Home Brew experiences with Macs All Malt Brewing

We have probably all tried brewing our own beer at some stage over the years. Yes, as a student many an hour was spent brewing and more importantly sampling our fine creations. The lure of it all in those days was that you could brew a lot on a tight budget. With this came the trade off with taste and the usual after effects.

Recently I attended the new “Beer School” run by Lion Breweries in Auckland. (if only they had a course like that at uni we would have all passed with flying colours). At the course I was introduced to the new line of brewing kits from Macs All Malt Brewing. At the start of the course I was very sceptical that you could really brew good home brew – you know the stuff your mates actually want to drink! I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and simplicity of today’s home brew products.

Armed with a Macs starter kit & the knowledge form the course I have plunged headlong into the world of home brewing. There is simply not enough space in this page for me to go into any great detail about the finer details of this fine past time so I will sum up my recent experiences.

Macs offer a starter kit that includes a fermenter, electric heater pad, thermometer, hydrometer (to measure alcohol level), No Rinse Steriliser, bottling device, full instructions and your first can of beer mix. Pictured below are the contents of my kit taking pride of place on the kitchen bench (Editors note: I think the stylish looking fermenter has helped reduce the protests from head office).

The astute will have noticed the lack of brewers sugar from the starter kit. This is the difference between the Macs kits and the ones you might be familiar with. The all malt Macs kits follow the Mac’s philosophy of no additives including sugar, so that is why the beer tastes full and malty.

The process of “putting a brew down” is relatively simple as the kit contains easy to follow instructions – plus online video instructions are available for the younger generation. But before you start a mantra from the wise brewers at “beer school” that was drummed into us was Sterilise, Sterilise, Sterilise. These are wise words to live with and ensure the only living creature around the brew kit is you! The other two learning’s I got was experiment and taste the brew constantly.

The brew process takes about 4-5 days at which time the brew is bottled & left for 3-4 weeks before sampling can begin in earnest.

How was my first brew received? Actually very well – so well in fact that the father in law went out and bought himself a kit! Since this first success I have sampled the rest of the Macs range with similar results.

In summary brewing again with the Macs All Malt kits has completely changed my old perceptions of home brewing. To borrows Macs words – I can now brew something worth tasting not just drinking. So much so that I have experimented with adding extra hops, malts and fruits (My Cherry Brown Ale is a pure work of art – if I say so myself).

The starter kits cost $109.95. This offer is available online so click here to kit your kit and start brewing!

Links;

Macs All Malt Brewing – www.macsbrewing.co.nz
Beer School – www.lionzone.co.nz

Craig Rundle ([email protected])
Fishing.Net Editor