I’ll be honest, I’m not sure who’s more excited about Fathers Day coming up – me or the kids, who seem just about at bursting point to give me their presents crafted from school and shopping with mum.
But then last night I found out early that we’re getting a new addition to the family…a Jumbuck smoker from Bunnings Warehouse – so now my excitement levels are insanely peaking as well, so…
‘So what would you like for fathers day then?’
My wife asked late last week and after pretending I’d given the question more than half a minutes worth of thinking time, I came up with ‘A beer making kit wouldn’t go astray!’ and then messaged her with the exact details on what I was talking about and where to find it knowing full well that question was incoming.
Because recently looking into brewing up some beers again (especially since I now have my sense of smell back and can certainly appreciate that aspect of the hobby once more) and investigating possibly working with all grain small batches, I’ve since discovered that the cost of getting stuff to me to brew beers of that kind completely kill any savings I’m trying to make by whipping up a 5 litre batch.
For example 1 kilo of American Grain Malt milled and ready to brew in the bag is a tasty low $5.90
However to get that 1 kilo bag of American Grain Malt ready to go for brew day at my house, it’s going to cost $17 in delivery fees. And when you add in the hops you need and any speciality yeast and other additives, suddenly the bargain part of all grain brewing falls right out of the brew pot.
And sadly there’s no brewing grain stores anywhere near me, so ponying up for postage is pretty much my only option for all grain brewing at the moment.
On a cheaper and far bigger production note, there’s always extract brewing where you brew up the contents of a pre-made wort, throwing everything together in a big container and count down the days when you can finally tuck into 21 litres of beer.
Yes not 5 like I used to brew, around 21 one. Luckily the kit I nominated can hold all that foamy goodness!
And so with that wish list question sorted, I sat back and envisioned which extract tin I’d like to begin with when I unwrap my beer making operation. Perhaps a pale ale? Maybe 21 litres of IPA. Once upon a time I made a raspberry cerveza for hot lawn mowing days. It had far too much raspberry in it naturally but summer is coming up and a Mexican brew does sound nice..
However brew day might have to wait, now that I found out a smoker is on it’s way. It’s time to knuckle down and enjoy many meat smoker weekends instead! And in case you’re wondering how we’ve come to find ourselves on the smoker bandwagon, well Marc if you’re reading this – it’s all your fault!
‘So I’ve got this smoker, why don’t you bring the family around?’ – Marc
I met Marc years ago when I was getting my ass handed to me on a bi weekly training session at a tiny gym in town. There was a program called Secret Men’s Business, Marc had been part of it since it kicked off and in between getting so much stronger (thanks Arj!) we became good mates and he often invited my family round to join his family for fun and frivolity. Holy hand grenade could this family cook too, their dinners and desserts (and many birthday parties, it was a big family) were the stuff of legend!
Anyway one weekend Marc invited us around to try his first attempt at using a meat smoker that if I recall correctly, he got for his birthday. And for a first attempt, thinks went…okay. The meat had a smokiness to it but was a little tough – still, we certainly appreciated the effort! ‘I’ll keep at it’ he said and a few years later I realised truer words had never been spoken (while a smoker smoked away in the background.)
Because Marc didn’t just keep practising, he got right into his smoker that he bought a bigger one. And then things suddenly expanded exponentially from there. He got so good at the art, it soon became his career. Yes this family man, firefighter and smoker aficionado got things so fine tuned, the hobby became a business. And mother of the smoker and BBQ gods, is business good!
Now being in Queensland at the time his Bendigo business hit the ground running meant we were very late to the party in trying his new and vastly improved smoker abilities. But late night one Friday when we were finally in town, we got to not only check out his setup at the old Rose of Australia hotel car park but we got to sample what he could do and talk about a mouth watering mind blowing experience!
The chicken wings, divine. The smoked kransky, the best cheese kransky we’ve ever had. The pork, the beef, the everything in the mighty machine he calls ‘Big Bertha’ (things have been going so well he’s had to build a monster tank like smoker to keep up with the demand), stupidly tender and flavoursome. And his lovely wife Renee now makes desserts and slices for a living as part of the business so you can just imagine how well and truly stuffed the four of us were after appreciating their amazing work.
Are we going to come close to that level of smoker perfection with our little backyard edition though? That remains to be seen obviously but boy am I looking forward to finding out!
Ready, set, smoke!
So why did I find out late on a Thursday night what I was getting on Sunday for Fathers day? Because it’s going to take us a little time to bolt this thing up together apparently. And because wifey Donna is so keen to get it up and running so we can smoker up something special on Fathers Day, it’s tools out on Saturday. And she’s also made sure she didn’t miss a trick, with all the supplies too ready to go:
We’ve got the wood, we’ve got the coals, the tools and the starter, the lighter fluid and a hankering to build it and get smoking. The other thing I probably need to work out too during assembly is where exactly I’m going to install it now that it’s going to be fighting the BBQ for attention..
And so with the assembly and initial testing of this glorious future smoker still to come, make sure you bookmark this page for the updated adventures of Smokemaster Flex (working title.) Hell one day when I figure out what I’m doing here, I might even invite you round for dinner – you never know!
Either way, happy Fathers Day for Sunday!
Edit: Suddenly a big tub of the beery stuff arrived!
Hold the presses, the Father’s Day surprises keep adding up! After hefting the boxed smoker (a little over 8 kilos) from from the back of Wifey’s car, lo and behold there was another awesome gift there – the Coopers DIY Beer making kit!
Which means this weekend not only will operation smoker build get well and truly underway, but there’ll be some extract brewing in the shed just meters away! And in case you’re wondering what’s in this kit, well I couldn’t wait to rip it and discover all my fun new brewing toys!