Any homebrewers in the Kaiserslautern/Ramstein, Germany area?

[robm184]

I have no idea what is wrong with me but I barely use this site since moving to the Graf area but would not mind getting together with fellow brewers. I brew on occasion.

Since my basement hit 68*F I have been brewing non stop.

Bottled: Pumpkin
Bottled: Belgian Wine

Fermenting: Cider 1 gal, Wheat IPA 3 Gal, Honey IPA 5 gal, APA 4.5 gal, Belgian 5 gal
still plan on brewing a Sweet Stout, Vanilla bean Porter with a splash of bourbon, another Belgian version of my Wheat IPA, and probably a small sour fruit beer.

 

[chriswilkes33]

Moving to Vogelweh in March and would like to know if any homebrewers are in the are. Im new to the hobby starting out with only a mr beer kit, but I just bought my first carboy and kit to get started. If anyone can help with information just let me know please.

Im not far from Vogelweh, about a half hour or so. I am by no means a brewing expert but Ive been doing it a while now and would happy to help out. Ill be back in Germany in May and will start hosting some brewing days and you will of course be welcome to come hang out/brew/drink.

Chris

 

[clinesmith]

Im not far from Vogelweh, about a half hour or so. I am by no means a brewing expert but Ive been doing it a while now and would happy to help out. Ill be back in Germany in May and will start hosting some brewing days and you will of course be welcome to come hang out/brew/drink.

Chris

Sounds good. I will definitely take you up on your offer. Thanks

 

[clinesmith]

Im not far from Vogelweh, about a half hour or so. I am by no means a brewing expert but Ive been doing it a while now and would happy to help out. Ill be back in Germany in May and will start hosting some brewing days and you will of course be welcome to come hang out/brew/drink.

Chris

Where do you get your supplies. Locally in Germany or online from states?

 

[jstraight]

Don, I sent you a PM. Did you get? Please reply.

John from Cassadaga

 

[powerpro369]

Where do you get your supplies. Locally in Germany or online from states?

Did you get an answer to where to buy beer making supplies locally? I work on Ramstein an am yet to find a shop other than online. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[powerpro369]

Moving there in July, will be looking for a shop to use.
Found one online about an hour away

Hobbytheke & Kellereibedarf

there is a English version of the site

Tmx

Have you made it to this store yet? Is it worth going to? I still need some carboys and other starter essentials and was hoping this place had something to purchase. The website is part english and a bit difficult to browse.

 

[chriswilkes33]

Where do you get your supplies. Locally in Germany or online from states?

Sorry I didnt reply sooner. I havent been on the board much while Im here in Afghanistan.

Anyway, there are several ways to get supplies. A lot of the American homebrew shops will ship APO but if you also have a German address, and it helps to speak a little German, you can get a bunch of good stuff from

http://amihopfen.com/ - hops
http://www.hopfen-der-welt.de/ - hops
http://www.schnapsbrenner.eu/index.php - everything

You can buy bulk grain at Best Malz which isnt far from us, having trouble finding it on the website though, and of course, can never hurt to drive to Bamberg for good Rauchbier and of course Weyermann maltster is there. Not sure if they direct sell.

Another good place is hopfen und mehr.
http://www.hobbybrauerversand.de/ - everything

I havent been to a brick and mortar store in Germany.

 

[mrkabal]

You'll have to buy a German spec tank, but you can have an adapter made for you. I friend of mine had it done here in K-town, I'll shoot him an email to find out where.

Apparently a guy on base made this for him :/

As for homebrew shops, one of my favorite things to do over a weekend is to drive to Brouwland in Belgium for supplies, spend the night in Brussels, and drive back the next day. It's about a 3 hour drive, I do it a few times a year.

 

[powerpro369]

So I jumped in and bought the German tank, another country and another unique set-up. The website to the British store is quite expensive to get the European nut here to Germany but I found a site in the US that sells the European nut for the regulator.

@Chris...good to hear. I am a Intermediate brewer, ie extract and partial mash. Haven't jumped into all grain but I may take you up on the offer to see what the process entails.

Cheers

I am in the same perdicament. I am interested in kegging but I don't want to buy a US CO2 tank if I don't have a way to fill it. What was the US website that sells the european nut for the regulator? I would perfer to but a US tank so that I don't have to rebuy when I return. Any thoughts?

Also, where do you purchase your CO2 refills?

 

[HopSong]

Hey bud.. don't give up on bottles

Kegging has advantages.. but, you have to have a place to put the keg.. If you have a space.. great. You've seen my dorm refrigerator.. it'll hold two kegs.. or one keg and a CO2 bottle.. or creatively, 2 kegs and a small 5# cylinder.

I have put out a feeler to a supplier I work with to see if he has adaptors.. I doubt it.. but, ya never know.

I can think of a couple of options.. get an exchange from a gas company.. there must be a number of them, at least in the larger towns. You pay for the gas and put a deposit on the tank.. They simply exchange it when you need a new one. A 5# tank will last for about 4-5 kegs as I remember. You'll still need a regulator and hoses.. a party tap suffices until you want to convert the fridge to a kegerator. Or if you can find a dorm refrigerator.. there are many DIY's to convert it to a kegerator.. As you say EZPZ.

The other thought is to purchase a US type tank and have an European valve put in it.. However, that may/may not be an issue if the threads are metric.
Another is to look on Craigslist. I see them often here... especially the larger 20#. I've had mine forever and still has gas... or simply buy a used one at the gas place and sell it when you are ready to move. Should be easy, especially if you have a base newspaper.

I'll let you know what I find out. I'd ask around the base where they do welding, etc.. to see where they get their gasses.. and go there.

EDIT: In the meantime, I found THIS.. they are in England and use the same nuts, as I understand it, as the rest of Europe.. This may be by far, the simplest answer... All you'd have to do when you got home is to change the nut.

 

[MX1]

I am glad to see this thread is helping out guys in Germany! I was supposed to PCS there, but BIG ARMY thought differnet, guess putting the qualified guy in the position is a bit over rated......

So I am now in Kandahar by way of FT Carson.

If any of you get together and make a raod trip, there is great home brew store in Beverloo Belgium, should be about 3-4 hours I think from KMCC.

Brouwland

Tim

 

[Beernik]

My dad was posted to Ramstein from 1983 to 1988. I seriously enjoyed living there. I recommend discovering Dortmonders & Kolsches.

When I pub crawled, I used to drink a lot of BBK and Bitberger-EX.

BTW, I was 14 when I was pub crawling there. So if you have kids, be on the lookout for that sort of behavior.

 

[Dirty25]

Well I'm here now. Finally found a place and set to be moving in on the 9th.

Looking for some equipment I couldn't take with me now. So where can I find a CO2 bottle? I guess I will buy a metric regulator from the online homebrew but they only have .5 kilo tanks and that just seems to small. I had a 20lb tank back in the states. What are my options here?

 

[chriswilkes33]

Well I'm here now. Finally found a place and set to be moving in on the 9th.

Looking for some equipment I couldn't take with me now. So where can I find a CO2 bottle? I guess I will buy a metric regulator from the online homebrew but they only have .5 kilo tanks and that just seems to small. I had a 20lb tank back in the states. What are my options here?

CO2 tanks are the thing that has eluded me so far also. I planned to solve that issue when I got back next month. I did bring my 5 pound and 20 pound tanks with me, just not sure what to do about getting them filled or if they can be and I need to buy new ones or where to get them from.

I also want to find out where to get Weyermann malt in bulk, I assume the maltster will sell direct to the public as Best Malz does.

Broke down and ordered some 220 march pumps through morebeer despite the ridiculous shippng prices, apparently those guys havent heard of flat rate boxes. At least they ship to APO though. I hope to be up and brewing again by the middle of May. Having a bit of tough time deciphering the town water report too but that shouldnt cause too much trouble.

 

[Dirty25]

The water thing is another obstacle for me to. The water seems pretty poor here. I am debating the callagon water jugs at the shoppet or just use the local water. A all grain batch is going to run through 8g at least of water so using the jug water would get expensive quick.

I don't believe your 20&5lb tanks would be able to be filled here, everything is metric but I could be wrong.

There is a place that sells sacks of grain https://www.hobbybrauerversand.de/ it's under Malz and then sackware. Not sure what shipping would be, if you figure out how to get bulk malt from wyerman I would be in for a 5 sacks or so

 

[HopSong]

I don't believe your 20&5lb tanks would be able to be filled here, everything is metric but I could be wrong.

Check the link in the note I sent my son in the above post #41. The nuts on the regulators can possibly be changed. I also found that there is a Linde gas supplier in the general area that might be able to help with nuts.

Should be a simple adaptation.

 

[MX1]

CO2 tanks are the thing that has eluded me so far also. I planned to solve that issue when I got back next month. I did bring my 5 pound and 20 pound tanks with me, just not sure what to do about getting them filled or if they can be and I need to buy new ones or where to get them from.

I also want to find out where to get Weyermann malt in bulk, I assume the maltster will sell direct to the public as Best Malz does.

Broke down and ordered some 220 march pumps through morebeer despite the ridiculous shippng prices, apparently those guys havent heard of flat rate boxes. At least they ship to APO though. I hope to be up and brewing again by the middle of May. Having a bit of tough time deciphering the town water report too but that shouldnt cause too much trouble.

As far as gas goes, I used PrimGaz in Belgium, they could work with american tanks.

Next time you need pumps, go with Chuggeer, they ship to APO, just have to call them, toplace the order. I could not have asked for more from a company!!!

I would see if you can get out out your March order....

TIm

 

[Dirty25]

As far as gas goes, I used PrimGaz in Belgium, they could work with american tanks.

Next time you need pumps, go with Chuggeer, they ship to APO, just have to call them, toplace the order. I could not have asked for more from a company!!!

I would see if you can get out out your March order....

TIm

you drove all the way to belguim to fill your tanks? Or is there a place close by that will fill tanks?

 

[MX1]

I was living in Belgium, not sure if they have PrimeGaz there or not...sorry for the confusion.

I was suposed to PCS form Belgium to K-Town, and that fell through so I got stuck in Fort Carson...

Tim

 

[Dirty25]

Oh, ok, that makes sense now. Sorry about your luck on Kandahar, been there done that a bunch of times. My friends are all there (I would be to but I got my orders), hope all the rain stops soon.

 

[chriswilkes33]

As far as gas goes, I used PrimGaz in Belgium, they could work with american tanks.

Next time you need pumps, go with Chuggeer, they ship to APO, just have to call them, toplace the order. I could not have asked for more from a company!!!

I would see if you can get out out your March order....

TIm

I couldn't find a 220V pump on the chugger website

 

[chriswilkes33]

My wife is German so figuring out gas and a bulk malt buy should be relatively simple when I get back (will be easier to get her to make the calls when I am there to pester her about it ) should be less than a month from now. Ill let you know what I figure out.

Chris

 

[Dirty25]

Anyone up to brew this weekend? I got all my TMO stuff in so I am going to embark on my maiden Germany brew day. Once my bulk grain order from hops and more show up I am going to do a double or triple brew day.

Can't wait to get back to brewing!

 

[chriswilkes33]

Anyone up to brew this weekend? I got all my TMO stuff in so I am going to embark on my maiden Germany brew day. Once my bulk grain order from hops and more show up I am going to do a double or triple brew day.

Can't wait to get back to brewing!

I like that idea.
How bad did Hops and more hit you on shipping? What kind of grain prices were you able to get? If you don't mind sharing

 

[Dirty25]

The shipping was €6. The sack I ordered was €26, I got a couple other varieties also they were €1,50 a kelo I think.
I think it converted to $65-70 for one sack of two row (55lbs), 8 lbs wheat, 12lbs Munich, 10lbs pils.

 

[chriswilkes33]

The shipping was €6. The sack I ordered was €26, I got a couple other varieties also they were €1,50 a kelo I think.
I think it converted to $65-70 for one sack of two row (55lbs), 8 lbs wheat, 12lbs Munich, 10lbs pils.

Only 6 Euro for the shipping? Wow, I may just say screw it and order from them then, I didn't realize shipping was so cheap.

 

[tchuklobrau]

check out Bestmalz. they are in heidelberg, cant remember where their other 2 plants are but I think they are a lil closer to you than heidelberg. Was just looking at their website today. they will ship to you(min order 100kg) or you can direct pickup.

 

[chriswilkes33]

check out Bestmalz. they are in heidelberg, cant remember where their other 2 plants are but I think they are a lil closer to you than heidelberg. Was just looking at their website today. they will ship to you(min order 100kg) or you can direct pickup.

Good looking out, It seems like the big warehouse is in Wallertheim which is about a 5 minute drive from my house in Worrstadt. Ill definitely call them first. I was thinking of making the 3 hour drive to Bamberg to pick grain up...and maybe for a rauchbier or 10. Best Malz Rauch malt is better anyway though in my opinion Never used their 2 row before but I always used their wheat and pils malt in the states too.

 

[drinkdrankpunk]

Hey all, I will be moving to baumholder in june and will be looking for all kinds of information about brewing out there. Hopefully theres another hombrewer or two near there to hang out with.