Any homebrewers in Ecuador?

[Stealthcruiser]

I recently retired, (Jan., 2016), and we moved to Cotacachi, Ecuador, into our house we bought about 5 years ago.

Been renovating the house since then,and now it's time to get my Brewery unpacked and in order!

Met some Canadians here, that have a 50 gallon system, and have been helping them do some brews, so ingredients can be had without much hassle, as long as you plan ahead.

Our place is at approx. 7800 ft. elevation, so I'll have to get used to different boil rates and times I'm sure.

Also have some Cascade rhizomes to plant, and see how they grow here.

Looking around, it seems that pin lock kegs was the way to roll here, so that shouldn't be a problem, as I brought 2 pin locks, and 8 ball locks with when I shipped my household stuff.

Later, Y'all !

 

[lawrencealton]

Hi, I am in Manglaralto right now and am thinking about moving here. I am going to bring my brew setup down, just three keggles, burners and a brew stand, along with half a dozen corny's, and all the carboys and such. I would be interested in hearing your experiences brewing down here, along with how you manage to source hops and yeast.
We do a lot of chile beers and fruit beers, so we are anxious to try to use the local ingredients, but if I can't do my IPA's and classic pale ale's I will be disappointed.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Brewing ingredients and supplies are available, just plan ahead!

I have been helping a friend on his brewing, and he has a 55 gallon system!
Buys his grains in bulk, and I purchase through him.
Not sure where he gets his yeasts, but his mainstay is "U S 05".

I get some yeasts and hops "muled in" from time to time, ( to stock the freezer!), from people traveling to Ecuador from the States.

I have planted some Cascade Rhizomes here, and they are sprouting well.

My brew setup is about the same as yours, and is still packed up.

I have been doing house renovations for 10 plus months, and next up is plumb my brew area.

 

[lawrencealton]

Thanks, I have heard that good modified grains should be available all over, the closest places to me being Manta or Cuenca. I usually harvest and reuse my yeasts, but have used US05 often. Hops, I have heard, can be a hassle. I usually buy by the pound and freeze it so I will have to bring down a bunch.
You mentioned "mule'ing" ingredients. I have heard from quite a few people that shipping cannot be done. Have you tried it?
I have to admit that, while only here a week, I am jonesing for a good west coast IPA or American Pale Ale. I make both, several varieties, and want to be able to make them down here.
How are you going to keep your fermentation chamber cool enough, or is that not going to be a issue where you are?

 

[Stealthcruiser]

I have a fridge I've modified for a ferm chamber, and it's here with me.

Shipping: Hit and miss, plan ahead and have an individual "mule" in small stuff, packs of yeast, etc.... Whatever might go in their carry on or checked bag.
Have not tried shipping, but hear horror stories about customs wanting "their take" tariff wise.

 

[lawrencealton]

I was wondering how your brewing is going.

I have lived here in Ecuador for 2 years now and I have my brew system set up and have been brewing often.

we have a group here on the coast of half a dozen home brewers ( really just 3 serious brewers ) called ECHO, Ecuadorian Coastal Homebrewers Organization. Calling it an organization is a stretch, really just a WhatsApp thread we all share our experiences on.

My brew system is a Sabco V350MS with two 15 gallon Sabco fermenters. Built a brew bodega with ferment room for myself.

How are things going for you?

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Going well, and I need to get a beer on!

I've had so many lemons in my harvest this year, that my keezer is full of my take on the "Skeeter Pee" recipe.

I make with Panela, skip all the sorbates and $hit, use EC-1118 on it, then dry hop the keg with fresh grated Ginger.

It has quite the following, @ 10.5-11% carbonated "Lemming Aid".

I have a brew area on the end of my bodega, ( covered ), and outdoorsy with a big clean up sink.

Currently doing the finishing touches on one of these:

https://byo.com/project/double-pipe-wort-chiller/

Needing 1/2 silicone tubing, to make the "loops" with.

Just got a message from Stateside, a friend is bringing me back a package of Kviek yeast, I'm gonna' do some experimenting with.

Just using my keggle and a gas burner, gas burner on my HLT, and my chest cooler mash tun.........All works good.

Got 3 expat brewers in town, all Canadians.

Friends with an local Ecuadoran craft brewer, that I do a little mechanical maintenance for, in exchange for a "tab" @ his beer garden.


Overall, thangs be good!

You know a cat named Craig March?
Brewer on the coast, Salinas area methinks.

Look me up if ever up Cotacachi way!

 

[lawrencealton]

I think everybody must know Craig. He is a member of ECHO. Craig and I just brewed his first all grain batch last month.

I would like to see your recipe for skeeter pee, I have access to lemons both on my property and from neighbors.

I just bought some 1/2 od tubing here in Ecuador From Republikan. I have been getting my grains from him or Brausupplies. Do you know of other places for brew supplies?

I have a 10 gal batch of Irish Red that I will keg at the end of the week and plan to do a pale ale and an anise stout in the next two weeks. I am going back to the states in October for a month so I want them conditioning in the keg before I leave.

The kveik yeast sounds interesting. A brewer I have been talking to loves it and has offered to ship me some. I think I will just try to get some in the states when I go back. The yeast here has been the most frustrating. I seem to fall back to US-05 or 04. Going to try a lager soon and I have two choices.

Would really like to contact more home brewers here in Ecuador so pass on my info to your craft brewer friends if you can.

And, same goes for me, if you are near Montañita, give me a call. I regularly have 4 beers on tap. Right now I only have three, a maracuya blonde, a chile blonde, and a pumpkin vanilla ale. The Irish Red will fill out my four.

 

[antialiased]

Moved to the Loja region a little over 3 years ago. Mostly been brewing wine, whiskey, and liqueurs, however just started brewing my first Ecuadorian batch of beer (just a basic brown/newcastle clone)... Will be interested to see how the elevation (~1.7km) changes the lupulin extraction, carbonation, etc. Ordered supplies through beerlandstore (punto) com. Not sure if they are the cheapest in the country, but the ordering process was simple and they had the barleys, hops, yeast strain and Irish moss I needed to start doing beer here. Luckily, my SS distillation pot will do double duty as a mashing vessel, unless I want to brew over 50L per batch (unlikely, as I don't have that many pilsner/siembra bottles).

Seconding lawrencealton, please let me know if anyone has a source for better/cheaper ingredients (barley/hops/yeast). Supplies for ~190L of the Newcastle clone were ~$100 ($140 w/ shipping) or about $0.75/L, which seems excessive, but may be the best price available here with the duties, taxes, etc. After making whiskey/liqueurs where supplies (basically feed grain & amylase) run ~$1 per bottle, it pains me to spend almost that much per bottle of beer. Granted, that doesn't include the "new" oak, for which I haven't found a local source and have had to bring back from the US.

 

[lawrencealton]

Here are two in Quito. I recently ordered the adjunct grains for 10 beers fo what you paid for one. Shipping via Servientrega was reasonable. I order my two row from a place in Guayaquil for $43 for a 25 g bag of Dingemans Pale MD. They throw it on a bus for me for $5. Not sure this is an option for you, there would have to be a direct bus from Guayaquil to close to you.
Generally I have found Brewing Supplies to be cheaper here than in the US. Equipment is another matter. Way more expensive.
If you want to give men an email address, or messenger name we can discuss further.
I have also thought about starting a Facebook group for small home brewers in Ecuador. Thoughts?

 

[antialiased]

Thanks! Will send my email once I've unlocked DMs/PMs (presume it requires a certain post count or time on the site).

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Not sure if they are the cheapest in the country......................They are not, and the follow up post gives you a coupla' options...........Republikan has worked well for me on 2 or 3 orders, but don't be getting in a hurry for a small order, nor a response to an inquiry, on a small order..............Marlon is not known to making stuff happen in a " timely fashion".........

Seconding lawrencealton, please let me know if anyone has a source for better/cheaper ingredients (barley/hops/yeast). Supplies for ~190L of the Newcastle clone were ~$100 ($140 w/ shipping) or about $0.75/L, which seems excessive, but may be the best price available here with the duties, taxes, etc. After making whiskey/liqueurs where supplies (basically feed grain & amylase) run ~$1 per bottle, it pains me to spend almost that much per bottle of beer. Granted, that doesn't include the "new" oak, for which I haven't found a local source and have had to bring back from the US.

If you should happen to be on Facebook, there's a guy that advertises on the Marketplace, he's in Quito, and he makes oak barrels for aging, with imported white oak..............Prolly about as local as you'll get, and I don't what you're you're looking for as far as "new" oak.

 

[antialiased]

Republikan's prices look good... thanks for the warning regarding response time.

If you should happen to be on Facebook, there's a guy that advertises on the Marketplace, he's in Quito, and he makes oak barrels for aging, with imported white oak..............Prolly about as local as you'll get, and I don't what you're you're looking for as far as "new" oak.

Fortunately, I am retired and so don't have a business producing whiskey... And also, fortunately, I am not such a drunkard that I could possibly imagine needing to age 400 bottles worth of whiskey at a time/per batch, so an oak barrel wouldn't do me much good. I'm just looking for oak lumber/boards, not oak furniture, barrels, chips, etc... That's what I meant by "new" oak.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Republikan's prices look good... thanks for the warning regarding response time.



Fortunately, I am retired and so don't have a business producing whiskey... And also, fortunately, I am not such a drunkard that I could possibly imagine needing to age 400 bottles worth of whiskey at a time/per batch, so an oak barrel wouldn't do me much good. I'm just looking for oak lumber/boards, not oak furniture, barrels, chips, etc... That's what I meant by "new" oak.

As mentioned:


"there's a guy that advertises on the Marketplace, he's in Quito, and he makes oak barrels for aging, with imported white oak......... "



How much lumber / boards?

The guy mentioned, has it...........Imported..........I clued someone else to him, to get some shavings from him, as they wanted some "new oak" to age with.

"Fortunately", I wasn't judging you, just letting you know a source, for what you seek, as he's more "local-er" than hauling it from the States.......