New Zealand Brewers

[NZLunchie]

I used to be on the gas stove top, but its to messy, stinks out the house and makes for a damp house - steam = condensation if its cold out!!

I brought a 2 ring cast iron burner from Mitre 10 (like this one http://www.sella.co.nz/general/home-living/outdoor-garden-conservatory/bbqs/bwffrg/) but Bunnings have them as well. I wanted a 3 ring but settled for a 2 instead. Get the regulator while you're there and off you go. I think all up for the 2 ring and reg cost me <$80 at Mitre 10.

I have seen and heard of people using their BBQ to get a boil going, can't hurt to try, might take longer than expected though.

 

[crusader1612]

Sweet, yeah I've seen those around, I'm gonna give it a shot on the barbie. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[crusader1612]

Well i tested the BBQ Theory!, standard Three burner BBQ, an hour and a half, but no boil, it was very close, but i dont think it could sustain it, i measured out 4 Gallons for insurance purposes to see if it could get it to a boil. but no go. BUGGER!

 

[wretchedgirl]

I live up in Auckland, and am somewhat of a beginner brewer. i have a 23L keg and thats about it. love to drink beer.

 

[crusader1612]

:O theres a woman in our Midst... haha just kidding, welcome.
Hey Lunchie, I got one of those burners you mentioned! Mean looking thing, its gonna get a rigorous testing tomorrow morning
1.5kg Amber LME
1 kg Light DME
1 oz of 12aau Nugget Hops 60 Mins
0.75oz Cascade NZ hops 7aau
Safale us-05 Yeast, rehydrated.
1 week in primary, then dryhop in primary for additional week 0.5oz cascade.
Prime and bottle.

 

[NZLunchie]

Nice
You should take some pics of your brew day!

I plan on bottling the SMaSH next week at some stage, so might throw some pics up.

 

[crusader1612]

Yeah please do, that'd bee cool. Brew day went well. no hiccups. it seemd to lose more water than i thought it would during the boil, but thats ok. I'm looking forward to this one.

 

[SeamusMac]

Hey guys, I just moved to Wellington and I'm looking to get started into extract brewing here. I was wondering were I could go to look for used gear? Trade Me doesn't have much on it and I don't want to buy a whole new kit. Thoughts?

 

[NZLunchie]

Hey guys, I just moved to Wellington and I'm looking to get started into extract brewing here. I was wondering were I could go to look for used gear? Trade Me doesn't have much on it and I don't want to buy a whole new kit. Thoughts?

I'm not sure there is anything except TradeMe. I have a mate in Pram that has a fermenter, just a plastic kit one, I could see if he wants to part with it. He hasn't brewed since he left Palmy Nth. What else you looking for?

 

[SeamusMac]

I'm not sure there is anything except TradeMe. I have a mate in Pram that has a fermenter, just a plastic kit one, I could see if he wants to part with it. He hasn't brewed since he left Palmy Nth. What else you looking for?

Thanks for the reply Lunchie. I wouldn't mind checking out what he might want to part with as all I really need would be a fermenter with spigot, bottle capper, hydrometer, a racking cane with some tubing, a bottle-filling attachment and a hydrometer. There's a kit on trade me right now for $42 but the fermenter is only 11.5L and I'd much prefer a full 25-30L fermenter.

 

[crusader1612]

I know its not second hand, but they LHBS has coppertun beer kits available for about $100, thats where i Started, and its taken off from there. you get all the kit except like a capper and a cane and tubing, which is a pretty good deal if you get stuck.

Pale Ale has quite a fruity Smell in the fermenter, I'm looking forward to it.

 

[SeamusMac]

It looks like most of the used kits on Trade Me are making it close to $100 before they close anyways so I might as well just start fresh. One thing that worries me is how cold my house is and that it could stall fermentation even if I insulate it and add yeast energizer/nutrients to my brews. Anyone have a cheap alternative to a heat pad sussed out?

 

[NZLunchie]

I'm not sure about anyone else, but I've never bothered to much with temps. Get it to pitching temp then wrap it in a blanket and put it in you hot water cupboard, if you have one. I've never had a bad batch yet from doing that.

 

[SeamusMac]

I'm not sure about anyone else, but I've never bothered to much with temps. Get it to pitching temp then wrap it in a blanket and put it in you hot water cupboard, if you have one. I've never had a bad batch yet from doing that.

The flat I'm living in doesn't have access to the building's hot water cupboard unfortunately and the space heater we have barely keeps the room temperature at 16*C overnight while on full-blast. I found a much smaller space heater at work today that the boss said I could have so I'm going to insulate one of the built-in cabinets in my room. If the thermometer on the tiny space heater is sensitive enough to keep the space within a few degree of it's setting then I'll be in business.

 

[crusader1612]

Yeah, The Coppertun, kit is pretty standard but its gets things moving, iused a fin heater for awhile on half heat about half metre to a metre rom my brew and that maintained a nice ttemperature, its just expensive to run.

 

[SeamusMac]

I found a decent-looking Brewcraft kit online that I'm going to pick-up over the weekend and get started. I tried the fin heater in the cabinet but the temps were all over the place so that's not going to work. I'm going to plop the fermenter down in a shallow bucket of water with a fish tank heater on the side to keep temps stable.

 

[NZLunchie]

http://www.brewshop.co.nz/brewing-equipment/copper-tun-heat-pad.html

 

[NZLunchie]

As requested some shots of bottling time - on the blog as well: http://manawabrew.blogspot.co.nz/

Bottling station with crate for a seat

Pretty Pale - all I can think of Export Gold. Doesn't taste anything like it though!!

Jack Daniels chips sitting inside a muslin cloth bag within the fermenter

Should be good to go in three weeks, if I can wait that long.
Has to be one of my oddest smelling beers at bottling. Smells a little like stale water, no idea why, time will tell if its from the water or something else. Taste is very warm, lots of heat in the mouth and continues to the stomach. Something I was aiming for. Watch this space, or the blog for a tasting update

 

[crusader1612]

Gee it does look very very pale! fingers crossed for you. the stale water situation doesnt sound good??

 

[NZLunchie]

Gee it does look very very pale! fingers crossed for you. the stale water situation doesnt sound good??

Meh at the end of the day its 5.8%ish so gets the job done. If its off, it'll be my first batch since I started Time will tell.

Any of you guys going to Beervana?

 

[brewnz]

I'm sure it'll be absolutely fine NZLunchie, and I actually had to look up what a smash recipe was so it's little wonder it's that colour. I might have to try that experiment myself. Speaking of which, I brewed my own experimental recipe yesterday with NO hop boil additions, nada, ziltch. Only FWH and a dry hop so it'll be interesting to see how that turns out. It certainly makes brewing easier as you're not looking at the timer constantly.

Not going to Beervana unfortunately, would love to but I'll be in Japan - hopefully there's some good beer over there, not hold out much hope though.

 

[crusader1612]

Probably sound like a Noob, but whats Beervana? and more to the point where is it??

Ok, so I am finishing up my cider and no longer have the need to the 23L glass carboy, along with siphon thief and bung/airlock, any takers $100.00 for the lot plus postage..... any takers?

 

[NZLunchie]

Probably sound like a Noob, but whats Beervana? and more to the point where is it??

http://beervana.co.nz/

I was going to throw the Epic clone at the home brew comp. After some discussions looks like me and my brew partner are going to target next year. Have a years worth of R & D

 

[emjay]

Probably sound like a Noob, but whats Beervana? and more to the point where is it??

It's at the corner of beer-lightenment and li-beer-ation, in the state of beer transcendence.

 

[emjay]

The flat I'm living in doesn't have access to the building's hot water cupboard unfortunately and the space heater we have barely keeps the room temperature at 16*C overnight while on full-blast. I found a much smaller space heater at work today that the boss said I could have so I'm going to insulate one of the built-in cabinets in my room. If the thermometer on the tiny space heater is sensitive enough to keep the space within a few degree of it's setting then I'll be in business.

16°C is a great temperature to ferment most beers at, especially because the temperature can rise by over 5° during fermentation.

If you don't want to invest in a heating solution that's able to directly control the temperature of the beer itself (eg a temp controller with the probe measuring the actual beer temp rather than ambient temp), then fermenting in a room at 16 to 17° is the next best thing. I'd still recommend something that allows better control of beer temps, but in terms of the room temperature I'd say that's actually perfect for most beers (most Belgians obviously excepted).

 

[crusader1612]

I assume no takers for my glass carboy and accessories, its only been used once, and its clean too

Agreed with emjay. although the fermantation may take a tad longer?

beervana looks awesome!!! might have to check it out next year, maybe even enter ?

 

[nufad]

Ummm, most of the Muntons LME range, a couple of Black Rock and Mangrove Jacks LME cans. I mixed it up as well by using dextrose and a second can of unhoped LME.

Made a stout with a Black Rock Miners Stout, a can of dark LME and a couple straps of Black Knight licorice. That came out really nice.

Attempted a kiwifruit beer - came out ok, but not what we thought it would come out like. Basically a wheat beer can kit with kiwifruit boiled in it. If I was to do it again, I'd freeze the fruit and rack on top for a month or so.

My first partial was a Fat Yak clone, but I used just Motueka hops, came up really good. Love Motueka hops!! I wouldn't mind doing that again with some other new hops i.e. Riwaka, Zythos, Kohatu or Rakau. It's a good base beer to throw hops at to get a pretty cheap and decent tasting beer.

My first All Grain was an Epic Pale Ale clone. Brewed especially for my 30th in May. That came out fantastic. I used NZ Cascade instead of American Cascade there, felt more Kiwi. By far my best brew. Came in at 6.9% so had some people on there ass pretty quick!

Brewed an Irish Red for my 30th as well loosely based on a recipe from here, not quite what I was looking for but very moreish. I think I'll brew it again but drop the roast malt a little, came in a little too strong for me.

I like to experiment with my brews and as such haven't brewed a beer twice yet - I think the Epic Clone I'll brew again. Has to be my favourite craft brew by far.

I recently purchased a few ounces of NZ Cascade hops. Could you provide any tasting notes for them? From what I've gathered online, they are less piney than US Cascade and have a more lemony/spicy character. I plan to brew with them this weekend, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[NZLunchie]

I recently purchased a few ounces of NZ Cascade hops. Could you provide any tasting notes for them? From what I've gathered online, they are less piney than US Cascade and have a more lemony/spicy character. I plan to brew with them this weekend, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

I'd say what you've read would be on the money. I definitely noted more citrus and passion fruit when I compared the Epic vs my clone.

 

[crusader1612]

I'd say what you've read would be on the money. I definitely noted more citrus and passion fruit when I compared the Epic vs my clone.

Agreed, for the epic anyway . great beer. any idea where I can find the hopzombie? never had it?

 

[NZLunchie]

Agreed, for the epic anyway . great beer. any idea where I can find the hopzombie? never had it?

Since its seasonal, probably nowhere
If you're on Facebook follow Epic Beer and wait for the announcement. I think Zythos was this years Hop Zombie due to the US hop shortage...

That was the first beer I had at Beervana last year and spent the rest of the time trying to hunt the same experience. I failed. Spent my last tokens on it. Beautiful beer!