So How Many People Do You Know Who Brew?

[Interloper]

I was at a BBQ on Sunday, actually a 1st birthday for my daughters friend, either way turns out said child's dad has started to dabble in HB.....

He pulls a few coopers PETS out from the garage and turfs them in the esky for a bit, upon pouring I got confused as to whether it was beer or coke....
Turns out one of the other dads there is a HBer too, so we stand around the BBQ chatting about why this beer has no head after over 5 months in the bottle, it was carbed, but headless...

Then the words were heard "I used the coopers brewing sugar, that's the best one yeah??"

Think I'll invite him round this weekend for my first all malt brew with steeped grains and hops.....See if I can steer him in a better direction....

-1 for pet (flame suit on)
-1 for coopers brewing sugar which is ummm sugar isn't it?

 

[Pollux]

The PET I could live with, I have 60 of them here and normally use 5-15 per batch when I'm bottling...

As for the Brewing Sugar, according to coopers website, it contains dex and maltodex....Must be a ratio of 900g:100g I'd be guessing..

 

[brendo]

I am the only one amongst my group - a few lapsed brewers in there though -just basic K&K. I have one of the lapsed brewers to thank for a lot of the equip I use now as I inherited most of it from him.

While my mates might not be brewers, they are keenly interested in trying out my latest creations and I haven't had a bad review from any of them yet. A few of my good mates are well versed in trying quality microbrewed stuff, so not really a case of having to convert them to different types of beer - which makes it a bit easier.

I think some of my efforts are actually encouraging at least one of them to get back into it.

Brendo

 

[warra48]

I'm now friendly with 2 AG brewers I've met through AHB. Amongst my golfing compadres, there are about dozen who brew beer, but all K&K brewers.

One, who I play with every week, was complaining the other day that his brews are starting to taste funny. I explained it was probably because the weather is warming up, and he must be fermenting in the mid 20C degree range by now, or higher. If he wanted them to taste like his mid-winter brews, I explained he will have to keep his fermentation temperature down to about 18C or so, and he would see a definite improvement.

There are other non-brewers in my golf club who I've given samples to. One in particular keeps asking me for more, so it's not all bad. I offered to brew a whole batch for him, but he declined, as I feel he may have thought I'd want him to pay for it. Other comments have been that my brews are the first HB they have ever tasted that doesn't taste like cider. I even gave some samples to my church's minister, and he said he really enjoyed them, but unfortunately mrs minister seems to have put an embargo on me giving him more!

 

[mynameisrodney]

What was the brew?

JSAA clone

1xRC plae ale kit
1.5kg LME (amber)
200g Crystal grain (steeped)
12g willamette @ 10min
12g willamette @ 0min
s-04

was pretty average at first but has come good after 2 1/2 months in the bottle.

Cheers
Chris

 

[peas_and_corn]

It's funny sometimes when people hear that you brew, as they show their complete lack of knowledge about beer. For example my uncle, on hearing about it, asked "What style do you make? Draught?"

 

[sinkas]

I try not to let anyone at parties know I make beer, as everyone has a boring bad hombrew story, and I am too lazy to descirbe the brewing process disparate from dump and stir, also laypeople think hoembrew costs nothign to make, and while happy to drink half a keg they seem to think thier half drunk sixpack of corona and plate of woolies sausages more than fairly shows thier gratitude.

 

[drsmurto]

I find a majority of my mates are open enough to trying my beers, even if styles like Porter, Dunkel, Kolsch, Alt etc are sometimes too hard to explain.

The few that do are usually the ones who have been bitten by HB years ago. So if i hand them a glass on cloudy looking beer i am making no friends and continuing to keep that myth going.

One of the main reasons i have spent so long trying to ensure my beers are as clear as possible. Not too mention i think it tastes better and judges tend to mark down beers that are hazy.

Having a few trophies on the bar seems to be helping.

Had a heap of my partners colleagues over last weekend for a bbq. One of them was keen to try my beer out and nearly fell over when i said i had an Altbier and a Kolsch of tap. He is a yank who grew up in munich. He even corrected my pronunciation.

Made a new best friend!

I have a few mates who brew (Kits) and we regularly rock up to parties with our unlabelled beers and share them with each other. We have a friendly rivalry in the local country shows too. Although rocking up with a keg instead of bottles catches everyones attention and seems to get more people willing to try! B)

 

[Cummins]

You're exactly right sinkas.

I went to a BBQ and some random guy I didn't know saw me drinking a homebrew stout. He asked what it was, I replied that it was a homebrew stout. "Ewwww homebrew!!" he shouted loudly whilst looking around at other people at the party, as if trying to get their attention. "Can I have some?" he asked. This startled me somewhat due to his initial response. "Do you like stout?" I asked. "I don't think so" he said. "Well you're probably not going to like it then". "Come on give me some" he begged. So I gave him a sample and he promptly yelled "Yep, told you homebrew is ****!" to everyone. I was a whisker away from punching him in the face before realising he is a ******* muppet with no idea and I shouldn't let it get to me!

 

[peas_and_corn]

Idiot.

My friends all like my HB, which is both good and bad. They're all willing to try a style they're never heard of, and tell me honestly if they think it's a little meh- at times they've said "it could do with a little more/less ___ flavour" and we've talked about that. I like that, it's better than "It's good"- gives you something to work off.

 

[tazman1967]

I introduced my best mate to my AG Lagers, and he loves em.
We went to a BBQ the other week and I took some with me. Got the usual noses up and sceptical looks.
They were all drinking VB and Blondes.
Anyway...A few blokes asked me for a glass...no probs mate.
Next they come back asking me for more....
My mate told them nicely to P/O and to drink their VBs.
So.. for the rest of the Arvo was spent on how to make AG beers...
Just for info ...the beer was a AG Boags Premium Clone.
My mate reckons its better that the original.

 

[peas_and_corn]

I got that when I made 'Dave's Old', my Toohey's Old clone

 

[staggalee]

"Come on give me some" he begged. So I gave him a sample and he promptly yelled "Yep, told you homebrew is ****!" to everyone. I was a whisker away from punching him in the face before realising he is a ******* muppet with no idea and I shouldn't let it get to me!

LOL-Post Of The Day :lol:

 

[King Brown]

Started the job I'm in now not long after I started brewing, turned out 3 of the other guys I work with do it as well, and one makes his own spirits too. Later found out another guy there also brews too. Other then that I think I got two friends who brew, so does my GF's uncle, and her grandfather has recently started stilling his own spirits too. Noone I know grows hops though

 

[Gavo]

The few who homebrew here do K&K with RAW SUGAR of all things, and the faster it ferments the better. So no one to bounce ideas of locally. I feel like I am Robinson Crusoe. Oh well I am getting one of my workmates interested.

Cheers
Gavo

 

[smudge]

I worked with a guy who was a chef in a previous life. He tasted my offering on a hot, dusty day when anything would have
tasted great and liked it. He told a pr**k relative of his who brewed K&K that he knew someone who did it "from scratch".

Short story.... the K&K relative brews with a mate and they had amassed 375 long necks of average beginner beer.
They tasted mine and decided to research the AG route, started getting their AG rig sorted and after a few months had
a 120 litre boiler, four kegs (2 each), a fermentation fridge complete with temp controller and a serving fridge with tap on the door.

It's now 8 months since they helped me brew an APA which was to become their first solo. Trouble is when I suggest that
they should try a different style they look at me with wide eyes and say..."Why the f**k would we want to brew anything
else? We love this beer!"

The two of them were last seen driving up the Hume Hwy in an overloaded Falcon, with 11 bags of malt from Haysie's
bulk buy.

So yeah, I know two other brewers.

Cheers,
smudge

 

[Mantis]

Only one guy I know that brews, and he does all grain. When I started this adventure back in May I rang him and said , when you do the next brew can I come around and join in. He was up for it but has moved into a new situation with a B&B setup and is as busy as hell.. So it hasnt happened yet.
None of the other blokes I know brew.
bugger

 

[Effect]

Don't know anyone that brews (well except my girlfriends dad). I used to work at coles and actually never saw anyone buy the K&Ks.

Will be starting to brew in about a week. Just wish I had someone to talk to about all this AG stuff that is going through my head. For some reason chatting about it on the forum even though helpful doesn't seem to release the pressure out of my brain...

 

[hoohaaman]

I worked with a guy who was a chef in a previous life. He tasted my offering on a hot, dusty day when anything would have
tasted great and liked it. He told a pr**k relative of his who brewed K&K that he knew someone who did it "from scratch".

Short story.... the K&K relative brews with a mate and they had amassed 375 long necks of average beginner beer.
They tasted mine and decided to research the AG route, started getting their AG rig sorted and after a few months had
a 120 litre boiler, four kegs (2 each), a fermentation fridge complete with temp controller and a serving fridge with tap on the door.

It's now 8 months since they helped me brew an APA which was to become their first solo. Trouble is when I suggest that
they should try a different style they look at me with wide eyes and say..."Why the f**k would we want to brew anything
else? We love this beer!"

The two of them were last seen driving up the Hume Hwy in an overloaded Falcon, with 11 bags of malt from Haysie's
bulk buy.

So yeah, I know two other brewers.

Cheers,
smudge

smudge,that is the funniest I have read for a long while.Can actually see it

To each their own B)

 

[hoohaaman]

I try not to let anyone at parties know I make beer, as everyone has a boring bad hombrew story, and I am too lazy to descirbe the brewing process disparate from dump and stir, also laypeople think hoembrew costs nothign to make, and while happy to drink half a keg they seem to think thier half drunk sixpack of corona and plate of woolies sausages more than fairly shows thier gratitude.

I'm also the same,let them eat cake