Homebrew in Brazil

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malboa

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Hi (Oi)
I am moving to Brazil shortly (1-2 months) and would like to continue my homebrew hobby - so far, I have only completed 2 extract kits w/ steeping grains and participated in an AG boil. I would eventually like to move on to partial mash or AG.

Equipment in Brazil seems to be hard to find and expensive when you do find it, due mainly to high import fees and shipping. I'm wondering for any Brazilian homebrewers out there, what would you recommend I bring with me when I return (what can I fit in luggage)?

I was considering the following things: wort immersion chiller, refractometer, propane burner, grain mill.

I don't think I will be able to fit the larger SS pots so might have to buy in Brazil.

I can translate (or try to) into portuguese as requested.

Obrigado
 
Oi cara, tudo bem?

A bit of a late reply but maybe not too late.
There are a couple of people here who are already in Brazil. There's also a brazilian version of this forum (stick a .BR on the end of the URL).

I bought a 5 Gal all grain kit and a mill from Midwestern and brought the whole lot with me on a plane with no trouble. The excess luggage fees will be less than the lucro you'll pay for buying the stuff here. If you're moving there for good/for a while you can do customs paperwork to avoid paying import duties as long as the stuff you're bringing is used and for personal use. I was lucky and even though I was bringing in way over the customs limit and they x-rayed my bags they didn't charge me for anything.

Where are you going to be based? I'm in Porto Alegre and there's another fella I've been speaking to based in Sao Paulo.

Are you Brazilian and moving home?
 
Oi cara, tudo bem?

A bit of a late reply but maybe not too late.
There are a couple of people here who are already in Brazil. There's also a brazilian version of this forum (stick a .BR on the end of the URL).

I bought a 5 Gal all grain kit and a mill from Midwestern and brought the whole lot with me on a plane with no trouble. The excess luggage fees will be less than the lucro you'll pay for buying the stuff here. If you're moving there for good/for a while you can do customs paperwork to avoid paying import duties as long as the stuff you're bringing is used and for personal use. I was lucky and even though I was bringing in way over the customs limit and they x-rayed my bags they didn't charge me for anything.

Where are you going to be based? I'm in Porto Alegre and there's another fella I've been speaking to based in Sao Paulo.

Are you Brazilian and moving home?

Oi, tudo bem, e vc?

Yea, I'm a gringo headed down - timeframe is TBD, might be permanent, at least for > yr. Iv'e already taken the 5 Gal Buckets, tubing, hydrometer, etc which I assume wouldnt be too expensive there.

Concern is finding kettles in SS (or aluminum I suppose) there assuming they are too big to take on plane. I'm looking to get into BIAB or traditional AG so sticking with the 5 gal extract kits wont last too long.
Also unsure of availability of ingredients, yeast there as well and its cost.

If bringing the goods is personal, did you take over the $500 limit, I assume, which is why you declared? Wondering if it is something to declare or if the equipment appears to be homegoods and not of value (e.g., not something customs cares too much about). Als curious what customs would think about taking some extract kits down (boxed up of course) to get me started.

Anyways, glad to find another homebrewer down there. Actually was reading more about Colorado brewery in a ale newsletter here.
 
You won't have trouble finding big pans - they love their big feijoadas etc. here :) If you want a kettle with a tap and a false bottom it could be close to 300brl though.

Coolers are more expensive than you are used to, if you plan to make an icebox mash tun.
I would definitely stock up on fiddly little things like an extra tap for the buckets (35BRL, just for the tap, 80 if you get a bucket and tap). A hydrometer, refractometer, bottle capper, etc. They are all marked up loads here.

I was starting from scratch here when it came to equipment so I bought a kit. This is the one I brought down, upgraded to the 10gal cooler and when packed up carefully into one box it easily comes in within airline baggage regs, and there's space to pack in a few other bits and pieces. http://www.homebrewing.org/Beginning-Homebrew-All-Grain-Kit-Upgrade-6_p_1709.html

Malts are not prohibitively expensive and if there's a couple of places in SP that have quite a good mix of suppliers from US/EU. I dunno about Minas. Dry yeast is reasonably easy to get hold of (but you can bring down enough to last a lifetime in your jacket pockets, so not sure if that's a worry). Liquid yeasts are harder to get and more expensive so if you have some specialty favourites I would stock up. I just knocked together a saison using a smack pack that came down with me in December and it's happily bubbling away.

Mail order is just infinitely more painful than in the US. Prohibitively, I would say, so plan to buy in bulk during a trip to SP or find a local supplier. These guys are the place to start: http://www.acervamineira.com.br/(association of home brewers for Minas Gerais)

I didn't declare, I just got pulled out of the line. Had I declared everything then I would definitely have paid for everything :) That being said, I didn't bring it when I moved here, I brought it back at the end of a business trip so I was traveling with just normal baggage besides a massive box full of brewing gear.

Since you are moving, even temporarily, it would be worth looking into what paperwork you can to do bring stuff in without duty - I can guarantee that your worldly goods for a year are worth more than 500USD. But be warned - what you bring in must leave with you. I read about a family who brought a microwave and when they left 10 years later, they got charged the original duty on it, since it had broken and wasn't leaving the country with them...

As for extract kits you should be fine. it's prepared and sterilised canned food. I brought in 3lbs of DME and it didn't cause any problems. Neither did a pile of hop pellets. The only think they didn't like was the bottle of Star San - it's concentrated acid therefore it isn't allowed on planes so I got a nasty note from the TSA in my bag and no Star San. I didn't bother bringing grain, since it just seemed too much of a pain in the bum...


Anyway, it's a growing industry here so it's only going to get easier :)
Have you read this?
http://vejabh.abril.com.br/comer-e-...s-gerais-vira-belgica-brasileira-729806.shtml
 
Remember that the luggage weight restriction for Brasil is better than anywhere else you can go from the US- 70lbs instead of 50 lbs. I would absolutely buy a good sized quality heavy brew kettle in the US, bubble wrap it & get a big fat duffel that would fit it. I took wide barstools in big duffels I got from overstock.com with me on my last trip for my place in Recife & had no problems. You can fill the kettle with other things you're taking too to help with space. If you're worried about cost issues in customs with it, which you shouldn't be unless you plan on stuffing it with a dozen iPads, brew a few batches here in the US first to scuff it up to make it look old. Would love to know more info on getting grain/hops there. Be sure to know what temps you'll be fermenting at before you get your yeasts. Recife is hot year-round. Boa sorte!


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