Hello from Belgium and a 2 questions if I may.

[kibodwin]

Hello,
After not brewing since university (more than 20 years ago!!) I am now looking into starting
a small brewing system in my very small garage. I plan to try a BiaB system to start off as I
know how to brew with extract. I think I have everything planned and I am now looking to
buy the grain somewhere. If anyone has any suppliers in Europe, preferably Belgium I am
more than interested. I also plan to use what ever equipment I already have and go from
there. I presently have a 5.8 coffee urn and a 6 litre empty and sanitised antique fire
extinguisher. This will be very getto (as you can see I am still down with it!!). My ultimate
goal is to make about 5 litres of brew so as to refill my perfect draft beer dispenser. I have a
good idea on how to do refill with a 3d printed part I need to make.
Anyhow, right now my biggest stumbling block is the supply of grain and yeast. I am working
on this but it is surprising that in the country of beer these are so difficult to come by. It
might be because the supply of beer is so good here there is little interest in homebrew.
I know it is somewhat frowned upon but I would like to ask 2 little questions ;
Drinking a maredsous triple last night I wondered if the sediment in the bottom of the bottle
can be used to make my own yeast starter. I have no idea if the yeast is still alive in the
bottle and if this is even possible. I would love it to be but if someone here has an idea I am
all ears.
Also, I am looking for about 5 to 6 litres of finished beer, anyone know more or less how much
wort I would need to get this final amount? I understand that there is about a 60%
efficiency when going the BIAB route. again any info is appreciated.
There we go, I look forward to learning a lot and drinking some also.
K.

 

[IPA]

Here you go. In Belgium
http://www.brouwland.com/
and here in England
www.the maltmiller.co.uk
The shipping is about the same price. For France The Malt Miller is actually cheaper! and the delivery is usually 3 days whereas Brouwland takes 10 Days

Quote 'Also, I am looking for about 5 to 6 litres of finished beer' Unquote

That's just about enough for three days!

 

[kibodwin]

Hi IPA,
Thank you for the info, I had heard of the brouwland but they dont seem to have any shops, you have to go via a distributor. There is only one of the 3 distributors who deal with beer, the rest are just wine. If i calculate it out right it costs me nearly the same to get the bits shipped than to buy them from their distributors.
I saw the 'add' for the maltmiller up on the top banner and am looking at getting everything from them as I would have to pay for up to 30 Kg of shipping anyhow. I dont need 30Kg of stuff from them so if anyone in the Brussels area need anything from them I dont mind putting it in my shipment.

Any idea if I can brew 5 litres with a 5.8 urn? I am thinking of running extra water through the grain so as to make up for any in-efficiency. I saw some guys passing extra water through the grain to make better use of the grain so I am thinking of doing the same to make up the numbers. Ideally I would love 3 X 5 litre fermentations on the go with one done in the perfect draft machine.

3 days!! your poor liver! I have Leffe blonde in the perfect draft right now and it is taking me a while to get through. The beers here can be quite strong so you drink them with care. The maredsous triple from last night was 10% so one is enough for me. I do prefer the lighter strength beers, it means I can have a few more than the stronger ones. I am also thinking of using the 'stuff' in the bottom of the maredsous triple bottle to see if I cant use it for yeast.
This is just a thought and I have no idea if it is sensible to do or not.
I cant wait to try brew my own IPA though, fond memories of uni in the UK.
=)

 

[IPA]

Hi
This the address of Brouwland and they have a retail shop there.
Korspelsesteenweg 86
3581 Beverlo
Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)11 40.14.08
Fax: +32 (0)11 34.73.59
e-mail: [email protected]
Opening Hours:
Shop
Monday - Friday: 9:00 - 18.00
Saturday: 9:00 - 17:00
I have never tried a brewlength of five litres but it is possible in a 5.8L saucepan. If it were me I would buy a bigger boiler and brew 25L because it does not take any longer and the resulting beer will keep for months. Have a look on the Brouwland site at their starter kits it might just convince you. You can almost certainly recover the yeast but whether it is the same strain of yeast used to ferment it or one that was added to condition the beer of that I am not sure. Anyway if you do try make sure that you use it to make a starter straight away even before you have drunk the beer that you poured off to minimise the risk of infection
Ian

 

[bobsbeer]

Welcome. : Good luck with getting your gear together.

 

[pittsy]

welcome , i brew mainly hefeweizen and witbier and most of my grains are either Belgian (Dingemans ) or German (weyermann) i would have a look for those direct if i was you ., if not i use the malt miller and they are excellent . It would be crazy if you have to order Belgian grains shipped to the uk then back to you .

 

[kibodwin]

@IPA/Ian, thank you very much for the info, I will definitely look into it. I do plan on using proper equipment once I have figured out how all this works but for now I will use what I have.
I also think to start off I will buy some yeast, I can run tests after I have produced some drinkable beer!
@ bobsbeer, Thanks for the welcome, I hope to learn lots and brew lots!! I am looking forward to learning about all grain brewing. I know I have to wait weeks for the beer and I hope to be patient enough!! At least I have good Belgian beers to tide me over till then!
@pittsy, I would love to but direct here but I have no idea where or how. I am a complete novice and just starting out so I expect to have to pay to get the basic materials and equipment before I get a streamlines system going. There must be a way, I am even tempted to ask MaltMiller if they have a contact in Belgium that I could use but his might be a bit rude, they can only say no! I am also having a tough time with the new terminology of homebrewing and trying to get the grain and equipment in French is not easy. I will get there. I now need to concentrate on getting some grain and yeast so I can start trying to brew.

Thank you all for the welcome and advice, it is appreciated. Once I get some brewing going I will post so you can see just how getto my set up is!
K.

 

[joe1002]

Welcome to the forum :

 

[kibodwin]

Hi Joe,
Thanks for the welcome!
K.
=)

 

[stuey]

Hi and Welcome :thumb: