Brewcraft are clearing out Tooheys Home Brew Starter Kits at half the retail price. I have seen them cheaper before at around $80 but $50 is a pretty good price. The two-handled capper is a bit ordinary but the rest of the gear is all good. Great as a cheap second fermenter for those who already brew.
I wish I had more time on Australia, so I would start brewing ;/
Nice price for the kit, but the shipping murders this deal, sadly. $26 to most of Australia, $22 to non-Melbourne bits of Victoria and $63.50 to the bush!
Oh, those two-handed cappers are great for breaking the lip off the bottle and, if you're clumsy enough, getting bits of broken glass in your beer… but they won't reliably seal a cap on a bottle!
Awesome deal for pickup in VIC
thats a good price, too bad it does not come with bottles…..for those looking for a kit with bottles and willing to pay more… try this.
http://store.coopers.com.au//beer-kits/diy-beer-kit/coopers-…
It does come with 100 crown caps, so you just need to keep/scrounge old beer bottles (but remember to properly clean them). Also, I find the plastic PET bottles (like the ones that come with the Coopers kit) get worn out pretty quickly and the screw top lids sometimes don't seal properly (nothing worse than flat beer). Glass bottles are much better IMHO.
I have the opposite experience with plastic. But I use old brown or green soft drink bottles & the blue Aldi sparking water bottles. The soft drink ones have been fantastic, some are over 10yrs old without having to change the lids. One batch I'm drinking now is from April and it's certainly not flat.
The Coopers bottles I've only had for 12mths, but they seem to be working well. The size (750ml) is handy (more places in the fridge to store & you can put them in the diswasher I believe). But the 1.25/1.5lt bottles are appealing with less time wasted on washing/screwing/bottling, and less running to the fridge.
same here, I have been using plastic coopers bottles since 2009, but I replace the plastic caps after 2-3 uses….
Just for anyone thinking of starting, keep in mind that you really need to keep the fermenter under 25C which might be a bit tricky with this current weather
Depends on the type of beer and yeast involved. I'm brewing a lager right now and the recommended temperature is 25C, but it can be as high as 35C before the yeast dies. I would certainly brew indoors at this time of year and not in a shed or workshop…
$50 is really good, considering that the cheapest normal price for a brewing kit is a Brigalow for $59 at BigW.
if you brew 25-35 degrees good luck drinking that garbage. Considering lagers are meant to be brewed between 7 to 13 °C
It primarily depends on the yeast used. Top fermenting yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that's commonly sold with beer kits is fine at 25C and will tolerate higher. Bottom fermenting (Saccharomyces uvarum, etc) need a low temperature.
The yeast supplied with this Brigalow kit I am using is top fermenting and 25C is recommended, yet they included a lager can. Will be interesting to taste the result…
I have used true lager yeasts previously when making sake, and there I kept the fermenting vessel at 10C.
you CAN ferment it at them high temperatures but that will never make a good beer. do some research into what you're actually doing.
and Brigalow, lol. Take a guess how long that yeast and the wort has been sitting around for.
good luck with your fusel alcohol and esters, lovely flavours
for everyone else considering a homebrew setup, do NOT ferment at these temperatures
@Cluster: Brewing above 20 degrees for most beers will result in some pretty nasty flavours. Get a temp controller and a small fridge and you will make some outstanding beer. Even my hipster beer snob friends like it.
Haha I remember when I first made my own brew, from a Brigalow kit, the instructions said that 25 degrees was fine…. fine if you like godawful "beer" with an abundance of banana fusel alcohol flavour! Listen to the guys telling you to brew <25 degrees!
25C is too high for any type of beer. Sure the yeast won't die at that temperature but it will make awful beer.
By definition (and it's actually harder to define than you might think) a lager is bottom fermented and brewed at low temps for longer.
I've been brewing for years with stainless conical fermenters, a garage full of temp controlled fridges, full all grain setup, multiple taps pouring at my bar etc. Without a doubt 25° is too high. As a very general rule to get you going, ales/IPAs can be sat at 19ish for 7-10days (I usually do 10 minimum) and lagers at 11ish for at least 12 days (I usually do 2 weeks+).
The 2 simplest and most effective ways to improve your beer when starting out are to get a temp controller and regulate the fermentation, and to immediately ditch the Cooper's/Brigalow/Toohey's yeast from the tins and pick up some decent style-specific yeast from your local brew shop.
You might be right, but you missed the point
may as well just buy a fermenter, thermometer and air lock from local homebrew shop for 30 dollars and save yourself the bother
That 'fermenter' looks an awful lot like the $15.98 water drums Bunnings used to sell. I have a couple of them and they make decent fermenters, but I still prefer the one from the Coopers kit.
Can't find the water drums on the Bunnings website right now. The blue version they show costs more: http://www.bunnings.com.au/icon-plastics-25l-blue-tint-wide-…
Considering that the capper is not highly regarded and being a clearance item the included beer mix will probably be close to use by date I don't see the value in this kit.
for those who homebrew does the drum expel alot of odour during the fermentation process?
Depends on what you're making.. I stunk out a garage making cider.. But beer isn't too bad.
is it worth buying this for making cider in your opinion?
I could never make it taste similar to what you buy.. It was so dry even after adding lactose.. Commercially, it wouldn't surprise me if they backfilled the cider with juice after deactivating the yeast.
OP (Bargainarse) = TA second account? :P
I have nothing to do with TA (Tightarse - I had to look it up). Besides, how does my post benefit Cashrewards? I chose the name as a riff on The Late Show's Bargearse. While we are on alter-egos, are you related to Andrew Kyriacou, South Australia's wackiest real estate agent? - http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/is-andrew-kyriaco… If so, then you are a legend!
Ah, fair enough :) my mistake!
No relation sadly. that is pretty funny though, had no idea about that!
Unfortunately not Brewcraft in WA.