Recipe Advice Thread

[denimglen]

Thought it might be handy to have a thread for some of the more advanced brewers to give some advice on recipes.

Let's see how it goes eh...

[James P]

Wyeast comparison:

Realbeer $24.95 + postage + GST (one pack cost me $32 or $34 NI to SI courier, no gel packs)
Dunedin Malthouse $18 + postage (one pack $24 SI courier only, no gel packs)
CraftBrewer is dependant on the exchange rate however AU$11.90 = NZ$15 approx. + postage (one pack cost me about NZ$24 but was sent without gel packs, next time more yeast with gel packs!)

[nzbrewer]

Once other factor about Wyeast from RealBeer.co.nz is it comes in direct from lab, and in most cases will be with the brewer within 7 to 10 days of manufacture.

Ever tried activating one of these smack packs when it is a week old? They get going super fast, like just a few hours.

Also the price from RealBeer.co.nz has been the same for years (actually I should know when but it has been so long) so we eat the exchange rate changes from shipment to shipment. Some times it is good and sometimes bad.

Wyeast smack packs are shipped to NZ in insulated boxes with gel packs. On arrival they go into a fridge. They get sorted and shipped overnight. Large shipments of yeast will include a gel pack (generally this is only happening to craft brewers)

Also the $24.95 is for an XL, the 50ml Wyeast packs are $16.95

[nzbrewer]

Also in each shipment RealBeer.co.nz offer all 42 standard strains of Wyeast brewers’ yeast in both sizes, plus seasonal specialty strains, plus lambics, plus 14 varieties of Wyeast wine yeast.

[Mike Neilson]

More beer $6.95 if you order 5 of them the work out to be $15each kiwi with gel packs but aint as fresh as realbeers no one can compete with that.

[Tony]

When I ordered the Belgian from malthouse, it was going to cost me $18 + $12 to post it to Auckland. From craft brewer, it cost me $22 to my door, it took 4 days from ordering to my door. Last time I ordered 2 smack packs from real beer, it cost me $62, total! At $31 per pack, they can stick it up their arse. I've never had a problem with any packs from Craft brewer, so far.

[Greig McGill]

Basicly you're paying for freshness, and also paying the premium for small orders. I'm quite happy to pay it, since I don't use a lot of liquid yeasts. When I do, I love the service from realbeer. I'm not disagreeing with you, just saying that we all have different value equations. The beauty of it is that we can shop where we like to get the value we expect.

I hope they don't stick it up their arse though, not the best environment for infection free propagation! ;)

[nzbrewer]

So $31 per pack from RealBeer.co.nz and $30 from Malthouse, what a ripoff $1.00. You could buy a can of Tui for that.

[James P]

Although activating a fresh pack is the best, I have bought from two NZ based suppliers and had in two cases been given stock that was over two months old, and although not ideal, they both activated fine.

And yes freight changes in New Zealand are a complete ripoff, however I still recommend supporting your local supplier first, some of us just are not organised or patient enough to wait for an order cycle and are happy to take the risk.

[Tony]

No you didn't read properly, I bought it from craftbrewer for $22. Lol Greig, that would be pooey. No I just find it ironic can get the stuff imported from Australia, cheaper than I can buy it locally. Considering he is getting it from the same source. The last batch I got was manufactured in July, so it is just over a month old. You can see on the site, the manufacture date,so you know what you are buying. Sticking it in arse, is a figure of speech.

[Reviled]

Tony - You seem a wee bit misguided here - Yes you can get wyeast cheaper from Craftbrewer than you can from Realbeer, and yes, at one stage it was exactly the same, however, whatever you buy from Craftbrewer will not be of the same quality as what you can get from Realbeer...

I get my yeast from both - mainly because realbeer only do an order 3 monthly...

But seriously, when you get your yeast from Realbeer, it left the lab less than a week ago, it will swell up totally as Luke says in a matter of hours, and id even be brave enough to direct pitch it! Even the stuff from CB thats a month old, thats a month of sitting in a shop, not to mention it not only gets posted from US to Aus, but then from Aus to NZ in god knows what sort of conditions!

Compare the extra cost with the cost of DME ($10 right there) - the added time of sterilising a starter bottle, boiling up starter wort, letting it cool, then building it up - Sometimes its just not worth the hassle and paying a few extra bucks is well worth it IMO!!!

[Nick T]

Thats good to know, I will follow suite. You can import hops, yeasts, but not grains as far as I understand - but what about extract? I guess it has been pasteurised, so it should be OK? Any extract brewers out there who know?

[Greig McGill]

Carastan. What is it? What's a good substitute? Can we get it here? Discuss. :)