Author Topic: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread  (Read 3061 times)

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Offline Abaddon

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Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« on: May 9, 2007, 01:01PM »
Hey Guys,

Just wondering if any of you brew your own alcohol? Been brewing beers with my house mate, just started drinking our second brew, Loving It !!!

Currently I have made:

- Little Creatures Pale Ale
- James Squire Amber Ale

And Bubbling away atm is a 5.5%alc Ginger Beer.  Should be perty nice

Both beer recipes have been awesome, but I was wondering what other people may have brewed...or just post up your favourite beer and I might give'em a go. Also a place for asking any brew related questions.
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Offline LC_TRX

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #1 on: May 9, 2007, 01:06PM »
interesting. i have thought about buying a kit many times but just havent been bothered. did you just buy one of the coopers brewing kits? how closley do your resemble the factory brewed stuff?

Offline Budgie

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #2 on: May 9, 2007, 06:03PM »
I friend of mine brews some fantastic beer.  Has been for over 10 years now.

Whack the sugar in there and make some very boozy brews ;)
« Last Edit: May 9, 2007, 06:36PM by Budgie »
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Offline EliseVL86

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #3 on: May 9, 2007, 06:33PM »
We brew our own beer. I'm not a big fan of it but will drink it occasionally - it's pretty nice...and to a degree you can make it how you want it hehe. Haven't bought any for a few years now I believe.

Whack the sugar in there and make some very boozy brews ;)

Hah, some memories about that from when I was a kid and dad used to make his own occasionally. Left is for bloody ages and just kept on adding more and more sugar - when him and his brother went to try it, they stopped at just smelling it. Was like inhaling metho or something, just cleared everything right out  :P

Offline Marty

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #4 on: May 9, 2007, 07:34PM »
bottling beer is old school,
gotta get a keg system, from brewing to drinking took 1 week, and it tasted good too.

I only brew beer when I've got a party on and feel the need to add wank factor by having a keg system. (borrowed from the westbrew team next door to my work)

btw, where you get the ginger beer kits from?, we used to make them but the sales dropped so much over the past couple years we don't make them any more,
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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #5 on: May 9, 2007, 08:00PM »
ouzo the only way to go thehehe
« Last Edit: May 9, 2007, 09:24PM by Pringles »
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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #6 on: May 9, 2007, 08:12PM »
I have to say brew beer isnt too bad neither is brewing ur own spirits. My neighbour has a 5l stil and omg i cna beleive how much shite hes got lol
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Offline wombat

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #7 on: May 9, 2007, 08:14PM »
the in-laws actually brew their own spirits... The bourbon is quite palatable.

The process is pretty much brew rocket fuel (90% alcohol), water it down and add flavourings to it until proper. The 'still' needs water cooling for many hours, so they've got a tank and a garden pump, since being in brisbane and hardcore water restrictions don't allow fresh water always.
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Offline Milford

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #8 on: May 9, 2007, 08:24PM »
my mate has had a few unsuccessful attempts at brewing beer. at least he learnt and made it stronger (like 7%) so at least we didnt have to drink much of it to get pissed.

ive heard the best kit based one is the coopers, never tried it though

Offline bogan_bob

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #9 on: May 9, 2007, 09:43PM »
Good thread, might motivate me to get another brew going. I bought my kit over three years ago and made one brew straight away - a coopers larger or something that came with it. It was stressful, trying to keep it in optimal temperature range, with minimal fluctuations, as it was towards the end of winter so still a little cool at night but warming up during the day. That brew had 5%, and i think i still have 2 milk crates worth in the pantry......couldnt even give it away to my brother and his mates......and they like tooheys, so should be able to drink any crap beer.... :D

Talking to a mates old man, he said to use normal white sugar from the shop, not the coopers brewing sugar and where possible, use glass bottles to bottle it.

thats it, im off to dig up the brew kit........

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Offline Budgie

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #10 on: May 9, 2007, 09:49PM »
couldnt even give it away to my brother and his mates......and they like tooheys, so should be able to drink any crap beer.... :D

haha :D
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Offline Abaddon

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #11 on: May 10, 2007, 11:49AM »
btw, where you get the ginger beer kits from?, we used to make them but the sales dropped so much over the past couple years we don't make them any more,

Get my kits from the local homebrew shop http://www.yellowpages.com.au/onlineSolution_moreInfo.do?z=200014&iblName=Hunter+Brewing+Pty+Ltd&iblId=3830127&authToken=1127361fc3a%7Cbd96f26cc52328cc4871add7a4b0b7a3&st=cs Great blokes.  Really helpful, their email is on there for brewing questions. Also check out their brewery steelriverbrewery.com

Had a choice of two kits, one by Morgans (Who make brilliant stuff) which is very beery, and the other by Brewmasters which is a lot more soft drink like.

I went with the Brewmasters, so I can make up some damn strong stuff which tastes like lolly water hehehe
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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #12 on: May 10, 2007, 11:55AM »
Home-brewed beer is good, Coopers kits are not.  Well, not compared to some of the other kits out there.  If you want to brew from a kit, use a 3-kilo kit and don't ever use regular sugar in the brew (it's fine when bottling though).  Sucrose gives the beer a thin mouthfeel and a cidery taste.  Malt extract is good, you do need to use about 20% more by weight because it is not totally fermentable.
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Offline Abaddon

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #13 on: May 10, 2007, 11:56AM »
Talking to a mates old man, he said to use normal white sugar from the shop, not the coopers brewing sugar and where possible, use glass bottles to bottle it.

thats it, im off to dig up the brew kit........

Loop just beat me to it, and I totally agree with him.  Coopers Kits really aren't that great, cos I'm brewing reproductions I'm generally mixing brew kits anyways, so I have used them (though never their yeast as yet).  Depending on your brewing method you should still be able to get a good tasting beer out of them.  Just make sure you rack your beer to get rid of some of that yeasty home brew taste (with the dead yeast).

For most brewing the best way is to go traditional, try to stick to the German "Reinheitsgebot" law as a base and only use water, barley, and hops; add yeast, wheat malt and cane sugar and you should have all the ingredients you need.

White sugar should definitely be avoided as it's use in commercial beers nowadays is what is destroying the taste of beer in traditional Australian (and overseas) recipes.  White sugar is now used commercially as it is cheap and easily available en mass.  The problem is white sugar is produced by dissolving raw sugar and purifying it with phosphoric acid.  Which is what gives beer (like Tooheys) that sulphur taste and smell (especially when not ice cold).

After moving over to home brew, and non mass produced, preservative free beers (such as those from Steel River) I can't stand the taste of mass produced white sugar based beers.

Anyway something to think about.

Oh and I always use brown glass bottles.  You can use clear but the light will kill yeast, fermentation and ultimately your beer. So if you are using clear then keep em covered up.  The glass is better as it does not break down and realease chemicals into your beer.  And glass is easier to disinfect than plastic, which generally contains pockets of microorganisms (generally increasingly with age).
« Last Edit: May 10, 2007, 12:22PM by Abaddon »
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Offline Budgie

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #14 on: May 10, 2007, 02:52PM »
Nice info abbandon :)
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Offline Jtas

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Re: Cheap Beer - The Home Brew Thread
« Reply #15 on: May 10, 2007, 09:59PM »
I brewed beer for a science project in year 11 :D

Have a look for places like this > http://www.brewbyyou.com.au/  if you want to do it without having to get the equipment etc.