Home Brewing

Anything else NON- BBQ
shayneh2006
Posts: 1914
Joined: Sun May 01, 2011 5:34 pm
Location: Western Sydney

Re: Home Brewing

Post by shayneh2006 »

Ive been brewing beer for years and if you like a beer (or two :oops: ) its a good way to save money to put towards other things.

I brew all year long. I always have 800 x 750ml full bottles in stock. I have never ventured down the mashing my own grain road as i have not the time. I just use the best quality commercial base followed by a good European Lager yeast (Saflager S-23 which i recycle) and add Saaz hops as extra,,,,,,,,,,I LOVE PILSENER :lol: :lol: ,,,,,,,,,,,,and Bobs your uncle :wink: .

The way Beer prices keep sky-Rocketing and the way i drink Beer, i dont think i could afford to drink tailer made commercial Beer.


Shayne
Image

Don't argue with idiots.. They'll bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience.
barls
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:02 am
Location: sydney

Re: Home Brewing

Post by barls »

cdbrown wrote:
barls wrote:just remember its only as hard as you want to make it.
happy to be an impartial judge or help with off flavours if you really need it. there is always the option to come and join me on an all grain brewday. last one i did was only 4.5 hours and the bloke learned a hell of a lot.
cheers barls
Wish my brew days were that quick. Well actually I wish I had more spare time so I could get some brews done.

Watching someone do a brew is a great way to learn and is even better when you ask questions. I remember my first brew having to go back to the pc to do various searches as ats never watched anyone do one and of course the instructions provided aren’t exactly the most detailed.
thats pretty much how i learned so more than happy to teach.
that offer stands for anyone in sydney,
also if you really want to learn more come along to one of the comps we have during the year or join one of the clubs, happy to point you in the direction of the nearest one. i look after the inner sydney ones mailing list.
im currently studying to upgrade my judge qualifications, the test is in april.
sydking
Posts: 343
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by sydking »

Hmmm could be good or bad that ive stumbled on this thread, Barls that beer i tried just keeps tinkering in the back of my mind.

Will have to get my self a couple craft kit's to brew and learn the very basics before getting more serious.

Come to think of it ive actually got my grandfathers old wine press at home, will have to get that out one day too... One thing at a time
rotten
Posts: 82
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:07 pm

Re: Home Brewing

Post by rotten »

Image

Gday. This is my bar and keg fridge. 3 taps, 4 kegs, and enough room to store a lifetime supply of hops :twisted:

I brew all grain and love every bit of my obsession. The bar is redgum and is a bit dirty, all my gear is having a rest for a few more weeks :cry:
sydking
Posts: 343
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by sydking »

Got my first brewing kit over the weekend, Doing lots of reading before i crack it all open.

I think the hardest part will be constant temp control at 20 degrees

Any more advice for a first timer? Got the Fat Yak kit to start with along with the Premium kit from CB


Top bloke at Country Brewer in Thornleigh.
food&fish
Posts: 798
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 5:43 pm
Location: Sunbury victoria aust

Re: Home Brewing

Post by food&fish »

At a garage sale in daylsford at the weekend i picked up a new fermenter, beer hydrometer, 1/2 kg dextrose, bag sanitizing agent ,bottle brush, sugar measure , bag crown seals, and a tin of coopers larger for $5.00
sydking
Posts: 343
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by sydking »

food&fish wrote:At a garage sale in daylsford at the weekend i picked up a new fermenter, beer hydrometer, 1/2 kg dextrose, bag sanitizing agent ,bottle brush, sugar measure , bag crown seals, and a tin of coopers larger for $5.00
Good find mate!

Im on the hunt for another fermenter, will be doing a bulk prime for my first batch rather then stuffing around with the bottle method.
rotten
Posts: 82
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:07 pm

Re: Home Brewing

Post by rotten »

sydking wrote: Any more advice for a first timer?
How long is a piece of string?? It really depends what you want help with.

Are you using the yeast that came with the kit or a different yeast? US-05 would be good one(dried yeast, $4-7) it's fairly neutral and will floc out better than most kit yeast. It does a good job, I always have one in the fridge as a back up as I predominantly use liquid yeast. You can re-use yeast as well. If your LHBS doesn't store his yeast in the fridge find a new one.
Did your kit come with hops?
Also if the kit says make to 23 ltrs, drop it back to say 20 ltrs.
As with the temp control you can use ice bottles to maintain temp, simply change them every day. There are heaps of ways and methods to do this easily. I personally have a fridge with a temp controller on it to maintain ferment temps.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. Ask away and welcome to the slippery slope :twisted:

P.S. have a look at home brew and beer, aussie home brewer, brewadelaide etc for heaps of other ideas and info.
Online home brew suppliers brewadelaide, craftbrewer, grain and grape etc are great for info and supplies as well.
barls
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:02 am
Location: sydney

Re: Home Brewing

Post by barls »

sanitation and temp control are the two big ones.
star san is for the win. 6 years later and still going on the same bottle.
Last edited by barls on Wed Jan 30, 2013 7:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
sydking
Posts: 343
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by sydking »

Put my first batch on last night,

Wal’s Pale
1kg Euro Blend
150g Crystal Grain
12g Amarillo (Inf.)

Think i stuffed how how i did the grain, There was no mention of it in the instructions which was a bit annoying. I let it sit in boiling water, Then strained the grain letting just the water into the wort.

The hydro meter was reading 104

It was at 26 degrees, So ive had it wrapped in frozen bottles and towels over night.

Slowly bubbling away this morning
sydking
Posts: 343
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by sydking »

OK so im having a rough time working out how much sugar i need to bulk prime.

The batch is 21L

ive read its based on the Temp of the wort? or do i base it on SG readings?
food&fish
Posts: 798
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 5:43 pm
Location: Sunbury victoria aust

Re: Home Brewing

Post by food&fish »

sydking wrote:OK so im having a rough time working out how much sugar i need to bulk prime.

The batch is 21L

ive read its based on the Temp of the wort? or do i base it on SG readings?
Dont know if it helps i used 250 gm to bulk prime a 19 liter keg
barls
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:02 am
Location: sydney

Re: Home Brewing

Post by barls »

bulk priming depends entirely on what the style is. i halve the figure for my kegs i find that works better on my system.
are you going to use sugar ie table sugar or dextrose as its a different amount.
table sugar is 6.6g/L while dex is 7.6 g/L for 2.5 volumes which would be about right for style.

as for the grain you steeped, would of been better if you had given it a quick boil afterwards just to kill off a few of the bugs that live on the grain. also you dont want the grain at boiling but more like about 67 degrees as you wont pull as many tannins that way.
Lovey
Forum Moderator
Posts: 297
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:15 pm
Location: South Coast NSW

Re: Home Brewing

Post by Lovey »

After reading here and doing a bit of research on AHB, I took the plunge and bought a Coopers home brew kit from Big W. They had a special on with free shipping so I thought I'd take advantage and dip my toe in the water. I'm pretty handy in the electrical/electronics department, so I'll have the heating/cooling side of things taken care or. The big challenge is finding some spare time to do it :lol:
Archie
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2012 7:06 pm

Home Brewing

Post by Archie »

Good work!! If you can get the temps right you'll be flying. Coopers kit and especially the instructions are heaps easy to follow. Good luck
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