Hello from South America

[StefanK]

Well, good morning guys.

My name is Stefan and I am from South America, specifically Venezuela. I've always had interest on brewing beer and I gave it a long time thinking until I finally decided to take the interesting journey of making my own beer. Adding to that, since beer Is going scarce here due to political and economical issues (as well as food) beermaking can and will be a staple activity in my day to day, just as making bread when I can find flour

I have learned a dear lot of information by reading this forums as a guest, and now I hope I can be welcome here as a member to learn a lot more and to share my brewing experiences.

Best regards!

 

[hudsons]

Welcome, Stefan!

Do you know any other home brewers in Venezuela? Are there local sources of ingredients (barley, hops, etc.)?

Good luck!

 

[sweetcell]

bienvenido!

we'd love to hear what it is like to brew in venezuela. i imagine that ingredients are hard to find. what yeast do you use? is malted barley available?

 

[StefanK]

Well, there is in fact a large group of people who brew! In the last couple of years homebrewing beer erupted as a fever. There are at least 10 independent "brands" so to speak, which for our situation, is a lot. Some of them have started conducting comercial operations and sell their products to little restaurants and bars.

Personally, I dont know directly others, but I know that they exist.

Mostly all products for beermaking are imported. From hops to yeast. Malted barley is indeed available; some people import fresh barley as cattle feedstock and proceed to malt, toast and sell what they dont use as feedstock. Most "known" types are available (Pilsner, Crystal, Chocolate, sometimes Munich). Malt extract can be found as an import, but can be quite expensive since most things get imported at black market exchange rate.

What do I do? I use a courier service and buy my stuff through amazon. By my stuff I mean hop pellets, yeasts, airlocks. Those things can be found around but are often expensive; its better to import your own stuff if you have dolars to do so.

Traditionally Venezuelans drink hoppy, clear to deep gold Pilsner beers since is the best to quench thirst. But with time Ale's have emerged, Bocks and Märzens have existed at comercial levels. With people homebrewing a lot of things have been appearing, from Lagers to Doppelbocks.

My first brew has been a challenge (I like challenges!) since I am brewing a lager here in the tropics! Ales and Pilsners however are a pleasure to brew over here in our climate.

I'll soon share some pictures and details

 

[sweetcell]

stefan, thanks for sharing! i always enjoy learning about how others brew. we're so spoiled here, it's easy to forget that not everyone has access to all the things we do.

have you tried belgian beers? many of those can be fermented at slightly higher temperatures, so they might be easier to manage than lagers. Danstar makes a dry saison yeast called "Belle Saison" that people have been pretty happy with (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/new-danstar-belle-saison-dry-yeast-359806/). i would avoid T-58, they claim it's a belgian yeast but it's not a very good one in my opinion.

 

[WestCoastBrew]

Welcome Stefan!

 

[unionrdr]

It could well be a good thing for you to hook up with other home brewers near you. It could give insights as to where you can find ingredients & such.

 

[dkevinb]

¡Bienvenido al foro! Viví en Caracas durante las setentas. Desgraciadamente mucho ha cambiado desde entonces.

I remember drinking an ocean of Polar. Now even that is scarce? I still have many friends who live there and I see their posts on Facebook. Good luck with the brewing, and with the situation in Venezuela.

 

[StefanK]

¡Bienvenido al foro! Viví en Caracas durante las setentas. Desgraciadamente mucho ha cambiado desde entonces.

I remember drinking an ocean of Polar. Now even that is scarce? I still have many friends who live there and I see their posts on Facebook. Good luck with the brewing, and with the situation in Venezuela.

Gracias! Si mucho ha cambiado.

Yup. Even polar is going scarce. Government is not giving them dollars to import material for making cans and bottles, and the Valencia processing plant shut down because of this!

stefan, thanks for sharing! i always enjoy learning about how others brew. we're so spoiled here, it's easy to forget that not everyone has access to all the things we do.

have you tried belgian beers? many of those can be fermented at slightly higher temperatures, so they might be easier to manage than lagers. Danstar makes a dry saison yeast called "Belle Saison" that people have been pretty happy with (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/new-danstar-belle-saison-dry-yeast-359806/). i would avoid T-58, they claim it's a belgian yeast but it's not a very good one in my opinion.

I am not very aware of Belgian Beers, at least at brewing level (I have tasted a few). But thanks a lot for the information!

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome to the hobby and the group, from Coloroado.

Best of luck in an environment where it is challenging to obtain equipment and ingredients, but it is worth it!

 

[StefanK]

Well, I just published some on my first brew on the All Grain forum!