your hands on. But I would rather have 2 brown stubbies maturing in the cupboard than a 1L plastic bottle.

What would be the max you would leave beer in plastic for before expecting a "plastic" taste?

Also, peaka, check out the website BIABbrewer.info and have a read, its basically AG brewing with a cheaper initial set up cost. Long term benifit is AG brewing is heaps cheaper for a much better result IMHO..

 

[Bribie G]

I brew to 24 L nett and bottle in 2L PET as you can see :lol:



Bottling is an absolute breeze and a brew fits nicely into two six bottle cartons. I've done an article on PET bottling in the articles section.

 

[bradsbrew]

I brew to 24 L nett and bottle in 2L PET as you can see :lol:

View attachment 21109

Bottling is an absolute breeze and a brew fits nicely into two six bottle cartons. I've done an article on PET bottling in the articles section.

I hope you didnt drink all that cola

 

[buttersd70]

Bloody nora, Bribie....I don't know what will be worse off, your liver or your pancreas :lol:

 

[Bribie G]

I hope you didnt drink all that cola

No my pancreas is fine - I tipped it all down the laundry sink. However I have to be sneaky about it now because the EPA nearly tracked me down after that last massive fish kill in Moreton Bay.

At 99c a bottle, if each bottle does six trips during the year that adds about 9 cents per litre to the brew allowing for a small amount of attrition. That is, if you want to be really picky and 'amortise' it. I've probably spent about $150 on the bottles. It's an ideal way of transferring three pints of nectar directly to the tonsils with only one bottle to wash

My old bottling days with 30 longnecks, the sterilising, capping and putting them all in rows like little soldiers and writing the batch number on each cap .... it was a valley of pain.

Now when I empty a bottle it immediately gets washed and put in the case, when case is full it goes into the empties queue in the brewery. Bottling day chlorine and rinse 12 PETs, either bulk prime or use sugar cubes if the other vessels are in use, 12 bottles, label the cases and slide them into their place in the conditioning queue and eventually into the current drinkin' selection cupboard. Over in a flash. Bottling has become almost trivial and my beer hours can be devoted to more pleasurable things like mashing, hop additions, yeast starting and all the fun stuff.

For my situation I reckon I have hit the golden mean between kegging and longnecks/stubbies.

 

[QIK86]

Do you recap partially drunk bottles Bribie, or just drink a minimum of 2lt at a time?

 

[Bribie G]

An English style bitter (or even most Kits n bits brews) poured into my 3 L jug and put into a cold fridge keeps in really good condition for an evening. Being Pommie Trained, three plus a little bit pints is about right for a short session.

If its a day off and I'm not working the next day and/or a drinking associate is here I'll crack a heavier brew for starters (say 5%) around about beer o'clock then later open one of my 3% mild beers to fill up the cracks and if there's say half a jug of that left I find it keeps quite nicely overnight in my 2L jug with a lid and seems to keep most of its condition.

If drinking mate plus my two grown sons arrive and I'm not working the next day I usually lose count because it then becomes a case of "now for the next beer let me present a heavier hopped darker ale with just a hint of..." :lol:

Admittedly early on in the piece I did get wasted a few times drinking out of a pot glass because it was difficult to equate what I was drinking to 'standard stubbies' but I now have some excellent 22 oz (a pint plus a nice head) glasses so I can self monitor quite easily.

Edit: of course for those who quaff rather than glug there's the option of 1.25L PET. I often do a couple as 'reference bottles' to keep. The neck opening on these is exactly the same as 2L so I can still fit through sugar cubes if necessary.

Hey beer O'clock is on the horizon :super:

 

[quantocks]

I've got my first cheapie in bottles, Brigalow Bitter. tasted it from fermenter, had a horrible smell to it nothing like beer. tasted very average, nothing like beer again?

bottled last week, Guess I have to wait another week before I can try one ?

got a Coopers Real Ale going now, done in the fermenter. tried it last night from a small sample, still not a very beer like smell and didn't really taste bitter or beer-like ?

I'm hoping either kegging or bottle conditioning will make the tastes come out ?


just opened the lid of one in the cupboard, like almost all homebrew i've ever done it smells very yeasty ?

 

[Bribie G]

Quantocks: My Brigalow test brew is now over a month in the bottle and is clear, great head and beading, and very refreshing but still tastes like a Brigalow . You get what you pay for, but give yours a few weeks and it will improve out of sight. The Coopers should turn out even better.

I often find that the taste from the fermenter when bottling or doing a hydrometer reading is no indication of what it will taste like in a few weeks. It mostly tastes feral until at least it has dropped bright and developed some carbonation. Kit beers are notorious for taking a few weeks to come good whilst many recipe brews, especially part or all grain are very drinkable after only a week or two, (similar to British Real Ales which are sent out to the pubs in barrels straight after fermentation and racking)

 

[quantocks]

thanks for the tips Bribie,

it just seemed funny I've done a Coopers Real Ale which looks extremely good when I took a sample, but smelt and tasted like yeast-riddled garbage.

funnily enough, it had almost the same smell and flavours as the Brigalow.