went with step son yesterday out to Bacchus Brewing (site under construction for new owner, but you'll get the address) to arrange our first joint brew in what is known as 'Brew on Premises'. So this is where they do all the work and you enjoy the fruits of their labour for a cost.

now for the traditionalists this may not be the preferred way of doing a home brew but if you have limited room and time this is perfect. at the site they have about 20 types on tap for tasting, which was part of the fun, and you can then choose what you want to brew. this place supplies a few of the boutique beer bars around Brisbane like Archive, etc.

we had it narrowed down to 2 choices after some tasting but then tried this 3rd brew called Fighting Falcon IPA which was absolutely brilliant. However the hops for this are currently unavailable so the brew we decided on is a Bacchus Pale Ale, this is a nice fruity and hoppy pale a bit like Little Creatures Pale. It was a tough choice because there were quite a few good ones and I like a red, dark, porter style while son likes the pales and IPA, i like these also so we eventually decided this was the way to go.

so what do you get and how much?
the initial cost is $324 for 6 cartons of 330ml stubbies. this cost includes your first batch of bottles, brewing, bottling, and a one off membership charge (only $10, something to do with tax/excise and govt regs)so at $54 a carton it's not cheap the fist time if you're comparing with the bogan beers like VB and XXXX etc. but when compared with Little Creatures it's comparable. and then don't forget this initial cost is higher because you need to pay for your first batch of bottles.

from here on in the price will vary, depending on choice of brew, anywhere from $200 - $280, so this makes it a really good deal.

and to top it off afterwards we went down to the Cleveland hotel for an awesome counter lunch and a Fat Yak or 2!

Pro tip - entice non beer liking wife/girlfriend to drive, most of these brews you taste are between 6-10%!!

oh and i also bought this 5ltr keg of Zythos IPA which was our second choice. cost $64. will crack that this arvo!

sounds good, and i like that they do the work for you (monitoring, topping up, climate control etc)

yeah they have some good options for kegs as well. in the tasting area they have this small fridge with 2 x 50 ltrs kegs in it and a 3 tap set up on top. i asked and the cost was about $1600 for the fridge set up only no beer. so not to bad long term.

bit exxy;

i think ill stick with the 30can pack of vbs thanks

my thoughts too pave


the odd thing is, (and i only found this out last week) carlsberg lost it's yeast after WW2, and VB uses the same strain (so VB send their yeast so carlsberg could brew again), but my god what a massive difference, must be the shit water in Vic or something?

My dad does his own home brew, works out pretty cheap. He does beer, cider and ginger beer, so there's quite a range of stuff.

fuck

i hardly need remind you how drunk i was that day already.

ha ha ha nice work pave

I love beer but I gave it up last year. I was putting on too much weight and I was even exercising heaps. Damn you to hell!!

corona is my session beer. i can drink bucket loads. for the quiet 3-4 before dinner it's the heavier ambers, reds, darks i prefer.

didn't work mort

One of my mates works at Bacchus. Went from making games to making beer.

My last brew I did was from wort I bought from them, and it turned out great. $50 for 20 litres of hefeweizen. Thing is, I haven't been drinking much lately, so I've still got more than half a keg of beer on tap in the kitchen, months later. First world problems, I guess.

My old house used to have a microbrewery over the back fence. I got friendly with the owners to the point where I could call up, make an order and rock around in 2 weeks time to bottle it or just jumP the fence anytime and bottle up what ever they had in their naughty sneaky cold room :D

Now that I've moved away I brew up my own gear in my kitchen, the beer I make in there is so legit a couple mates are looking at starting up too.

Cost? About $15 for ~65 bottles.

General rule if u come to my house without beer is 'make a $5 donation' and drink all you can.

Thank you come again.

Do they make the beer from malt or malt extract? Used to do the Ubrewit thing, gave up because they all tasted the same. Have been brewing all grain at home for the last 4 years and never looked back.

They brew all-grain.

fuck yer, lets all go to sacks!

my thursday lunch local is the brewhouse

they do some nice microbrewery gear there

brisbane pale ale (great beer), sunshine, hefeweizen, star lager

all good shit:

http://www.brewhouse.com.au/brewhouse-beers

brewhouse looks good. would love to try that chocolate porter.

have picked up a few random chocoloate darks from Dans and i like them.

Brewhouse is pretty good. They had a bigger selection at the old venue on Albert St. The venue itself was much bigger too. The Brisbane Pale Ale is awesome though.

Yeah, Chocolate stouts/porters are pretty nice. Try the Holgate Chocolate Temptress if you haven't already, Morton. I had it recently and really liked it.

And for anyone wondering, no, chocolate porters aren't sweet like chocolate. Cocoa is naturally bitter, not sweet.

Anyone who does there own homebrewing at home (and not the onsite method like Bacchus/Brew-By-You, etc) who can give me some advice on where to shop for all the bits and pieces, recommend brands, etc, that would be appreciated.

Bacchus is actually the same mob as CraftBrewer. It's the same shop, they just have a brewery attached to it now. They know their shit, and they have the most gear and better prices than most. There actually isn't even really a barrier between the store and the brewery, it's all run by the same people. They'll be able to answer any brewing questions you throw at them.

Thanks Chaps, will go check them out.

Speaking of beer, I picked up a slab of Blue Sky Pilsner the other day from BWS. For a cheap beer it is awesome!

^ and those bottles look excellent for home brew use!

Agreed, too pricey for my $15 a batch budget tho.