Which Starter Kit?

[tez]

Hey fellas,

I'm about to buy myself a kit and give home brewing a go
Could anybody point me in the direction to a good brew shop anywhere in sydney, out west would be better
Also, does anybody have opinions on a good starter kit? I don't want to buy some dodgy shit that ill have to replace in no time because its producing crap beer.
Any suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks,
Tez

 

[Pennywise]

Hi, and welcome. IMO your best bet for a cheap starter kit is to get the Coopers ones from BigW or K-Mart, you get everything you need plus pet bottles, much cheaper than any HBS. You'll be able to produce good beer with the simplest equipment so I wouldn't worry about going out and spending a heap, just remember the brewer makes crap beer, not the brewers equipment. Enjoy your new found obsession

 

[Renegade]

Absolute Homebrew at St Mary's. Pat will sort you out.

Important things to get when you buy a kit is a bench capper and a hydrometer.

 

[thanme]

Not sure what state you're in, but I've been looking around too, and I've found Malthouse in Welshpool (WA) to have the best deal as far as kits go.

 

[Renegade]

Not sure what state you're in, but I've been looking around too, and I've found Malthouse in Welshpool (WA) to have the best deal as far as kits go.

Sydney is in NSW

 

[mwd]

Absolute Homebrew at St Mary's. Pat will sort you out.

Important things to get when you buy a kit is a bench capper and a hydrometer.

He He not so sure I would put a bench capper as a high priority item I would add a decent thermometer as an essential bit of kit.

I bottle the majority of brews in PET but find those little hand held cappers that you hit with a mallet work great if you are careful and place the bottle on a piece of carpet to absorb the shock of the hammer.

I would go for a bench capper if I was doing big batches of bottles in the smaller sizes.

 

[bum]

I do only a few bottle per brew in glass and there is no way in hell I'd give up my bench capper. It's just too easy.

 

[AussieJosh]

Id go the Coopers hombrew kit. it comes with everything you need even a dvd that takes you through the basics. after you make your first brew or two and understand the basics, sites like this are awsome for fine tuning your skills and making more advanced brews.

 

[shark]

Hi,

I am new to home brewing too (2nd batch). I found the following place great! Really helped me!

Highly recommend:

http://www.absolutehomebrew.com.au/

St Marys

Shop 7,
Rear 40 Phillip St,
St Marys, NSW 2760
Ph: (02) 9833-0555

Faulconbridge, Blue Mountains

Shop 2, 7 - 9
St Georges Cr.,
Faulconbridge, NSW 2776
Ph: (02) 4751-4292


I got the following kit for $140

Deluxe starter kit: ESB 3 kg concentrate

Comprises: 30 litre fermenter, tap, airlock, adhesive thermometer, mixing spoon, bottle filler, horse hair bottle brush, hydrometer, funnel, bench capper, 200 crown seals, Iodophor sanitiser, Brewers Detergent, your choice of ESB 3 kg concentrate, instructions, tips & tricks sheet, and recipes. Please tell us what sort of beer you like at the check-out instructions so we can choose a concentrate to match your taste.

Ben

 

[Renegade]

Thats sounds like a REALLY good deal. Are you sure it's a bench capper? The total price for all youve listed sounds a little too cheap (arent bench cappers alone worth about $70, and an ESB kit about $25?)

To the opening post, if you are around St Mary's I would go talk to Pat (at absolute, see above) I reckon if he's not busy he'd be the kind of guy to spend whatever time required to give you the rundown on what to do with the gear as a newbie.

But of course here at little old AHB is going to be your best resource for information.

 

[Bribie G]

That deal with the ESB kit sounds great, and you are getting an easy to use kit that will give you a better beer than a tin of Coopers plus a kilo of sugar or 'brew enhancer'.

 

[DKS]

Hey fellas,

I'm about to buy myself a kit and give home brewing a go
Could anybody point me in the direction to a good brew shop anywhere in sydney, out west would be better
Also, does anybody have opinions on a good starter kit? I don't want to buy some dodgy shit that ill have to replace in no time because its producing crap beer.
Any suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks,
Tez

Welcome to home brewing Tez Youll find the more info you can give the more / easier assistance offered. Sydney West is a big place plenty of options for supplys
Daz

 

[tez]

Awesome thanks so much for all the replies fellas
I guess ill grab that deluxe kit from st marys then if thats the best value

I notice it comes with crown seals, thats a bottle cap right?
Shark - are u using glass bottles?

A bloke at work told me i probably should be using plastic in case i blow em up
Is that something i should be worrying about?

 

[bum]

There are things you can do to avoid it - and you should be doing them anyway when bottling with plastic. I do think you could do worse than get a couple boxes of Coopers PET bottles while you build up a reserve of glass bottles if you want to go that way.

 

[caleb]

Depending how "west" you are, there is Country Brewer in Girraween as well.

With their kit you get one of their own Wal's concentrates, which are actually dry hopped - there are whole hop pellets or flowers floating in the "goo".

Basically, most home-brew kits are pretty much the same - plastic drum with airlock on top, tap underneath, preferably a thermometer stuck on the side, and a tube with a valve for bottling. It's what 99.9% of us are using, and produces good beer, as long as you keep everything clean and sanitized. The rest comes down to your skill as a brewer and the ingredients you use.

Also, +1 for the bench capper if you can afford it... (actually +10 for the bench capper!)

 

[caleb]

Awesome thanks so much for all the replies fellas
I guess ill grab that deluxe kit from st marys then if thats the best value

I notice it comes with crown seals, thats a bottle cap right?
Shark - are u using glass bottles?

A bloke at work told me i probably should be using plastic in case i blow em up
Is that something i should be worrying about?

Don't worry... as long as you wait until the brew has finished fermenting before bottling, then add only the correct priming sugar (generally no more than 1 teaspoon) you will not have exploding bottles.

Your kit should also come with a hydrometer with measures the change in the wort as sugars are eaten and alcohol produced. When the level remains stable over several days, fermentation has generally finished, and you are right to bottle.

Almost everyone here who is not kegging their beer is using glass.

 

[AussieJosh]

Tez yer plasit bottles can come in handy for your first few brews. the coopers kit come with plastic bottles.
If your going to bottle in galss you just have to make sure there brew is ready, make sure the hydro reading is the same three days in a row and maybe use carbo drobs when you bottle so you dont over prim. good luck!

 

[bum]

Almost everyone here who is not kegging their beer is using glass.

Exclusively? I call "bullshit" on that.

 

[manticle]

Bum said it first but you should be aiming to avoid the pitfalls that lead to exploding bottles. Loads of people (myself included) use glass with no issue.

To work out if you have a preference, you'll need to bottle some in plastic, some in glass but you should be making beer that is safe in glass even if you decide to use plastic.

 

[thylacine]

Don't worry... as long as you wait until the brew has finished fermenting before bottling, then add only the correct priming sugar (generally no more than 1 teaspoon) you will not have exploding bottles.

Your kit should also come with a hydrometer with measures the change in the wort as sugars are eaten and alcohol produced. When the level remains stable over several days, fermentation has generally finished, and you are right to bottle.

Almost everyone here who is not kegging their beer is using glass.

"Almost everyone here who is not kegging their beer is using glass." ??? site:aussiehomebrewer.com "PET"