home brewing kits

nectarine

Hi,
We're situated in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford and our local 'home wine & beer making' suppliers shut down recently. My poor Dad is distraught as he's been making his own stuff for over 40 years (and very good it is too!). Does anyone know of another supplier not too far from Dungarvan, or a supplier based in Ireland who has a web site and does deliveries throughout Ireland?
This is my first post on these boards so be kind.....
Cheers,
Nectarine

John_C

These guys from Limerick will deliver:
http://www.thehomebrewcentre.com/

also, if wexford isn't too far to travel:
http://www.wexbrew.com

kenmc

That the place that used be on the quays with a sweetshop in it too? I'd guess most of that stuff was there since the day it opened!

If I'm not mistaken though wexbrew is temorarily closed cos he's moving.
There's also Glengarrif Homebrew centre, not online but he drives over and back to his shop in the UK and delivers enroute free.
There's also a new lad starting up in Laois soon.
A lot of us use hop and grape in the UK,

try looking up some suppliers in www.irishcraftbrewer.com

noby

Hey Nectarine. I'm also a Dungarvan based home brewer.
The two replies pretty much cover your options.
www.thehomebrewcentre.com, now based in Clare, deliver for €10, and have some kits on the site. If you don't see what you want, just give them a ring. They can order in stuff.
Bob from Glengarriff will post out a catalog if you give him a ring. The website is on the way, but he will post out any order. Also, as Ken said, he travels to the UK about once a month, along the N25, and drops off orders along the way, saving on postage.

nectarine

Thanks for all the info, very helpful. Will look into all those web pages and I think I heard of Ken a few years ago but didn't know how to contact him.
Cheers!
Bernie

oblivious

Per head of population Dungarvan must have the most home brewers!

Musashi

Sorry for resurrecting this thread from the dead, I've just found an old kit I'd packed away when we moved house and thought I'd refresh my memory before having at a brewing session.

I live in Dungarvan also and I like homebrew, must be something in the water (filthy stuff, never drink it myself you understand).

Nice to see Irish Craft Brewer has stayed going, and a few more groups are doing business on the net. "The Favourite" was only ok, and since it closed there's nowhere local to source ingredients.

I must search the house for whatever kit I still have, and see what needs replacing. The Home Brewing Company may be getting an order in later! Nice to see I'm not the only person interested in making beer locally.

oblivious

Keep us posted on how you get on:)

chicken_food

Resurecting this thread again-
My dad worked for a glass bottle company and used to make his own beer. Still have bits and pieces. Im looking at getting a 25l barrel and get myself up and running. Im a fan of the Wheat beers like Hoegarden but don't know which 'KIT' to go for. Any recommendations?
So im guessing i need a 25l barrel, and siphon,sterilizers . Have the thermometers, cappers,bottles etc. Anything else? Had a look online but would trust fellow boards members opinions alot more.

noby

Hi chicken food. You pretty much have what you need there. The only thing I would add is a hydrometer. Also some of the better kits get you to boil your wort, so if you have a big pot this would come in handy.

As for which kit, you really get what you pay for. Have a look at the kits on www.thehomebrewcompany.ie If you can get a 3Kg kit instead of a 1.5Kg kit, as they don't require you to top up with sugar.

I just had a quick look and Brewferm have a wheat kit, and also the JB Masterclass. Both have good reputations for kits, although I personally haven't tried either of the wheat beer kits.

kenmc

I did the Brewferm Wheat (Tarwe) a few years ago and it was very tasty indeed.
I found Brewferm kits to be all good, i made 5 of them IIRC.

oblivious

Hi chicken_food


If you go with the JB Masterclass I would also pick up a packet of Safale T-58 or Brewferm Wheat Yeast as these will give the Belgian phenols

siobhan.murphy

anyone have advice for me on making fizzy cider?Im only at the thinking stage here yet.:)

oblivious

I Dunnes stores not from concentrate, preservative free apple juice works great for me, just add yeast and you done:)

azzeretti

siobhan.murphy wrote: »

anyone have advice for me on making fizzy cider?Im only at the thinking stage here yet.:)

Well, have you brewed anything else before? Do you have all the equipment? If so, Turbo Cider is one of the easiest things to make (doesn't always turn out nice though!). Get a bucker/demijohn and get about 2.5-3L Tesco/Dunnes Apple juice in there and add some yeast. You can use any yeast to start, even bread (can taste a bit off) but I usually use wine yeast. Cover loosely or bung it (which ever you have) and let the fermentation start for a couple of days(at lease 2), then top the bucket/demijohn up to about 4.5L. I usually leave this for about 3-5 weeks and then bottle.

If you want to make from apples you're gonna need a lot of apples, a fruit press and the bucket/demijohn. You don't even need yeast! You might need to left this in primary for a few months though, Turbo Cider is quick and nasty!

oblivious

azzeretti wrote: »

If you want to make from apples you're gonna need a lot of apples,

Yep, around 20 pounds of apple per gallon of juice or so it a good rule of thumb

HomeBrew1

Hello All Home Brewers

On-line Home Brew shop based in Waterford coming up soon.

BeerNut

Hooray!

Keep us posted. HBC seems to be a tough act to follow.

Bestbrew

Hi all,
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Have a look at our website and let us know any feedback so we can keep improving our service.

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Bestbrew.ie