Home Brew

oldstinky75 said:
At least now I don't have to worry it's a complete write off.
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At worst a partial write off.

Drinking an Imperial Amber right now. Mosaic, Centennial, Nelson and Amarillo.
Fucking lovely drop. I have been chanting Hare Krishna also so I should be fine come the end of the world.
 
Needed a pick me up recently so engaged in a bit of retail therapy buying one of these so I can step into all grain brewing (that and scblack sorted me out with a whole bunch of Simpson's Marris Otter and other grains of late that I want to capitalise on!)

robobrew-brewery-kit.jpg



@scblack mate, you will see above that I now have an immersion chiller so don't need that copper one. I've looked into cleaning up copper chillers and it's not a lot of hassle. If I was to clean the copper one up that you collected for me would you use it? I can drop it up next time I go north.
 
I'm thinking of brewing again for the first time in 10 years, I used to bottle but never again, too much hassle. To get started I'm going to keep it simple and start with a couple of corny's and ferment in a fermentasaurus, anybody used one of these FV? It can be pressurised and carbonate the beer during the first ferment stage.

Johnny, the above looks like a good bit of gear taking it to the next level, please write up your experiences with it.
 
johnny said:
@scblack mate, you will see above that I now have an immersion chiller so don't need that copper one. I've looked into cleaning up copper chillers and it's not a lot of hassle. If I was to clean the copper one up that you collected for me would you use it? I can drop it up next time I go north.
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Of course, that would be great thanks. That would be a great boost to my brewing.

I’m just not sure I collected the chiller, are you sure there’s one there?
 
Oh yeah, nice one.
As for kegging I am getting there.
Manifold, 2 kegs and taps, regulator and hoses.
Just need a few more kegs and a keezer...
 
@stirk That's a pretty big leap for getting started again. That whole setup isn't cheap: Fermentasaurus is around $180, fridge ~$150, corny's ~$70 second hand, C02 setup is a good $300 and then there's the lines, manifold, taps, temp regulator, etc. You're talking the better part of $1k there.

@scblack You did collect it, you said that it was the only part that was interesting to you but when you arrived you saw that it was a bit dingy and in need of some TLC. I'll scrub it up and drop it in next time I'm up.

@indica Me too, although you're further progressed than me. The ultimate goal is a chest freezer for fermenting, a small freezer for cold crashing and a whatever for kegs/taps. These purchases have to be spaced out and based on bargain-buys but the next purchase has to be a fridge/chest freezer for fermenting as I struggle with temp control and my booze is subsequently suffering pretty badly.
 
johnny said:
@scblack You did collect it, you said that it was the only part that was interesting to you but when you arrived you saw that it was a bit dingy and in need of some TLC. I'll scrub it up and drop it in next time I'm up.

@indica Me too, although you're further progressed than me. The ultimate goal is a chest freezer for fermenting, a small freezer for cold crashing and a whatever for kegs/taps. These purchases have to be spaced out and based on bargain-buys but the next purchase has to be a fridge/chest freezer for fermenting as I struggle with temp control and my booze is subsequently suffering pretty badly.
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Oh OK, there must have been a second one then which I left at the guys place, it was completely manky and basically a pile of rust, wrapped in a crappy garden hose.

Have you worked out that shelving framework that was there - it was complete except no bolts.

Once again you are getting full into this. With your garage/shed space you are going to have a killer setup.

As you know I have a fermenting fridge. It is a standard old fridge with a temp controller thermostat. I don't think a chest freezer as a fermenting cooler is necessary. The one I use was given to me by RCOH, but it gives the second use of a standard fridge when not brewing, like for parties or something. A chest freezer pretty much would only have the one use. Just a thought.

Check out ebay, scumtree for used fridges, but some people have unrealistic ideas of secondhand value.

Here's an external temp controller for a fridge, similar to what I use:
http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=4931
 
Ha! Yes there was a second one, it was sitting in the urn. It's not as bad as the one you saw, there's no hose attached and it does need some caustic soda and a bit of a rub with wet and dry before it's worth using but it should come up ok and do the job. Not sure when I will be back in Syd again but when I do I'll drop it up to you.

The reason for he chest freezer is that it can fit two fermenters in it. If I can get an upright fridge without a freezer I'll take that as well but they seem pretty rare based on my Gumtreing (there is no shortage of fridges on that site though!).

I haven't got the shelves up yet, my wife and I copped a pretty big setback not long after we got back from Syd and will take some time to recover from that, which means that playing with things like that will have to wait a little while.
 
johnny said:
@stirk That's a pretty big leap for getting started again. That whole setup isn't cheap: Fermentasaurus is around $180, fridge ~$150, corny's ~$70 second hand, C02 setup is a good $300 and then there's the lines, manifold, taps, temp regulator, etc. You're talking the better part of $1k there.
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Yep, I'm thinking $1200 is what I'm looking at.

If I'm going to brew again I won't be bottling much, too much hassle, maybe a few liters from a batch.

The outlay is a power bill but will be returned by good beer in a short time and the investment will be paid off in roughly 6-7 months.

$169 fermentasurus
$260 6kg C02 bottle (full)
$140 (2x 2nd hand refurbished Corney kegs with new lids seals etc) to start with
$359 keg package (lines, tap, reg, 1x new 19L and neat little 4L) the 4L keg will be handy for keeping in the house fridge or taking to mates with small C02 bulbs to pour

All that is $928 and I still need the keezer! Lucky my MTB is fully sorted for a while...

It'll take a couple of months to collect the gear and set up, and, ahhh, negotiate with wife just where in the house I can ferment as the shed is hot during the day and cold at night.

So it's doable at the delay of some other projects which can wait a few months. I'm looking forward to it :)
 
I have an stc based one but like the programmability of the inkbird stuff.
I have a 2 probe bbq thermometer and really like the bluetooth capability - for programming and monitoring.
 
Yeah, definitely.Ferment at 18, Diacytal rest at 20 and cold crash at 4 for ales.

The drawback there is having to lift the FV out after the cold crash and disturbing the trub again. I’m tempted to buy a small bar-fridge-sized freezer for that instead and ghen just bottle/transfer from there. My old man has one that I reckon he doesn’t need and should contribute to the cause....
 
I bought the Fermentasurus and a bunch of other keg hardware, regulators etc, for $328
3 x 19L kegs, fully refurbished with new lids, seals and posts for $67 each, shipping added $30ish but still that was the best I could find them.
All I need is a 2.6kg C02 bottle, initial outlay will be $200 from a local brew shop in the swap and go system and I'm good to go @ $820 + the cost of a freezer. Not too bad considering the savings I'll make over buying beer.

Trouble is, like mountain biking I'm sure to start buying other gadgets and upgrades to the gear, oh bugger what have I done!
 
OK, this is to some degree a personal issue, but i'll chuck the question here anyway.

What makes a good beer drinking glass?

I have at least 20 beer glasses, many of which are cheap thin flimsy crap ones. I brew my beer so might as well drink from a decent beer glass.

Options: Schooner style; Stein style with handle; fancy shaped style, Middy style. Others?
Does chilling the glass help?
Does a handle help?
Does a different beer style warrant a different glass?

I think it needs:
  • Thick glass to chill the beer.
  • Not too big a circumference to get some idea of the colour of the beer.
  • The right feel on the mouth - not quote sure what I mean there, but so it feels right to drink from.
  • Not going to break from tapping around just in normal use.
  • Solid base sort of thing, so its a stable vessel.

What other thoughts do you guys have?
 
Thick glass heavy base. Fits in a stubbie holder - no handle.
I don't go for different glasses to suit the style, don't care that much. The headmaster glasses are good.
 
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