Home Brew

[Sorry Dude]

Hey all,

I am looking at setting up some home brew for my birthday. Just wondering if anyone has/ does their own now? if so, do you know of a dummies guide to homebrew or something along the lines that will help me out in the early stages of setting it up?

Cheers.

[kickinit]

http://www.ubrewit.com.au/

U actually brew it at there shops and they help you all the way through it.

[Sorry Dude]

http://www.ubrewit.com.au/

U actually brew it at there shops and they help you all the way through it.

That is a good idea but I actually have a plan to get it all happening at home.

[godoubleblues]

for starters buy the coopers kit, comes with everything for your first brew including plastic bottles
follow the instructions and your first brew will taste quite good
once you are happy with that then there is plenty of info on the interweb

I homebrewed quite a bit for a few years but havent done it for a couple, a combination of being lazy and just going and buying it
but I really enjoyed it, you can do plenty like adding hops and other stuff for completely different flavours
still have all the gear at home so might get back into it at some stage

my neighbour over the back used to do it as well, and we often had sunday arvo tasting sessions over the back fence, still do but now with bought beer

[gadj1976]

Tip.... don't use the plastic bottles. Better off to use old Coopers, XXXX whatever. They seal better and retain their bubbles.

Also, the longer you leave the brew down (bottled) the better it will be. Some of the better brews myself and my old man have had have been opened after being bottled 12 months prior.

[heater31]

Tip.... don't use the plastic bottles. Better off to use old Coopers, XXXX whatever. They seal better and retain their bubbles.

Or if you are really serious put it in a 18 L keg and tap beer at home

[Sorry Dude]

Tip.... don't use the plastic bottles. Better off to use old Coopers, XXXX whatever. They seal better and retain their bubbles.

Or if you are really serious put it in a 18 L keg and tap beer at home

That is the plan eventually. I have my 2 brothers in law sourcing me the bottles with their lids so should be alright for a while there.

Thanks for the tips so far gang.

[pels]

Get yourself a coopers kit & first thing is to do is throw away the plastic bottles and use glass bottles
Go to the coopers website and order your ingredients online ( much cheaper) and the only thing you might need from a home brew shop is the hops.
There is heaps of info over the net about homebrew (coopers forum is good) just find the info you need and start with the basics and go from there.
Its not rocket science and if you are prepared to spend a bit of time and sterlise properly you can make some nice beer.

[fish]

Yep definitely go for glass bottles.

Coopers ingredients are fantastic just follow the instructions and all should be good.

I don't worry with any sterilisation chemicals - I only use hot tap water for sterilising and have never had a problem for 15 years. You need to clean used bottles and barrels out straight away though.

[mighty_tiger_79]

i started out with coopers european lager, with the enhancer recommended.
I use old glass bottles, would never dream of plastic.
I sterilise using baby bottle steriliser.
I brew and store in my sauna, dark and maintains constant temperature.
Ive just done the coopers cans and in my 4th brew added a hallertau hop bag.
Longer u store the better.
Places like brewcraft are the next step up from the coopers cans and my aim is once ive got the can sorted taste wise will then take next step.
I do 2 brews at same time = around 130 bottles.
I have some still stored that were bottled end of october, so are now at 19 weeks!!!
Best time to brew is cooler months easier to control temp - can even use a fish heater.

Its good fun and in a few months you start attending AA meetings

brewcraft is good for equipment to get going.

[goraw]

i go through brewmaster on north east road and found him cheaper then brewcraft.i make spirit though.cost me $1000 to set up but in 6 months have recouped that already.

[fish]

i go through brewmaster on north east road and found him cheaper then brewcraft.i make spirit though.cost me $1000 to set up but in 6 months have recouped that already.

And the more you drink the more you save!

[goraw]

i go through brewmaster on north east road and found him cheaper then brewcraft.i make spirit though.cost me $1000 to set up but in 6 months have recouped that already.

And the more you drink the more you save!

at first i did drink more, but that didnt last long. more like its others who like paying 1/3 of the price of the way over taxed ripoff.so it costs me nothing.

[Westsider]

Hard to do a spirit setup? Can't they explode?

[Dog_ger]

Never been a lover of home brew.

I can drink it all day with no result....

Why do you drink..?

Hi Westsider..

[mighty_tiger_79]

i think Home Brew depends on what you add to it.

I can drink it quite easily, yet the bro-in law thinks it stronger then the standard, which is good, means more for me!!!!!

i drink for pleasure and to handle relatives from the dark side

[goraw]

[quote="Westsider"]Hard to do a spirit setup? Can't they explode?[/quote


very easy once uve done it once. all it is , is a condenser attached to a boiler.(yeast into 8k of white sugar,into 25 litres of water, wait till the sugar stops feeding the yeast, takes around 1 week) once it boils, u run water through the condenser. catch the yield, its comes out at 92% spirit.dilute it to 40% with spring water. sit it in treatment carbon for 3 days. then run it through filter carbon. gets u 12 700ml bottles on ave. flavour and drink.

[mighty_tiger_79]

see you shouldnt be diluting it that much

[mighty_tiger_79]

just went down to brewcraft reynella with my $100 vouchers i got for xmas

picked up a 60l fermenter and a mangrove can with some hallertau hops.

60l fermenter = double which is brilliant, i can now brew 4 all at once.

tonight and tomorrow before footy will involve preparing for sterilization and hope to get some brews fermenting during next week!

[Sorry Dude]

just went down to brewcraft reynella with my $100 vouchers i got for xmas

picked up a 60l fermenter and a mangrove can with some hallertau hops.

60l fermenter = double which is brilliant, i can now brew 4 all at once.

tonight and tomorrow before footy will involve preparing for sterilization and hope to get some brews fermenting during next week!

What day do you want me to come around and test the quality??
I only just noticed that Brewcraft were in Reynella. Won't need to travel all the way to Clovelly Park to shop now