Craft beer barrel

[davids47]

where can i buy a barrel for making the craft beer kits in,looks like coopers not selling them separately, only in a full kit ,and i don't need plastic beer bottles i don't like them, i have been told the big 30lt barrel is to big,

And has any one used the craft kits and if so any good

 

[Farls]

I bought my craft kit at target down here in sth west vic. They have recently also been at Aldi, and apparently they are or were at big w. But thats the full kit, with the bottles etc. I guess you could just chuck them or have them as a back up.

 

Another option is to pick up a 15 litre fermenter from a homebrew store or online homebrew supplier. Or just a 15 ltr food grade water barrel (as long as it has a lid and tap of course), camping/disposals stores usually stock these.

 

I have both the small craft kit and the large 30 ltr. The craft kit does a really nice brew, is easier for size, storage, controlling fermentation temperature, being able to move it when it's full etc.

 

However the craft ingredients are only available online, the time involved in doing a brew and all related processes isn't that much faster, you only end up with about 1/3 of the beer and it is not as cost effective. As such I use my 30 ltr barrel far more often. But it's still good to have the little one to play around with occasionally.

[Beeblebrox]

I bought my craft kit at target down here in sth west vic. They have recently also been at Aldi' date=' and apparently they are or were at big w. But thats the full kit, with the bottles etc. I guess you could just chuck them or have them as a back up.

 

Another option is to pick up a 15 litre fermenter from a homebrew store or online homebrew supplier. Or just a 15 ltr food grade water barrel (as long as it has a lid and tap of course), camping/disposals stores usually stock these.

 

I have both the small craft kit and the large 30 ltr. The craft kit does a really nice brew, is easier for size, storage, controlling fermentation temperature, being able to move it when it's full etc.

 

However the craft ingredients are only available online, the time involved in doing a brew and all related processes isn't that much faster, you only end up with about 1/3 of the beer and it is not as cost effective. As such I use my 30 ltr barrel far more often. But it's still good to have the little one to play around with occasionally.[/quote']

 

I'd expect the craft ingredients only being available online would make them prohibitively expensive.

You'd have to buy $100 worth of ingredients or whatever to get free shipping.

That's one of the reasons I contemplated getting a craft kit, but decided to stick with my full sized FV.

 

Another option would be to get another craft kit & use the usual size cans & ingredients & do two batches at at time, splitting the brew into the two FV's but that seems like a bit of a PITA, when you can do it in the one full sized FV.

 

The only other option would be doing half sized batches with your full sized cans etc, but that would be problematic & messy, between splitting the ingredients, then having to store what's left over.

 

As for the PET bottles davids47, I don't see what your objection to them is.

They're easy enough to wash & re-use, they are much less likely to explode like glass bottles do, & they're lighter, so easier to move around when empty.

Whatever you do with home brewing, there has to be a level of compromise, or you'll end up perpetually frustrated.

[Eberbachl]

For what it's worth, I just picked up the craft brew kit from Aldi in Eltham (Melbourne) on special for $39 (down from $69 I think). Made the Bewitched Amber Ale last night, and it's a whole lot of fun. When I dropped in yesterday they still had quite a stack of them left. Even if you don't want the included bottles (send them my way if you like ), for $39 it's good value to pick up the fermenter and Amber Ale can.

 

Ordered some more of the craft cans and other assortments on the Coopers online store also and popped over $100 for the free shipping without too much difficulty. The gear will last a while, so I don't mind dropping $100 at a time every now and then to pick up the shipping discount.