Hello from Kilkenny

[darren996]

Hi All

I am Darren from Kilkenny, I am planning my first brew, going to go with the Coopers Diy Kit, blonde ale option for starters, it seems to be a very popular one.

I was looking for a new project and this site popped up.  I have been reading through the forum with great interest and I am amazed at all the options, ingredients, techniques and diy equipment people are knocking together.

I like all types of beers, but was put off of brewing my own as I have early memories of my brother in-laws brew, a kinda of cross between bud and fairy liquid.

Looking forward to sharing my experiences, and i am sure woes over the coming months.

All the best

Darren

[Bubbles]

Welcome to the forum Darren. I laughed at your "Bud & Fairy Liquid" story. If you ever make to any of the tasting meets or brew days organised by the various NHC clubs, you'll be amazed at the quality of what homebrewers are producing in Ireland. No more fermenting in the bath and not a drop of Fairy Liquid in sight..

Ask lots of questions on the forum. And don't forget to look into signing up as an NHC member. For a small annual fee you will be supporting the club and you can also avail of generous discounts from the clubs affiliates, including all of the country's home brew shops.

[molc]

Yeah the affiliate discounts alone pay for themselves over the year and then some.

[Garry]

I like my beer bubbly 

Welcome aboard Darren 

[johnrm]

I thought you liked it warm Garry, next you'll want it wet.
Love the avatar BTW

[LordEoin]

Hi there Darren, Welcome
have you ordered all your gear etc yet ?

[darren996]

Hi LordEoin

No, havent't ordered the gear yet, but will be ordering soon, I want to get started asap, so I will probably be getting the kit next week.

Thanks all for the welcome...

[johnrm]

Welcome Darren!
Distracted by avatars...

[Hingo]

Welcome!

If there's a few more Kilkenny Homebrewers around get them on. I'm Dublin based myself but am down in KK often enough. If a club was setup, I'd even drop down for the odd brewday/meetup!

[Dunkel]

Hi Darren, the Coopers blonde kit is a good one to start with - you don't have to wait too long until you can taste your first brew. And it'll be the best beer you've ever tried, because YOU made it 

[darren996]

Hi Hingo

I don't know anyone else that is brewing at the moment, but I am sure that when I tell people that I am starting out I will get a few contact around these parts.  Thanks for the offer and I will keep you posted.

[darren996]

Thanks Dunkel.

I am about to order my kit.  i got a bit carried away at the weekend, ordered a stc 1000 and looking at stuff like that, I have a tech background so this really interests me.

I live in an extended cottage, one room is an old stone building that is always cool, max temps in there are 19 degrees in summer.  I have a hi-low temperature gauge that I have had in the room for a while and the highest temp has been 19, lowest 16 so far, so I reckon my challenge with fermentation temps will be heat and not cooling.

I am torn between the coopers and the brewsmarter starter kits.  the brewsmarter looks like it can be extended a bit i.e. king keg if I wanted to go down that route and it also includes a brew belt.  There are so many options now that I am getting a bit carried away with myself.

Any opinions on coopers vs brewsmarter would be appreciated.

I also paid up as a member, waiting on details

Cheers

Darren

[Garry]

I got the Coopers DIY kit as a Christmas present a few years ago. The Coopers fermenter is great but it's the only part of the kit that I still use. I've replaced every other part of the kit over the years for items which are available in the BrewSmarter Premium kit.

The BrewSmarter Premium kit is the same price and it comes with an extra bucket and heatbelt. It's better value IMO.

[Dunkel]

+1 to Garry. I was referring to the Cooper's Canadian Blonde beer kit, not the complete starter equipment kit. Yep, your best bet is the Brewsmarter http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewsmarter-premium-starter-beer-kit-x28best-valuex29-844-p.asp .

[darren996]

Thanks folks i think i will give the brewsmarter a go