New boy

[rickyboyg]

Hi everyone,

Well I really love the taste of home-made beer and have lived in pubs most of my life with my family. My parents ran a Jennings pub in the Lake District, and my dad was always an expert in the cellar, tapping all the new beers and getting the temperature and gas just right. I always helped him clean the lines each week, etc so its been in my blood from an early age.

I am now living in a place called Batam, an island just off Singapore, and I want to take up a new hobby. This is ideal for me. I will probably have to take the 1 hour boat ride to Singapore to get supplies but I really want to have a go at this, I'm sure its the kind of hobby that can become quite addictive and exciting.

If anyone has any tips on where to start, they'd be gladly appreciated. I don't really want to start with the 'cant go wrong all in one kits' I want to get the pan out and start brewing proper.

Thanks! :

 

[bungouk]

hello and welcome to the forum

 

[luckyeddie]

As someone who also lived in pubs for years, I should like to welcome a fellow 'unpaid cellarman' to the fold. I used to hold draymen in awe - especially when they thrawled a barrel. None of these namby pamby firkins or kilderkins - full 36's.

'Sponge-balling' was my favourite job of the week (well, twice or three times a week because most beers were cask-conditioned and contained live yeast). In the best Falklands War spirit (although it pre-dated that conflict by a couple of decades) you '...counted them all out and you counted them all back again'. The last thing you wanted to do was to leave one unaccounted for - a big lump of sponge in a customer's first pint of the day would mean a thick ear.

:

I never got quite as far south as Batam - I went to school in Singapore and we spent a few days on Blakang Mati in the early 1960's when my father was in the Gurkha Engineers.

 

[Runwell-Steve]

Welcome to the forum :beer:

 

[rickyboyg]

'in awe of the draymen' so true!

Anyway thanks for the welcome, here's my plan. Buy a book, 'How to Brew' has been recommended by a few places by J.Palmer. Then pay a visit to a supplier nearby and throw myself in at the deep end. I don't care if my first batch tastes like ****, i'm ready to learn.

I figure i'll need the book to get my head around all the correct equipment and ingredients.

Is this a good way to go or not?

 

[luckyeddie]

John Palmer's book is, in my opinion, the best start you can possibly make to your home-brewing career.

http://www.howtobrew.com/

 

[robsan77]

welcome :

 

[ohbeary]

Ricky, kits are for amateurs, all the above sounds sensible, I would reccomend Dave Line's "Brewing beers Like those you buy", there is a recipe for Tiger Beer in it what could be more appropriate , nicest pint I've had sitting outside a bar in Singapore city 30 odd years ago, I lived in Changi as a child (service brat :grin: ) and was back for a beer as a merchant seaman(baker)

 

[rickyboyg]

Ok thanks for the advice. I drink a lot of Tiger Beer here as its cheap and tastes good. A 330ml can costs the equivalent of about 50p.

There is also a home-made beer bar here. They must have about 8 massive stainless steel fermenters behind the bar, which is a pretty big operation considering the small size of the island. Its called Batam Fresh Beer, and man it tastes better than all your commercial ****. Only about £1 a glass. This place also gave me some inspiration on trying it out myself. I will take a pic next time i'm in there.

http://www.batamfreshbeer.com/

 

[rickyboyg]

I was at the fresh beer place last night and took a pic like I said I would.

So these are their fermenters I take it? What temperature do they keep the beer at when fermenting?