Bulk beer brewing

[rovercare]

Ok, my last expense I can minimize is beer, I've done a bit of reading, but would like to know from those that do, what set up is the go for someone wanting to brew consistently good beer, as hassle free as possible, I'm happy to outlay a lot initially if it makes life easier and I can get conistantly good brews, but I would like to do bulk amounts and minimize the amount of time I would have to brew, also it would be nice to do the seasons worth when the weather is more forgiving for the process, anyone sort of follow this method or any pointers on how to guides?

[isuzurover]

The easiest way to minimise the expense would be to cut down Matt

You are talking a lot of outlay to be able to brew in bulk. Since you get free power (? solar), you might be better off setting up a temperature controlled fermenter so you can get consistency when brewing all year round.

[rovercare]

6 months of the year in PNG is completely dry, that is cut down enough, but moving towards low cost existence with the same/ if not arguably better quality of life has to have its luxuries

There is a group of us that would be interested in it, so we could all brew bulk together, makes it much more enjoyable/social aswell

My solar is on .60c tariff (paying .68c with retailer top up) so its actually in my best interest to use minimal power during the day

I was figuring you could brew in the right climate and load up a heap of kegs, not sure how long beer lives in kegs well for though?

[debruiser]

My grandfather does double batches (i.e. 2 brew kits at a time) - he has a 60L drum to brew in. He only uses tallies so can't help with kegging although i'd love to be able to keg as well.

[isuzurover]

...

I was figuring you could brew in the right climate and load up a heap of kegs, not sure how long beer lives in kegs well for though?

The stronger the beer the better it will last. 7% + should be able to last 12 months in a keg easily. A weaker beer will do at least 6. Flush with CO2 before filling of course...

You want 12-20 degrees ideally - upper end of that for ales and lower end for lagers.

Looking at this:
Yinnar climate, averages and extreme weather record | Meat & Livestock Australia
April and October look like the best times of the year to brew.

If you are going to that much trouble you may as well buy a grinder, mash tun and a fermenter and do all-grain brews.

[rovercare]

The stronger the beer the better it will last. 7% + should be able to last 12 months in a keg easily. A weaker beer will do at least 6. Flush with CO2 before filling of course...

You want 12-20 degrees ideally - upper end of that for ales and lower end for lagers.

Looking at this:
Yinnar climate, averages and extreme weather record | Meat & Livestock Australia
April and October look like the best times of the year to brew.

If you are going to that much trouble you may as well buy a grinder, mash tun and a fermenter and do all-grain brews.

I'll have to look the process up on all grain stuff, happy to outlay and have many hands that would be keen if we get good results, some of them are just beer drinkers, the others like nice beer so would be interesting....either way I like both

[Vern]

Since when has Melbourne bitter been nice beer.

The brewery had some big fermented barrel things laying around, I can se if they are willing to offload any? Think they hold maybe 500L.

[shagga]

I used to brew in two 60L wheelie bins with some gladwrap taped over the top and a pin hole in it to let the air out once fermentation started. I toyed around with the idea of brewing in bulk. I was going to use 100L pods as the fermenters and do two brews for the year. it's a great idea but you risk loosing a lot of beer if it gets infected. and then there's the problem of what to use as kegs.


if you decide to brew in bulk I would start with a wheelie bin. a decent sized one holds about 260L so you could safely fit 10 brews in at a time. kegging is definitely the way to go. it saves so much time on washing and capping bottles and you don't have to worry about bulk priming which I've had some troubles with in the past.


there are two things that will greatly improve the taste of your brews. if you are only extract brewing (the old coopers can) don't be a cheapskate and use white/castor sugar make sure you use dextrose or malt. otherwise it will have a cidery aftertaste. the number 1 way to turn average home brew into good and great tasting home brew weather its extract, all grain, kegs or bottles is to filter it. I was using a h2o filter and played around with 1 and 1/2 micron cartridges there's a fine line between loosing too much flavour and leaving too many nasties in there.


to give you some idea on just how good filtering is I used to filter a 40L brew, gas it, chill it out and be drinking the first glass within 30min. and it tastes great.


I don't think there are any commercial breweries that don't filter there beer. even coopers is. that's what sparging does.


if you decide to try all grain brewing do yourself a favour and get a copy of brew like a pro by Dave Miller. it's very good. he was a home brewer turned pro brewer in the states. he shows the gear the pros use and explains why. then he show's we can use the same techniques and how to build them. well worth the read.


sorry for the late and longwinded reply. I hope there is something useful for you here.


remember sterilise and filter.


rob

[jackiec]

260L OMG

[Andy_Chil]

You need a Braumeister!
There is a 20, 50, 200 & 500 litre model.
They area made in Germany by a mob called Speidel and can be purchased from several places in Aus.

I got one earlier this year and the quality of my beer has increased to the stage where I no longer buy any beer.
The outlay for one is a bit, but its worth it in the long run.