wadsy

WEVTV cable in Chiang Mai, 40+ channels and 350 baht month. Australian Network, BBC, CNN, Zone Reality, Sports, Movies etc........... Cheers

The nearest home brew shop to Thailand is in Singapore, I was going to bring Coopers home brew kit over with me as a pressie for a mate of mine who in actual fact is a police officer in Thailand, good job I have read this post.

I was unaware that home brewing is illegal.

It isn't - as long as you make it for home consumption and not sell it. Same as most countries.

I brought all my home brew stuff here when I moved and "accidentally" included a few (ok 12 cans) of liquid malt. The temp here (Chiang Mai) is similar to Oz so you will need a good Hot yeast - do not even think about sticking bread yeast in with it. Buy a dozen packets of Coopers yeast which will work well in the heat.

Beer needs:

Malt

Dextrose

Yeast

Hops

Water

The Malt can be found if you look around in the health food shops - buy it by the kilo.

The Hops are harder to get hold of and you may have to consider getting them sent over from home as part of a "home survival pack" If you are lucky you can do the same with liquid yeast but to be honest I find they brew out way too fast in the heat so unless you make a cool water jacket or make the brew under ground are not really an option.

I had a truly serendipidous visit to the Rimping supermarket and they had a six pack of Coopers Ale (red) which is a) truly wonderful stuff and made as a huge scale home brew with natural fermentation and carbonisation so I just drank most of the bottle and kept the last cm with the yeast sediment, added a bit of dextrose and water, capped it with a rubber bung and airlock as in a few days there was my yeast ready for rounds 2-5. tragically I have not seen any more of it since. Nor will they bring in supplies of malt, yeast, or dextrose (see below)

Dextrose - this is where the whole thing comes unstuck - I have not been able to find a supply of dextrose and the only alternative would be to use cane sugar (erg) or do a full malt fermentation. Dextrose is corn sugar and much superior to cane sugar for home brewing.

Oh last thing - for your own sake remember to use clean filtered water - nothing ruins a good home brew faster than bad water, well except for rogue yeasts, infections, dirty bottles.

Hope this helps out

Seems I read somewhere the laws are strict because of all the Thai moon shining and all the money folks are making with the few legal version allowed to be brewed.

you have it in a nutshell - all governments are the same, if they are missing out on tax then they jump in and ban it.

This thread brings back fond memories of living in Boulder, CO (the homebrew capital of the world)...everyone homebrewed there and you could get some really nice ingredients there. I'll never forget saving up and buying my first glass set of bottles instead of using plastic water 5 gallon jugs...

Ahh Bolder great home and micro brewing state. Some excellent beers along the West Coast, I had a few memorable stops in Oregon as well. Amost made me think that you Americans can actually make beer, then someone handed me a Bud lite and I realised how wrong I was.

When I left Oz I had a HUGE goodby party and handed out over 2,000 bottles of home brew all in 375ml bottles that I had collected over the years. There was wheat beers, stouts, lagers, ales and eveything in between. Brought tears to my eyes as all my mates slid sideways up the drive way after a full days BBQ drinking and holding onto a carton of 24-48 beers

Question - plastic bottles? how do you gas it? Do I really want to know?

have fun and remember drinking and driving are not mutually acceptable activities.

I have been using plastic bottles for quite a few years now. Until then I only used glass and metal caps. But once my arm was bent by a friend using plastic bottles it was no turning back.

I can buy food quality brown plastic beer bottles with screw caps for bugger all.

It just makes bottling so much easier and faster.

After bottling it is just a couple of good twists on the cap and thats it.

No machinery or extra operations to perform.

The plastic bottles gas up the same as the glass ones and can handle the pressure no prob. In fact the friend that steered me this way uses his kids old plastic 2L coke bottles without a problem.

They say that you can only use the caps 5 or 6 times but in reality you can keep using them for dozens of times with no trouble. The only thing that I have found is that they will start to leak once the seal gets to old and you end up with a bottle or two of flat beer.

Way back I had the odd disaster ( bottling to early ) and ended up with 30 little time bombs. Sticky splinters of glass everywhere, but the plastic ones just dont blow.

Give it a go and I am sure you will be surprised. There is no plastic taste and once it is in a glass nobody can tell the difference.

All the best.

Hi,

Plastic bottles are OK for short term storage of your beers. If you are intending to keep your beer or want to mature it beyond 8 months the beer will go flat is plastic bottles simply because the CO2 (carbon di-oxide) molicule is smaller than the the PET (plastic bottle) molicule hense the gas 'leeches' out through the walls of the bottle. They are easier to use though than glass and crown seals. Glass bottles exploding are only due to two things: Fermentation not fully finished before bottling or extra priming in the bottle. Oh and Crow Boy - brewing in Thailand is illegal, check again, according the Excise Department website, brewing anything without a licence is illegal under the Liquor Act, B.E. 2493, fines vary depending on amount made and whether you make fermented or distilled product, contrary to what your thai cop neighbour tells you.

Section 5 of the Liquors Act (1950) states that it is illegal for anyone to brew their own alcohol, or even to have the equipment to do so.

'The maximum penalty for contravention of this section of the Act is six months in jail, or a fine of 5,000 baht, or both.

If the offender sells the liquor, the maximum penalty rises to a year in jail or a 10,000 baht fine, or both.

Those are the maximum penalties and can be imposed for making and/or selling distilled alcohol (spirits).

The maximum penalties for brewing or fermenting alcohol wine or beer, for example are lower: 200 baht for making it and 5,000 baht for selling it.'

Wish I was wrong on this count but......................

Comments please on this company if you have or do use them for your automobile insurance

Hi Have just taken out a third class insurance policy with this copmpany (Agent was Tony Dabbs I think) and their service was top notch! Price wise the policy was about 4500฿ and the premium was payable over three months - no extra charge - as I have a Kasikorn Bank VISA card. No complaints. Cheers....

someone just told me that a double is only good for 60 days all together. this cant be right?

thanks

Not true, my understanding is 60 days for first entry and 60 days for second entry. Dunno if its possible, and maybe you can confirm with Sunbelt this, that you can extend each 'entry' by 30 days by applying for an extension at your local immigration office (TM7) at the end of each 60 day period (1900 baht cost) in theory giving you 2 x 90 days? As I said, perhaps Sunbelt can confirm or refute this.

Hello all!!!! I live in Chiang Mai and I have to do a visa run. I arrived on October 19 and my passport was stamped for Dec. 17. My question is can I go for my visa run on Dec. 17 or do I have to go the day before on the 16th?

Hi!

It SHOULD be no problem at all to go same day they stamped your passport, but I also prefer to go one day earlier..!

Please let us know afterwards if they currently make any problems at MaeSai...because sometimes it seems they change their mind in dealing with visa-matters at least every week now...??!

Good luck,m.

Seems like you had/have a tourist visa (arrived October 19 and passport stamped 'until December 17' - Two months right?). If you do, why don't you apply for a 30 day extension at the Immigration Office in Chiang Mai, cost is 1900 baht using a TM7 Extension Application? Save you a trip to Mae Sai?

I believe that home brewing anything is illegal in Thailand without the relevent licence. I own a home brewing store in Australia and was interested in doing some fermentation here in Chiang Mai but found out that I legally couldn't. I suppose its the same as distillation in Australia, its illegal but it is done. Here are some links that might help:

www.brewcraft.com.au

www.essencia.com.au

www.stillspirits.com.au

www.qbrew.com.au

PM if you want to know anything else about brewing......

You can get a tourist visa in Australia before you come, (takes about 7-10 days if you post the application to a consulate and costs about $45AUD) Its good for 60 days which you can then extend for another 30 days in Thailand by applying for an extension of stay at a Thai Immigration office. The extension will cost you another 1900 baht. OR you can get the 30 day visa exempt stamp on arrival in Thailand BUT you will have to make a visa run or leave the country every 30 days - in your case twice to get a new entry stamp. Really, a tourist visa before you come would save you some time and probably money if you can apply for one there .

Nah definately up the other end near Chiang Mai gate. 50 metres away from the moat. Ticky Cafe......

Anyone looking for somewhere to do all their internet stuff in Chiang Mai you have to check out Ticky Cafe!!!!!!!!!!!! They have very up to date and fast connection, its only 15 baht per hour, they have a great selection of coffee and other drinks, she makes fantastic shakes and cappucino's again all at reasonable prices. CD & DVD burning is available and users can bring their own laptop to connect to their network. Its in Ratchcapakinai Rd, (near the Chiang Mai gate market) straight across the street from the Banana Guest House. Check it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I opened a bank account this week with Thai Farmers Bank . All they required was my passport, they filled out the application form, gave me an ATM card and passbook and all done in 20 mins. Cost me 250 baht for the ATM card , that was it. They did not ask for a work permit or any other documentation.

Hi,

I have just come to Chiang Mai to visit my girlfriend for three months and we are looking for a Nissan NV extra cab from year 2000 onward. Something around 200,000 baht, in good reliable condition, registered etc. Please PM me if anyone knows of or has something we could look at or contact on 06-1880568.

Thanks in advance,

Dave