Time To Save Some Money, Help Me Brew My Own Beer.

[mickk]

Hmm so I drunk buckets of the stuff. Blind for years, ilke all good aussie boys between 18-30. Now im older and I dont get blind anymore. It hurts too much. A few on a hot day and two after work is about the limit nowdays.

With the price of piss rapidly climbing to $50.00 a slab, its time to fight back.

I have no doubt I will be a good brewer, its just that I dont know where to start.

I need your advice on what method to choose. Beginners kits from 60-99 bucks, all seem about he same, whats the difference.

I wouldnt mind bypassing that step and starting on the little kegs, but I love drinking out of a stubby, especially outside. So can the keg brewing thing be used for stubbies?

Hows this for an idea, write me a list of what I need and Ill go buy it. Im easily led.

Id like to get into big creamy beers, Im afraid after the first mouthful commercial beer tastes like nothing anymore.

So can ya tell me what method to use and write me a list?

Please

ta

mick :beer:

 

[Adamt]

Welcome to the wonderful and enthralling world of homebrewing!

Best thing I could recommend to start off is reading the "Brewing Your First Beer With Malt Extract" section of Palmer's How to Brew book. You can buy it, or the author has put the whole thing online at How to Brew.

You can usually get most of the equipment from Big W and some supermarkets (Tooheys or Coopers Microbrew kit).

The key thing to remember is not to follow the directions on the tinned liquid extracts! The canned liquid extracts you can buy in the supermarkets (like coopers pale ale, real ale, etc) are already hopped so you need'nt worry about adding hops.

There's a lot of questions you will have to ask from reading Palmer's, fire them away and one of us will get back to you.

Happy researching!

-Adam

 

[Tyred]

Probably best to start with a 30L fermenter. Most brews are between 19 - 23 litres so at least you'll have some head room when things decide to froth up.

As for differences between the various kits. Not to sure. Most
(from memory) appear to be similar same would at least have the basic components - Fermenter (25L -> 30L), bottling tube, lid, airlock, grommet (2), seal (for lid), tap, hydrometer (maybe), sodium metabisulphate, 1.7kg can (normally lager) with yeast and generic instructions. Sometimes you can also get 30 750ml plastic bottles with the kit as well.

 

[Mr Bond]

Mick k'
If you fill in the details with your location it will probably refine your request in that some one from your "neck'o'the woods"will be able to point you to a reputable HB store who will have everything you need to get started ,and more.

Reading how to brew and doing a search for the newbies thread here will keep you busy for quite some time.

 

[matti]

http://www.grumpys.com.au/manual.php3

http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/webcontent40.htm

Books
John Palmer is ok.

Gregory Noonan How to brew lager is better
List?

2 x 25-30 litre fermenters
airlock

water, malt, hops, yeast, oh yeah sugar.

The rest is up to you.
1h k+K or 3-9hour AG.
Kit+ kilo of sugar or make it from scratch
Be aware it may come an obsession hahahahahahhohohohohohohohohohihihihihihihihihiihhehehehehehehee
:beerbang:
matti

 

[Duff]

Books
John Palmer is ok.

Gregory Noonan How to brew lager is better

Mate,

Palmer is better than 'OK', any new brewer should refer to this text before Noonan's Lager book.

MickK - Read through Palmer's online 'How to Brew', a great resource.

Unfortunately we seem to be repeating ourselves on AHB these days.....

 

[Kerrs Rd Brewery]

Just be careful about all your homebrew disapearing down your mates throats... it loses its economical value at that stage!!!

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

I wouldnt mind bypassing that step and starting on the little kegs, but I love drinking out of a stubby, especially outside. So can the keg brewing thing be used for stubbies?

Here is one thing nobody has responded to so far.

You need to be aware that kegs are simply beer containment vessels, just like bottles.

You dont brew or ferment in the keg, its just a giant stainless steel bottle with connectors on it really.

So...yeah, if you get kegs you can always bottle a few as well.

All the best and welcome!

PZ.

 

[matti]

Mickkkkk
If you like to impress some piss heads in mexico.
Get yourself a yeast that suits the style
Ferment at optimum temperature
substitute 20% of priming with malto dextrine.
Hehehehehe
Good creamy head and they won't throw uop on your carpet
shhhhh oops i told too many

 

[Brewtus]

I started for the same sort of reasons a few months back. So far so good. I bought a kit from a freind who was moving but didn't want to use it where he was going. I have a copy of 'home brewing for dumbies' it it is good at explaining the basics and the advanced stuff in detail. More info than you need to start but it helps you understand what can be done.

I always mix the yeast in about 2 table spoons of warm (25deg) water from the kettle. (when the kettle is cold, turn it on for 20 sec). This is my first step after sanitising.

I have always boiled the wort (tinned goop, brew sugar and water to make about 5 litres) on the stove for at least a few minutes. I put it in an ice bath (in the sink) to cool it a fair bit. I put the fermenter on the ground and pour the wort in from above. I have themometer stickers on the fermenter. I top it up with Canberra tap water from above until I cover the stickers and depending on the temperature add more water, hot or cold, to get to 24 degrees. This aerates the wort well.

Take a gravity reading!!!

I pour in the yeast, seal the fermenter, fill the bubbler with the minimum amount of water (with iodine in it) and put in the laundry where it stays at 22-24 degrees. (if you over fill my bubbler it doesn't bubble as the fermenter must leak)

The rest is easy. I use Cooper's brew drops to prime as they are more fool proof.

I try to use good sugar mixers like Brewiser, Coopers enhancers or the'Right Stuff' from Brew Your Own at Home in Canberra.

So far all my beer has been good. Good luck!

Hope this helps.

 

[redgums500]

Hmm so I drunk buckets of the stuff. Blind for years, ilke all good aussie boys between 18-30. Now im older and I dont get blind anymore. It hurts too much. A few on a hot day and two after work is about the limit nowdays.

With the price of piss rapidly climbing to $50.00 a slab, its time to fight back.

I have no doubt I will be a good brewer, its just that I dont know where to start.

I need your advice on what method to choose. Beginners kits from 60-99 bucks, all seem about he same, whats the difference.

I wouldnt mind bypassing that step and starting on the little kegs, but I love drinking out of a stubby, especially outside. So can the keg brewing thing be used for stubbies?

Hows this for an idea, write me a list of what I need and Ill go buy it. Im easily led.

Id like to get into big creamy beers, Im afraid after the first mouthful commercial beer tastes like nothing anymore.

So can ya tell me what method to use and write me a list?

Please

ta

mick :beer:

Mick

The keg set up is going to cost around 400 skins, plus mums fridge , plus co2 canister rental and gas. The Coopers kit is as good as any to start with and is avaliable at Big W etc. Probaly might want to try with bottling your beer before kegging, just to get your legs, after then you'll be as addicted as the rest of us.

welcome aboard


redgums :super:

 

[redgums500]

I started for the same sort of reasons a few months back. So far so good. I bought a kit from a freind who was moving but didn't want to use it where he was going. I have a copy of 'home brewing for dumbies' it it is good at explaining the basics and the advanced stuff in detail. More info than you need to start but it helps you understand what can be done.

I always mix the yeast in about 2 table spoons of warm (25deg) water from the kettle. (when the kettle is cold, turn it on for 20 sec). This is my first step after sanitising.

I have always boiled the wort (tinned goop, brew sugar and water to make about 5 litres) on the stove for at least a few minutes. I put it in an ice bath (in the sink) to cool it a fair bit. I put the fermenter on the ground and pour the wort in from above. I have themometer stickers on the fermenter. I top it up with Canberra tap water from above until I cover the stickers and depending on the temperature add more water, hot or cold, to get to 24 degrees. This aerates the wort well.

Take a gravity reading!!!

I pour in the yeast, seal the fermenter, fill the bubbler with the minimum amount of water (with iodine in it) and put in the laundry where it stays at 22-24 degrees. (if you over fill my bubbler it doesn't bubble as the fermenter must leak)

The rest is easy. I use Cooper's brew drops to prime as they are more fool proof.

I try to use good sugar mixers like Brewiser, Coopers enhancers or the'Right Stuff' from Brew Your Own at Home in Canberra.

So far all my beer has been good. Good luck!

Hope this helps.

Brewtus

Not trying to be a smartarse here..... but I to have the same book as you. However there is no need to boil any aussie made wort. I know Dummies carries on about boiling wort but there is no need or reason to frig with the stuff.

cheers

Redgums

 

[poppa joe]

get on ebay ..
kit etc...15.00 at moment...look around garage sales...
PJ

 

[hupnupnee]

Here's a list of stuff I started out with. I'm a real tight wad so I tried to do it as cheap as possible.
If you look around at garage sales and ebay you can pick most of this stuff up for bugger all.


1 25-30l fermenter (This is the most expensive bit)
1 airlock and grommit
1 bottle of cheapest bleach (make sure it is plain bleach) (steralise everything with this in a diluted ration of about half a cup in a bucket of water.)

1 big plastic spoon

1 bottle capper. This can be expensive too, but there are a few cheap models around. Don't waste your time with the ones that you tap with a hammer.

Stubbie and long neck bottles - you need enough to make up to a volume of about 23l

This list will get you started

You can then add if you decide to stick with it.

1 hydrometer
1 extra fermeter
1 thermometer

For your first brew I suggest a good commercial can like coopers or morgans and a brew booster. Don't go for the lagars first up do an ale. If you like darker beers then go for it, try to steer clear of the lighter coloured beers until you get the hang of it a bit.

Remember steralise steralise steralise. Everything that is going to come in contact with your wort needs the bleach treatment. I put some diluted bleach in a spray bottle and go to town with it. Make sure you rinse well because bleach flavoured beer is disgusting.

Then follow the instructions on the can except for two.

1. DO NOT FERMENT AT 24*C Try to keep the temperature down below 20*, 18* if possible.

2. Leave it in the fermenter for two weeks. Then bottle.

let it sit in the bottle (called conditioning) for one week and try one, then leave for another week and try one. They get better over time, up to about 2 months.

It's a fantastic hobby (obsession) that I'm sure you'll get hooked on. It really is not at all difficult and the rewards are very cheap but more importantly very tasty beer.

Once you've got a couple under your belt go to town with experimenting with extra hops, extra malts and different yeasts and see how they really improve the beer. Then when your bored with that you can do full extract brews, then steeping grains, then partial mashes, then mini mashes, then all grain brews.

Floculator

Tim

 

[mickk]

Some good advice and reading and leads there to get me going, thanks everyone.

I have ben steering away from the used idea, didnt your mum tell you you never know where things have been? So Ill go for new stuff, nice and clean. Ive found the nearest home brew shop, Im in Melb BTW, and should be able to fight my way past the clay balls and gro lights to the brew section.

I dont mind paying to get the right stuff, you get what you pay for it seems in life, Ill get two fermenters and heat pads etc.

Im wondering what people think of 375ml plastic screw top bottles? Dpes the clear lastic pose a problem. I spose youd have to make sure they were kept in the dark.

We used to smuggle in 2 and 3 litre bottles very black stout to the cricket. The guys at the gate would just crack the seal and listen for a hiss. For some reason a good hiss indicated pure coca cola to them, not coke diluted with bundy etc. So in we used to go with our 40 litres of coke. Geeze used to end up blind, all that sun. Anyway it tasted ok out of a plastic bottle.

PS shhhshh it still works at the MCG. :chug:

I read somewhere about making a brew and adding the slush from a couple of bottles of coopers, that sounded a good idea to me. Yeh I think you chuck out the packet yeast and use coopers dregs. Ive got the details somewhere.

 

[Brewtus]

Im wondering what people think of 375ml plastic screw top bottles? Does the clear plastic pose a problem. I spose youd have to make sure they were kept in the dark.

Mickkkkkk,

I use both 375ml glass (Becks seem to be best) and 750ml PET beer bottles from Cooper's. The PET bottles work fine ($12 for 15 bottles/box, two boxes for one brew) and are easy to cap and put back in the fridge if you don't finish the bottle. The 375ml glass can be a pain as they take more effort to cap and the head is less reliable (I get far more flat beer in glass bottles than PET) PET doesn't break, explode or chip and are easy to wash if you rinse the yeast out each time you use them. This may sound like herasey to some but then what shape is the earth?
I have always had a bottle tree to dry the bottles and if you don't I am not sure how you safely dry them.
I use Iodine (from 'Brew your own at Home' in Canberra) to sanitize as it doesn't taste to bad if you don't rinse properly and this means less water wasted.

Re boiling the wort, that's one I wont argue about for flavour but it means there is less risk of contamination.

Hope this helps.

 

[Pumpy]

Hmm so I drunk buckets of the stuff. Blind for years, ilke all good aussie boys between 18-30. Now im older and I dont get blind anymore. It hurts too much. A few on a hot day and two after work is about the limit nowdays.

With the price of piss rapidly climbing to $50.00 a slab, its time to fight back.

I have no doubt I will be a good brewer, its just that I dont know where to start.

I need your advice on what method to choose. Beginners kits from 60-99 bucks, all seem about he same, whats the difference.

I wouldnt mind bypassing that step and starting on the little kegs, but I love drinking out of a stubby, especially outside. So can the keg brewing thing be used for stubbies?

Hows this for an idea, write me a list of what I need and Ill go buy it. Im easily led.

Id like to get into big creamy beers, Im afraid after the first mouthful commercial beer tastes like nothing anymore.

So can ya tell me what method to use and write me a list?

Please

ta

mick :beer:

Mick dont listen to this lot it will cost you a fortune to brew beer here .!!!!

There is a certain amount of investment in gear to brew beer .

Only then canyou brew the cheap stuff that tastes good.


Pumpy

 

[matti]

Thats a grand set up Pumpy.
Would probable cost you grand and a half to set up that assuming you know how to do it your self?

As for a starter in brewing I agree to start with an ale yeast and since you like a Stout Mickkkkk, DO it.

But never stop reading you will improve with each drop. gonnabrew me 13th brew come Tuesday and looking for $$$$$$ to get into all grain
Partially Dark man h34r:

 

[JasonY]

If you want to bottle then my advice is buy a bench capper. Best investment you will make. I keg and still wouldn't part with mine.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Mikkkk

If you are in Melbourne, then go the the Grain and Grape in Yarraville. Have a look at your options there and have a chat to the staff.


Come out with what you need, and commence brewing.

Welcome to the fraternity.

Festa.