homebrewandbeer.com

HAHA too funny. The confidence that comes with a brand. Has anyone thought that if coopers are selling their wort to other homebrewing companies (which it seems as though they do, looking at their site) than the product they sell to Coles etc is probably exactly the same as they are selling to other HB kit co's? Just a different label. & Coles etc. with their buying power can afford to sell it cheaper.

If I'm at a party and someone gives me a VB I drink it,

doesn't mean I'm prepared to spend 4 weeks brewing the crap.

the way i see it if I'm investing my time and effort i want something that I take pride in and really knocks my socks off i'm not too concern with the cost because at 28 long necks for $30 thats F*&king cheap. If i'm going to take a risk on ingredients it will be in the pursuit of a nicer beer not a cheaper one. i think the difference between no name brands and premium brands is what $3 thats one stubbie for 28 long necks HA!

But if you like VB thats cool your taste buds and your wallet.

sounds as though you should move on to AG brewing then. You never can tell exactly what is in a can of exctract regardless of the brand.

can't wait to try an all grain still have to get a few more extracts under my belt though

AG brewing has little to do with your experience and a lot to do with your setup. Having a good mash tun makes things kinda idiot proof, Especially with batch sparging.

But if you haven't done a full wort boil extract batch with steeped specialty grains, do one at least before you take the leap.

thats exactly what I'm up to

going to try an IPA with malt extract, two speciality grains and pellet hops. will dry hop as well but don't want to over complecate it so i know what ingredient has what effect.

I bottled my brew no.17 about 1 month ago, a homebrand draught - turned out fine.
I only bought it cos it was on special last year. Our local Safeway were clearing all their homebrew stock. The homebrand can was $1.50, several packs of crown seals @ $0.30 each, Coopers cans were around $5.00, Coopers brewing sugar was also cheap - around $2.00
So I stocked up!!!
Sometimes you can find cans of brew cheap in the chuck out bin coz some-one has pinched the yeast.
Anyway, I used the Homebrand daught, 1kg of Coopers sugar, yeast that was supplied with the can + a spare sachet of Coopers Draught yeast.
In the fermenter for 14days, bottled, 1month later, I'm drinking one as I type.
Not a bad drop (for under $4.00 / 26longnecks!!!). I've had better, but have drunk much worse bought beer.
Give it a go, you may be surprised.

Cheers - Redsicks

I've doen a few of these, and they're quite OK. I regard them as 'quaffers', the standard run of the mill beers to drink in between the fancy 'tons of extra's' brews. Summer thirst quenchers.

In most manufacturing, you have certain quality standards to meet. To alter it alot takes a heap of extra effort.

I can't see any of the big manufacturers making up a pi$$y little batch of 'Savings' lager and then being able to sell it 20% cheaper than the regular stuff. Changing ingredients, packaging, all that.

Maybe the start of a batch when they're still adjusting the mix or something, but too much effort I reckon.

Still, tastes bad enough to be a Tooheys.....lol

Normally it is out of spec product, colour isn't right, BRIX a bit low, then it gets packaged off as something with a broader spec. Of course if it is really out, well then it becomes re-work.

Dogger

I work at a wet sauce factory and we make generic tomato sauce and pasta sauce,Farmland sauces are made with the same specifications as our brand also their QA is the more fussy than all the generic sauces.........PC

Welcome back to the front page for this post.

Read on another forum that Morgans manufacture the generic kits in Oz.

I used to manufacture swimwear for the larger Australian surf wear companies, i would use the same patterns tho i would source a price point fabric to reduce the price of the wholesale garment . Tho sometimes if the cheaper fabric was not available , i would use the better and more expensive material, in some cases in business you have to meet orders. just a thought from a manufacturers point of view, so you might be lucky with generic brand of beer. cross your fingers..

I have brewed with this stuff - I reduce the recipe by about three litres of water
They turn out Ok (I use mine to clean the bbq though), If you are going to spend good money on Hops, Yeast and the like - use a decent concentrate.
Otherwise if you are after a cheapie - use this, reduce by 3 litres and bung 150-300gm of grain in a coffee plunger for 20mins - add to mix and give it one more plunge with hot water.