Trying to get buddies into brewing need help with cheap fermenters

[Canuckdownunder]

Hey Everybody!
So I've been brewing for a bit now. I got myself a couple fermenters a couple of cornies and built a sweet kegerater set up. I have a lot of buddies from uni expressing interest in home brewing and I've even been asked to start a monthly column on how to brew at home for the uni paper. My problem seems to be talking people into the initial equipment cost.

When I started brewing I was lucky. I found a guy looking to get rid of his primary and assorted bits for 10 bucks on gumtree. Combo that up with 30 PET bottles from Big W and I was good to go. However I can hardly write "find a guy looking to offload his set up for cheap" in my article. So I guess what I was wondering was is there a cheaper way to get people into brewing. I've heard of people using buckets from Bunnings? Are there any that you can recommend? I really want to start a sort of home brew revolution at my uni and I think that if I can find a cheap way of doing it things will really kick off. We already have a beer appreciation society on campus so what better way to appreciate beer than to make your own?

Any help would be awesome thanks guys!
Cam

 

[Truman42]

You can't get cheaper than a 20 litre pot from BigW and a 20 litre willow plastic water container for fermenting.

Search for the all grain stove top brew in a bag thread on the all grain forum by NickJD . Heaps of information there on starting out in all grain on the cheap.

 

[Camo1234]

However I can hardly write "find a guy looking to offload his set up for cheap" in my article.

Yes you can... Direct them to eBay and Gumtree... heaps of people get Home Brew Kits for Xmas from partners or kids that think because Dad likes beer he'll want to brew his own.... then Dad brews his first batch in January and ferments at 35C and it takes like crap so he gives up and then sells his kit on eBay for next to nothing.

To go down the cheap aisle.... Try and find a kid with loaded parents to buy a grain mill and then buy your grain and hops in bulk and you'll be smashing out a $25 keg in no time! Buying in bulk and splitting between your mates will be bloody cheap.... You could easily get away with a single Ale or Pilsner Malt and single hop and make beer much better than what you would be buying at the Uni Pub!

 

[Mardoo]

Presumably a lot of them would want to start k&k, for which they don't even necessarily need a pot, just a fermenter to mix it all up in. There are plenty of options. Bunnings, as mentioned. Aussie Disposals. Anywhere that sells cheap camping gear will sell cheap water drums.

 

[Canuckdownunder]

Presumably a lot of them would want to start k&k, for which they don't even necessarily need a pot, just a fermenter to mix it all up in. There are plenty of options. Bunnings, as mentioned. Aussie Disposals. Anywhere that sells cheap camping gear will sell cheap water drums.

Yah I was thinking that they'll all want to do a K&K first off so definitely all they'd need is a cheap fermenter a few bits and bobs and some bottles. I'm just looking for a cheaper way than the $95 you'll end up paying for a DIY/Brew Cellar kit.

 

[Canuckdownunder]

Yes you can... Direct them to eBay and Gumtree... heaps of people get Home Brew Kits for Xmas from partners or kids that think because Dad likes beer he'll want to brew his own.... then Dad brews his first batch in January and ferments at 35C and it takes like crap so he gives up and then sells his kit on eBay for next to nothing.

To go down the cheap aisle.... Try and find a kid with loaded parents to buy a grain mill and then buy your grain and hops in bulk and you'll be smashing out a $25 keg in no time! Buying in bulk and splitting between your mates will be bloody cheap.... You could easily get away with a single Ale or Pilsner Malt and single hop and make beer much better than what you would be buying at the Uni Pub!

Oh no you've seen through my clever ruse! Hahahaha when I get them hooked on brewing is when I'm gonna start milking them for grain mills/bulk grain/hops... All part of my master plan to be doing cheap AG brews.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

Garage sales could be a good place to source cheap home brewing gear. I sold all my gear at a garage sale about 7 years ago, only to get back into it again last year.


The buckets/drums from Bunnings are ok, but all the ones I've looked at have burrs inside where the plastic has been drilled out for the taps to fit, potential hiding place for infection imo.

I bought mine from a camping store, much neater finish around the tap outlet.

 

[shoobs]

I made a fermenter for my mead out of about $13 of parts from Bunnings. The list of stuff was something like:

• $10 - 20L maxipail (Actually about 24L to the brim).
• $2 - Plastic tap
• $1 - Back nut for tap

I drilled an appropriately sized hole for the tap, put it in and screwed on the back nut. Done. I ended up putting a clear window in the lid and a hole for an airlock, but next time I'll probably just use gladwrap.

I actually like it better than my main fermenter, because it is easier to clean, and there are never issues with screwing in the tap upside-down or anything silly like that.

 

[Canuckdownunder]

I made a fermenter for my mead out of about $13 of parts from Bunnings. The list of stuff was something like:

• $10 - 20L maxipail (Actually about 24L to the brim).
• $2 - Plastic tap
• $1 - Back nut for tap

I drilled an appropriately sized hole for the tap, put it in and screwed on the back nut. Done. I ended up putting a clear window in the lid and a hole for an airlock, but next time I'll probably just use gladwrap.

I actually like it better than my main fermenter, because it is easier to clean, and there are never issues with screwing in the tap upside-down or anything silly like that.

PERFECT! Now this is what I'm talking about! Just something cheap and cheerful to get people into brewing. Something that they use to bang out a couple K&K brews for next to no investment. And if they become interested in brewing they can start to get other pieces as well. Cheers Shoobs!

 

[MelbourneDave]

Yah I was thinking that they'll all want to do a K&K first off so definitely all they'd need is a cheap fermenter a few bits and bobs and some bottles. I'm just looking for a cheaper way than the $95 you'll end up paying for a DIY/Brew Cellar kit.

I don't know why everyone hates the coopers DIY kit? Admittedly it was $70 when I bought it but for a beginner it is a great way to start. You get a great fermenter with no air lock for them to worry about, no threads anywhere, clear so you can watch it all swirl and drop out etc and you never have to buy replacement taps which ends up making you your money back. You also get large spoon, plastic hydrometer that's very hard to break, 30? plastic bottles (good for beginner) and ingredients for your first kit brew which if successful makes you a couple of slabs which pays for the kit anyway. Maybe give some good simple instructions though to make a better first beer such as replacing the beer enhancer with LDM and a small dry hop. Still easy for a first brew but should make it a lot tastier.

No affiliation here, I just think it is a great way for beginners to start and I don't regret buying it.

 

[Canuckdownunder]

I don't know why everyone hates the coopers DIY kit? Admittedly it was $70 when I bought it but for a beginner it is a great way to start. You get a great fermenter with no air lock for them to worry about, no threads anywhere, clear so you can watch it all swirl and drop out etc and you never have to buy replacement taps which ends up making you your money back. You also get large spoon, plastic hydrometer that's very hard to break, 30? plastic bottles (good for beginner) and ingredients for your first kit brew which if successful makes you a couple of slabs which pays for the kit anyway. Maybe give some good simple instructions though to make a better first beer such as replacing the beer enhancer with LDM and a small dry hop. Still easy for a first brew but should make it a lot tastier.

No affiliation here, I just think it is a great way for beginners to start and I don't regret buying it.

Hey Melbourne Dave!
I've got no problems with the Coopers DIY kit at all I think it's an awesome way to start brewing and I'll definitely be recommending it as an option in my article. I agree it's awesome that you get all the little bits and bobs that someone needs to start brewing my only problem with it is the cost. I'm in Uni and everybody that I'll be writing to are in Uni as well. It's hard to recommend a kit that's going to set them back nearly $100.

And yes I know if you crunch the numbers you can get around 2.5 slabs per brew which means even the first brew with the DIY kit is still cheaper than a slab of VB but the problem is explaining that to a guy who has never brewed. He's thinking $100 for beer that'll take at least 3 weeks before it's even drinkable if it even works seems a bit too risky.

I guess I'm just looking for the cheapest option to recommend so that I can get people stoked on making their own brew.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Heya, I'm the king of cheap n cheerful brewing! Self appointed. I actually got into homebrew because I was a poor student in a single parent family having to pay my own way.

Now, it's the 4 kids that drain my pocket.

What I've done.

2 x Big W 19L pots ($38)

Bucket in bucket lauter (Bunnings 2 x 20L bucket plus $2 tap - around $16)

Bunnings 'water drum' with tap 25L $16 plus $2 for the tap. 30L is about $20.

Stovetop will do.

I have an esky for a mashtun already (not hard to get one cheap if you don't).

Search Nick JD's stovetop method and my 2 pot all grain stovetop method for ideas and how the above works out. I've whacked youtube videos on mine in the last week.

For cheap 'beer' - a decent SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) will get you buy. BB Pale (if you get up to capalaba, you can get 5kg for $17.50, or start buying bulk). Either bulk order hops from the US (something like Willamette for an English Bitter will do the trick). Reusing yeast will help cost wish as well. Should be able to knock out a solid easy drinking beer for around 60-80c a litre, depending on the above variables.

 

[431neb]

If some of your buddies are tradesmen bakers or chefs or something like that then I'm sure you could find 15 and 20 litre drums/jerries that could be repurposed to use as a fermenter. Use glad wrap for a lid. Years ago I hit up a bloke at Bakers Delight for some plastic buckets - he had heaps of them.


Wether it is a bottle, bucket or jerry style container, just make sure that it is clean, sanitised and free of any of it's previous contents. FFS use your common sense on that one...

For example. I have a chlorine drum that I use to store sodium perc solution. Now if it was full of chlorine yesterday I might be hesitant - mostly because it would kill my yeast - but I'm sure it could be used as a fermenter. I don't need to, but it could

 

[MelbourneDave]

I guess I'm just looking for the cheapest option to recommend so that I can get people stoked on making their own brew.

Fair enough. Then the absolute cheapest would be just Bunnings fermenter, kit and kilo and some sanitiser. Start collecting second hand bottles. Anything with a lid will do, wine bottles are best for storage due to light and easy enough to source. If your going super bummy and using things like coke bottles then keep them in total darkness.

 

[Canuckdownunder]

Cheers Goomba!
I'll keep that recipe for myself but for these guys I'll start them out with a Coopers kit and a BE2 Gotta have something to write in my next article hahah!

So price breakdown so far:
Bunnings 30l water Drum w/nozzle= $22
Coopers original Ale w/BE2= $16
Airlock/sanitizer/spoon/hydrometer= $8
30 PET bottles= $32

Damn and hell I'm already at $78! Well I reckon that's about as cheap as I can go for a starter kit. I'll definitely recommend hunting around for used gear on gumtree/ebay/AHB but I think that's about as close to cheap as I can get. I guess the three options are 1. New starter kit a la Coopers DIY/Brew Cellar 2. cobble one together as listed above or 3. ferret around on the used market for used kits that people are offloading.

 

[Canuckdownunder]

If your going super bummy and using things like coke bottles then keep them in total darkness.

Oh ya I forgot old coke bottles will work in a pinch! Good call Melbourne Dave!

 

[Professional beer tester]

Hey Canuck,

You need to tell them it's $78 for ~2.5 cases of beer – cheapest I've seen Coopers is $48 a case.

And once the initial's been done, it's $38 a case afterwards including a new fermenter, or if you can wait 8 weeks til your next batch, $16.

Alternatively, buy a fresh wort kit for ~$40-50, drill a hole in the screw-on lid, add a seal and airlock, buy a cheap length of plastic hose for syphoning and some yeast and you'll have a batch of beer and a fermentation vessel.

 

[slash22000]

You don't even need an airlock mate. Just cover any opening with sanitised cling wrap and get a good size rubber o-ring around the outside to keep it on. It means you can see inside as well, if you're interested in that kind of thing. Just keep it out of direct sunlight (which you should be doing anyway).

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Look for free tallies on gumtree.

Alternatively, if you're wanting to keep in multiples of 750ml/375ml - Woolies Home Brand Soft Drink (I drink the soda water) is about $1 a bottle to drink and you get 1.5L not 1.25L bottles ready to use.

 

[markjd]

Cheers Goomba!
I'll keep that recipe for myself but for these guys I'll start them out with a Coopers kit and a BE2 Gotta have something to write in my next article hahah!

So price breakdown so far:
Bunnings 30l water Drum w/nozzle= $22
Coopers original Ale w/BE2= $16
Airlock/sanitizer/spoon/hydrometer= $8
30 PET bottles= $32

Damn and hell I'm already at $78! Well I reckon that's about as cheap as I can go for a starter kit. I'll definitely recommend hunting around for used gear on gumtree/ebay/AHB but I think that's about as close to cheap as I can get. I guess the three options are 1. New starter kit a la Coopers DIY/Brew Cellar 2. cobble one together as listed above or 3. ferret around on the used market for used kits that people are offloading.

I'd probably add a bottle filling tube from BigW to that list: it's pretty hard to fill a bottle without one.