Beer Making Supplies

[stevehaigh]

hi all,

i'm thinking of experimenting making my own English bitter. Does anyone know of a beer making supply shop (unlikely) or at least some where to get the main ingreedients (Malt Extract and hops) without paying to import it for the UK?

thanks steve

[KevinN]

Don't know about here, but we did find a shop that sold Blue Ribbon hop flavored malt in a store in Damam Saudi,so should be somewhere here that sells it.I will ask my bro in law when I see him as he is a distiller and a very fine drunk,he should know all about all alcoholic beverages.

[Simbo]

You will have a problem keeping the yeast alive in this heat, and the creepy crawlies would have a field day. I brought most of my wine and beer making gear with me form UK, but haven't got around to trying it out yet.

Maybe if you stood the fermentator in the bath? I think you would need some sort of cooler.

As for the ingredients for a good bitter, if you find anywhere, let me know.

[zappa]

I'd like to know how you chaps get on, the one thing I really miss in LOS. Have you thought of trying Boots, back home they do kits. What do you think customs would make of trying to get some sent over?

[Simbo]

There are better places in the uK than boots. Many companies specialise in home brew, but as for importing it here, I think the cost would be prohibitive. As for wine, I'm sure some exellent ones could be made wth the abundance of fruits available here. As I said, the temperature is the problem, and the insects it would attract.

What I would give for a nice pint of John Smiths, or ten.

[possom]

am watching this post hoping for inspiration. am english but lived in nz for 12 years, and as anybody with tastebuds knows ,the beer there is probably the worst in the world ! i was a regular brewer ,but gave up on moving to thailand as i presumed the heat would be too much of a problem for the yeast . i hope there is someone out there who has answers to all our questions , and welcome any replies or personal messages with any information . beer chang does the trick ,but there is nothing like REAL ALE

[12call]

http://www.undergrounddigital.com/coopersingredients.htm

[maerim]

Let me know is if you are successfull in your enterprise as you will have more "mates" than you can shake a stick at.

I used to make bitter beer in the UK and altough I say it myself it was very good just ask my "mates".

You might get into a bit of bother with the law though here as I understand it's illegal to make alcohol at home (ok i know about home made hooch here) but a Farang making decent beer might well be another matter alltogether.

It doesn't matter about the heat as the fermentaion will happen all the faster so you can do it and drink it all the quicker.

Just make sure you have a good fermentation lock.

Enjoy

[possom]

maerim ,many yeasts will die above 30 degrees (at least yeasts i have used in NZ). i would be pleased to know about different "varieties"with which decent beer can be made in LOS. i am hoping to be proved wrong , as brewing beer here is something i know nothing about . this is a promising thread for many lovers of real ale !!

[stroll]

I am wondering about the temparature as well, but there is brewers' yeast available, the farmers here use it to ferment rice, it then turns to Sato (a raw, yeasty rice wine) before it is distilled to Lao kao.

Don't know if this could be used for beer.

Keep posting your experiments.

[Nam Kao]

Is it Illegal for a falang to make his own beer?

Also if heat is a problem what if you brew in a AC controlled room?

Is it really the humidity?

[stevehaigh]

Hum, i never thought about the legal issue. I was thinking if i can make a decent pint, i would set up a micro-brewery and sell it in the English pubs in Chiang Mai.

I think my best bet is to import the main ingreedients from the UK. I'm looking into the shiping cost and other issues. If I get it togher, maybe i'll open a mail order beer supply place my self!

steve

[stroll]

I am sure you are aware of this:

There are several microbreweries in Bangkok, it might be worth your while to liaise with them. I was told the ingredients for beer are produced in Thailand, including hops. So it could be a question of sourcing these here, I cannot confirm for sure, but I made some tentative enquiries before (hear-say). Not having a cellar available, I think an aircon environment should do it, it is not the humidity that is the problem.

[plachon]

Tried making some bitter from a Boots kit many moons ago and succeeded in getting about 25 bottles of half reasonable suds. But lost another 15 bottles to explosions under the stairs, as the final fermentation happened a little bit too fast. Well gutted about the loss, but my house had a luvverly pubby smell for weeks after. Should've chucked some formalin in, like singh and chang does.

Small-scale brewing in LOS is not against the law these days, if not with intention to sell, and even then a Thai can get a license. Sartor in a big jar, though is a much better bet for success than beer.

[NedKelly]

The coopers sets on the link above are greatstuff. I have had many different beers made from those type of sets in Oz. The temperature thing may be a problem if you do it the Aussie way with the Coopers kits. The other problem may be the bottling.......the kits have bottling sets as well which may not match Thai bottles.

The beers are often a little cloudy, but taste great........

You just throw it all in a big plastic garbage bin and wait for iot to be ready........if the temp is high ....as in LOS.......then yo uwould have to cool either the brew or the room somehow.......the electricity bill would kill you.

But its worth a try anyway......there has to be a way round it....maybe in the cooler season up North it could be easily done.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

The coopers sets on the link above are greatstuff. I have had many different beers made from those type of sets in Oz. The temperature thing may be a problem if you do it the Aussie way with the Coopers kits. The other problem may be the bottling.......the kits have bottling sets as well which may not match Thai bottles.

The beers are often a little cloudy, but taste great........

You just throw it all in a big plastic garbage bin and wait for iot to be ready........if the temp is high ....as in LOS.......then yo uwould have to cool either the brew or the room somehow.......the electricity bill would kill you.

But its worth a try anyway......there has to be a way round it....maybe in the cooler season up North it could be easily done.

Are you planning a move to ChiangMai Ned ? Such is life.

[Brew]

Rowatthai Co., Ltd.

7 Soi Sawan Withi, Sutthisan Rd.,

Samsen Nok, Huay Khwang

Bangkok 10320

Thailand

+66 (1) 639 38 44

+66 (2) 274 81 81 - 3

You get malts and hops there.

For yeast give the microbreweries a try.

But, as mentioned before, brewing your own beer is illegal!!!

[stevehaigh]

OK, lots of great information and a disagreement. "plachon" says brewing for home use is legal, "brew" says no. who's right? anyhow, what are the chances of getting caught, and even if you do, this been thailand, you give the police a couple of bottle of the goods and you're good to go i guess!

So, i'm in sunny california right now and i checked in with my local home brew shoppe. It seams you can get all the ingreadients dry which is good for transportation and storage in a hot climate. The ingreedients for 5 gals of beer weight about 10lbs and costs about $25 (full retail, i expect it could be found cheeper on the web) so the final product will cost about $.75 (30 bhat)/bottle (not cheep by thai standards, but if it tastes good!).

Sterilization of the equipment is very important. It should be ok to boil and ferment in the same container (using bags for the ingreedients) which will reduce the posibility of contamination in the brewing process. The bottleing is another problem, maybe i'll try using a keg.

To keep the fermentation at 65-70degF, i will put the fermentation vessle in a heavily insulate box and drop ice in to keep the temperature down.

I'm going to try a batch when i come back to muang thai in a couple of weeks. i'll let you all know how it turns out.

And "brew", thanks for the contact info on Rowatthai Co. I'll check it out.

thanks, steve

[Up2U]

In Libya and Saudi I made my own beer - Biomalt in Libya, Blue Ribbon in Saudi. I kept the brew kit in a room that rarely went above 20-22 degrees Celsius, but a Belgian friend in Libya swore that 7 degrees Celsius was the optimum. As he worked in a 'dairy' reconstituting dried milk and putting it in Tetrapak thingies, he had the facility to put his theory into operation. His beer was superb. Mine was drinkable. Some others were not (but still got drunk)(hash brews).

Temperature is important for good beer. Time is not. When it's ready, bottle it - not a day before and certainly not a day late. And although garbage bins are possible, a sealed bin with bubbler is infinitely preferable - keeps all the wee beasties out.

Brew on a bench, then gravity syphon the brew into bottles. Saves time and effort.

But I used German hop extract whenever I could - like dark green Rozalex. beats the British stuff, whether dried leaves, granules or liquid, by a thousand percent.

[NedKelly]

YeahDoc...movingto Chiang Mai or even the mountains in Mae Hong Son would be a good idea if I could brew my own coopers up there......

This all brings back memories fromchildhood.....Iused to lie awake at night listening to my fathers home brew explode in the back shed..........it was so common we were afraid to openthe door whenwe went to take a peek in the morning.......there woul dbe absolutely no trace of the bottle except for the base which was firmly bedded inthe bottom of the milk crate........and the place smelled like a brewerY !

Funny that !

[george]

You maybe are looking into something like this:

Thailand Beer Destillery

Posted at Thaivisa gallery site, by a unknown member though.

[Kilgore Trout]

OK, lots of great information and a disagreement. "plachon" says brewing for home use is legal, "brew" says no. who's right? anyhow, what are the chances of getting caught, and even if you do, this been thailand, you give the police a couple of bottle of the goods and you're good to go i guess!

So, i'm in sunny california right now and i checked in with my local home brew shoppe. It seams you can get all the ingreadients dry which is good for transportation and storage in a hot climate. The ingreedients for 5 gals of beer weight about 10lbs and costs about $25 (full retail, i expect it could be found cheeper on the web) so the final product will cost about $.75 (30 bhat)/bottle (not cheep by thai standards, but if it tastes good!).

Sterilization of the equipment is very important. It should be ok to boil and ferment in the same container (using bags for the ingreedients) which will reduce the posibility of contamination in the brewing process. The bottleing is another problem, maybe i'll try using a keg.

To keep the fermentation at 65-70degF, i will put the fermentation vessle in a heavily insulate box and drop ice in to keep the temperature down.

I'm going to try a batch when i come back to muang thai in a couple of weeks. i'll let you all know how it turns out.

And "brew", thanks for the contact info on Rowatthai Co. I'll check it out.

thanks, steve

if you are going to go the keg route you can put your corn sugar straight to the keg and it will be primed and ready to go

[ThaiAdventure]

You could always try making "Mead". Plenty of street vendors sell honey.

How To Make Mead

Edited July 2, 2010 by ThaiAdventure

[angiud]

This is a record, resuscitate a thread of 2004

[frankman]

What about putting the plastic buket in the fridge for fermenting at 10 C ?

[Kilgore Trout]

What about putting the plastic buket in the fridge for fermenting at 10 C ?

I have seriously thought about doing that for a lager, depending on the size of the fridge you may need to cut a hole in it somewhere for the blow off. For an ale, if you get the right yeast it might ferment fine on the floor in the kitchen or bathroom where it is about 75-80f.

[cooked]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Converting-a-fridge-for-fermenting-beer/

gives instructions for making a 'beer brew refrigerator'.

Legal: brewing for your own consumption is illegal, 200 Baht fine!

Brewing for sale makes you liable to a 5000 Baht fine:

http://www.homebrewthailand.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=34

I myself am determined to make my own beer in Thailand. I will contact one of the micro breweries in Thailand to see if I can get a supply of hops and malt; yeast may be a problem, better to cultivate live yeast I think. Most people seem to order their stuff from Australia or the UK, I can't wait that long nor do I wish to take the risk of Thai custome opening my package one day.