Where to brew?

[hyjak]

Hey all
I am about to endeavour on my first try with HB, sick of paying for beer!
Im just wondering where everyone does their brewing??
I am thinking of doing mine in a spare bedroom that has 3 fish tanks in it and stays around 16c-20c most days, on hotter days it can creep to 24c but i think we are past the hot weather in Tassie now.
Am i likely to 'smell' the house out???
Cheers for any replies

Jez

[warra48]

I brew in my garage. Space for 4 cars, but we only have two, so plenty of room.

Brewing with kits you can do in your kitchen, it doesn't leave much of a smell.

Brewing All Grain does produce smells, as you mash for an hour or more, but the boil of 1 to 1½ hours will give you plenty of aromas. Now, I like them, and that's fine, but some other members of the family might not appreciate them.

[banger]

I've got a little self contained bungalow that i do my brewing in. Given it's small size, it does get a bit stinky, especially when the beer is fermenting. So if your spare room is small and you close the door it's likely to smell a bit. But it's a GOOD smell..

[hyjak]

Yer i thought it would produce some smell, im not fussed about it but my Fiance might not appreciate it as much as i.
She is a beer drinker though so she might like the smells! Touch wood.
I have a shed as well but worried about the big changes in temp it sees on a daily basis.
Thinking ill do this first lot in the spare room and see how it goes.

Jez

[wrighty]

Welcome to your new (obsession) arr hobby and to the forum.
If the smell bothers you brew in the shed that way you can be abit less worried about messing upthe house
and can do the little extras to make a good k&k brew,boil malt ,hops,etc,etc,etc.
You can always put fermentor in the bedroom to condition as temp control is one of the vitals.
Any way whats the first brew ?

[Northwest9]

i am going to be storing mine in the garage, as i am about to bottle my thrid brew, and have 2 fermenters going all the time.....

only problem is a i live in canberra, and have a tin garage. so it will get quite cold in there. each brew gets 2 weeks inside the house at about 16 in the spare room to allow secondary to get started and then they go out to the garage. they are kept in the box that the PET bottle originaly come in.

will the beer be affected by storing in a tin shed in a cardboard box, when the outside temp can drop below freezing?

[hyjak]

Welcome to your new (obsession) arr hobby and to the forum.
If the smell bothers you brew in the shed that way you can be abit less worried about messing upthe house
and can do the little extras to make a good k&k brew,boil malt ,hops,etc,etc,etc.
You can always put fermentor in the bedroom to condition as temp control is one of the vitals.
Any way whats the first brew ?

Im hearing the obsession part, i started with one fish tank and went to three in a month!!!
I have a feeling this could go the same way (ah well these things happen)
First brew? Not sure as yet prob a Lager followed by a PA, im a Cascade Lager drinker (the Blue label one that is only sold in Tassie) by choice so makes sense to make what i like.

Jez

[wrighty]

Not trying to sway you away from largers but to get them to larger (condition) can take some time .I started out with a larger
but as i was impatient to get a beer to drink it wasnt the best just abit rough kit twang sort of thing. IE to young , green.
Im now brewing mostly ales and love em.From brew day to first drink 3-4 weeks.
I was also a mainly larger drinker but your own brews are going to be different to what you buy.
In time you will wonder how you drank mass made mega swill.

Wrighty

[Bizier]

Hello hyjak,

Welcome to the best hobby in the world.

If you can insulate a fermenter really well and keep it in the shed, you might be able to brew a cracking lager or two over winter. Just get some proper lager yeast and pitch lots of it, and let it go for a long time.

You could probably brew ales inside the house at the same time, and a lot quicker. US05 + a bland kit + some noble-type hops and you will make a clean lager-ish beer. If you use something like hersbruker with a very low bitterness, you can add a truckload, and it will just increase the fine flavour and aroma.

[BigPete56]

In time you will wonder how you drank mass made mega swill. : Wrighty

Couldn't agree more, and I'm a basic K&K brewer. Was a Boags Premium drinker but now I reckon it's got no body.

I use my dining room table as home for my fermenter (dining room is off the lounge room and not used much) don't have any problems with aroma, just the sweet sound of the fermenter bubbling in the first couple of days of a new brew. Seems to retain a fairly constant tempature, and I needed a clean area when bottling.

[wrighty]

Off topic but im hearing ya Pete,an Boags is one of the better ones!
Mate drinks Carlton Dry thinks its ducks nuts . poor bastrard.
3 fish tanks in amonth Hyjak .Can see some neglected fish at your
place in the future.

[hyjak]

Nah no neglected fish!! Tank are over filtered so they can go a while between cleans. lol
Prob about the time it takes to get a brew from start to drinking!!!

Thanks for the heads up ill do an Ale first then leave the lager for another time.
Funny you mention Boags Premium, is my preferred 'Premo' when someone else is paying.
Looks like the 'fish' room will now by my brewery (hmm, perfect excuse to rip the carpet up and put in lino and floor drains)

Jez

[Bizier]

Hey Jez...

2 Very quick things:

Now is the time for a lager if you love the stuff. Get a second fermenter for $15 from Bunnings and let winter work it's magic on your brew. You might thank me in spring.

I hope you know you are in an awesome position to grow some hops, AND that they will be becoming available over the next few months... I'm just saying is all.

[billybushcook]

Hey Jez...
I hope you know you are in an awesome position to grow some hops, AND that they will be becoming available over the next few months... I'm just saying is all.

Where/how do I get hold of some seeds/cuttings???

Mick.

[wrighty]

Billy jump on e-bay look up hop rhizomes in the search,heaps of em!
Even better post an add in the shop forum lots of blokes on here grow em!

[hyjak]

Hey Jez...

2 Very quick things:

Now is the time for a lager if you love the stuff. Get a second fermenter for $15 from Bunnings and let winter work it's magic on your brew. You might thank me in spring.

I hope you know you are in an awesome position to grow some hops, AND that they will be becoming available over the next few months... I'm just saying is all.

You say 2 quick things but REALLY they are both not that quick!!! lol

Anyways, think i will do a lager second and leave it 'racked' in 2nd fermenter for a while. (that was correct use of racked wasn't it?)
Bizier, you really shouldn't put ideas in my head.
If i was to say grow some hops, what would you guys recommend? Strain wise that is.
I have already started looking at availability in my local area, besides i live like 30mins from New Norfolk where a big portion of Tassis hops are grown.
Hmmm this conversation seems to have wandered a bit.

Jez

[Bizier]

Hmmm this conversation seems to have wandered a bit.

No, you see, I just interpreted the "Where to brew" as a holistic question, of location and things pertaining to brewing... it is all totally on track.

Anyways, think i will do a lager second and leave it 'racked' in 2nd fermenter for a while. (that was correct use of racked wasn't it?)

Not really, it describes the method of transfer. You might rack it from the primary fermenter to a secondary vessel after a certain period (3 weeks is my suggestion, but opinions vary on this).

[Bizier]

Bizier, you really shouldn't put ideas in my head.

I thought, hey, an obsessive hobbyist, located in Tassie, where our hops are grown... makes sense to me.

Other people's heads are the best places to put my ideas. My head is full (though not all ideas are created equal).