Home Brewing

Anything else NON- BBQ
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kendoll
Posts: 1068
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:57 pm
Location: Sans Souci, NSW

Home Brewing

Post by kendoll »

I have seen a few members mention home brewing and it is something that is on my list to try my hand at. Now that i am starting to get the hang of bbqing (slowly but surely) anything more than sausages and steak i have decided to give home brewing a go.

Would any of you guys already involved in this recommend any site/forum in particular to visit? Preferably an aussie one so i know i can get my hands on the items being discussed/recommended.

Cheers,

Ken
Ken
gnol
Posts: 1142
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Werribee

Re: Home Brewing

Post by gnol »

kendoll
Posts: 1068
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:57 pm
Location: Sans Souci, NSW

Re: Home Brewing

Post by kendoll »

Thanks gnol.

I had seen that one in my searching. :) Just looking for recommendations.

I will head over and do some more reading there.

Ken
Ken
pleasedtomeatyou
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:25 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by pleasedtomeatyou »

Can I also suggest paying a visit to your LHBS rather than Big W or Bullies. You'll get heaps of good advice. I've just bottled my second brew, a copy of Fat Yak and am about to brew a copy of James Squires Golden Ale. Good Luck with it its a great partner hobby to bbq and there are plenty of toys to buy too :mrgreen:
jynormous
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 9:03 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by jynormous »

K&K are great to start with but as gnol has suggested, head over to AHB and you will find many pages of helpful tips and ideas.

Don't waste too much time on K&K's, you will be amazed how easy partials are and then stepping up to 50lt BIAB.

The good Dr has a kit version of his famous Golden Ale that is simple to make:
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/i ... recipe=502

Biggest tip i can give you, get an old fridge (ebay or free), a temp controller with alarm (http://www.kegking.com.au/Downloads/Cat ... 20List.pdf) and a reptile pad from ebay, set it to 18 degrees and you shouldnt have a problem.

After the fermenting stage is complete (6-10 days depending on yeast used), turn the controller down to 2 degrees and leave it for 2 weeks for the yeast and hops (if dry hopping) to fall to the bottom = clear beer.

You will be stepping up to kegs in no time!

JyNormous.
gnol
Posts: 1142
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:33 pm
Location: Werribee

Re: Home Brewing

Post by gnol »

Yeah. Be careful that you don't get bitten by the bug too hard. Unless you really want to of course.
Reckon you have a lot of bbq's?
As jynormous says you will have 6 fridges before you know it. :lol:

It is a great hobby albeit it can take a lot of time if you start to get serious.
Obsessive is the word.
Archie
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2012 7:06 pm

Home Brewing

Post by Archie »

Agree with all above. Very addictive... should come with a warning label to remember to spend time with family when mixed with a BBQ habit!

I went the coopers kit first which was ok to get me started but a visit to local brew shop made such a difference to the quality of the beer.

The guys that run the shops are proper enthusiasts and are always willing to spend time talking about how to improve your brew. Allow plenty if time for your first visit. On my first visit the owner even offered for me to try some of his to get an idea of hop combinations etc.

Heaps to learn and much enjoyment to be had. Good luck!
kendoll
Posts: 1068
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:57 pm
Location: Sans Souci, NSW

Re: Home Brewing

Post by kendoll »

Thanks guys. Might head to my nearest home brew shop on Saturday and see how friendly they are.

Ken
Ken
peteoz77
Posts: 82
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2012 8:30 pm

Re: Home Brewing

Post by peteoz77 »

I got bitten QUITE Hard..

I brewed from kits, and started Partial Mashes for 6 months, then went to all grain.

By the time I had 5 fridges (2 for fermenting, one for keg storage, one for service, and one for misc), An Awesome motorised mill, Gar burners, Urn for HLT, and lots of supplies, I had over $4K invested. Granted, over $1200 of it was in a fridge that had 6 taps, held six kegs and a temp Controller etc.

It's a lot of fun to learn to do everything right, and it's a lot of fun to drink the wonderful beers. However it is a lot of work.. A 19 litre keg would last me little over a week with a few friends stopping past for a beer or two as well, so I had to brew a double batch every other weekend.... which is going to take you a minimum of 4hours if you are very efficient.

I eventually gave it up, and got most of my money back when I sold up (mainly because I bought smart)

Let me see if I can find those pictures...
Joeka
Posts: 147
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:00 pm
Location: Sydney - Inner West

Re: Home Brewing

Post by Joeka »

From Sans Souci, your local shop would be "What's Brewing" on Rocky Point Rd, near where it meets the Princes Hwy, yeah? That's a good option, as is the place in Kirrawee. As people have said, home brew shop owners are very helpful, and enthusiasts themselves.

I just realised I've brewed 35x23L in the past year and a half. Hm, 800 litres of beer. None of this was with any kind of internet forum help. At this point, those forums make my eyes glaze over. Blah the blurb to the what, now?!?? And it all ends with kegs and, and, I have no idea. Lots of expensive shit that you don't necessarily need.

80% of the time I just use Coopers supermarket kits. 20% is more specialist kits from home brew stores, but only once or twice doing it from first principles.

Depends what you want, I guess. Mostly I'm just trying to keep the household budget down. Each 23L ferment saves me about $100 compared with buying slabs, so that's about $3500 in my pocket since I got going (again, after a break). On the other hand, you can get all craft-focused & obsessive. That's also OK. But either way, you can get started with a starter's pack that'll cost you, ballpark, $100-ish...probably a bit less. Then if you want to get fancy start investing in other equipment.

*edit* PS - this "minimum 4 hours" must be first principles brewing. Including all cleaning & sterilisation, it takes me about 30 min to put on a batch to ferment, then 1 hour to bottle, approx 10 days later.
kendoll
Posts: 1068
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:57 pm
Location: Sans Souci, NSW

Re: Home Brewing

Post by kendoll »

Yeah, I was going to head to the one at Kogarah. Have you been there?

I'm a bit worried I get addicted. :D

My wife has already told me we don't have anywhere to store it.

Big fan of the wheat and Belgian white beers. Ideal would be able to replicate the taste of Blue Moon and Sam Summer.

You have to start somewhere. :-)

Ken
Ken
Snow
Posts: 338
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 12:13 pm
Location: Perth

Home Brewing

Post by Snow »

gnol wrote:http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php

Can't go wrong there.
+1 for this site! They have heaps of information no matter where you are in your brewing career.
Archie
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2012 7:06 pm

Home Brewing

Post by Archie »

Sounds great. Just brewed a wheat beer and the yeast makes so much difference. Very satisfying especially when it's normally at a premium price in cartons and you end up having more than you can store at home when you brew yourself :)
barls
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:02 am
Location: sydney

Re: Home Brewing

Post by barls »

welcome to the real darkside.
its a very steep and slippery slope
kendoll
Posts: 1068
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:57 pm
Location: Sans Souci, NSW

Re: Home Brewing

Post by kendoll »

barls wrote:welcome to the real darkside.
its a very steep and slippery slope
Now I'm worried. :shock:

Ken
Ken
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