G'day everyone, Brand new to this and have never brewed before but think it's about time I had a go as the missus is always complaining about how much I spend on beer, maybe just maybe I can save a little by brewing my own. So I am just going to grab a basic kit to start out with and see where it goes from there. Thinking about the Coopers DIY kit, what's your thoughts, is this alright or is there a better starter kit out there? Any advice appreciated and Thanks in advance.
Vic Newbie
- Thread starter Hop Thief
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Curly79
Well-Known Member
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Hi mate and welcome. Coopers kits are a great start. The best advice I can give you is to google all your questions eg. Google AHB Newbie question etc... Where are you located? Your local home brew shop should point you in the right direction also.
m3taL
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the Obsession mate....
Youll save money on beer and spend it and more on equipment
but its fun
Youll save money on beer and spend it and more on equipment
but its fun Thanks for the welcome mate. I have spent the afternoon reading the 15 or so pages of newbie questions and some great info there.
I am in a small country town and the closest brew shop would be over an hour away so not something I could pop in to regularly. Looking forward to having a crack at making my own.
I am in a small country town and the closest brew shop would be over an hour away so not something I could pop in to regularly. Looking forward to having a crack at making my own.
djsmi4
Well-Known Member
Welcome! Saving $ is as good a reason as any to start brewing, I hope you have success with your brews.
Thanks mate, I hope I have success too. I bought a second hand fridge for $50 on the weekend and have ordered a stc-1000 and a reptile flexible heat cable off ebay. I still have to get to a jay car and get a jiffy box and bits and pieces and then find an electrician to fit it up for me. I will do that on the weekend as it's a 2 hour round trip from where I live and hopefully the stc-1000 shows up by then.djsmi4 said:
Cheers
djsmi4
Well-Known Member
Sounds like a very similar setup to mine, once you've got everything. As long as you're thorough with hygiene with your equipment you'll be pumping out brew after brew without any failures (flavours / ingredients / temperatures / brewing techniques aside)
So what are you planning to brew first?
So what are you planning to brew first?
Danscraftbeer
Well-Known Member
Keep it simple and adhere to instructions. To a point. The Coopers instructions are designed for the first time brewer.
Forget about incredible recipes. The Cans make perfectly good beer without alterations and that's the best way to start.
Cleanliness/sanitation is the most important first step. I compared my home brew with the shelf product and liked my home brew version better.
Then as they say: your hooked! on brewing.
Forget about incredible recipes. The Cans make perfectly good beer without alterations and that's the best way to start.
Cleanliness/sanitation is the most important first step. I compared my home brew with the shelf product and liked my home brew version better.
Then as they say: your hooked! on brewing.
Well done for getting a fridge and stc 100 straight up. You will not regret it. The coopers kits are a great place to start. I'd recommend Ian's spreadsheet for extract brewing. It will help you alot when building recipes. It might seem a bit complicated for your first brew but the sooner you learn to use it the better of you'll be. Welcome to the fold.
djsmi4 said:
Gunna buy the coopers kit on the weekend when I go for a drive which I think comes with a lager kit but I prefer pale ales, so probably grab some of that too and do that first. Have to find some star san too by the sounds of it. From what I've read the kit doesn't come with anything like that.djsmi4 said:
Danscraftbeer
Well-Known Member
Were are you in Vic? You can get brew kits from Woolies, Coles, BigW etc. The Coopers dry Yeast supplied is reliable. I can vouch for that in my own preferences of experience. I've used it with my more adventures all grain brews. They have the science down its a good yeast. I,ve always made a starter to prove the yeast. (make a mini brew for the yeast).
Seymour, local coles and woollies don't have them and we don't have a big w here. Woolies said they used to stock them but don't anymore. Looks like a drive to either Melbourne or Shepparton as I need to go to jay car as well, we don't have that either.Danscraftbeer said:
Danscraftbeer
Well-Known Member
Wow that sucks. There mustn't be very many brewers in your area. That's gotta change. Put it to them to put it back on the shelf!
djsmi4
Well-Known Member
I just had a look at the new Coopers DIY Beer Brew Kit - http://store.coopers.com.au/coopers-diy-beer-kit.html
Too bad they don't come with the Paul Mercurio Introductory VHS tape anymore.
RE Hygiene: A lot of us differ in what we do. I use a neutral odour Napisan and HOT water to nuke anything on the bottles & equipment, but seeing that you'll be started with a brand new kit you probably don't need to start with this step. Also I'm not sure how PET bottles would fare in hot (like >>60*C) water. I don't use the brand-name Starsan for sanitising only because I bought a local home brew shop's own sanitiser. I'd strongly suggest sanitising all of your equipment prior to your first brew with Starsan or similar.
As for the STC-1000, you might be better off sourcing a ready-made one through a local home brew shop, or even off ebay?
Wow, Seymour really is a black hole for home brew supplies! Hopefully someone will open up a store in the near future.
Now I'm not a part of the Coopers Club, but if you join their DIY kit is $103.50 at club price and they do free shipping for orders over $100... Might be worthwhile if you can wait for postage & really want to avoid a trip to Melbourne or Shepparton. https://store.coopers.com.au/customer/account/create/
Hopefully I haven't broken any forum rules posting the above ^^^
Too bad they don't come with the Paul Mercurio Introductory VHS tape anymore.
RE Hygiene: A lot of us differ in what we do. I use a neutral odour Napisan and HOT water to nuke anything on the bottles & equipment, but seeing that you'll be started with a brand new kit you probably don't need to start with this step. Also I'm not sure how PET bottles would fare in hot (like >>60*C) water. I don't use the brand-name Starsan for sanitising only because I bought a local home brew shop's own sanitiser. I'd strongly suggest sanitising all of your equipment prior to your first brew with Starsan or similar.
As for the STC-1000, you might be better off sourcing a ready-made one through a local home brew shop, or even off ebay?
Wow, Seymour really is a black hole for home brew supplies! Hopefully someone will open up a store in the near future.
Now I'm not a part of the Coopers Club, but if you join their DIY kit is $103.50 at club price and they do free shipping for orders over $100... Might be worthwhile if you can wait for postage & really want to avoid a trip to Melbourne or Shepparton. https://store.coopers.com.au/customer/account/create/
Hopefully I haven't broken any forum rules posting the above ^^^
Mardoo
Noob What Craps On A Bit
Said what he said before I read what he said… They often have free shipping offers for club members on orders under $100 too.
Ok so I've got my fridge, got the stc-1000 wired up and working. Went and got the coopers kit on the weekend and a can of the pale ale and BE 2, 500g of ldme as first up I am going to have a crack at a hoppy coopers pale ale that I found on you tube. Just waiting on the mailman for some star san and some hops as the brew shop I went to didn't have star san and they wanted $5 for 15g satchel of hops. Don't think I will be going back to that shop as their prices seemed to be a bit over the top. Next time I will head to Melbourne and not Shepparton. Got all the coopers stuff from Big W.
djsmi4
Well-Known Member
Argh! So close yet so far! Hopefully the mailman delivers.
It's a pity you didn't have a good experience at the LHBS, especially with the distance travelled. As you've mentioned heading to Melbourne next time, hopefully it's a different story there. Otherwise maybe your local Woolies has a (basic) home brew selection - saving you a 2hr trip?
It's a pity you didn't have a good experience at the LHBS, especially with the distance travelled. As you've mentioned heading to Melbourne next time, hopefully it's a different story there. Otherwise maybe your local Woolies has a (basic) home brew selection - saving you a 2hr trip?
kennek
Active Member
Welcome. :chug:
I live not far from Seymour and travel past each weekday. If you cant get hops/starsan in time for brew day just yell out as I have some spare if you get stuck.
There used to be an equipment hire place in Seymour that sold some brew ingredients on the same rd as woolies but unsure if still does.
I live not far from Seymour and travel past each weekday. If you cant get hops/starsan in time for brew day just yell out as I have some spare if you get stuck.
There used to be an equipment hire place in Seymour that sold some brew ingredients on the same rd as woolies but unsure if still does.
Thankyou for the offer but my gear showed up in the mail today and I have mixed up my first batch. Temp is at 23 at the moment and I'm having a cold one while waiting for it to go down to 20 so I can pitch the yeast. Cheerskennek said:
