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mike83

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Hey guys any members on here brew there own beer ? How has it turned out how many attempts did it take you to get a good batch of beer. I have brought a coopers DIY kit and have a batch going but being cooler months of the year its hard to keep the temp in the 21 t0 27 temp will most likely need to wrap a heat mat around it or something to keep it at that temp will it still l turn out ok even if its not in that temp range while in the fermentation period right now the temp is like 16 to 18 I think my question is will it still turn out ok and just take longer or will it be crap.

I also checked out the beer factory which is a microbrewery company based in seven hills where you brew your own beer on site from a choice of the 200 beers and around 2 to 4 weeks time its ready to pick up which you can bottle it on site or have it put into kegs if you have a keg set up at home which I am thinking of getting. Brewing beer from them works out cheaper then buying cases of beer from the shops I am not a massive drinker so brewing the 50L would last me afew months easy its still not as cheap as brewing it at home but mite be easier and I know every batch will turn out great and have such a big range to choose from so mite try them out sometime soon for now I am giving the home brew a go really not expecting my first attempt to be any good tho hahah.

any tips from people who brew beer would be great also has anyone ever brewed beer from the beer factory at seven hills or any other places that do the same thing.

Cheers
Michael
 
I used to mate, worked out extremely cheap :)
I also bought the coopers kit. The longer you leave it the better. Those coopers kits I think they say "drink after two weeks"...so double it. Also try only one and a half sugar tablets...two tends to make it a bit cloudy. I did it all, usually worked out around a 4.8-5.2% beer and was really crisp.
Also if you have room, actually allow a couple to set in the fridge, I found they turned out better. Another point...when setting the beer let them set in the dark, who knows why but again, tastes better. I have to start doing it again. Works out ridiculously cheap, and if you after getting wasted then you can't go wrong for about 30cents per standard drink lol
Make sure you get your temperature right (follow the dvd precisely). Do not use tap water. Buy filter chlorine free water from the shops, again makes it taste better. And keep it in that temp range when setting :D

Good luck and send us a bottle ;)
 
Cheers for the reply Skelhorn
If its left with lower temps will the fermentation still work and just take alot longer then if the temp was a bit higher ?
Yeah it is very cheap I mite try the Mexican one that coopers have as well this batch is the larger one you get with the kit did you just bottle yours or you got a keg I really like the keg idea saves having heaps of bottles to wash all the time.
 
the mexican one isn't flash.i love sol and dos equis ,but the mexican home brew(from both brands) doesnt cut it .tastless. i've been brewing for just a couple years and pretty well settled on the coopers larger and canadian blonde. very smooth, inoffensive and cheap.
cheers
simon
 
Hey Mike,
At the lower temps your yeast might slow or stop fermenting, I used to just put a heat mat under the fermentation drum and tape a thermostat probe to the side of the drum and it got me through every winter. If your temps are too high or too low you can sometimes get unwanted flavours. Probably the best advice I can give you is to sterilize everything thoroughly and you should get a nice brew every time :)
 
You can actually get heat bands to go around your fermentation drum, sort of like a short heat cord.

I had varying success with different brands, batches, & types of beers. The best ones I got were the dark lagers & porter style beers which were really quite nice. The worst ones were shockers that got tipped out. Try a ginger beer too, they go really good.

Regardless of what brand or beer or sugar or hops, the main thing to do right is sterilisation. Any dirty bottles or fermenting drum & you may as well just tip it out now.

Another tip, if you're using bottles & not kegs, use longnecks instead of stubbies. When you're washing & sterilising, believe me, the novelty wears off quick when you have twice as many stubbies to clean than if you used longnecks. Also using a bench top bottle capper makes things easier than the hand held capper.

And don't be too eager to bottle it either, if you bottle it while its still fermenting, you run the risk of bottles exploding.
 
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Cheers for the reply Skelhorn
If its left with lower temps will the fermentation still work and just take alot longer then if the temp was a bit higher ?
Yeah it is very cheap I mite try the Mexican one that coopers have as well this batch is the larger one you get with the kit did you just bottle yours or you got a keg I really like the keg idea saves having heaps of bottles to wash all the time.

I just did the bottle thing, the Keg would have been a hell of a lot easier to store and clean but meh, maybe next time :p
In regards to storing in the fridge, I left the bottles in the cuboard for 2 weeks before transfering them to the fridge, those coopers beers have really quick turn arounds so depending where you leave it can also determine how fast it sets.

As also said above the temp is important. What ever the DVD says, stick to that temp. When I was trying to brew my beer its temps got upto the 32 mark....yet the dvd said it should get above 28 (?) from my memory. Again each brew you make is different but the one you buy with the kit is again different.

When I get back from out west I might put another batch on. Will also try that mexican coopers one I think. $20 for 40 or so pints sounds decent!
 
I work in a winery and depending on what flavors you want you ferment at different temps, lower temps (not too low, ie below 14) generally create softer, finer flavors while going too hot can create H2S (rotten egg smell) Of course we also use a variety of yeasts that give different flavors, convert more of less sugar to alcohol or are more alcohol tolerant if making a high alcohol wine. I know a few people who work in wineries who use winery yeasts for their beers for different flavors, ie QA23 will give you a passion fruit and banana pallet which you may want if creating a wheat beer.

I’m not 100% sure of which yeast your kit comes with but I would think 16-18C should ferment out fine for you, it will just take a bit longer. To help get your beer dry (All sugar converter to alcohol) it is best to try get the temps up a bit towards the end of ferment as alcohol is toxic to yeasts the higher the alcohol the more your yeast will struggle.
 
Hey guys any members on here brew there own beer ? How has it turned out how many attempts did it take you to get a good batch of beer. I have brought a coopers DIY kit and have a batch going but being cooler months of the year its hard to keep the temp in the 21 t0 27 temp will most likely need to wrap a heat mat around it or something to keep it at that temp will it still l turn out ok even if its not in that temp range while in the fermentation period right now the temp is like 16 to 18 I think my question is will it still turn out ok and just take longer or will it be crap.

I also checked out the beer factory which is a microbrewery company based in seven hills where you brew your own beer on site from a choice of the 200 beers and around 2 to 4 weeks time its ready to pick up which you can bottle it on site or have it put into kegs if you have a keg set up at home which I am thinking of getting. Brewing beer from them works out cheaper then buying cases of beer from the shops I am not a massive drinker so brewing the 50L would last me afew months easy its still not as cheap as brewing it at home but mite be easier and I know every batch will turn out great and have such a big range to choose from so mite try them out sometime soon for now I am giving the home brew a go really not expecting my first attempt to be any good tho hahah.

any tips from people who brew beer would be great also has anyone ever brewed beer from the beer factory at seven hills or any other places that do the same thing.

Cheers
Michael

I worked for several years with one of Australias largest homebrew chains, and helped create many of the concentrates available throughout their stores and others that they wholesale to. Like anything you do, with homebrew you get what you pay for. Starting out with a Coopers kit is a great way to cut your teeth on brewing your own beer, but unless the DVD content has drastically changed since I left the industry about five years ago, then the only thing it is good for is to be used as a coaster. Number 1 rule: Do NOT brew your beer above 22°C, unless you wish to produce overly fruity crap abounding in impurities. I would say the best temp for most ale yeasts is around 18°C, and try not to drop below 16°C with the Coopers yeast as this runs the very real risk of creating a stuck ferment which will leave you with a half finished product.

The best thing you can do when brewing your own is to excercise patience. Most of my ales would not leave the primary fermenter for at least ten days. This would ensure that the fermentation was completed fully, prior to moving to a secondary for bulk aging, or for packaging. Which brings me to my number 2 rule: Always use a hydrometer. This nifty little piece of gear is the cheapest method of scientifically proving that your fermentation has ceased. No other way is viable, unless you wish to purchase a much more expensive refractometer. To ensure your fermentation has finished, take a sample and record the reading. Wait 24 hours, then take another sample, record and compare this reading - it should be the same. If fermentation has finished, then wait a further 24 hours and take a third sample. Compare the three to ensure that fermentation has definitely finished. Then you can proceed to bottling, kegging, or transfering to a secondary fermenter for bulk aging.

My number three rule isn't really a rule... more of a recommendation that stems back to the whole 'get what you pay for' quote. Generally speaking, simple sugars are bad, evil additives (adjuncts, in brewing terminology) that only add alcohol, and nothing in the way of nice flavours to your brew. I say nice flavours, because they do add flavour, but these tend to be harsh, cidery characteristics that greatly retract from the finished product. Dextrose is better than sucrose, or table sugar, but still adds the cidery element if overused. To create a truly masterful homebrew, try replacing the brewing "sugars" with 100% malt, either dried malt or liquid malt, and see the difference this makes. You will be astounded when comparing these to brews created with sugar instead. Then, once you've gained teh confidence necessary, try to experiment with adding hops and even steeping some specialty grains such as crystal or chocolate grain. Always remember that the best place to go for advise is your local home brew shop. Being close to Seven Hills, then I would highly recommend popping in to the Country Brewer at Girraween and speaking with either Karl or Graham. They are both extremely knowledgeable and happy to talk anyone through any issues or fears they may have.It's also a good place to pick up different ingredients and recipes for various brews as well. Sure, their concentrates are several dollars more than the tin of coopers from the supermarket, but they are a superior product (naturally... I helped create them :lol:). Of course, if you don't wish to support your local home brew shop, you can always try asking the checkout chick at KMart for brewing advice. I'm sure she'll be a veritable encyclopaedia of relevant information :rolleyes:

My ultimate recommendations then...
1. All malt ingredients
2. Purchase a seperate yeast, such as safale or, during winter, saflager (which will happily brew at 9°C... just takes longer to finish at that temp), and throw out the generic under-the-lid-yeast.
3. Brew ales between 16°C to 22°C Max. Brew lagers (using a lager yeast) between 12°C and 16°C
4. Excercise patience, and never try to rush things. Once bottled, leave them at room temperature (read: similar to the temperature which you brewed the beer at) for a minimum of six weeks prior to cracking - your tastebuds will thank you.
5. Do not give up if you fail. Discuss the issue with a homebrew retailer, or someone truly knowledgeable about the hobby, as chances are whatever happened to you has been well documented previously, and they will have an answer for you.
6. Support your local home brew shop. It may cost a bit more - even twice what you would pay at Woolworths - but if these shops all close down because everyone just wants to make cheap piss instead of good beer, then all the knowledge they contain inside their collective brain will be lost!

Hope this helps. And as they say in the hobby...

RDWHAHB (Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Home Brew),
Pete
 
Thanks PMyers. I am saving your info now :p
Will update when i get my butt into gear and try your tips ;)
 
UBrew is awesome. Better quality beer than from a bottleshop for half the price.
Especially if you actually appreciate a good beer.
I did a Newcastle Brown that converted a few non-beer drinkers.
Had to buy 3 kegs and a gas bottle, very easy to convert an old fridge to a kegerator.
You do have to keep the beer cold at all times though so need room for 3 (18L) kegs in the fridge when you do a batch.
 
PMyers and the others have all given good information .Clean and sterillize , --depending on your age and beer requirement this is the only info you need ,if my brother did this he would still be brewing - at 20 with parents run away homebrew was a lot of fun but he should of cleaned the bottles !!!!


i have been brewing for 30 odd years , at the height of which i was rotating over 600 bottles across the back wall of my garage . patience is needed after bottling 4 weeks minimum until tasting -- there is nothing worse than tasting a bottle a week for 30 weeks only to find that the last bottle was finally drinkable -----but the last of its kind .

i now brew into kegs and the simplicity of it outweighs the setup cost 10000000-1 among other things there is only one keg per brew to wash and sterilize
, the brew is drinkable and fully carbonated after 2 days at 215psi although i have found that if you can leave it longer under pressure it will develope more ,once you reduce the pressure the ageing stops . the mex brews are ok good summer drink -use a light malt powder ( brerw booster or a body brew ) and i steep 6 kaffir lime leaves and add them to the wort for a sharpish lime finish . black beers are a special thing when homebrewed you can get wierd and add liccorice flavour -but not licorice as it contains flour ,-- brown sugar /dark brown sugar, black grains, coffee ( drew carey show) use a few shots of esspresso , dark malt and all sorts of black stuff , just dont expect to see that same head you get on a guinness :( . and the last one to try is a chilli beer -- add 1 cayene chilli per bottle or a serrano if you grow them to a coopers larger or homebrand draught ( dont nock it till you try it ) on a hot day you crack a cold one and it goes down cold then warms up and you need to drink more so do it again and before you know it the whole bottle is a gonner

get you brewing mates together and put down 5 or so drews at the one house the have a cleaning -sterilizing day and a bottling day it makes it a fun easy way to brew


have fun with it and clean clean clean ( and when you drink a bottle get into the habit of rinsing it straght away)
 
PMyers and the others have all given good information .Clean and sterillize , --depending on your age and beer requirement this is the only info you need ,if my brother did this he would still be brewing - at 20 with parents run away homebrew was a lot of fun but he should of cleaned the bottles !!!!

Yup. Sanitation is everything. Over the years I have heard some of the most attrocious advice offered in the pursuit of easy sanitation, including (but certainly not limited to) simply pouring boiled water from the kettle over it to, and I quote, "Leave it in the sun and let the UV radiation kill everything". :facepalm: Now you can go overboard in relation to sanitation - I've heard of people who only use pre-boiled water to mix with percarbonate, TSP, or whatever brand you settle on, only to top up the fermenter with water straight from the tap once they had finished mixing the ingredients! I'm not saying don't be careful - you really should take some care in the cleaning and sanitation of your equipment - but there's no need to brew in a bubble, either. If you pitch your yeast correctly, and use a fresh (read: seperately purchased, not from under the lid) yeast, then soon enough there will be literally billions (no exageration) of yeast cells per millileter of wort churning away, which would make for an environment that is hostile to all but the most persistent of bugs.

i now brew into kegs and the simplicity of it outweighs the setup cost 10000000-1 among other things there is only one keg per brew to wash and sterilize, the brew is drinkable and fully carbonated after 2 days at 215psi

I messed around a bit with pressures and the like several years back. Carbonating at 215 was how I was taught, and for many years was exactly what I did. I found however that due to the difference in carbonating pressure and dispensing pressure, the contents of the keg would attempt to equalise when left for a period of time... say the time between tonights session and tomorrows ;)... thus causing the first few pulls of beer the next day to overfoam, even if you flipped the pressure relief valve prior to pouring. After stuffing around a bit I found that if you were to carbonate at dispensing pressure for two to three weeks, then you would not get the equalisation issues, and each pour would be as smooth as the last - even if it were to sit unused for a few days. Just a thought you might like to try yourself next time if you happen to experience these issues yourself. You'll probably need a dedicated carbonating fridge for this though, if you plan of adopting this method...

just dont expect to see that same head you get on a guinness :(

The tightly knit bubbles and superbly creamy head on Guinness (and Kilkenny, and Murphy's etc...) comes from the fact that it is not carbonated in the same manner as the rest of our beers. They utilise a nitrogen / carbonation mix in the ratio (if I recall correctly) of about 7:3 Nitrogen:CO2. You can get the same gas from your CO2 supplier, but it is more expensive, and from memory only comes in the large, shoulder-height cells (F-cells?). Use this gas instead of CO2, and snap a diffuser (little black thing) on the end of your tap, and you'll get the exact same head on whatever you carbonate (nitrogenate?) with it. As an aside, I once nitrogenated a double APA using this method, and found it incredible. All the bitterness was from the hop, without the CO2 astringency confusing things.

Beers,
Pete
 
Thanks for all the reply's guys loads of good info for me to read :) will help out heaps.
 
I think whats important is to keep notes on what you put into each batch and ferment. Temps etc. that way you learn from what you have done and can make changes where you see fit.
 
So many good tips!!! My other half and I are just getting everything ready to start making our own! We are going to convert our old tucker box freezer in to a keg holder with taps etc! A friend of ours did it and it looks amazing and works well!!!
 
So many good tips!!! My other half and I are just getting everything ready to start making our own! We are going to convert our old tucker box freezer in to a keg holder with taps etc! A friend of ours did it and it looks amazing and works well!!!

I have done that several times for customers who wanted a "plug & play" type bar. I just built a wooden pine-slat frame around the freezer with a nice wooden top. You couldn't even tell it was a freezer underneath. Thermostat in the freezer to keep the temps at 1 - 2 °C, then a font out the top. The lid still opened like a regular tuckerbox, but everything was nicely hidden away beneath the wooden outer shell. I did similar with corrugated iron for a real "outback" feel once as well.
 
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