Homebrew

[radiojake]

Beer is so inefficient.

In what sense???


walshy93 - welcome to the magical world of cheap-as-****-yet-better-than-commercial-beer!!!

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

There are cheaper, more efficient methods for getting alcohol.

 

[Caesar]

Metho.

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

Metho.

Methanol.

 

[Lach72]

AM getting back into it, although through the commercial brewers. Have used Billabong Brewing before so going back there.
Will try and go down on Sunday for the first brew.

 

[Kardinia Boy]

I'm only too all-grain brews in, but the photo below is of my first. All up, for a 10L brew (about a slab), it cost me $14.

And it is absolutely miraculous. Roasty, fruity and goes down beautifully, it's a beaut of an APA- maybe I am bias, but damn it tastes as good as some microbrews, and streets better than some commercial brews (Boags Draught...)!

Any chance of getting the recipe - I've just started all-grain as well.

 

[walshy93]

Any chance of getting the recipe - I've just started all-grain as well.

Bear in mind this was only for 10L and produced about a 5.5% beer. I don't have my actualy recipe on me, but from the receipt from the store, I'm was 90% sure:

2kg Ale Malt
.2kg Crystal 60
.25kg Light Munich

Mashed at 67c for an hour, then boiled for an hour

14g Columbus @ 60mins
7g Cascade @ 20mins
8g Cascade @5 mins

Safale US-05 yeast

 

[radiojake]

All grains is the next step I need to take - Luckily I have moved into a new place were the new occupants are way more enthusiastic with helping with making my brews than previous housemates (in the old house, they just enjoyed drinking them!)

 

[Kardinia Boy]

Bear in mind this was only for 10L and produced about a 5.5% beer. I don't have my actualy recipe on me, but from the receipt from the store, I'm was 90% sure:

2kg Ale Malt
.2kg Crystal 60
.25kg Light Munich

Mashed at 67c for an hour, then boiled for an hour

14g Columbus @ 60mins
7g Cascade @ 20mins
8g Cascade @5 mins

Safale US-05 yeast

Thanks. Very similiar to the one I used apart from the hops.

 

[Beer n Skittles]

Jeez bigfooty really does have everything.

I've also been trying small scale all grain, using 'brew in a bag' style.
If anyone else does it this way, what are you using for the bag? I accidently melted a bit of the paint strainer bag I used last time, looking for something better

 

[moses]

Some very good advice in MCE's post. I've only been brewing for about a year but have been rather prolific (20+ batches so far). The first thing I think beginners should know is to disregard the Coopers instructions. Never ferment an ale above 22 degrees and don't bottle as soon as fermentation stops. Generally, allow the beers at least two weeks fermenting before bottling, and try to keep a constant temperature somewhere between 16-22 degrees.

A can of malt and a bag of sugar won't make a very good beer either. The Coopers cans aren't bad, but they become so much better with some hops, extra malt and a decent yeast used. A great, simple way for beginners to make a quality beer is to disregard any brewing sugar and use an extra can of malt with some hops boiled for 10 minutes. You can make 23L of good, full-strength beer for about $25 using this method.

If you don't mind paying a little extra, the Thomas Coopers range of malt cans (pre-hopped or not) are a bit better than the regular range and can make some very tasty beers. I totally disagree with a previous post suggesting buying the pre-packaged kits. They are insanely over-priced for the very basic ingredients they contain. I've seen some priced at $60+ for a can of malt ($15), one of those ridiculous hop teabags ($3), a bag of sugar ($4) and some yeast ($5).

Looking at using my coopers kit in a couple of weeks with some of your suggestions.

Coopers IPA can - http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/products/Thomas-Coopers-IPA-%2d-1.7kg.html

Packet of dark dry malt - http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/products/Dark-Dry-Malt.html

750grams of Dextrose - http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/products/Dextrose-%2d-1kg.html

Yeast US-05 - http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/products/Safale-US%2d05-%2d-10g.html

Dry hopped in the fermentation container (http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/categories/Beer-Brewing/Hops/ ) Any suggestions of the best hops to use?

At what temp and quantity of water should I me mixing my can, dry malt and dextrose?

Love to hear peoples suggestions on maximising the coopers kit as a novice home brewer.

 

[Silent Alarm]

This is how you get pissed when living off those government food cards

 

[radiojake]

Any suggestions of the best hops to use?

Cascade Hops are my favourite

 

[Gough]

I had a few goes when I was a younger bit it all ended with an exploding batch in the garage doing more damage to my old man's car than was worth my while. A mate has a lovely set up though, and has homebrew on draught in his garage.

 

[Underdog]

How do you explode home brew?

 

[Gough]

Too much sugar.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Probably better to post here than in the Hawks Board home brew thread (damn search BF search engine)

Looking to do up a first home brew to mark a significant birthday. I see you can get the all in one kits from home brew places but are there smarter (cheaper) ways to do it? Home brew companies probably see newbies coming from miles away.

 

[craigos]

Probably better to post here than in the Hawks Board home brew thread (damn search BF search engine)

Looking to do up a first home brew to mark a significant birthday. I see you can get the all in one kits from home brew places but are there smarter (cheaper) ways to do it? Home brew companies probably see newbies coming from miles away.

What kind of setup are you using to brew? Just a Coopers style kit or BIAB or AG?

 

[walshy93]

Don't even bother with kits and bits... it's not a huge leap to go straight to brew in a bag (BIAB) and will save you cash in the long run. That is, if you have the room.

There are some great resources on the Aussiehomebrewer forum about BIAB. Make an account and read this thread (or the PDF link in the second line of OP): http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/38674-move-to-all-grain-for-thirty-bucks/

Helped me get into it big time. It's easy to do but time consuming and requires you to follow instructions pretty closely.

Tips:
- Sanitize everything.
- Get a good thermometer.
- Follow the damn recipe (going off book has ****ed more than one beer for me). Dr Smurto's Golden Ale is a ripper (Google)
- Be patient and don't try them too early.
- Carb drops are too fizzy.

 

[TheWoodenSlug]

How do you explode home brew?

Home brew ice.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Don't even bother with kits and bits... it's not a huge leap to go straight to brew in a bag (BIAB) and will save you cash in the long run. That is, if you have the room.

There are some great resources on the Aussiehomebrewer forum about BIAB. Make an account and read this thread (or the PDF link in the second line of OP): http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/38674-move-to-all-grain-for-thirty-bucks/

Helped me get into it big time. It's easy to do but time consuming and requires you to follow instructions pretty closely.

Tips:
- Sanitize everything.
- Get a good thermometer.
- Follow the damn recipe (going off book has ****** more than one beer for me). Dr Smurto's Golden Ale is a ripper (Google)
- Be patient and don't try them too early.
- Carb drops are too fizzy.

Cheers for that.

I want to do an initial shitting brew to test things out before going all out and a few different ones like a mate and his girlfriend did and they achieved many a good thing,.