Comments on: Homebrewing

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:07:47 +0000

Hello. I’m also in Waterloo and considering brewing my own beer. I have hops growing in front of my house and luckily am a fan of Pilsener! I cannot thank you enough for the resources that I have already found on your blog. So, thanks… I will be back… Scott

By: Brenda

Brenda — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 21:50:00 +0000

Hello,
Is it possible to buy one of the beer kegs from you?
Thanks so much for your posting.
Brenda

By: Ed

Ed — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:48:25 +0000

I like to brew dark beer. When ready, I bottle it in 2 liter coke bottles. Keep it in the fridge for those hot days. Don’t drink a lot, so after about three days the CO2 is gone, and the stuff tastes like british beer. Still very good.

By: Walter

Walter — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:43:45 +0000

I would recommend the Southern Ontario Brewers email list. They have been doing group buys for various supplies, and there are some great deals to be had.

There was recently a grain group buy, that ended up being 160 55lb bags in total. Due to the size or the order, pricing was incredible. 55lb bag of Marris Otter was $34, and canadian 2-row was about $24.

Pricing on a group buy of hops worked out to about $14/lb.

https://secure.neap.net/mailman/listinfo/sob

There is also some homebrewers on the KW beer forum at:

http://kwbeer.forumup.com/index.php?mforum=kwbeer

and a group just started meeting:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/groups/kitchener-waterloo-cambridge-guelph-home-brewers-d1819-first-get-together.html

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:58:57 +0000

I buy yeast, hops and extract from BrewTime in Hamilton…they likely sell grains too and will order in specialty yeast. Nice people. I used to travel to Michigan often and I would go to either Adventures in Homebrewing in Taylor or WineBarrel in Livonia. I would buy 50kg bags of Briess 2-row for around $50. I would be interested to talk to any serious homebrewers in the area..I live in Brantford.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:13:54 +0000

Ron there is a spring with nice water in New Dundee. If you are interested give me a call. 519 696 3358. Bruce

By: piper

piper — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:18:03 +0000

There aren’t any really good suppliers in Canada that I know of. I mean, nothing that can remotely compare to US suppliers like Northern Brewer or Austin Homebrew Supply.

If you want malt in large quantities (your base malts), you can get it in 25kg bags at Gilbertson & Page in Fergus. They’re quite economical, in quantity.

For smaller quantities of specialty malts and liquid yeast for my last batch I used Homebrewer’s Retail (http://www.homebrewersretail.com), which is an online store, shipping from Whitby, ON. He was good to deal with.

There used to be a Canadian Homebrewing Supplies, but the web-site appears to be defunct now.

Canada just doesn’t seem to be able to support a decent homebrewing supply shop. But dealing with the US shops is a minefield, because of the borderline criminal “brokerage” fees charged by the couriers to bring anything into Canada. The only shops you can safely deal with are ones that will ship by US Postal Service. Couriers like UPS/Fed Ex must be avoided like the plague.

By: Gregr

Gregr — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:02:49 +0000

I’m just starting to learn about homebrewing and need to find a good supplier of equipment and ingredients. Now that Paddock Wood is no longer selling online, where do you guys suggest buying equipment online in Canada or even in you’re own local. Piper, looks like you’re in the KW area, I’m in Burlington so not that far away.

By: James 2

James 2 — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:00:26 +0000

Hey brewers:
I did my only mash homebrew in pittsberg a bunch of years back. I was a guest of my brother in law, but had studied brewing at work at a local microbrewery and homebrewing from library books. Together that day we made a 100% malt mash brew and hopped generously from start to finish with cascade plugs and flowers. When my samples arrived I devoured them at one sitting they were so tasty.
I have also had success with on premise brewing using distilled water. This is also reccomended in my home brewers bible. In 2009 I want to aquire/make equipment for a 50L batch of mash brewing.I live in Guelph andam looking to link up with serious brewers.

By: Chris Dion

Chris Dion — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:45:56 +0000

Hey Ron, you’ve really got some great stuff up here. Its all stuff that is doable by anyone who is even modestly handy.

I’ve brewed in the past with those kits and have had varying results. The brewing I’ve seen you talking about sounds far more involved. Just curious weather you have some sort of “How To Guide”. Something that you may have put out for someone new to the game like me?