HomebrewandBeer.com forum

I was on holidays recently and went to a brew shop in Newcastle and spoke to the salesman who stated, "Anything that coles or woolworths sell is cheap and nasty."

I live in country, NSW and there are no brew shops close by, is this true ( he bagged Coopers and Tooheys range and recomended Muntons and Morgans beers.)

Is he just trying to sell me his range of beers over the supermarket brands or is this true?

Well, sort of. The supermarket only stocks the basics. For example, they don't stock the Coopers Brewmaster range, and only some stock the Coopers International range. In rough order of quality, the Coopers kits are regular->international->brewmaster. Having said that, you can still make a great beer from the regular kits, assuming that you use malt extract, speciality grain and finishing hops. Which pretty much means you have to visit the HBS anyway.

Now, the supermarkets will probably be 20% cheaper, and arguably may have greater turnover (hence greater freshness) than your HBS. The HBS may do a better job of treating the kits right, keeping them out of the sun/heat etc. You probably want your HBS to stay around so buying the odd kit from them isn't such a bad idea anyway.

What I normally do is stock up on the regular kits at the supermarket when I'm doing my normal shopping or whatever, then if there are any specific kits I need I pick them up at the HBS with my malt extract. The extract is heaps cheaper at the HBS, the range of kits is greater, though they cost a few dollars more. I reckon it all evens out.

I've only done a few of the morgans kits and none of the muntons. The morgans was great. Having said that, I'm heading in the AG direction more these days; I think I've got about 10 kits in the cupboard that I have to get through though.

HTH!

Thanks for the advice, what you have said makes alot of sense. I'll have to stock up at the HBS whenever I'm in the vicinity.

the missus works at woolies apparantly the home brand kits come from tooheys,and people buy them.i'm not game to try but.

It's funny you say that as the sales guy said that the home brand stuff was the best from the Woolies selection (apart from the Cooper International stuff) and the Tooheys stuff was no good and was made by someone else (can't remember who though).

The Country Brewer comes to the Mudgee Field Days every year. Might see what he has and what he recommends.

2nd that.

The Wetpaks make an awsome beer...

lethaldog wrote:WETPAKS

Does the huge font mean you like them Leigh

They are pretty good.

Next question is what are wetpaks.

Go here for the Wetpaks http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/category96_1.htm

You can't go wrong with a Wetpak. They have everything you need including hops to make a top and easy beer.

Thanks Iron-Haggis for the link,

Will have to get one next time i'm in Bathurst or Sydney.

I think that the better of Coles/Wollies is the Farmland brand. You need to remember one thing though. A lot of people will tell you a lot ofthings to do, however, you have to drink it. So try it, brew what you like, for yourself. I am just finishing Farmland Lager, (from Coles) brewed with a tin of Malt Extract (from Safeway). Recently used the M E with Coopers Pale Ale can hardly tell the difference.

Whroobushy.

It just depends on what you expect, simple homebrew that is super cheap is ok from the major stores, if you want to add extras then you will need a home brew store... kit and water, and brew... perfect starter

Whroobushy wrote:I think that the better of Coles/Wollies is the Farmland brand. You need to remember one thing though. A lot of people will tell you a lot ofthings to do, however, you have to drink it. So try it, brew what you like, for yourself. I am just finishing Farmland Lager, (from Coles) brewed with a tin of Malt Extract (from Safeway). Recently used the M E with Coopers Pale Ale can hardly tell the difference.

Whroobushy.

You say you dont work for the Malt Extract Company, do you work for Coles/Woolies/Farmland?

Champ, have you brewed with an Fresh All Grain Wort or with Spec Grains or decent hops and good quality yeast? Once you do, you will look way down on the old Coles/Woolies/Farmland brand! And wonder why you spoke highly of it..

Unless you dont have a Palate...

Whroobushy wrote:I think that the better of Coles/Wollies is the Farmland brand. You need to remember one thing though. A lot of people will tell you a lot ofthings to do, however, you have to drink it. So try it, brew what you like, for yourself. I am just finishing Farmland Lager, (from Coles) brewed with a tin of Malt Extract (from Safeway). Recently used the M E with Coopers Pale Ale can hardly tell the difference.

Whroobushy.

Probably find that the farmland brand is actually like many supermarket products, and made by other retailers and then repackaged. Would not suprise me its made by Coopers anyway.

36590 wrote:I was on holidays recently and went to a brew shop in Newcastle and spoke to the salesman who stated, "Anything that coles or woolworths sell is cheap and nasty."

I live in country, NSW and there are no brew shops close by, is this true ( he bagged Coopers and Tooheys range and recomended Muntons and Morgans beers.)

Is he just trying to sell me his range of beers over the supermarket brands or is this true?

Before some of us stomp kits into the dust, they're a fine base for brewing with especially when you add fresh grains either by steeping or a partial mash. I managed to make quite passable APA's with 2kg of malt some hops and a Coopers Pale Ale kit. And remember, a time poor brewer can have a batch in the fermenter within an hour. Horses for courses....ignore the HBS guy and remember that the stock in the supermarket probably moves off the shelf quicker than some of the kits that he stocks....Muntons and Morgans do admittedly make nice kits but I'll happily take on a blind tasting with a partial / allgrain brewer if I use a Coopers kit (as long as I can use my fresh hop flowers, some specialty grains and a starter from my yeast ranch!!)

Cheers,
TL