Kia Ora Bro!

[Jes2xu]

If you have any idea what I just said sing out! Haha

Just interested to hear from a few brewers from New Zealand. Looking for a bit of local knowledge on where everyone is buying supplies etc from down under.

Just put my first (dirty LME + DME) brew down. This community looks amazing! Really glad I joined!!


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[NZLunchie]

Welcome to the madness brother.
We have our own lil NZ thread over here if you wanna come join in

 

[Espressomattic]

Chur cuzzie!

Yeah nah this place is the bomb

 

[Pataka]

Hoi frum Neor Zillind (that was my attempt at writing "hi from New Zealand" with a thick, kiwi accent)

I've only been brewing since December last year. Have still got my first batch of Loquat wine (made using fruit from our tree, which went crazy this year) and am trying my luck at making cider from the fruit I froze. It was about 18kgs worth, all up.

I'm not sure what kind of brewing you're into, or looking at getting into. I'm in Palmerston North, and we have a brew shop here. That being said, I've never been there. It's on the other side of town, and I'm not sure if they are open on weekends so haven't bothered chancing my luck.

I personally buy all my supplies from www.makewine.co.nz. The owner there is amazing to deal with. Free shipping on all orders over $30, unlimited email support, and all sorts of return policies that put you firmly in control of everything. I ordered a hydrometer from them a few weeks ago, and it arrived broken. She was terrific about arranging a replacement, and we got chatting on our email thread afterward. Apparently, she said she sends replacement yeast for failed fermentations, even when the issue can be tracked back to the brewer being at fault. Her reckoning is that, if new brewers get discouraged, they will be far less likely to come back for repeat business. That attitude blew me away because it was so refreshing. Like I said to her, I was expecting to have to grovel to prove I didn't break the hydrometer after taking it out of the box.

That's my 2c anyway. Good to have you here.

 

[NZLunchie]

I'm not sure what kind of brewing you're into, or looking at getting into. I'm in Palmerston North, and we have a brew shop here. That being said, I've never been there. It's on the other side of town, and I'm not sure if they are open on weekends so haven't bothered chancing my luck.

Yeah they're pretty sweet dudes in there. Thats where I used to buy all my gear from. Now I shop around online

 

[Pkrd]

They are open saturday morning. Between them, brewshop.co.nz and craftbrewing.co.nz I'm well sorted.

 

[Jes2xu]

Awesome! Cheers guys!

I'm on Palmerston North also.

So at the moment I think I may just start out the pre made extract kits and slowly add/modify them more and more. The one fermenting now is a mangrove jacks brown ale, straight out of the can with a DME pack instead of sugar. I may experement with half the batch and a bit of cold brewed coffee.

I'm thinking the next two will be a hopped up IPA (for me). And a Christmas porter (for my mid winter practising american wife haha). So a bit of experimenting to come soon!

I'm actually going to swing past the home brew store this arvo and pick up a starter kit. I already have a brew down in a extra fermenter I picked up. So the one in the starter kit is going to be the boteling bucket/secondary for this time around. Figgered I would just pick a starter kit up to sort out all the little things.

So you guys suggest online for picking up stuff like LME DME hops etc?


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[NZLunchie]

Awesome! Cheers guys!

I'm on Palmerston North also.

So at the moment I think I may just start out the pre made extract kits and slowly add/modify them more and more. The one fermenting now is a mangrove jacks brown ale, straight out of the can with a DME pack instead of sugar. I may experement with half the batch and a bit of cold brewed coffee.

I'm thinking the next two will be a hopped up IPA (for me). And a Christmas porter (for my mid winter practising american wife haha). So a bit of experimenting to come soon!

I'm actually going to swing past the home brew store this arvo and pick up a starter kit. I already have a brew down in a extra fermenter I picked up. So the one in the starter kit is going to be the boteling bucket/secondary for this time around. Figgered I would just pick a starter kit up to sort out all the little things.

So you guys suggest online for picking up stuff like LME DME hops etc?


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Coffee brown ale? Sounds like a nice beer! Anything with coffee is good! Make sure you use espresso, not instant, give it a proper hit! Have a search on here for adding coffee into beers, common theme is a cold steep....

Check out http://www.blackrock.co.nz/beer-recipes for some ideas on sexing up some simple kits. Wish I had something like that when I started. A lot of my brews were playing with different kits and flavours.

Best kit recipe I did was a stout - Black Rock Miners Stout kit, can of dark LME, stout enhancer pack and a couple strips of Black Knight liquorice dissolved in 2L of water before adding to the wort.

I've since then moved into partial mash, BIAB and now full all grain.

I moved to online shops pretty quickly and just use the Ruahine shop for odd bits n pieces I need on the day or in a hurry. All personal preference of course, they just didn't stock the stuff I wanted.

I have a preference for Baylands Brewery to get my gear, but like Pkrd have used Craft Brewing and BrewShop as well.

Best advice I can give you, if you haven't already sort temperature controlled fermentation. Made a MASSIVE difference to the beer we were producing really quickly.

 

[Jes2xu]

Coffee brown ale? Sounds like a nice beer! Anything with coffee is good! Make sure you use espresso, not instant, give it a proper hit! Have a search on here for adding coffee into beers, common theme is a cold steep....



Check out http://www.blackrock.co.nz/beer-recipes for some ideas on sexing up some simple kits. Wish I had something like that when I started. A lot of my brews were playing with different kits and flavours.



Best kit recipe I did was a stout - Black Rock Miners Stout kit, can of dark LME, stout enhancer pack and a couple strips of Black Knight liquorice dissolved in 2L of water before adding to the wort.



I've since then moved into partial mash, BIAB and now full all grain.



I moved to online shops pretty quickly and just use the Ruahine shop for odd bits n pieces I need on the day or in a hurry. All personal preference of course, they just didn't stock the stuff I wanted.



I have a preference for Baylands Brewery to get my gear, but like Pkrd have used Craft Brewing and BrewShop as well.



Best advice I can give you, if you haven't already sort temperature controlled fermentation. Made a MASSIVE difference to the beer we were producing really quickly.

Thanks for the advice.

I'm planning on doing a cold brew coffee then adding it to the secondary. Took the first hydro reading today (didn't have the hydro meter when I put it on though, so just checking to see if it's still doing its thing) had a cheeky taste, it's surprising how good warm flat beer can taste hahaha.

That stout sounds great.....think I will need to do that some time!

I haven't really got the temp sorted yet. So far it consists of a stick on thermometer (and a digi one to check), a adjustable electric blanket and wetting down the outside of the fermenter. First day I was messing with it constantly trying to get the temp to level out. But I think I have it in a good rhythm now. I was aiming for 22 think it got to about 23 1/2 on the first day, since then it's not gone under 22 or over 23. But it's a pain checking it all the time haha. So I see a fridge set up in the future if I catch the bug haha.


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[NZLunchie]

So I see a fridge set up in the future if I catch the bug haha.

You've caught the bug if you're here

 

[Jes2xu]

You've caught the bug if you're here

Guess you are right! Trade me is getting a fair few second hand fridge searches now!


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[Espressomattic]

Cold brew is the way. Been thinking of doing one myself as I roast coffee at home too.

Looking forward to hopefully touching base with you manawatu lot if I get a job in Marton. Too much fun this beer thing (current brew is a potential disaster see my latest thread)

 

[Jes2xu]

Yeah I went with cold brew. . . . . Over did it a little though hahaha.

Thinking I may sweeten it up a little (lactose perhaps) before botteling, just to make the strong coffe flavour meld a little more.

Roast your own eh? That's cool!!




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[Espressomattic]

Been roasting for 10 years at home. I want to use a single origin yirgacheffe from Ethiopia. This has got some great floral and citrus notes going on. It would sit well in a nice malty brew with a tiny amount of hops. Coffee and hops is not a great mix.

I would want the brew to be a red colour. With the coffee being quite light it wouldn't be overpowering

What coffee did you use? A lot of the store bought ones are roasted very dark and kill the flavour of the coffee. Also did you grind yourself or was it per ground? If pre ground it would be stale as coffee goes off in less than 20 Mins from grinding.

I could always roast some up and send it down?

Wish I knew as mixh about brewing as I do coffee!