Understanding extracts and 101 questions - well not quite!

[Ged]

Guys

Have probably been 'over-reading' every article on the net and John Palmers "how to brew" and trying to understand everything to the smallest detail.. I have been using the Kit and Kilo approach and ultimately want to get to all grain within a wee while.

I am keen to try some of the recipes using liquid malt extract in the above book but don't quite understand the difference between this and the gloopy treacle like substance in the cans?? Is that also not extract??

Also, where do the guys in CChurch or South Island purchase grains, extract, hops etc..

I've found 3 local brewing shops - Your Shout in Papanui has next to nothing on the shelves - literally and appears to have to order in even the most basic of can...!!!, Aqua Vitae is probably the gruffest customer service experience I've had since arriving here 5 years ago and his opening comment was " nobody is stupid enough to do it like that nowadays(all grain) - they all use cans..I've never come across it" and much as I really like Your Shout in Linwood I find the hops etc in stock to be very very old, boxes falling apart and not always in ideal storage conditions. Once again they favour the cans approach...However are great guys to stand and chat to and generally have a decent amount of stuff for the kit and kilo approach...

Regarding kit. I am looking at buying the following..

Badgering a 50L keg from a rep or buying a 40l pot from a shop
Copper pipe cooler
Burner and gas
+ what else would I need.

Thanks again for your continued help and I suspect this will be first of many question sessions from me.

Cheers

Ged

[Chris]

Don't think you can over-read mate, I learn something every brew I make.

Sorry to hear your troubles with sourcing. F*ck em I say, every homebrew shop I've been into have been really friendly.

When I was SI based I used Dunedin Malthouse. The guy that runs it (Dennis) is a good bloke. The new website seems to be lacking a lot of products, best to give him a ring, he's very helpful.

Now I live in Palmy Nth I use Simply Brewing. Again the guy is very helpful but I don't know if they do mail order.

I know Dunedin malthouse do grains, hops etc. Simply Brewing have hops but don't know about grain.

HTH.

[HerrSchnapps]

Hahaha, so you've met the Aqua Vitae man? Don't worry, I thought he just didn't like me when I first went there, but in actual fact, he doesn't like anyone! (God knows how he earns a crust, I reckon it's just a front for money laundering...)
Anyway, onto extract. That gloopy treacle is malt extract, exactly the same as required in the recipes :). I've moved on to all-grain now, but for extract I bought mine from Your Shout in Papanui. For grains/hops etc I now buy everything from the guys at Wigram Brewery (so do several other ChCh homebrewers), along with bits and pieces from Mike at Brewers Coop in Auckland. Both are good to deal with, and the Wigram guys are good to talk to about homebrewing.

As for kit, I used a 17L pot from the Warehouse and it did a pretty alright job; ideally you'll want to brew the full 23 odd litres. So if you're dead keen on brewing and making the investment, a 40L pot will be great, as it'll be a straight transition into all-grain. As for a copper cooler, look up the no-chill method. It's pretty easy, and a hell of a lot cheaper: simply buy a 20 litre jerry can, clean, fill with the hot wort, seal, leave until room temp, pour into your fermenter and let the yeasties have their way. Also I assume you have a hydrometer and a thermometer? Oh, and finally, go to Repco and buy a cotton car-polishing sock. Once you've done an extract brew or two, you'll want to start using speciality grains also. Just tie up one end of the cotton sock, fill with your crushed grain, soak then dump. It'll make your extract beers even better!

Anyway, that was a long post... in the end, don't worry, have a homebrew! I was in your exact same position no less than 6 months ago :D

[Reviled]

+1 For everything Herrschnapps said! Look up no chill as a way to cut costs initially, cos a 40 litre pot is bloody expensive, then once youve got a burner, all you need is some Swiss Voile material and you can be BIAB AGing in no time!

[James P]

You can never over read about brewing! I read John Palmer's online version of How to Brew, then bought the book and am reading it throughly. It gives you a lot of information, which helps when you want to change the flavour of your brews.

My only real advise is get away from the kit yeast even if you keep using Kits.

The swiss voile Reviled talks about is available at SpotLight in CHCH, remember to get the polyester not the nylon.

[studio1]

Is there anything additional in the John Pamer book that's not on the website?
Am also looking to get soem of the Swiss Voile material....was looking at http://www.biabrewer.info and the appendix in the guide says Nylon is to be used throughout...?

[HerrSchnapps]

I got the nylon material and its worked perfectly so far, not sure if James P meant to get the nylon, not polyester.

[James P]

ThirstyBoy on the Brewing Network thread did a tutorial document which said to use polyester... however if others say nylon I'm not fussed!

Linky
This bag is a large bag made out of polyester curtain material..

[studio1]

was in spotlight today.....they seem to be one in the same....the label said polyester, the roll itself said nylon. now i wonder if I could make a 'bag' for my 80L chilly bin.......

[HerrSchnapps]

I guess if you already have a chilly-bin, a modified BIAB method would work quite well. Saves having to build a manifold etc! Just remember to make it large enough that you could fit your chilly-bin inside the bag :)

[James P]

Probably find most of them are a nylon / polyester mix just don't get cotton as that will probably rip.

[Steve Baker]

The website has all the practical chapters. In addition to the practical, the book has a bunch of theory chapters as well. The theory content is very useful.

[Ged]

Thanks guys. Do wigram have a 'shop' or do I need to go and badger someone ?