Home Brew Thread
 

Does anyone else brew their own grog?

I was given a home brew kit for Christmas and now I have two and slowly building up my stock of beer.

I discovered today that BigW sells ingredients at half the price of my local brew shop.

It works out to about $20 for 24 litres of beer. Almost a quarter the price of stuff bought in the bottle shops. :thumbup:

Still trying all the different type of beer available. Started mostly on lagers, but will experiment with ales and maybe a stout or two.

Share your experience, ideas and choice of beer etc...

Re: Home Brew Thread
 

I have 96 empty home brew bottles in my garage if you want them

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mate does coopers $11 per tin plus bag or sugar makes 36 litres

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Thanks. I've just bought a whole lot.

What type are? PET, glass, new or used?

Yeah got some Coopers today just under $11 a tin.

Do you have a link?

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coopers was on special at $7 last week he got about 12 tins he does one brew every week.

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Tall brown re cappable ...

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Yep, don't bother with lager unless you can keep the fermenting temp at 12 degrees. Coopers lager does'nt have true lager yeast btw.

Stout is my thing atm, but get to the lhbs and get some dark malt for it. If you shop around it should't be more than $10 kg.

Here is your new home
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com.au

Next week I's trying a fresh wort kit to 'up my game 'so to speak as I've got a kegging system raring to go.....

Time for one now I think? hic.:beer:

Oh and give it 2 months in the bottle.

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I've been brewing for about 4 years now and saving a considerable amount.

I normally brew Coopers Canadian with brew enhancer 2 and a Saf lager yeast.

Next weekend I'm going to get a kegerater system for my existing fridge for $650.

Keel

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Thanks for the link. I decided to try all I can to start with. I've created a spreadsheet to log everything and rate the taste/quality.


I was looking at Coopers Canadian yesterday and will give it a go next batch.

Be a while before I do a kegerater though.

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Thanks. Looks very comprehensive. :thumbup:

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My husband and his mates go to The Beer Factory in Seven Hills Sydney to brew theirs. http://www.thebeerfactory.com.au/whoweare.html So no mess or hassle at home. Works out at about $1 per bottle, bought himself a keg now. Only issue is that it does not contain preservatives so must be kept in the fridge. Got one on ebay for $30. I believe they have over 200 recipes, he normally makes a pale ale but, made the most delicious alcoholic ginger beer (6%) for the me last year, yummy but lethal. :thumbup: Dont know how we will ever go back to the commercial rubbish after tasting the real thing. No hangovers either, bonus.

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DEB68 HUBBY.

I am still wating for our container to make its way here:( been making my own beer for about a year now, when you get it right it is wonderful, also very cheap:thumbup:
The prices here for the local stuff are ridiculous, shop stuff i mean.
We went it the local Kmart yesterday they had coopers at $9 a go, brewing sugar was $5 a bag, and i thought to my self shall i buy a full kit, or hold out for the container?
i am has dry as a nuns dry bits my tongue thinks my throat has been slit, need a drink soon or i will turn into cliff richard:eek:

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Get a kit. About $70 for tha barrel, bottles and brew. With this weather it'll be brewed out in 7 days, ready for drinking by 9;).

I normally leave it in the barrel for 2 weeks then bottle it and leave it for about 6 weeks. But when I get my new kegerator it should be ready for drinking in 2 to 3 weeks as there is no 2nd fermentation:thumbup:.

Ive found a new brew shop recently in Bibra lake called T.w.o.c. that has a good range.

keel

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Yeah I see a few of these factories around. I must try ginger beer sometime too!

Yep buy another kit. :thumbup:

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I am an all grain brewer ie start from scratch....crack the barley, mash and then boil with the hops.....have been doing it for 30 years

You really need a fridge with a temperature controller to ferment at around 19.0C.

I also have a 'kegerator' which is a custom built fridge with fonts which stores 3 x 19.0 litre alumninium kegs

Expensive to set up but easy to do.

www.aussiehomebrewer.com

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Here is my set up

Re: Home Brew Thread
 

I started my brewing career as a home brewer. Just a few (hopefully helpful) comments. There are no preservatives in any Tooheys, XXXX, Swan, James Squire, Hahn beers. Most of them are both preservative and additive free (usually mentioned on the label). In any case the only additive occasionally used is caramel (to adjust colour).

Hangovers come from alcohol (ethyl alcohol) and other "higher" alcohols in beer, and the extent of the hangover is usually connected with the amount of alcohol consumed! (from much experience!).

In general, the cooler your fermentation, the less higher alcohols are produced. So if you can go to the extent of controlling temperature (say to a maximum of 20 degress) that will help you on the hangover front. Also most brewers yeasts make their best ester (fruity and floral) flavours below 20.

Home brewing is a fantastic craft and can certainly save you money.

However, please don't forget a poor brewer and occasionally dip back in to some of our bigger volume beers. If you like more malty and hoppy flavours then I would recommend any of the James Squire range, I particularly like the Porter and the Golden Ale (like an English "Summer" ale).

Happy Brewing.

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Not much taste either

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Interesting setup. So how long does it take you to make a batch roughly, and how much do you make in one go?

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10 days or so from mashing to drinking but better if left longer.....it depends on the strength, yeast used etc.

Brewing process takes around 3 hours but most of that time is spent waiting rather than having to do much.

I only brew 25 litres at a time because of limited capacity in my fermenting fridge.....many people brew much bigger batches than that....I probably will in the winter when I do not need to use the fridge.

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Exactly what i'm looking to set up my friend;) Any ideas as to the initial outlay please for everything excluding the beer? Personally i'll probably go down the road of buying the kegs of home brew from a place where i work at near Wacol as i've never done it before.Apparently it's about $150 a batch to fill 50 litre keg...............i'm a thirsty bloke :lol::lol:At the moment he only does 19 or 50 litre kegs mate but is thinking of dumping the 19 ones for a 25 litre keg.Any ideas as to whether 2 of these will fit into the fridge ?

Posh git i notice you've got 3 taps on yours:lol:

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Thanks for the insight. So it can be a fairly quick process, but maturing time seems to be the key mostly. I'm still learning and experimenting and with winter coming up it will interesting, as I don't do anything in a fridge yet apart from the final putting them in there before drinking.

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$1150 including 3 kegs. $650 fridge/taps/regulator $200 2.6kg Gas $210 kegs $90 fittings.

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Come round and try some:thumbup:

Place in Capalaba sells everything you need including the beer

www.craftbrewer.com.au

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That is about right.

Plus another $1000 or so if you want the equipment to make your own

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Or if you're loaded

http://www.beerbelly.com.au/mashpilot.html:thumbsup:

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Thank you both for the information :thumbsup: Will start saving up immediately :sneaky: or a certain gentleman may even send me some racing certainties for next weekend :fingerscrossed:

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Do you provide snake repellant ?:eek::eek::lol:

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Im just waiting for 2 buddies to sort out fridges to store beer then going here http://www.redbaybrewery.com.au/ (Bobby it's in Cleveland)

Have been keeping my bottles and I'm ready to go. They are screw top but hope they are OK.

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I wish:(

If you want to come round and have a look at my set up (and try a drop;)) let me know.

Off to see Roxy Music at the river stage tonight:cool:

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Cheers James very handy to know :thumbup:

Enjoy it mate ;)