New to the Guild? ** PLEASE READ THIS POST FIRST **

[Otto Von Blotto]

Hi all' date=' I've just my brew kit and quite a few people are saying the lager and brew enhancer 1 is a bit bland ? What else could I add to make a more flavour brew ? Thanks any advice QK [/quote']Hops would help it too as well as Magnaman's suggestion of more malt. Something like 25-30g of Cascade thrown into the fermenter when the fermentation dies down would tart it up a bit.

[Yogi]

Hi all,

 

Not my first post on the forum but thought I should say hi as I'm new.

 

I'm a Pom living in Singapore, brought myself a 8.5L craft kit, little did I know how much this hobby was going to cost me :) . Started Diablo IPA dry hopped with Cascade, Bottled it a week ago and couldn't help but crack one open today and I'm mighty impressed with myself.

 

I was going to do the two other kits (Bewitched Amber Ale & Northwest Pale Ale) I had after but some how got talked into doing a cider buy a pal.

 

I started with a little swamp box but have quickly grown tired of it so I've been on the hunt for a chest freezer, I can get (and have room for) a small 110L one for around $200 or wait till one comes up on gumtree. I think I need to buy it soon before I let it slip to the wife that I'll be buying it.

 

Yogi.

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Well they reckon forgiveness is easier to get than permission...

[Yogi]

Well they reckon forgiveness is easier to get than permission...

 

if you don't here from me in a few days that statement might not be correct for Pinoy wife's.

[Kradmelder]

Hi all' date='

 

I've been on the hunt for a chest freezer, I can get (and have room for) a small 110L one for around $200 or wait till one comes up on gumtree. I think I need to buy it soon before I let it slip to the wife that I'll be buying it.

 

Yogi.

[/quote']

 

You can always use the chest freezer for the EX-wife if any throwing stuff tantrum threatens the beer

 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Well, good luck in any case

[Kradmelder]

Well' date=' good luck in any case [img']biggrin[/img]

 

If he also buys a chain saw along with the chest freezer he won't need luck

 

She will get the message he he.

 

I've got a chest freezer upright freezer garage full of bikes, a chain saw, axes, and firearms. No one has ever complained about my hobbies.

 

He should also bring up the matter of a second fermenter. If you can only turn out 21 litres every 2 weeks that is only 1.5 litres per day. What man can survive on that?

 

 

[Yogi]

 

Wish me luck.....

 

Thank you for order! Your Order details are indicated below.

 

Thanks again for shopping at Qoo10

 

1. Order Info

 

(May 15, 2016 ) Farfalla 108L Chest Freezer FCF-108A -

SINGAPORE WARRANTY

S$228.00

[Kradmelder]

Wish me luck.....

 

Thank you for order! Your Order details are indicated below.

 

Thanks again for shopping at Qoo10

 

1. Order Info

 

(May 15' date=' 2016 ) Farfalla 108L Chest Freezer FCF-108A -

SINGAPORE WARRANTY

S$228.00 [/quote']

 

Well done! You grew a pair and have your priorities right! Do you have a bar fridge as well for keeping beer cold?

[Yogi]

Wish me luck.....

 

Thank you for order! Your Order details are indicated below.

 

Thanks again for shopping at Qoo10

 

1. Order Info

 

(May 15' date=' 2016 ) Farfalla 108L Chest Freezer FCF-108A -

SINGAPORE WARRANTY

S$228.00 [/quote']

 

Well done! You grew a pair and have your priorities right! Do you have a bar fridge as well for keeping beer cold?

 

I do have a 28 bottle wine fridge and a drinks fridge then the main fridge for the house so now I would say I have enough cooling.

[joolbag]

Hi everyone, I'm putting in a quick post to introduce myself. I've been browsing a few of the Australian home-brew forums since I started brewing, and this one has a great community and is the one I have decided to contribute to.

 

I'm very new to the scene. I've had a fermenter and all of the kit for years: my good friend went overseas and left me his. It sat in the shed for a very long time and I decided to do some reading about home brewing and to finally get into it. My first brew was in April 2016.

 

I've put four brews down (have two FVs now) in the last 6 weeks.

 

1) Basic Coopers Australian Pale Ale + kilo. Gotta start somewhere

2) Stepped up to a Black Rock kit + LME + dry hop. Enjoying this one now

3) Just finished bottling my first extract brew, the Cascarillo Amber Ale from the recipes page

4) Almost at FG is my Galaxy IPA interpretation, based on a mix of the IPA kit + small hop boil recipes on the forum and recipe page

 

5) and 6) Next on my hitlist is the Hop Gobbler Northern English Brown Ale. And then will try a Samuel Adams Boston Lager clone at ambient temps (14-15C here in Sydney)

 

I'm loving the hobby, I am becoming a bit obsessed about it. I totally get it now! I am the type of person who goes headfirst and 100% at something... or not at all.

 

With two young kids (3 year old boy and a 6 month old daughter) I have to MAKE time to brew and bottle and do my research. Def a doable hobby once the kids go to bed. My 3yr old even helps me sometimes if I do it on a weekend or before bedtime!

 

I'm in Leichhardt Sydney and Hop + Grain got me started and I still buy locally as well as from Coopers Online store and other bulk brewing suppliers.

 

Look forward to sharing and trying lots of recipes from the forum and to get advice when I need it. OF course pay it forward, it is what (good) forums are all about!

 

Julian aka Jools

[Otto Von Blotto]

Welcome Julian! It's definitely an obsession no doubt about it. I started out similarly to you, 4 and a half years later I'm brewing all grain, have the temp controlled fridge, Erlenmeyer flasks and jars for yeast propagation and harvest/storage, kegs and taps, and I'm also growing hops - I have my first beer made with my own home grown hops in the fermenter currently, it should be kegged next Saturday.

 

Enjoy, it's a slippery slope

[Andyport]

Hi Everyone

 

Just introducing myself, a complete newbie to home brewing, and I'm loving it! Have only been brewing since about February, but having pretty good success so far....touch wood.

 

The obsession started when my wife suggested using the apples off our tree to brew a cider. It turned out okay for a first effort, but this just spurred me on to improve things. Funny thing is, we have always been 'red winies', not a great beer drinker. But I have found I really enjoy the darker full bodied beers, Ambers, Browns and Porters (ironic, as thats our surname).

 

I now have two 30 litre FV's (one a gifted hand-me-down) and the 15 litre craft FV which I love. Find it's an excellent size for me, as I'm the only beer drinker in the house. Will allow me variety without the big quantities.

 

Here's what I've brewed so far:

1. Apple cider, using home grown apples

2. TC Ruby Porter

3. Coopers Ginger Beer

4. Black Rock Cider

5. "Pumpkin Rising" Amber Ale (Craft FV)

6. "Rockets Red Glare" Amber Ale (Craft FV)

 

The "Rockets Red Glare" was my first use of hops, it's still in the FV but smells yum! Itching now to move on and try some grains. Have a nephew who is a terrific all grain brewer and also a bundle of knowledge. I'm sure he must get sick of my endless questions!

 

I'm in Port Lincoln SA and can get some things locally but need to purchase most online, the Craft stuff obviously. I can definitely see this home brewing becoming an obsession!

 

Cheers, Andy

[Hairy]

Funny thing is' date=' we have always been 'red winies', not a great beer drinker. [/quote']

I don't really like smoking (Kelsey should stop, again ).

 

Welcome aboard!

[joolbag]

Thanks for the welcome guys.

 

Hey Andyport, how did you find the Black Rock cider? is it dry or sweet? My wife is getting a little annoyed with my latest obsession, so I offered to make her a cider. She isn't a beer drinker.

 

I'm keen to find a cider that isn't overly sweet and Black Rock is sold at my LHBS.

 

I am having a beer brewed from the Black Rock American Pale Ale Kit + DME + dry hop of Cascade and it is rather tasty. If you recommend the apple cider kit, I'll get it and put down a brew my wife can enjoy.

 

Cheers,

 

Jools

[Oor Wullie]

Hello Worshipful Brewmasters. A wee introduction, I am from Aberdeen, Scotland and I was given a gift of a Craft brew kit for Father's day. Best present I ever received!

 

I have been brewing Bewitched Amber Ale and kept it in the FV for 2 weeks after reading some advice on this forum. Bottled it this afternoon after having gravity readings of 1006 for a few days. Tastes pretty good already from the test tube samples. Going to leave in the bottles for 2 weeks and then put them in the fridge for another 2 weeks. Oh, original gravity was 1047.

 

So chuffed at the results so far, I have ordered a larger kit and plan on making loads of beer! Although I am new to homebrew, beer has been a passion of mine for many years. I simply love beer.

 

If its alright with you lads and lassies, may I ask some questions along the way? You are experts and I want to be like you.

 

Thanks,

 

Oor Wullie.

[Jp1525229771]

Hello Worshipful Brewmasters. A wee introduction' date=' I am from Aberdeen, Scotland and I was given a gift of a Craft brew kit for Father's day. Best present I ever received!

 

I have been brewing Bewitched Amber Ale and kept it in the FV for 2 weeks after reading some advice on this forum. Bottled it this afternoon after having gravity readings of 1006 for a few days. Tastes pretty good already from the test tube samples. Going to leave in the bottles for 2 weeks and then put them in the fridge for another 2 weeks. Oh, original gravity was 1047.

 

So chuffed at the results so far, I have ordered a larger kit and plan on making loads of beer! Although I am new to homebrew, beer has been a passion of mine for many years. I simply love beer.

 

If its alright with you lads and lassies, may I ask some questions along the way? You are experts and I want to be like you.

 

Thanks,

 

Oor Wullie.[/quote']

 

Good day and well come to the hobby of all hobbies.

 

May you brew many many litres of beer.

But im still too new to offer much advice. But yes, this forum is the place where questions get answered.

[Oor Wullie]

Thanks for the welcome JP.

[ericmark]

I live in North Wales, I only brew from kits, I started about 4 years ago, and my first Coopers was a failure, I did three Ginger beer kits in a row, the first never fermented, lovely sweet ginger beer, but no alcohol. The next two also both failed to ferment and I had to put in some spare British yeast from a Youngs kit to get them going. The result was not as good as the one which failed to ferment.

 

So for 2 years I have avoided Coopers kits, however a local shop Wilko had Coopers kits on offer so decided to give them another go. Since all the temperature control set for British beer kits I did not change so first 10 days at 19.5°C to 20.5°C and second 10 days at 21°C with no upper limit, although unlikely to exceed 21°C by very much. I use an old fridge/freezer bottom freezer compartment for first 10 days, and fridge compartment for second 10 days.

 

All went well, except for some small white round lumps floating on the top of the brew, the brew stopped at around the expected s.g. reading and tastes OK so don't think this is an infection? Both kits did same, and I was careful to sanitize after first kit showed these balls.

 

My only thing against the kits was having to go onto the internet to find out what fermentables should be added, I want to be able to read on the tin in the shop to see what I need to go with it. Not having to go home, boot up computer, hunt Coopers web site which did take some doing to find list of what was required, and then return to shop, and buy spray dried malt.

 

The fact it used SDM meant it cost the same as single can British kits that were not on offer, also the same as the British twin can kit on offer. However price is not that important if the beer turns out well. So first I added non recommended fermentables so will not judge Coopers on that one, second still to be bottled, and I expect to leave in the bottle conditioning for some time, at the moment drinking beer started Nov 2015. Beer is stored in shed under the pear tree.

 

I have considered in the bag brewing, but as yet only done kits. I have tried experiments, but I found results were misleading as until Sept 2015 I was brewing in the kitchen with no temperature control. I would stop brewing in summer months as beer brewed first year in summer was not that good. using two fermentors I can produce a brew every 10 days if I want, I tend to also do high alcohol kits British and Canadian at around the 20% ABV between the beer brews. Up to now demijohn (1 gallon or 4.7 litres) at a time, considering doing a whole fermentor full which should keep me going for some time, I would split into demijohns at the end with 6 different flavours.

 

In the main I brew Scottish heavy, both Youngs and Geordie, but felt it was time to try something else. I think likely I will move to a twin can beer kit. Once the Coopers English Bitter is bottled I have a Woodforde's Wherry twin can to do. Then do some high alcohol then the range should be ready to sample. At which point I will decide which kit is going to be the staple kit of the future.

 

Well I think that says all about me beer wise. I am an electrical engineer and worked away from home most of the time, Falklands, Algeria, Hong Kong as well as around the UK. As a result until I retired I did not have the ability to home brew. I am enjoying catching up.

 

 

[Rob44]

Gday ericmark. I had a good friend was a Welshman turned Aussie, we shared many a brew over an EPL game.

I cant comment on the different kits, I've used coopers only, besides the fermentables.

The only brew I've had stall on me was coincidentally the Ginger Kit too, but I re-pitched with another kit yeast and got 'er down, however I don't think it finished as low as it should've.

 

The globs and films on the fermented wort seem to vary from brew to brew, sometimes looking like the surface of a swamp but the beer comes out good so I try not to worry.

As far as what fermentables/sugars to use, there is no hard and fast rule. Anything from dextrose to malt and beyond. How much to use is dependant on your preferred ABV% and capabilities of the yeast.

 

Another thing you'll find helpful is the Coopers recipes http://store.coopers.com.au/brewing-info/recipes.html These recipes will take any hassles out of what to get when your down at the brew shop.

 

The last recipe I did was the Coopers ESB which uses the English Bitter can and Molasses among other things, slightly customised with an addition of dextrose to reach the ABV I wanted, however I think ill steer clear of dextrose in the future (not to say it does not have its place.

The ESB, after some bottle conditioning, tastes as good as a brew you'd get anywhere. In contrast to the Draught + 1k LDM which is fairly lacking, and needs hops and some body.

 

Good luck with it all mate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ericmark]

Thank you for the reply, nice to know floating bits normal with Coopers, not had it with other kits, so I have been cleaning the fermentors very well in case I had an infection. Only Ginger beer has stalled, no other brew has ever stalled.

 

What I brew depends on what shop I have been to and what is on offer. This is why I tried Coopers it was on offer.

 

I have done some experiments, but until I had a brew fridge/freezer I was not sure what was due to temperature and what was due to the experiment.

 

I have just started a Wherry from Woodforde's and just could not believe the tolerance for temperature, 18 ~ 20°C. OK I can maintain that, but any new starter would had a hard time keeping to within that range. And that is where Coopers seems to excel, during the British Summer the British kits get too hot without a fridge/freezer, but the extended range with Coopers means these can be brewed in the summer. Last few months the British forums were full of tails of woe as new starters could not get the temperature down.

 

I could brew for 9 months of the year without a fridge/freezer, I would guess that's not the case down under.

[Red Sox]

G'day Folks,

 

How do you start a thread in this forum. I am new so I don't quite know, I can post a reply but I don't know how to start a new topic.

 

Cheers

[ben 10]

Top left click on Coopers https://www.coopers.com.au/coopers-forum/

Then chose the section of the forum you want and go from there.

[Red Sox]

Hi Ben 10,

 

I thought that would only allow you to contribute to an already active thread rather than starting a new topic all together. I could be blind though and just not notice unfortunately. Sorry

[Truckenbaldy]

G'day all, have just bought myself a Kegerator and have put a Pilsner down, after 14 days My air lock is still bubbling, should I wait for it to stop bubbling before kegging? (I also used grain for the first time) thank you