My Home Brew Journey

stevo

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In the interests of knowledge creation, website content and a greater world, i have entered the sacred realm of Home Brew and purchased a home brew "starter kit".

I got it from "Malt 'n' Bay Home Brew Supplies" at Margate (no website, it's an old school shop), it's the closest shop to me. It's a small shop but i thought it'd be easiest to have a local shop to deal with. They even said if i'm having trouble they'll drop in to my place and help out. Price $90.

They offered to swap out the standard included kit beer to anything to i wanted (different flavours), but i thought i'd just stick with the basic one to start with and see how that goes. Hopefully i can document my amateur home brew journey ... my projects usually start with failure... that's my standard learning precedure :cheers:

It's supposed to be raining this weekend, so i might get it started :cheers:

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Mark

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Good luck with this. Looking forward to hearing how you go - post some pics of the setup if you can please. Are you sticking with beer first for awhile?
 

Mark

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Going to see if I can't get my brother in-law in on the conversation - he's an excellent beer home-brewer maybe he can give some brew tips in this thread?
 

stevo

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Lucky there was a instructional DVD because i'm not good with written instructions. Here's all the stuff you get, and a heap of plastic bottles. It's all done now and brewing! Recommned temp is around 25 degrees C, and it's around 20 degrees C where it's sitting, so i think it may just take longer, i may have to try warm it up. I'll research some more.

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Mark

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Wow, that's a fair kit. Looks like they cover everything. Have you worked out the cost of a standard stubby yet - is it cost effective (I've heard it is)?
 

stevo

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From reading the brochure stuff, it says a stubby of beer might cost 25cents. That might be after you have all the gear.

All the instructions and the video said to keep the keg "in an area of the house that is a constant 25 degrees C to make sure it ferments properly". Hah, non existent at my place. It was hovering around 16 to 18 degrees C. I don't have heaters or anything like that. So I bought a heat pad $40. The brown square thing in the photo (place the keg on the pad). It looks like it might be around 25 to 30 degrees C (depending what area of the pad you test). It's 25watts, so not too bad, and I only need to run it for a week while brewing anyway. I also bought the next brew, the green tin in the photo, Apple Cider.
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Werner

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Thanks Mark...not sure about the expert home brewer! Lets say I dabble in the odd brew.
Stevo, I'm impressed with the kit, a lot of gear at a reasonable price. Also sounds like your local shop is on the ball.
Happy brewing.
Werner
 

Mark

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Thanks Mark...not sure about the expert home brewer! Lets say I dabble in the odd brew.
Stevo, I'm impressed with the kit, a lot of gear at a reasonable price. Also sounds like your local shop is on the ball.
Happy brewing.
Werner

You're an expert alright - I've tasted your beer!

So if the temp is supposed to be between 25-30 degrees C (as Stevo says) does that mean brewing can only be done at certain times of the year unless you have some way to regulate the temp in the room to keep it constant? What did you do down in freezing Albury to keep the temp right?

Stevo, does the heat mat work well? 25 cents per stubbie sounds pretty cheap! I'm liking that :thumbsup:
 

stevo

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cheers Werner

They said don't let it get to 30 degrees C. I've read a little bit on some homebrew forums, some of them say 25 degrees is too high and they sit there's on 18, but the instructions i have for this brew says 25, so i'll stick with that for this one. They do some crazy stuff on the homebrew forums, homebrew at the extreme end i think. I thought i might make or buy a cupboard to put the keg in, so you can control the environment a bit better with heating or cooling. Some of the extremists put their keg in a fridge, and have the fridge turn on and off by using a thermostat thing.
 

Werner

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Yes, it is indeed a hobby you can take to the extreme. With the temperature, the yeast (and all yeasts are not the same) will die if too hot.
Some of the lager yeast will ferment at very low temperatures. The reason behind the higher recommended brewing temps, is that the quicker you brew, the less chance for infection in your brew. I use a Kiwi made heat pad and even in winter I could keep the temp at around 18 - 20 degrees C. I would also use the heat pad in a cupboard with the bottles for the secondary fermentation. On the bottle subject, "If it is in glass it is good" I think Thomas Cooper coined that frase and it is one worth brewing by. Spoil yourself with 2 1/2 slabs of Coopers sparkling ale, in the longnecks. Thats enough 750ml bottles for a batch and the bottles should last you a life time.

Werner
 

stevo

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cheers Werner, I might try to stick the bottles in a cupboard with the heat pad in there aswell. I was going to get some glass bottles too, not sure if I can drink that much beer before this batch is ready for bottling though :confused: ... I guess i'll slowly build up all my supplies/equipment as I go.
 

Steve

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Looks like a home chemistry set! :confused: There's lots of kit for $90 bucks. nice deal!

How long does it take to brew? :cheers:
 

stevo

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bottled... and will wait a few weeks before trying it, i might do the Cider soon, instructions say to leave the Cider bottled for a few months before trying, so it seems to be a bit of a long process.

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stevo

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yeah they're plastic, they came with the kit so I thought i'd use them. Werner will be disappointed :oops: I've got to go buy some glass bottles.

I started the Cider yesterday, they say months before being able to drink it! It seems the longer you leave it all the better it will be, so i'll have to make a stockpile.
 

Mark

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I can't imagine beer tasting different from a plastic bottle - soft drink doesn't - but I may be wrong. Obviously, you'll serve it in one of those glass buckets you have (the ones that look like a beer glass). :p
 

stevo

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I'm not sure if it'd make a difference either. The plastic bottles might be good for beginners, as they might be less likely to explode :eek:

Seeing as though i have to wait 2 to 3 months to try the Apple Cider, i thought i'd buy a bottle on the way home. There's a whole range of ciders at the bottle shops, this one is 500ml i think, was $6. I could only just finish it as it was fairly sweet. I hope mine don't turn out that sweet. Probably ok if you just want to have a average size glass full. Bonus is that i can use this bottle to re-fill :D

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Steve

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There was a time when we would only drink Coke out of glass and now you are pushing it to find Coke in a glass bottle in the shops.
I reckon there would be nothing wrong with it in plastic.
 
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