Nigelfromoz Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Hello everyone, Firstly I do hope that I am posting this in the correct section of the forum,if not then please accept my apologies. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and let you know about my home brew activity,firstly my name (as can probably be guessed ) is Nigel,I live in a little town in N/E Victoria called Eskdale,it's about 70km's S/E of Wodonga,I'm a chef by trade but at the moment I make my living fixing computers,I run a small business from home and sometimes have a few quiet days which I spend either in the garden or on the net. Recently (A few months) I purchased a Coopers Home Brew Kit from Big W ,when I bought the kit I purchased extra cans of concentrate and one of them was Coopers Ginger Beer. The kit sat in my office doing nothing for a few months till 2 weeks ago when I decided to make my first brew,I decided to make the ginger beer first but because I don't like anything too sweet decided to add a little something extra to the instructions,I added 2 lemons cut in quarters,a 1cm slice of fresh ginger and 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 cup extra sugar. I followed the instructions except I slightly reduced the amount of cold water from 17 litres to 16.5 although I really doubt that made any difference. I let it ferment for 8 days which was how long it took to get a stable FG reading of 1.003 ,as a beginner I neglected to take an initial reading at the start so can't really calculate the final alcohol content but I tasted it before bottling and it has a nice kick but also a bit of tang which is lovely,I can't wait to see what it tastes like after some bottle conditioning. I have posted the recipe on the site. https://coopers.com.au/club/brew-view/16514/ if anyone is interested. I must say this is a great forum with heaps of interesting stuff and I look forward to being part of it and hope my contributions are considered worthwhile. Cheers N'oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Welcome to the Forum Nigel. Stick around and contribute as much as you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Welcome to the forum Nigel! Being a Chef you already have an understanding of flavours, & your first brew suggests a very good knowledge of them. Given the apprehensive nature of most new home brewers, I commend you on your forward approach & somewhat understanding already. The only thing I would suggest you look at a little differently with your future brewing is based around this comment... ...I followed the instructions except I slightly reduced the amount of cold water from 17 litres to 16.5 although I really doubt that made any difference. If your overall ferment volume didn't change' date=' then this will have made very little difference. However, if your final ferment volume is a ½ litre lower than the recipe you followed then this can make a difference particularly on a couple of levels. Put simply, if you lower the ferment volume from a set recipe, you intensify the flavours, increase bitterness, increase alcohol levels, can also create problems for a set yeast amount to effectively ferment out the brew, & can upset the balance of flavours created in the recipe. I don't think you'll have any problems here with the small volume you've altered, but keep those thoughts in mind when adjusting recipe interests you may have in future. [img']wink[/img] Pretty cool that you can brew beer in your office! Welcome to the home-brew addiction, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelfromoz Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Thank You Hairy and Beerlust for the warm welcome. and thanks for the tip about being careful when altering recipes,I will certainly take your advice on board. Cheers N'oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muleyinoz Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Nigel, are you my long lost brother? LOL! Welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelfromoz Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Nigel' date=' are you my long lost brother? LOL! Welcome. [img']devil[/img] Funny you mention that ,my parents (Sadly both now passed on) used to breed donkeys here on the property,and I have many thousand pictures of them,maybe I should post one as my pic!. Cheers N'oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muleyinoz Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Cue the twilight zone theme song. Nice to meet ya Bro. BTW I am an IT guy too... now I'm scared! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelfromoz Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Cue the twilight zone theme song. Nice to meet ya Bro. BTW I am an IT guy too... now I'm scared! Cheers! Nice to meet you too mate . I wouldn't call myself an IT guy though' date='I have basic qualifications,I repair PC's and refurbish them for sale,and I offer in home fixing of problems like virus removal etc and I know a bit about web design but I'm really just a guy the locals call when they can't get their PC to work..usually the first thing I do is tell them to switch it off then on again...[img']wink[/img] Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rommel Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Hi All! Just started brewing my own beer using the Cooper DIY Home Brew kit for personal consumption only. Im using other brand before. I tried the Mexican Cerveza for starter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelfromoz Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Hi Rommel, From one newbie to another.Welcome.. I hope you enjoy the site too. Cheers N'oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelfromoz Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 That's it..I think I have the home brew bug..as I posted above I have only just started using a Coopers kit bought a few months ago,but today I was passing a local home brew shop and I called in to have a look around..and one thing led to another and I err,well umm,I guess I just have to come out and say it..I bought a second FV..I couldn't resist it,it looked so lonely sitting on shelf without it's friend the airlock..so I bought that too and reunited them..and some dextrose..oh and yeah PET bottles too..and caps and some malt extract and a tin of concentrate..I think I may be able to stop if I get treatment early... Cheers N'oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snap Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Hi everyone. We have named our brewery "Jonah Bay Brewery" cause that is where we go camping and hope our beers give us that special feeling that we get when at our beach hut, especially cracking a few home brews over there. We decided to start brewing and 3 weeks later there are 5 batches bubbling away and 100 litres in boxes maturing already. We have decided on Coopers Draught mid strength as our main beer but are doing a couple of Coopers Premium Draught to see what it is like. As well as our Coopers Ginger Beer, great for those summer days when it is 35 degrees in the shade. Been having a great time looking and learning from all your posts, so a big thank you to every one and look forward to talking with you along the way. Happy Brewing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelfromoz Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Hi everyone.We have named our brewery "Jonah Bay Brewery" cause that is where we go camping and hope our beers give us that special feeling that we get when at our beach hut' date=' especially cracking a few home brews over there. We decided to start brewing and 3 weeks later there are 5 batches bubbling away and 100 litres in boxes maturing already. We have decided on Coopers Draught mid strength as our main beer but are doing a couple of Coopers Premium Draught to see what it is like. As well as our Coopers Ginger Beer, great for those summer days when it is 35 degrees in the shade. Been having a great time looking and learning from all your posts, so a big thank you to every one and look forward to talking with you along the way. Happy Brewing.[/quote'] Welcome aboard SNAP, Looks like you caught the home brew bug too... I have only been brewing a few weeks myself so it's good to make your acquaintance,I like the sound of the Coopers Draught so might think about trying that myself once I finish the "Radler" experiment that I have in the fermenter right now. I hope that you enjoy the forum as much as I do. Cheers N'oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damski Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Any advice? I recently moved and the only space for my kit during fermentation is out in the shed where it is very cold. (living in Melbourne) Will the beer take longer to ferment than usual? Is the cold going to affect the fermentation process? I am planning on going out and getting a cheap sleeping bag for future brew but hoping this batch is going to be alright. Any suggestions / feedback is welcome. Happy brewing! Damski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wog Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Evening all. Thought it was about time that I started to make my own brew. Considering that every time I go to visit the old man, down in Tas, we drink him out of his home brew. So am on the way to brewing up a few different flavours for when "la famiglia" head up here. Thought I'd opt for "opening"a brewery too, which is named Azzurri, after the Italian national football team. Anyhow, Ive got the first brew bottled and it's been sitting in the brewery/laundry for a couple of weeks, at s fairly steady 25C. Will wait another week or so before it gets moved into the fridge. Then onto glass bottles, custom beer caps, and labels. Guess we'll just have to see how it all goes. Ciao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnaman Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Any advice? I recently moved and the only space for my kit during fermentation is out in the shed where it is very cold. (living in Melbourne) Will the beer take longer to ferment than usual? Is the cold going to affect the fermentation process? I am planning on going out and getting a cheap sleeping bag for future brew but hoping this batch is going to be alright. Any suggestions / feedback is welcome. Happy brewing! Damski G'day Damski' date=' Welcome to the forum, Yes you need to keep the temperature as steady as you can and if an ale 18°C to 22°C would be best, a sleeping bag for insulation a good start and maybe a hot water bottle if very cold, a cheap digital thermometer hard up against the fermenting vessel really helps you know what is going on. Fermentation produces heat, so the sleeping bag may be enough? your hand lets you know if it's warm or cold, but if the FV gets to cold the the ale yeast can go to sleep. These are the challenges you face, I live in Queensland and heat is the problem. Good luck. [img']wink[/img] Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnaman Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Evening all. Thought it was about time that I started to make my own brew. Considering that every time I go to visit the old man' date=' down in Tas, we drink him out of his home brew. So am on the way to brewing up a few different flavours for when "la famiglia" head up here. Thought I'd opt for "opening"a brewery too, which is named Azzurri, after the Italian national football team. Anyhow, Ive got the first brew bottled and it's been sitting in the brewery/laundry for a couple of weeks, at s fairly steady 25C. Will wait another week or so before it gets moved into the fridge. Then onto glass bottles, custom beer caps, and labels. Guess we'll just have to see how it all goes. Ciao[/quote'] G'day The Wog, welcome to the forum, You will find a lot of information here to help you brew better beer and a lot of helpful people often able to point you in the right direction, use the search, read over old post, a lot of the questions you have, somebody else may have already asked them, use the search, ask questions and enjoy beer. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MM Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Hi Fellas, after a 20 year break I have gotten back into it. Anyway I have about $200 of cans and malt and hops and will start a few brews going. Probably start with a heratige lager, then a wheat beer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Welcome to the forum Mark, and welcome back to the game. Good luck with it and let us know how you get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MM Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Thanks mate, looking forward to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaver1525229097 Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Thanks for the welcome PB2. I've been brewing for many years, but stopped to go round Australia for five years. I've settled down and am back in to it again and using the Coopers My Brewery, but have been having trouble with the site updating my information. I've put a note in the DIY Brewing Blether and hope that some may be able to help out, although I notice there are quite a few out there who have had or are having similar problems to me with the site. I have put my brewery on the map, not sure if it's actually there though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettski187 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Hi all, Brewski & Sons Brewery is now on the map. Looking forward to this learning process. Got my Coopers Home Brew Kit this afternoon and have my 1st batch in the Brewroom. can't help but keep popping in there to check the temp. haha. Think temp is going to be my biggest issue. but will see I'm in Ashford Middlesex, England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Welcome to the forum Brettski187. Good luck with the first beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porschemad911 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 G'day Brettski, yes the weather still looks nice and warm where you are. The good news is that after it cools off a bit you should have good temps for brewing through Autumn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiphile Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 G'day Brettski' date=' yes the weather still looks nice and warm where you are. The good news is that after it cools off a bit you should have good temps for brewing through Autumn![/quote'] Hi Brett Welcome to the start of the downfall of your life! That's assuming you have an addictive-type personality; otherwise you may survive this hobby. Just. Either way, good luck! From what I saw of your current and forecast temps, it should be almost ideal weather for using ale yeasts (which comes with the can included in the box with the Coopers DIY kit). The only "trouble spot" might be Thursday when your forecast max is 23 degrees but that should only be for an hour or two before it drops again. And I'm sure there are places in your house that are cooler than others. Take care and good brewing, Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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