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JesseJackson

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Joined
Jul 22, 2009
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Hey there every one !!!!!

Me and my good friend are well into our good beers .
So we thought we would start to make our own !
we haven't yet started and we have been reading up on all the gears equipment ect...

Probably going to buy the basic kit but not using any of the powder stuffs
We want to do it properly hops malt ect

Just wondering on any tips , good equipment , and what not...

We live in New zealand so we are surrounded by beers :D
and want to expand in to our own takes

My mates a student and I'm a chef so we interested in flavor combinations with not just hops but other out side ingreients withch we will branch out into :D

Thanks for any one who could send some tips ect
will be much appreciated.

Cheers Jesse
 
Equipment for brewing (like so many other hobbies) is relative to many things. How much room you have, the amount of money you plan to spend (sometimes people just want to start out with the 15 gal Boiler Maker), what kind of brewing process etc..

It sounds like you want to jump into all grain so with that being said. If I were starting ag right now I would get a beginner kit with out the boil kettle and just buy at least a 10 gal separately (its been my experience that beginner kits normally come with 5 gal kettles which is not even close to the size that you'll need). Furthermore, as far as this is concerned....
JesseJackson said:
Probably going to buy the basic kit but not using any of the powder stuffs

I know you dont want to but do at least one or two extract brews. It helps with the whole process of understanding how brewing works and whats going on. I dont know how I would have done with AG if it wasnt for my first year in extracts. Plus you can do a couple brews while you get all the equipment youll need for AG. I think as of right now I have close $1500 dollars invested into my AG equipment. but Ill get off my soapbox now:D

Welcome to HBT and Good Luck!

Steve
 
Hi Jesse,

I would say that since you are a chef, going strait to AG is not going to be rocket science for you. It is much like tending to a good rissoto or the like.

You will need all the basics as you mention, you will also need a big pot. You will need an 8 gallon pot if you want to brew 5 gallons at a time, or you will need a 15 gallon pot if you want to brew 10 gallons at a time. Go to YouTube - Broadcast Yourself., search around for "easy all grain brewing", also search on youtube "how to make a keggle".

You will need a 10 gallon cooler for your mashtun, again, search around here or youtube on how to retrofit that. "easy mash tun"

you will also need a decent thermometer, an instant digital to make sure that you are holding your temps.

think about how you are going to bring that much wort to a rolling boil (7-15 gallons depending on brew size). Many of us brew outside using a banjo burner or something similar.

That should give you a decent head start, go do some research, and post back here with questions.
 
If you have access to a commercial kitchen, you might have a stove that you can get hot enough for 5 gallon batches.

My advice would be to read the online version of how to brew (at How to Brew - By John Palmer if I remember correctly). Read it a couple of times till the processes make sense to you.

Best intro is to find someone who knows what they're doing and go and watch them - that might be hard in NZ (for all I know it might be easy!) so check out the videos on youtube.

There's a bit of science involved but really it's easy, there's no magic. The one huge difference to cooking that I see is that you can't taste as you go, you can't adjust flavour along the way. You have to be patient and wait for it to be finished - only then will you see what you could/should have done 4-6 weeks prior!
 
Check out this site - How to Brew. Great info for beginner to pro.

OT - With a screen name like Jesse Jackson, I'd expect any further posting to be done with a distinctive, almost Dr. Seuss like, rhyme scheme.;)

edit - missed it by that much...
 
partial mash. partial mash. partial mash. You get more control over your beer with fairly predictable results and you get a great intro to AG brewing.
 
"Styles"-We are situated in wellington :D
So if ya wana give any tips of the area would be sweet, Ok reading up on all the feed back you guys gave us. and will take every thing in consideration :D

And thanks you so much for all the help i will be posting back on how we get along ect :D

Cheers and thanks so much
 
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