I’ve had a strange craving of late. Yes, looking at my stomach, I do indeed look pregnant!!
Has anyone seen homebrew (beer) kits for sale in Taiwan?
Or has anyone tried shipping them in?
It would be bloody good to get back on the homebrew; cheaper than (bottled) water and better for you.
Cheers.
I know Geert in Kaohsiung who wholesales the Belgian beer had them in the past. Sorry I don’t have his contact info anymore, maybe someone could post it?
There is or at least used to be another thread that talks about home brew kits on Forumosa, but I cannot find it.
Several years ago I believe there used to be a store somewhere on Keelung Road that used to sell the equipment. Maybe you can drive up and down the street and see if you can locate it.
Hi all-
Looking for any tips on where to find home brewing and winemaking supplies in Taiwan – hops, fining agents, malt, corn sugar, juice concentrates, and the like. Can’t get it shipped to me through the mail from the states due to weight/size limitations and prohibitions on shipping liquids.
Any tips would be welcome!
Thanks.
Brad
Good luck fellow home brewer.
I sold ALL of my stuff because I did not think the climate here was conducive to home brewing.
Now I think I could have done ale during the winter months.
If you decide you want to buy from the US and have things shipped to you, PM me and I can put you in contact with the brew shop I patronized in southern California who probably would work with you to ship what you need to you.
Relax, have a homebrew!
I’m a fellow brewer, and sold all my equipment before moving here. My impression is that homebrew isn’t strictly legal here, BTW.
I’ve never seen equipment or supplies anywhere, but I can put you in touch with the Winemaker Shop, Columbus OH if you’re interested. They’ll ship anything, and I’m sure they can label things in friendly ways. Hey, it’s just a bag of sugar! 
DO note that you don’t need to ship liquids for homebrewing; malts come in dry powder form too, and work just as well as they cans of malt syrup. The powder is still heavy, but can be shipped by surface mail to save money. Also, you can lager in a waist-high frig or spare frig too, if you want.
If you have any more brewing comments or questions, I’d love to chat since this was my favorite hobby back then!
When I was in Latin America I used to use a company from Minnesota called Midwest Brewing (www.midwestsupplies.com) – I can receive small beer kits from them through a limited US postal service that I can use through AIT, but the liquid volumes and weights are strictly limited.
I was hoping to be able to make some wine from local sources since I’m here for four years, and off the shelf wine is somewhat expensive. I’ve made a few batches of beer here with no real problems, but was really looking forward to the wine. Oh well, guess it’s just beer for now…
-Brad
anyone know where I can get home brew kits or ingredients for beer or wine in Taipei? Thanks.
Does anybody know of the legality of home brewing in Taiwan? One reason I am looking forward to moving out of my hotel in Tainan and into an apartment in Taichung is to be able to start making home brew again. I’m sure ingredients can be bought on the internet and shipped here with relative ease if it is legal.
It’s too hot for lagers here unless you can convert a refrigerator and use a thermostat. I have made ales here with good success. In the winter it was fine as is, in the summer months I used a 5 Gallon soda keg wrapped in foam rubber and then pumped water around the foam like an evap. cooler. I used an aquarium pump and some cheap tubing. I have also seen people use the cooling element from one of those 12V battery powered coolers, placed in contact with the outside of the soda keg. Works pretty good. Home brewing is legal here. My wife found a chinese website devoted to the fine art in Taiwan. There are also suppliers in Gaoxiong and Taipei, but they don’t have the fancy stuff. If you can read Chinese I could ask her for the link.
Cheers
Yes, please post that link! Thanks!
DragonBones -
The couple of times I lived in Columbus I did a lot of business with those folks at the Winemaker Shop.
Great people and a good friends to homebrewers.
Gentile’s in Grandview was another good place. North Star & King, in that area.
Sorry, she tried the link again and its now dead. My wife said that she remembers the company was dealing with and we will contact them Monday.
They have Starter Kits and they also have the Cooper’s micro kit from Cooper’s Austrailia. I will post more detail after we find them, and if we cannot, my wife said she can start importing the Cooper’s kit.(Her company has an import/export lic.)
Cheers
Homebrewing was only legalized in 2002 and as a result, the community is small and precarious. This being Taiwan, many entrepreneurial folks jumped on the opportunity of importing homebrew supply as soon as the rules relaxed, only to go out of business due to lack of demand.
However, I can tell you that brewing quality beer yourself is possible in Taiwan. I know because just last week I visited an apartment in Da’an and sipped some of the most fragrant, mellow, almost poetic German pale-ale I’ve ever had brewed by Mr Hsieh, a stockbroker by day.
You can read the article I wrote about it in the link below.
Nice article, Battlepanda. I enjoyed reading it.
Thanks for posting the link here.
One question: is brewing legal in Taipei city? I remember reading another article about microbrewing in Taiwan, and it mentioned that there was a law prohibiting this activity in Taipei city.
From the article:
The laws Huang referred to are Taipei City Government regulations proscribing the distillation or brewing of liquor within city limits – the sole exception being TTLC’s operations. “It’s the law that is really preventing the local microbrew scene from developing,” says Elroy Tay, a partner in one of the city’s newer microbrew bars, Biermeister, located in Xinyi District’s Warner Village. “The government thinks beer-making is a polluting industry,” he notes. “They don’t properly understand it.” The primary by-product of brewing beer is dregs that make an excellent fertilizer.
“If we and other microbrews located in Taipei City were allowed to brew on our own premises, it would be far more cost efficient and you’d see others making a go of it,” Tay says. “As it is, microbrews inside Taipei City have to either pay someone outside the city to make their beer or pay the rent on another facility in the county. Then you also have the transportation costs. It’s expensive.”
amcham.com.tw/publication_to … ics_id=868
Perhaps the laws have changed since the Amcham article was written or different laws apply to homebrewers (as opposed to microbrewers).
Looking forward to your thoughts on this.
Good points. Micro-brewing can be a very ecologically positive event. I think this needs to be presented along with the many other positives associated with brewing beer!
By the by…if anyone has a need, I have a contact who designs and manufactures filters specifically tailored to the brewing industry. Contact me for a referral to him and his company.
did anyone ever find the home-brew stuff here then?
Wondering if anyone has had any luck finding brewing ingrediants locally. I don’t need equipment, but any info on where to find malt extract, irish moss, ale yeast, and hops would be greatly appreciated. My batch of IPA will be ready tonight and I only have enough supplies to make a batch of pale.
zymurgial bump
Sandman, you can delete this and the above post. Urp.