Brewing beer in Istanbul? (First all-grain beer)

Actually all barley is not created equal. You need 2 or 6 row barley for most beer. But if you have any breakthrough if be really interested. What we really need is someone who speaks Turkish well enough to do some research on this. It's hard googling (or asking around) for that matter when you can't use the Turkish. There's not much to be found in English.

Yeah, I'm willing to go with any barely at the moment. 2,4,6 row, it doesn't matter. You are right about having a translator. Might just get someone to write me a note and bring it to the markets.

Has anyone checked the Egyptian Bazaar?

I know some friends who supposedly found some in the bazaar a few years ago. Yeah- I agree since there isn't anything else- it might be worth a try. With that said - it means you'll have to malt it yourself first- which takes a bit of work from what I've read.

I visited Turkey back in November, really liked it and need to go back, maybe I'll try some of your brew wen I get there. Best of luck to ya!

Hi. I speak Turkish and have tried for a while to ask / google / etc to find materials. I can say that you just can't get it.

There was a supplier from Germany several years ago that was investigating the market, and didn't find a big enough demand to start offering beer ingredients. Boooo

I bring all of my ingredients from Europe or the States when I'm traveling and just go with that. You'd be surprised how many friends are willing to bring stuff back for you too, when they learn about your tasty talent. As for basic equipment, I got a beer kit shipped to me from the states. Amazingly it got through customs. I had a wort chiller made in Karaköy from the copper guys, and got the pot and burner from Eminonu.

Hey there to all the brewers.. I am Turkish and got the taste of brewing in the States.. The problem is we built a lot of equipment from scratch and are almost ready for brewing with a neat DIY HERMS brew system.. The problem is it was disastrous news for me to learn that our hops, yeast, starsan etc. was stuck at customs... I think I can get by without the sanitizer and all but man I need those hops and yeast.. Anybody know of a good place to obtain
hops and yeast supplied hassle-free? This customs thing really got to my nerves... We even malted rye from scratch and now we are stuck!

Hi Cenkercakin, please see my previous post....sorry to say that those things are just not sold here. I bring everything with me from the States or Europe. I hate to say that Homebrewing in Turkey is a desperate and less than viable hobby. Really really sorry about your hops, and very tasty malted rye. Makes me sad too. Can offer you a bottle of my Rulman Porter to cheer you up?

Hey there, fellow brewers!
Finally I found a thread about brewing in Turkey..

I might have found a place (in İzmir) where some stuff is sold..
http://magaza.hammaddeler.com/Bira-Malzemeleri,LA_5637-2.html#labels=5637-2
http://magaza.hammaddeler.com/Sivi-Malt-Ekstrakti-15-Kg,PR-13434.html
http://magaza.hammaddeler.com/Toz-Malt-Ekstrakti-25-Kg,PR-13453.html
All the products are very generic, and those liquid and dry malt extracts are not even meant for brewing, but maybe they'd be good for some base ingredients? The prices are not exactly cheap, considering that you don't know what you're buying, but it's not extremely expensive either.
What do you think about the stuff available there? Maybe someone here has even tried to order and use the products on this site?

I'm myself a foreigner living in Antalya and get my ingredients from my visitors or my own visits abroad.
I started brewing a year ago or so in order to have a more varied (and cheaper) alternative to local beers.. brewing mostly from extracts and kits, although I did some grain steeping in a bag a few times.

istanbira said:

Hi Cenkercakin, please see my previous post....sorry to say that those things are just not sold here. I bring everything with me from the States or Europe. I hate to say that Homebrewing in Turkey is a desperate and less than viable hobby. Really really sorry about your hops, and very tasty malted rye. Makes me sad too. Can offer you a bottle of my Rulman Porter to cheer you up?

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Hey that would be awesome. I will be in -if I can find tickets on the election weekend that is- İstanbul on Sat. 03/29 to get some ingredients from BBC. I normally reside in Bursa. I would like to meet up if you can, have a beer, or have a taste of your Porter. I will pm you actually instead.

Read the entire thread. Left disappointed that not ONE person said "Not Constantinople?"

^Lols from a guy with a history degree


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AntalyaBrewer said:

Hey there, fellow brewers!

Finally I found a thread about brewing in Turkey..



I might have found a place (in İzmir) where some stuff is sold..

http://magaza.hammaddeler.com/Bira-Malzemeleri,LA_5637-2.html#labels=5637-2

http://magaza.hammaddeler.com/Sivi-Malt-Ekstrakti-15-Kg,PR-13434.html

http://magaza.hammaddeler.com/Toz-Malt-Ekstrakti-25-Kg,PR-13453.html

All the products are very generic, and those liquid and dry malt extracts are not even meant for brewing, but maybe they'd be good for some base ingredients? The prices are not exactly cheap, considering that you don't know what you're buying, but it's not extremely expensive either.

What do you think about the stuff available there? Maybe someone here has even tried to order and use the products on this site?



I'm myself a foreigner living in Antalya and get my ingredients from my visitors or my own visits abroad.

I started brewing a year ago or so in order to have a more varied (and cheaper) alternative to local beers.. brewing mostly from extracts and kits, although I did some grain steeping in a bag a few times.

Click to expand...

Hello.. I have checked that website before and what is sold there.. I think they function like any other e-commerce website like ebay or amazon; but I was not convinced by their selection of products.. Please share your results with us if you get to try them out!


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Hi guys;

I am very happy to see this thread. It's very good to see that there are some guys that loves brewing in Istanbul. Hope to meet one day.

I've been 2 time in BBC and I like their beers. But I want to brew my own beer.

I started to collect the equipments to brew. Some of them are 'Do It Yourself' but anyway, it is acceptable I guess.

But hops, malt and yeast are pain.

Today a brewmaster friend said that I can find malt from Tuborg in Izmir. They sell 50kg malt packages. But you should find someone to send package from Izmir to Istanbul I am searching for it.

About hops and yeast, I don't know how I can find. Have you tried ordering online?

I am going to Barcelona in May and I hope I can find what I need there. But as willing to brew every week, I should find another solution.

I just came back to Istanbul, with a decent amount of willpower to start homebrewing. Willing to meet you all, if you do meet on a schedule.

Cheers!

Hi everyone,

I am going to relocate to Istanbul in 3 months and I believe importing the ingredients are the best/only option to brew in Turkey. I read the previous posts and someone had problems with the customs. Does anyone else try to import the ingredients and face with similar problems?

Thanks,

Erol

Hi - everyone - I got a brew going with some equipment and a brew kit brought over from the UK. It may be the only decent pint of English ale in Beykoz - we won't know for a few weeks though if it's decent or even drinkable. Will let you know.

IstanbulJohnM said:

Hi - everyone - I got a brew going with some equipment and a brew kit brought over from the UK. It may be the only decent pint of English ale in Beykoz - we won't know for a few weeks though if it's decent or even drinkable. Will let you know.

Click to expand...

How did it come out?

Hey, just checking in with my own experience here. It's been a fiasco.
I ordered 12 Kilo of malt, hops, and yeast from Germany, along with a bunch of brewing equipment. The first shipment got lost (tracking says it left Germany, but never pops back up on the grid). The shipper was good about it, and send it again, this time with insurance. It took a month to get here, then a week in customs before they finally asked me to go pick it up. All in, this has been about 3 months of waiting.
The customs guy had basically already decided I wasn't getting anything. First he caused trouble about the oxy cleaner, but eventually decided that was ok. Then he told me it's for beer, so it's not allowed. I explained to him it is legal (actually haven't been able to confirm that but they make home raki here), so he gave up. Then he decided the yeast was a problem. He gave up on that too. Then he picked the grain up. He said it's an agricultural product so not allowed. I told him this is a processed product, it can't be planted to grow anything. He then said he can't take the risk, confirming that he doesn't know what he's doing. So my entire package is being sent back.

This all occured through my girlfriend who's been translating. She said we would have tried to bribe him, but it was too crowded.

I would love to hear if anyone has had any luck, but this has been so frustrating I may just wait until I leave Turkey.

Just checking in with my experience. It's been a bit of a fiasco.
I ordered about 12 kilo of malt from Germany, along with yeast, hops and equipment. The first package got lost (tracking says it left Germany, but never pops back up on the radar). The shipper was good about it and sent a second package, this time insured. It spend a month getting here, and a week sitting in customs before they asked me to come pick it up. Total: 3 months.

The customs guy had basically decided I wasn't leaving with my package before I got there. First he was unsure about my oxy cleaner, then whether he could allow yeast in. He tried telling me that because it makes beer, it's not allowed but I convinced him otherwise. Then he decided my malt was an agricultural product so I would need a license for it. I explained that it's a processed product and can't be grown. He said he couldn't risk it, which confirmed for me that he had no idea what he was doing. Either way my package is on it's way back to Germany and I couldn't keep anything.

The whole thing was through my girlfriend who translated. She said we would have tried bribing him but it was too crowded in there.
I'd like to here if anyone has had any luck. That was so frustrating I think I'll wait until I move before I try again.

Mavicanuck, sorry to hear about your problems. I can't say I'm surprised to be honest - have you seen how long it take to even receive a letter from Europe? I brought my equipment and other stuff from UK.


Everyone: I'm trying to source Dry Malt Extract (toz malt ekstrakt&#305 in Istanbul. Anyone know when I can get some in a quantity less than 25kg? Dextrose too, but I can work with sucrose.

I'm going to ask a couple of bakeries.

Hey. I've been in Istanbul for about 7 months now and finally got my first small batches of rough mead going. I've read through some of the thread but It looks like most people are struggling. I'm willing to join in that struggle. Is there any kind of brewing community here in the city? If there isn't, does anyone want to try and start something? Even if we just get together, drink our pilsner of choice and tell each other about great beers we've brewed in the past?

I'm also struggling (See my post https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/what-can-i-brew-these-ingredients-519769/
Supplies are very hard to find here.

There is a facebook community, but it is not open to public.

I can add anyone to the group, but first you have to send me a friend request. The majority speaks Turkish, but there are people who can help an English speaker.

https://www.facebook.com/tarik.apak

Hi Burakkilic,

It looks like you've got the basic ingredients for a good beer there. I've been brewing for so long that I seldom use formal recipes but instead just use what I have at hand and follow my instincts. It looks like some people gave you some ideas already in that thread, I think they are good suggestions, the Mcknuckle guy gave straight forward advice for a normal beer. I tend to think that if you are going to brew beer yourself you should make it different. If I had those ingredients I would make a simple batch using both packages of malt, and two ounces each of the hops (I like hops) as well as some added honey to give it more alcohol and a fruit addition just for fun.

I am a beginner in brewing. My first batch "Efeberg" has very sour taste, and now I want to brew a much more better beer. Maybe we can schedule a brew day in my home and you can teach me how to brew better

Vanskit said:

Hi, just seen this thread (I realise it goes back a long time), but I'm based in Istanbul and have been making full mash beers here for several years. I bring all the raw materials in from the UK. We're just about to up the size of brewing with a craft brewery and as a result will be bringing in larger quantities of malt & hops. We also plan to do some malting here. I can probably help you with supply of materials if you need.

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Hey Vanskit-

Likewise I brewed in the states some and am now beginning the process here in Turkey. Are you still by chance in country?
Unfortunately I'm not in istanbul but making it up there isn't too hard. Could you shoot me a pm? I have some questions re supplies.

I'm new to Istanbul and have the same void. There is a decent brewery I found, but costly. I would rather do my own. How has your search developed?