Brewing Thread.

[Cultured_Bogan]

Hi all,

Not sure if this has been done yet, apologies if so.

Looking to start getting into home brewing for a bit of fun and to produce a cheap drop that tastes alright.

Do any of you have a lash at it? How sophisticated is your set up? Do you use the plastic keg and the Coopers mix from the shop or do you get right into it?

Any tips or advice into what sort of set up I should look at would be appreciated. I've been told it's best to get a keg and an old fridge rather than brewing in tallies.

 

[GoldXR50Leroy]

Master the art of Brewing before going to the expense of kegging your beer, summertime brewing means keeping the temperature down as too high a temp will ruin a beer, cleanliness is a huge factor as well.

 

[happy_tiger]

Hi all,

Not sure if this has been done yet, apologies if so.

Looking to start getting into home brewing for a bit of fun and to produce a cheap drop that tastes alright.

Do any of you have a lash at it? How sophisticated is your set up? Do you use the plastic keg and the Coopers mix from the shop or do you get right into it?

Any tips or advice into what sort of set up I should look at would be appreciated. I've been told it's best to get a keg and an old fridge rather than brewing in tallies.

I have never brewed , but the best brews I've tried are always in keg form …, then again it might be an experience thing but that might help

 

[Hbom]

Hi CB. I am a pretty keen homebrewer. Over the last 8 years I have gradually progressed to brewing from scratch.

I have a fridge with 3 kegs. Kegging is less labour intensive than bottling, but for me it was also just part of developing my hobby as I am not one you would call "handy".

My advice, control your fermentation temp. Besides sanitation, that is the most critical factor in making nice beer. If you don't have an area with reasonably constant temp, consider finding a 2nd hand fridge (people seem to have them if you ask around) and getting a temperature regulator.

Look for "fresh wort kits" at your brew shop. The can kits you see are these dehydrated. Fresh wort kits will make beer a step above the cans imo.

Good luck.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Master the art of Brewing before going to the expense of kegging your beer, summertime brewing means keeping the temperature down as too high a temp will ruin a beer, cleanliness is a huge factor as well.

So just start off with a shithouse plastic keg set up and a jar of Coopers?

Like I said I know SFA about it all.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Hi CB. I am a pretty keen homebrewer. Over the last 8 years I have gradually progressed to brewing from scratch.

I have a fridge with 3 kegs. Kegging is less labour intensive than bottling, but for me it was also just part of developing my hobby as I am not one you would call "handy".

My advice, control your fermentation temp. Besides sanitation, that is the most critical factor in making nice beer. If you don't have an area with reasonably constant temp, consider finding a 2nd hand fridge (people seem to have them if you ask around) and getting a temperature regulator.

Look for "fresh wort kits" at your brew shop. The can kits you see are these dehydrated. Fresh wort kits will make beer a step above the cans imo.

Good luck.

What sort of temps are you talking for fermentation? I'm a fridgie by trade so it won't be hard to knock something together.

 

[TiggaPlease]

Most ales are best fermented at around 18 degrees C.

For a fermenter just use a cheap water drum from bunnings.

I think it's fine to start off with kits to learn the basics of sanitation and fermentation control. I moved from kits > extract > BIAB all within about a year.

All grain brewing definitely gives far superior results.

Start off with bottles, when you eventually keg you'll appreciate how easy it is compared to the old bottling day.

 

[Hbom]

Most ales are best fermented at around 18 degrees C.

For a fermenter just use a cheap water drum from bunnings.

I think it's fine to start off with kits to learn the basics of sanitation and fermentation control. I moved from kits extract BIAB all within about a year.

All grain brewing definitely gives far superior results.

Start off with bottles, when you eventually keg you'll appreciate how easy it is compared to the old bottling day.

I fully agree. Extract or Fresh wort to begin. All you need is a fermenter and some bottles that way.

Lagers are better fermented at 9-13 degrees.

 

[GoldXR50Leroy]

You're still going to have to spend around $100.00 to buy a decent sort of kit that contains everything you should need to start plus save up a heap of long necks, the plastic bucket is the fermenter where your brewing will take place unless you have access to a stainless steel set up.
A foolproof way to brew although it is a little more expensive is to buy a ready made wort that comes in a 20l container, all you have to do is add yeast and maybe some extra water and Hops, a qualityu yeast rather than the one that comes with the kit is also a good investment, look after it and you will make multiple brews, remember Google is your friend when looking for Clone recipes.

 

[Fade_To_Black]

If you are going to bottle it, using the clear glass ones is a lot easier to tell if they have any foreign particles in them than the brown glass ones. All it takes is one tiny bit of muck in a bottle to stuff it up….or give you a great guts-ache! Remember back when me and my mates were getting into it and we had a big night and one bloke was complaining how his beer tasted a bit off and he was starting to feel a bit crook, he fully rinsed out his empties from that night and there was chunks of mouldy crud coming out!! That bloke wasn't too big on the hygiene side of home brewing and paid the price :laughing: