# 'battle Of The Toucans'



## boingk

Hey all, title is pretty self explanitory: Whats your best toucan recipe?

Two cans of anything, plus some finishing hops if you put them in - thats basically it...

Essentially, I'm curious as to the combinations that people put together and what they come out like - after all its a good cheap way to make a strong, well bodied, good-headed beer! I caved in and put down a toucan of Farmland Draught the other week...looks delicious: ruby red, great aromas, and will be ~7% AbV.

So, any recipes/combinations?

Cheers - boingk


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## 0M39A

ive done a twocan farmland draught before.

just a basic twocan, 1kg dextrose i think (chucked it in as a last min thought), 150g crystal and some ekg for flavour and aroma.

fermented with s-04

turned out pretty good.

got a twocan coopers stout in bottles now, will let you know how that goes when its ready. two cans of coopers stout, 1kg dark dried malt, 10ml liquorice extract, dryhopped with fuggles. fermented with s-04


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## petesbrew

0M39A said:


> ive done a twocan farmland draught before.
> 
> just a basic twocan, 1kg dextrose i think (chucked it in as a last min thought), 150g crystal and some ekg for flavour and aroma.
> 
> fermented with s-04
> 
> turned out pretty good.
> 
> got a twocan coopers stout in bottles now, will let you know how that goes when its ready. two cans of coopers stout, 1kg dark dried malt, 10ml liquorice extract, dryhopped with fuggles. fermented with s-04



Only done 3 so far (the third in the fermenter at the moment) but my first was the best.
Coopers Stout
Coopers Dark Ale
500g Brown Sugar
both yeasts.

Frothed like crazy, and ended up as a bloody beautiful drink.

The one in the fermenter is a cascade spicy ghost & coopers lager, thrown on a belgian strong ale yeast cake. It's tasting fabulous so far!
Not expecting much in the way of alc strength, though.


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## mark_m

Did a toucan late last year
1 x coopers stout
1 x coopers real ale
1kg dry DME
1kg coopers b/e 2
a handful of amarillo pellets boiled 10 minutes & tossed in fermenter
23 litres
US-56 re hydrated

approx 2 weeks in primary, low 20s, 2 weeks in c/c, kegged.

Came out very nicely, definitely not a session beer, almost needed a spoon.

mixed the last 5-6 litres with approx 10 litres of k&k morgans old a couple of weeks ago, combined beautifully into a hybrid light stout / dark nut brown style.

I also have an experimental 2x Wander Munich lager with 2 x own yeast bubbling at the moment as a "cheap & cheerful" experiment. In hindsight probably should have used a better yeast as it was slow to start & taking a while to ferment out, will report back in the next few weeks.
Cheers
Mark


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## Brooksy

Coopers Toucan Bitter + Fuggles for flav+aroma.

Nothing else, will give you 5.5% ABV.


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## jkeysers

I did a Coopers Bavarian Lager, with a Farmland Draught. Didn't add anything else except some Saaz pellets in the secondary for Aroma.
I used the Coopers Bavarian because I heard it has a better yeast. Dunno if this is true or not.
I think it's a nice drop, but the mates think its a bit too dark and bitter (pansies).
Outta curiousity, does anyone know the IBU's of the basic supermarket kits (Coopers, Farmland etc)? I wanna do another toucan thats a bit more friendly to the masses, so I need to bring the bitterness down a bit. I was thinking a Coopers Cerveza and a Farmland Lager, but i'm open to suggestions.


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## Brooksy

i_like_chicken said:


> Outta curiousity, does anyone know the IBU's of the basic supermarket kits (Coopers, Farmland etc)? I wanna do another toucan thats a bit more friendly to the masses, so I need to bring the bitterness down a bit. I was thinking a Coopers Cerveza and a Farmland Lager, but i'm open to suggestions.


Don't know about farmland, but the Coopers were listed on site a while back. Here they again:

Coopers 

Kit	EBC	SRM	Kit IBU	Brew IBU
Lager	90	33.51	390	21.20
Draught	130	48.60	420	22.83
Real Ale	230	86.34	560	30.43
Bitter	420	158.04	620	33.70
Dark Ale	550	207.09	590	32.07
Stout	1800	678.79	710	38.59
Canadian Blonde	70	25.96	420	22.83
Bavarian Lager	90	33.51	390	21.20
Mexican Cerveza	53	19.55	300	16.30
Australian Pale Ale	90	33.51	340	18.48

Unfortunately they don't look too good on here, but it is the last figure on each line that should interest you.

Added:
I also suggest that you read here for further information on toucanning and bittering.

Using the calcs you can assess your final IBU rating when adding ldme & dme to a kit, by the change in OG.
For example a Coopers lager IBU 21

If approx 1.5kg malt added to bring the SG up to 1048, then your final IBU rating for the brew would decrease from 21 to 18 or 19. A slightly seater beer with more body.


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## jkeysers

Cheers mate! I had actually just been reading that thread after I initially read this one.

Based on what you've said (assuming Farmland Draught has a similar IBU to Coopers), and using the multiply by 1.5 or 1.6 rule for toucans, my brew shoulda been around 34-35 IBU. Not that bad by any means. My friends really are weak! If I try my Cerveza/Lager toucan, I should come in around 29-30 IBU. Hopefully that's closer to the mark for their tastes.

Cheers!


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## paterson2929

Just started my first Toucan
Coopers Lager + Coopers Draught
Saflager W34/70
Should be interesting when I can drink it. 
Would never have thought to use two cans until I started reading this site


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## Slurpdog

Still don't know what it's like but my first toucan brew was kegged 3 weeks ago and is one of 2 firsts for me.

1. First Toucan brew - 2 x Coopers Stout.
2. First use of a liquid yeast - WLP1214 Abbey Ale

Hope all is well and will report back in a few weeks or so when I try it.


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## Brooksy

Slurpdog said:


> Still don't know what it's like but my first toucan brew was kegged 3 weeks ago and is one of 2 firsts for me.
> 
> 1. First Toucan brew - 2 x Coopers Stout.
> 2. First use of a liquid yeast - WLP1214 Abbey Ale
> 
> Hope all is well and will report back in a few weeks or so when I try it.



I'm drinking one at the moment. Next time I'll be either boiling one kit or adding a can lme or kg dme. Final bitterness = 58 IBUs. 

I call my Toucan Coopers Stout, "Poor Man's Stout".

Its all personal taste.

Ha!! New maths......

Lager + lager = pale ale
Draught + Draught = Bitter....

I think I'll go and have another beer. :chug:


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## capitalfinancial

I brewed my first toucan last year before finding this site, flying blind. Cascade imperial kit + tooheys draught and both yeasts. It came out far too chewey for my taste. got a little better with age and I probably adapted somewhat to the taste.

I'm thinking of doing another soon, bought on special coopers stout + coopers dark ale. I would like it to be a bit easier to drink this time so planning on boiling the dark ale in 8 litres of water for 1 hr to drop some of the bitterness. Then rack to secondary with goldings for aroma.

Any thoughts if this would give me a smooth finish? or would be better to boil both cans?

Ta.


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## Slurpdog

Slurpdog said:


> Still don't know what it's like but my first toucan brew was kegged 3 weeks ago and is one of 2 firsts for me.
> 
> 1. First Toucan brew - 2 x Coopers Stout.
> 2. First use of a liquid yeast - WLP1214 Abbey Ale
> 
> Hope all is well and will report back in a few weeks or so when I try it.



Well, just trying this after letting it sit in the keg for 9 weeks and the taste is , well, unusual.

A bit too bitter and a bit too roasty (Read: burnt) on the palate.
Not entirely undrinkable but the flavour and bitterness is definitley out of balance.
Not something I'll be repeating but atleast I can drink the mistake! :chug:


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## BOG

Really you lot, you need something more than 2 cans.

Try this,

1 x Can of Cascade Choc Mog Porter
1 x Can of Coopers Wheat Extract
200gm of Crystal Malt
20 Grams of Saaz (boiled for 5 minutes)

Brew to 12 liters.

Comes out at about 8.2%. Really thick, very sweet (maybe a bit too much).
Suggest bringing up to 15 to 18 litires for those who don't like beer can can slice !

Works out to be a 4+ Can Brew. Really tough beer. 
Try a better yeast (I used 34/70 which is a bit weak) and get this up to 10%.



BOG

P.S. You an try the Choc mog as per the brewers instructions from Cascade if you like it a bit less intense. See their web site for the instructions.


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## microbe

BOG said:


> Comes out at about 8.2%. Really thick, very sweet (maybe a bit too much).
> Suggest bringing up to 15 to 18 litires for those who don't like beer can can slice !
> 
> Works out to be a 4+ Can Brew. Really tough beer.



Sounds like you'd need a spoon :excl:


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## FazerPete

I've done a few now because I have a dedicated toucan keg but I think my favourites were:

1 Coopers Stout
1 Coopers Dark Ale
500g LDME
15g Progress
S-04 yeast

2 Farmland Draught
30g Cascade
US-05 yeast


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## 0M39A

well ive been drinking my twocan stout and its amazing.

2x coopers stout can
1kg dark dried malt
25g fuggles hops
15ml brewcraft liquorice extract
safale s-04 yeast fermented 18C-20C

black as the night with a head on it like meringue


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## 3GumsBrewing

Ok, I kegged my very first toucan on Sunday and tasted it last night, now I was not expecting big things, it was a bit of a "throw in what I have lying around" sort of brew.
Fermented in primary for 6 weeks cause I forgot about it, transferred to cube and kept at 4oC for 9 weeks cause baby came along and I had no time to do anything!.......... but oh my god this is a top drop, can't wait to get home to have some more tonight! 

2 X Tooheys Classic Dark Ale (1 in boil for 60min, the other added at 5 min)
500g dark brown sugar
30g Perle @ 30 min
15g Cascade @ 5 min
S-04

Cheers
DK


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## petesbrew

DK said:


> Ok, I kegged my very first toucan on Sunday and tasted it last night, now I was not expecting big things, it was a bit of a "throw in what I have lying around" sort of brew.
> Fermented in primary for 6 weeks cause I forgot about it, transferred to cube and kept at 4oC for 9 weeks cause baby came along and I had no time to do anything!.......... but oh my god this is a top drop, can't wait to get home to have some more tonight!
> 
> 2 X Tooheys Classic Dark Ale (1 in boil for 60min, the other added at 5 min)
> 500g dark brown sugar
> 30g Perle @ 30 min
> 15g Cascade @ 5 min
> S-04
> 
> Cheers
> DK



Nice, I've been wanting to try a toucan dark. Would you say it's stout-ish?


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## 3GumsBrewing

petesbrew said:


> Nice, I've been wanting to try a toucan dark. Would you say it's stout-ish?



ohhhhhh yeah. 
Its black, its thickish, its smooth and its got a head that lasts and lasts, but the taste is what has won me over, damn its good!

DK


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## Brooksy

DK said:


> 2 X Tooheys Classic Dark Ale (1 in boil for 60min, the other added at 5 min)
> 500g dark brown sugar
> 30g Perle @ 30 min
> 15g Cascade @ 5 min
> S-04
> 
> Cheers
> DK



As supplied, the Tooheys Dark Ale definitely shows potential, but I really think the addition of the DB Sugar was (sort of) a waste of money, considering you end up with about 5.5%ABV without it.

Haven't used Perle so I cannot comment, but interesting to see that the Cascade (love 'em) came through the full malt.

Definitely a brew to try during the warmer months as I haven't got temp control.

Boiling always helps.

Now, my Toucan Coopers Stout has been in the bottles now for 3 months, and yes it is bitter, but brilliant. The only complaint I have got so far is from a chap the adds lemonade to his Fourex. Poor lost soul.......

Next time I brew this I will definitely boil both kits and add Fuggles or Saaz.....

A fresh wort brewer who has tasted my Toucan Homebrand Lager (+Saaz), (turned out an IPA) nearly blew his bolt. Reckons it wasn't my brew at all. Claims beer as good as it was cannot be produced from cans. It can (pardon the pun), and it is.

A little bit of extra effort pays dividends, and this site prompts everyone to try different things to improve your brew. Don't ya just love it???


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## petesbrew

Brooksy said:


> As supplied, the Tooheys Dark Ale definitely shows potential, but I really think the addition of the DB Sugar was (sort of) a waste of money, considering you end up with about 5.5%ABV without it.
> ......
> 
> Now, my Toucan Coopers Stout has been in the bottles now for 3 months, and yes it is bitter, but brilliant. The only complaint I have got so far is from a chap the adds lemonade to his Fourex. Poor lost soul.......


Nothin' wrong with a brown sugar hit  It worked nicely in my toucan dark/stout... will substitute for different malt/grain sometime in future, but at the moment, why fix something that isn't broke?

And it's good to see you know who's complaints are laughable! Fourex-radler anyone?
Pete


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## Brooksy

petesbrew said:


> Nothin' wrong with a brown sugar hit  .............


No worries at all Pete, but I like my Liver right where it is, not floating down the sewer :lol: 

Any idea on the ABV increase?

I really can't see that its flavour would have any impact at all over the malts used. Perhaps in a single kit brew the flavour would be prominent, but a toucan?

Ok, I've noted it and will definitely give it a shot. The only problem being is that you no longer get the little hard bits in the brown or dark brown sugars like you used to get. I looked forward to picking these out & eating them.

Yet another loss to technology. :angry: 

Edit: Spelling.....


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## petesbrew

Brooksy said:


> No worries at all Pete, but I like my Liver right where it is, not floating down the sewer :lol:
> 
> Any idea on the ABV increase?
> 
> I really can't see that its flavour would have any impact at all over the malts used. Perhaps in a single kit brew the flavour would be prominent, but a toucan?
> 
> Ok, I've noted it and will definitely give it a shot. The only problem being is that you no longer get the little hard bits in the brown or dark brown sugars like you used to get. I looked forward to picking these out & eating them.
> 
> Yet another loss to technology. :angry:
> 
> Edit: Spelling.....


Just punched in the amounts on a brewers calc on another site and it's pretty damn close.
The 500g sugar added about 1.2% ABV. I got 6.7% out of my stout.
http://www.homebrew.com.au/wa.asp?idWebPag...p;idDetails=172

Maybe in future I might give palm sugar a go too.


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## Brooksy

Thanks Pete. Looks like the trick is to use topshelf yeast.....


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## 3GumsBrewing

You know looking back on it, I dont really know why I added dark brown sugar. Again it was just sitting there open on the shelf after being used in a Belgian.
Have not done a side by side so can't tell you if the taste is different!

Anyway I reckon its a top drop! 
Pete, being a fellow dark ale lover I reckon this one would be right up your alley!  

beers
DK


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## Brooksy

DK said:


> You know looking back on it, I dont really know why I added dark brown sugar. Again it was just sitting there open on the shelf after being used in a Belgian.
> Have not done a side by side so can't tell you if the taste is different!
> 
> Anyway I reckon its a top drop!
> Pete, being a fellow dark ale lover I reckon this one would be right up your alley!
> 
> beers
> DK


Probably the trick to brewing an award winning beer. :lol:


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## Fatgodzilla

Brooksy said:


> Probably the trick to brewing an award winning beer. :lol:



You see from this thread that I started a companion thread asking you fine men of alcoholic endeavour to submit the best of these here listed toucan recipes into our "Recipe" section. Please find time to do so, as in the long run, the results will be used by noobies to the site to adavance their knowledge and beercraftmanship (if ever I buy a boat, I'm going to call it "Brewcraftmanship")

:beerbang:


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## brettprevans

toucans I have done
*Choc Stout Mahogony Toucan* 
1 x coopers Stout tin, 
1 x Cascade Choc Mahag Porter, 
500g DDME, 
0.25kg Choc Malt Grain (steeped in 1Lt water for 15min - bought up to boil from cold then steep), 
22L, 
pitched 0.6L of yeastcake (Wyeast 1098) from Kenzie EQPA
OG 1.060, FG have to get back to you.

*Thick Dark Toucan * 
1 x coopers stout
1 x coopers real ale
1kg dry DME
1kg coopers b/e 2
a handful of amarillo pellets boiled 10 minutes & tossed in fermenter
23 litres
US-56 
approx 2 weeks in primary, low 20s, 2 weeks cc.

*Cascade Imperial Voyage Toucan*
2 x casc imperial voyage 
0.4kg Dex
0.1kg LME
Dump and stir
28-30L
use 2xkit yeast - I used 0.2L of yeastcake from Kenzie EQPA
nice quaffing drop. I used dex to bump up %alc. could use some hop additions.

other suggestions (on my 'to do' list):
*Cerzesa Toucan* 
cervesa can x2 
250g dex 
glacier hops 
26L 
larger yeast. ferment 2 weeks at 12C 
crash chill or 1 week at 3C 

*Coopers Toucan Stout*
two cans of coopers stout, 
1kg dark dried malt, 
10ml liquorice extract, 
dryhopped with fuggles. 
fermented with s-04

EDIT: Kenzie EQPA is the name I gave one of my past brews, so dont go looking for some yeast or kit called Kenzie EQPA. Yeastcake came from a Wyeast 1098


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## Disco_tezz

DK said:


> Ok, I kegged my very first toucan on Sunday and tasted it last night, now I was not expecting big things, it was a bit of a "throw in what I have lying around" sort of brew.
> Fermented in primary for 6 weeks cause I forgot about it, transferred to cube and kept at 4oC for 9 weeks cause baby came along and I had no time to do anything!.......... but oh my god this is a top drop, can't wait to get home to have some more tonight!
> 
> 2 X Tooheys Classic Dark Ale (1 in boil for 60min, the other added at 5 min)
> 500g dark brown sugar
> 30g Perle @ 30 min
> 15g Cascade @ 5 min
> S-04
> 
> Cheers
> DK




How many liters did this make?


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## brettprevans

Disco_tezz said:


> How many liters did this make?


I'd hazard a guess at 20L. if he kegs its prob a 20L corny (or similar). that puts it at about 7.1%. 22L is about 6.5%


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## 3GumsBrewing

Disco_tezz said:


> How many liters did this make?



Made it to 22L, keged 19 and bottled the rest for a rainy day.
DK


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## tipsy

This would be the best Toucan I've ever made.
Actually it is the only Toucan I've made  

Cascade Chocolate Mahogany Porter/Coopers Lager
150g Crystal
20g Amarillo 10mins
20g Amarillo Dry Hop
Nottingham yeast

As kits go it's one of my better brews


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## Luka

Pato Beer Monster said:


> Just started my first Toucan
> Coopers Lager + Coopers Draught
> Saflager W34/70
> Should be interesting when I can drink it.
> Would never have thought to use two cans until I started reading this site



I did this one a while back and dry hopped with Hallertau, came up pretty good. Some nice bitterness but not overly bitter, next time I might only use half the draught can and add 500g LDME.


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## SpillsMostOfIt

My first and only toucan was my first and only stout (to date). Brewed on Australia Day and not touched for three months or more (still got some).

One Can Coopers Stout.
One Can Coopers Dark Ale.
100g Wheat Extract boiled in 3litres filtered water for 30 minutes.
20g Willamette, 10g Goldings plus a MSB lager yeast added as a 20 minute addition.
Made up to 22litres and pitched onto a freshly-available S-04 yeast cake from Coopers Real Ale. Stood Back.
Racked off the yeast cake after 14 days and bottled 14 days after that.

Excellent value for effort. Gets better as it gets older.


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## brettprevans

citymorgue2 said:


> other suggestions (on my 'to do' list):
> *Cerzesa Toucan*
> cervesa can x2
> 250g dex
> glacier hops
> 26L
> larger yeast. ferment 2 weeks at 12C
> crash chill or 1 week at 3C



Im changing this receipe to the below cause i recon it will be a pearla for summer:
2 cans x Coopers Cerzesa
250g dex or 250g rice malt
15g glacier hops @ 15min
15g glacier hops @ flameout
2 x lager yeast (s-23) @10C 3 weeks, @2C 1 week
28L. approx OG 1.045 FG 1.011. 5.%
maybe some more glacier hops for more lemon background flavour notes.


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## danman

hey all some toucans ive done

TRAPPIST
morgans aus draught
morgans canadian india pale ale
1kg black fern hopped wheat malt extract
500g belgian candi sugar
30g styrian goldings boil 1hr
wyeast "trappist" smackpack
og1068
fg1014

DARK WHEAT
morgans golden sheaf wheat x2
300g maltcraft caramalt
50g dark crystal malt- both steeped for 1/2 hr
1kg ironbark honey
w3068 wyeast smackpack
og1060
fg1012

both toucans tasted fantastic and will be done again
also done a threecan (trican maybe!) stout but that belongs in another thread


cheers,dan


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## al8877

hey guys don't know if this can be call a toucan 

1 can Cooper's Original Stout
1 can Cooper's Dark Malt
300gm Rolled Oat @ 60mins
10gm Cascade hops @ 30 mins
5gm Cascade hops @ 10 mins
5gm Tettnanger hops @ 2 mins
20gm of Nescafe Gold Blend @ end of boil
SAF yeast s-04 pitched at 26 degrees
Fermenting at 20 degrees for pass two days at 18 litres

hoping for a good stout.


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## petesbrew

al8877 said:


> hey guys don't know if this can be call a toucan
> 
> 1 can Cooper's Original Stout
> 1 can Cooper's Dark Malt
> 300gm Rolled Oat @ 60mins
> 10gm Cascade hops @ 30 mins
> 5gm Cascade hops @ 10 mins
> 5gm Tettnanger hops @ 2 mins
> 20gm of Nescafe Gold Blend @ end of boil
> SAF yeast s-04 pitched at 26 degrees
> Fermenting at 20 degrees for pass two days at 18 litres
> 
> hoping for a good stout.



I did something like this a few months back. Ross and a few other guys said to mash the oats with some Pale malt.
Dunno how to do a link, so search for this thread, "Oatmeal Stout, uncle toby's irish breakfast".
Good luck.


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## Pandreas

I have 7 longnecks left of my toucan stout which I only bottled 4 weeks ago.... My wife dosn't drink beer but loves this stout, personally I find it a little too bitter and would have preferred to have boiled the dark ale to evaporate some of the hops oils.

Recipe - 
1 Can Coopers Stout
1 Can Coopers Dark Ale
400g Brown Sugar
15ml Licorice Extract
25g Fuggles, dry hopped for 5 days after fermentation
US56 Yeast (Would not use the kit yeasts, US56/S05 is FANTASTIC!)

OG 1056, FG 1013.


My next stout is currently fermenting and I have not chosen to make this recipe again straight away... much to my wifes dismay. I tell her this one should turn out better.... hope it does!!

1 Can Coopers Stout
1kg Dark DME
750g Brown Sugar
500g Chocolate Malt (Steeped 30mins at 80 degrees)
125g Crystal Malt (Steeped 30mins at 80 degrees)
10g Fuggles @15mins
15g fuggles dry hopped
US56 yeast

Best thing about a stout is that you can eat chocolate, ice cream and sweet foods with it. Sweets don't go well with beer and sometimes you can sick of savoury snacks like crackers and cheese.....
We also have mixed our toucan stout with a little coke... tastes alright! I prefer a black'n'tan though!

Yet another vote for the Coopers stout & Coopers dark ale toucan combo!!


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## petesbrew

I'll be brewing mine up today with a couple of additions

Coopers Stout
Coopers Dark Ale
375g Demerara sugar
75g leftover palm sugar
150g choc malt, steeped 30min
15g fuggles @ 15min
And a huge starter of WLP002 English Ale 
filled to 23litres.

I'm expecting a lot of mess, but that's the price you pay!  
Also, on bottling day I'm going to rack about 5 litres onto some mulberries for a week or so.

Wish me luck.


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## wabster

A friend from Gosford way and I put down a toucan for her yesterday, using 2 x Coopers Real Ale kits, with both yeasts, and nothing else added.

When I did the OG test I tasted the wort in the testing tube and it was incredibly bitter, so my friend then tasted it and declared she'd never be able to drink it if the end product was like that. :angry: 

Has anyone ever done a toucan like this and will the hops impact be lessened after fermenting and bottle secondary? I am really hoping that it will frankly, it will be a disastrous start to her brewing career if it is undrinkable for her and it took some talking to get her away from the idea of a can and kilo of sugar 

I was also surprised to see that the OG was only 1040, does this sound right to the more experienced?

Grateful for any comments, Cheerz Wab


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## 0M39A

OG sounds fine.

If she is sensitive to bitterness, should have gone with something a bit softer to start, like 2xlager or 2xpale ale.

Anways, the bitterness should mellow out a little with some time in the bottle, but its always going to be reasonably bitter, especially to somebody who is used to a regular k+k


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## Luka

Pato Beer Monster said:


> Just started my first Toucan
> Coopers Lager + Coopers Draught
> Saflager W34/70
> Should be interesting when I can drink it.
> Would never have thought to use two cans until I started reading this site


hey mate, i did this exact combo earlier this year and I'm really pleased with it, so are my mates. I dry hopped with some Hallertau for extra flavour too. Bitterness level is up there but not so high as to make it to bitter I think, don't know what the exact IBU's are though.

Cheers


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## brettprevans

wabster said:


> A friend from Gosford way and I put down a toucan for her yesterday, using 2 x Coopers Real Ale kits, with both yeasts, and nothing else added.
> 
> When I did the OG test I tasted the wort in the testing tube and it was incredibly bitter, so my friend then tasted it and declared she'd never be able to drink it if the end product was like that. :angry:
> 
> Has anyone ever done a toucan like this and will the hops impact be lessened after fermenting and bottle secondary? I am really hoping that it will frankly, it will be a disastrous start to her brewing career if it is undrinkable for her and it took some talking to get her away from the idea of a can and kilo of sugar
> 
> I was also surprised to see that the OG was only 1040, does this sound right to the more experienced?
> 
> Grateful for any comments, Cheerz Wab


At risk of runnning onff the topic of best toucan recipes, Im going to make a post that doesnt give a recipe. Wabster, 1) get your friend to start looking at AHB. 2) Give her the link to the very first page of this thread which has bitterness ratings of cans and an explanation of how to calculate bitterness. This should help her make toucan that arent bitter. Or use a simple rule: 1 can of bitter wort = bitter. 2 cans of bitter wort = really really bitter.


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## petesbrew

Good advice citymorgue2.
There's some bloke on another toucan thread who's just done a Bitter/IPA toucan. Can anyone top that for bitterness? (hands down, Doc).


----------



## brettprevans

petesbrew said:


> Good advice citymorgue2.
> There's some bloke on another toucan thread who's just done a Bitter/IPA toucan. Can anyone top that for bitterness? (hands down, Doc).


maybe a coopers stout toucan? christ knows why you would make that. yuck. The most bitter Ive made is the Choc Stout Mahogony with choc grain (recipe on page 2 of thread). Had a bottle last night (I felt the darkside calling me). With only 3 weeks in the bottle it was bitter but not undrinkable. major burnt choc and bitter choc tones coming through that will mellow with age.


----------



## 0M39A

ive done a twocan stout and a twocan farmland draught one.

the twocan draught also had some ekg that was boiled in some malt extract for 30 min, and some more at 5min (dont remember exactly how much).

was nice. bitter, but not overly so.

twocan stout ive documented enough times in this thread, so look it up yourself you lazy bums.

result was amazing. bitter, but in no way overly so. maybe 70ibu? just nice for a stout. loads of chocolate/coffee flavours to balance it out. only have 6 tallies of this left  didnt last nearly as long as i wanted. was going to save some in the bottle for 6 months and taste again. dont see that happening.


----------



## andyk

Just put down a twocan Farmland Lager today, OG was 1042, with 23L does that about right? 
It foamed like crazy when I was mixing it up, but settled down after a while. 

Hopefully it will be tasty


----------



## jimmylt

I've been meaning to do my first toucan for a while but haven't got around to it. Picked up a can of Coopers Bitter and one of Tooheys Lager on special last week so thought they could be my first.

Is this a good mix, or are they not compatible?
Should i use 1 yeast or both, or something else entirely?
Do I need to add any more fermentables, or is there enough in the kits?
Do I need to boil 1 or both?
Any other tips?

Thanks guys.


----------



## petesbrew

jimmylt said:


> I've been meaning to do my first toucan for a while but haven't got around to it. Picked up a can of Coopers Bitter and one of Tooheys Lager on special last week so thought they could be my first.
> 
> Is this a good mix, or are they not compatible?
> Should i use 1 yeast or both, or something else entirely?
> Do I need to add any more fermentables, or is there enough in the kits?
> Do I need to boil 1 or both?
> Any other tips?
> 
> Thanks guys.


Just my opinion,

As long as you like bitter beers you'll be fine.
I've used both yeasts before... quick and very frothy. Or grab a pack of some Safale 04 from your HBS.
There's enough in your kits, but add more if you want. Say 500g dry malt, or sugar.
I've only boiled a few kits, to tell the truth. Most of the time I couldn't be bothered and they've turned out fine. The one I've got now I boiled the stout with some choc grain, and added the dark ale can in the last 5 minutes.

Hope it works!


----------



## 0M39A

you boiled a stout kit with some grain?

why would you do that? boil grain i mean.


----------



## petesbrew

0M39A said:


> you boiled a stout kit with some grain?
> 
> why would you do that? boil grain i mean.



Actually I steeped the grain and boiled the sparge. Should've clarified that.


----------



## 0M39A

ahh, much better.


----------



## Brooksy

petesbrew said:


> Actually I steeped the grain and boiled the sparge. Should've clarified that.


And don't forget to apologize to the families of the AG'ers who died of heart attacks after reading the post :lol:


----------



## petesbrew

Apologies to all shocked by me not typing bloody everything.
I shall also add i cut corners every-bloody-where in this last boil (I'm not going to say where).

At least I didn't drop the wort on the carpet.


----------



## AlwayzLoozeCount

Just been at Big W Burly Heads, found some Brewiser cans on special $6 each. I bought some Pacific Draught some Lager and Australian Ale. They expire 12/07. I've never done a Brewiser Kit before, are they any good? would any 2 of these go good in a toucan?

This site is great btw

Cheers.


----------



## Plastic Man

Just thought Id add my 2c to the Stout toucan debate.

I did one last year and it turned out great. I initially brewed a 2 can Canadian Blonde lawnmower beer using a yeast starter made from a coopers sparking ale long neck. I then dumped the 2 can coppers stout on the yeast cake from the Canadian blonde 2 can brew. 

I added a few extra bits, (not sure if it needs anything else though). I boiled about 4l of water, added the 2 cans of coopers stout to the boiling water. Added a cup or 2, (cant remember which) of light DME and the same of maltodextrix to increase the body. Turned the heat off and added 15gr of Fuggles and 15ml of liquorice extract. Cooled in the sink and then dumped this on top of the Canadian blonde 2 can yeast cake. Topped up fermenter to 18 litres. OG was about 1062 from memory. Fermentation took off like a rocket and it fermented out very quick. Racked it after about 2 weeks and left it in secondary for 2 3 weeks. Primed with 80gr of sugar and after a month or two in the bottle it tasted great. Thick, black and dry. Great head. Drunk the last one not long ago. By that time it was a year in the bottle and it tasted even better. Was a bit sad when it was all gone. If your time poor this is a great way to get some nice stout. Was not overly bitter.

I repeated this a few weeks ago but didnt rack to secondary which I think was a mistake. I did the same thing again and dumped it on the yeast cake of a previous smaller beer, (coopers sparkling ale yeast again). The previous beer sat on the yeast cake for 3 weeks and then I left the stout on it for 3 weeks and teh final yeast cake was a bit scungy when I bottled. It didnt taste too good on bottling and I was pretty dissappointed. Its amazing though 4 weeks later the flavour has really cleaned up. There is still a hint of the off flavour but its fading fast. In future Id rack it off the yeast cake after a week or two.

richard.


----------



## Fatgodzilla

wabster said:


> A friend from Gosford way and I put down a toucan for her yesterday, using 2 x Coopers Real Ale kits, with both yeasts, and nothing else added.
> 
> When I did the OG test I tasted the wort in the testing tube and it was incredibly bitter, so my friend then tasted it and declared she'd never be able to drink it if the end product was like that. :angry:
> 
> Has anyone ever done a toucan like this and will the hops impact be lessened after fermenting and bottle secondary? I am really hoping that it will frankly, it will be a disastrous start to her brewing career if it is undrinkable for her and it took some talking to get her away from the idea of a can and kilo of sugar
> 
> I was also surprised to see that the OG was only 1040, does this sound right to the more experienced?
> 
> Grateful for any comments, Cheerz Wab



In June I put a can of Black Rock Lager with a can of Homebrand Lager. 23litres of water. Nothing else added. Used a Saflager S23. Opening SG 1050. Fermented at 11 degrees (in a cold shed) then cold conditioned in a cube for a month at about 2 degrees. Bottled them 11 July. Tasted like absolute shite out of the fermenter - thought I'd wasted time and money on that effort. Opened one yesterday - still a tad under carbonised (still in a cold shed) but tasted pretty good. Really needed time to settle down. Tell your mate's wife to remember the bad taste and compare to a bottle around grand final time. Should make :super: a lot of difference.


----------



## microbe

AlwayzLoozeCount said:


> Just been at Big W Burly Heads, found some Brewiser cans on special $6 each. I bought some Pacific Draught some Lager and Australian Ale. They expire 12/07. I've never done a Brewiser Kit before, are they any good? would any 2 of these go good in a toucan?
> 
> This site is great btw
> 
> Cheers.



I've just bottled a toucan made with 2 cheap Brigalow kits. I reckon that @ $12 for a couple dozen longnecks you can't go too wrong. 

Go for it.

cheers,

microbe


----------



## AlwayzLoozeCount

microbe said:


> I've just bottled a toucan made with 2 cheap Brigalow kits. I reckon that @ $12 for a couple dozen longnecks you can't go too wrong.
> 
> Go for it.
> 
> cheers,
> 
> microbe




I did lager + draught brewiser toucan, smells good, sample tastes great. I pitched the yeast from the draught can I noticed the draught can expired 8/2008 still only $6 tho. Slow yeast I assume as it took 35 hours for any airlock action. Will post the results as soon as i get to taste the final product.


:beer: Cheers n Beers


----------



## Jaeger

I've just sampled my first (two hopped, non-Malt Shovel) toucan:
1 x Coopers Real Ale
1 x Coopers Draught
1kg Coopers BE2

First impressions of the (very young) brew are good, so I'll explore the format further.

Head: long-lasting, thick creamy Guinness style. Best ever!
Aroma: needs finishing hops - Goldings, probably. I thought the extra hops from the extracts would be sufficient, but I'm not a fan of Pride of Ringwood (which I assume Coopers use.)
Taste: Solid bitter hops bite to it - a refreshing change to my usual malt-driven brews. The BE2 is probably unnecessary, especially now with summer coming up.

I'm now wondering if my Stout+Draught toucan idea might have too much bitterness, but I see braver souls have tried Stout+Real Ale and Stout+Stout toucans... (I don't boil my extracts, though.)


----------



## mark_m

Coopers Stout + Coopers Old Dark + 1/2 kg DDME, both cooper's yeasts.
14 day primary, chilled 7 days, kegged.
Easy, tasty & smooth.
Mark.


----------



## SpillsMostOfIt

Coopers kits are on special atm in Safeway (at least in my local). Could be time to double your discount!


----------



## chartster

SpillsMostOfIt said:


> Coopers kits are on special atm in Safeway (at least in my local). Could be time to double your discount!



+1, they are also on special for ~$9.90 a pop at the one on Acland St, St Kilda (VIC).


----------



## mark_m

mark_mulrooney said:


> I also have an experimental 2x Wander Munich lager with 2 x own yeast bubbling at the moment as a "cheap & cheerful" experiment. In hindsight probably should have used a better yeast as it was slow to start & taking a while to ferment out, will report back in the next few weeks.
> Cheers
> Mark



I thought it was time to report back on this one:

Primary 16 days, cold condition / secondary 4 weeks (no spare kegs), kegged.

First tasting - yuck! Hard to describe but some sort of infection, added 20gm NZ Hallertau in hop ball to try & mask off flavours.

Second tasting (3 weeks later), could drink it if I was dying of thirst, reluctantly. Another 20g NZ Hallertau in hop ball, some unidentifiable growth around o-ring.

Third tasting (another month) still not happy, tried to take hop ball out, lock slide fell off & hops dispersed in keg. Almost admitted defeat, gassed up & walked away.

Today (another month on), decided it was time to actually feed it to the garden, one last taste to make sure..... bugger me, lots of floaty bits (hop pellets), but what was to be my first wasted batch in some time seems to have morphed into a very drinkable, loose interpretation of a Belgian style - maybe an unintentional lambic.

This one has been an adventure, I'll enjoy the rest of the keg, but too many variables to try & repeat.

Cheers

Mark.


----------



## Gulpa

I'm still getting my AG kit together so I thought I would try a toucan last Sunday. I doesnt feel right to have never done one.

2 x Coopers Draught
250g Maltodextrin (because it was there)
200g Crystal
60g Cascade flowers
Safale US-05

Steeped crystal for 40 mins. Strained.
Boiled crystal juice with malto.
Added hops for 1 minute.
Cooled and added to fermenter with cans, water and ice.
Fermenting @ 16-18C

Tastes pretty full on from the fermenter  . I will let you know how it tastes in a month or so.

Cheers,
Andrew.


----------



## petesbrew

petesbrew said:


> I'll be brewing mine up today with a couple of additions
> 
> Coopers Stout
> Coopers Dark Ale
> 375g Demerara sugar
> 75g leftover palm sugar
> 150g choc malt, steeped 30min
> 15g fuggles @ 15min
> And a huge starter of WLP002 English Ale
> filled to 23litres.
> 
> I'm expecting a lot of mess, but that's the price you pay!
> Also, on bottling day I'm going to rack about 5 litres onto some mulberries for a week or so.
> 
> Wish me luck.



Tasted my stout last weekend. Got two thumbs up from the out-laws, tastes great, but a bit on the sweet side for me now.
Will move to all-malt next time.
The mulberry's still carbing up. No explosions yet from that.

Good luck with the toucan draught, Gulpa!

Pete


----------



## chimera

wabster said:


> A friend from Gosford way and I put down a toucan for her yesterday, using 2 x Coopers Real Ale kits, with both yeasts, and nothing else added.



Yep, did a toucan of real ale last year, and just cos it wasn't already a mongrel I dry hopped it with cluster. Wasn't so bad and OG testing, but by the time it had completed fermentation it was bitter as to leave a taste in your mouth that took hours (and numerous other beers) to dislodge.

Hadn't done much with really bitter beers at that stage so I declared it undrinkable and tossed it - an act I regret still.

I say good luck to you and even if it seems undrinkable, keep and mature, see what happens. Im seriously considering doing another toucan real ale some time, but probably a real with a lager or something easy just to be sure


----------



## AlwayzLoozeCount

AlwayzLoozeCount said:


> I did lager + draught brewiser toucan, smells good, sample tastes great. I pitched the yeast from the draught can I noticed the draught can expired 8/2008 still only $6 tho. Slow yeast I assume as it took 35 hours for any airlock action. Will post the results as soon as i get to taste the final product.
> :beer: Cheers n Beers





OK i finaly got around to tasting my first toucan, I am impressed and will be experimenting with more after tasting this great drop. I am not much of a beer conisuior but i know what i like, i wish i could tell you how it tastes in technical terminology, but to me i can lean it towards coopers IPA, but not as bitter,nice malty taste.(another 500g dme and some hops would go nicely in this)

I recently made up a simple brew of just brewiser Australian Ale kit can and coopers BE2 to compare with others on the kit market because this is my first go with brewiser kits. IMHO this brewiser stuff is better than coopers or morgans, trust me, it dosnt have that twang the coopers and morgans stuff has, im only talking about supermarket suplies btw, coopers brew master selection is fantastic so im not compareing it with that kind of stuff, but for less than $6 a carton i wouldn't swap 1 carton of generic crud for a sip of this stuff, its gold.


BTW thanks to this site im making beter beer so thanks to everyone for your help, even if you didn't think you helped you helped me


hope my photo works , Tis the toucan brewiser draght + lager


----------



## 65bellett

Boys, I was not sold on this Toucan thingos I only gave it half a go. I put a can of Tooheys real ale down. Made up to 11l and put the heater belt on and brewed it hard and fastkeeping it and mid 20's for about 5 days. I'm not sure if I wanted it to fail or I wanted to see just how easily I could make a drinkable beer.

After two weeks in the bottle it was pretty rough. It had really strong flavours. I can't be more precise it just had really strong flavours. I did not think much more about it until about 2 months later when a mate of mine came around. A bit of time in the bottle really helped it. It has cleared right up and is very drinkable.

My mate and I who brewed Kit and a Kilo for years both think it is far better than any thing we brewed back then. What a great way to start brewing. $8.50 for ingredients and 15 minutes hard labour. Where was this Forum 10 years ago.


----------



## Randall the Enamel Animal

I used to have a boss who drove a '65 Isuzu Bellett. Great little car.


----------



## gecko

I've thrown down a toucan Coopers lager in the past with 60g Hallertau hops. Couldn't taste or smell the hops at all mind you. After a week primary it tasted like cats p*ss so threw in a kilo of LDME and let it go fo another 2 weeks. Racked a couple of times and it came out a winner by Dr Smurto's books.

I'm currently trying it again with 1kg LDME in the primary and made to 25L to see how much different it'll be. It probably could be done with one tin and 500g of LDME made to 13L for the same result.


----------



## KHB

I just put down my first toucan

1.7kg coopers stout
1.7kg coopers dark ale
250gm LDME
250gm dex
15gm EKG @ 5mins
15gm EKG @ flame out

I did a 10min boil with the LDME and the Dex

Just waiting for my fermenter fridge to get it to 18.c to pitch both the yeasts.

Looking forward to the outcome


----------



## Bulldog_y2k6

citymorgue2 said:


> toucans I have done
> *Choc Stout Mahogony Toucan*
> 1 x coopers Stout tin,
> 1 x Cascade Choc Mahag Porter,
> 500g DDME,
> 0.25kg Choc Malt Grain (steeped in 1Lt water for 15min - bought up to boil from cold then steep),
> 22L,
> pitched 0.6L of yeastcake (Wyeast 1098) from Kenzie EQPA
> OG 1.060, FG have to get back to you.



citymorgue2

I realise you made this brew some time ago but can you remember how it turned out??? Would you make any hop additions??

Cheers Bulldog


----------



## boingk

Toucan Homebrand Lager, that was my big shot at the Toucan game. I used the two stock cans and a packet of dried US-05 yeast, and it turned out quite good! If I'm in a pinch again I'd do it in a snap, but I'd probably have rathered a good German style lager for a few bucks more and a bit more effort.


----------



## FireBlade

I've done this a couple of times now:

1.2Kg Thomas Coopers Premium Draught
1.0Kg Morgans Master Blend Wheat Malt
300g Dextrose
20g Cascade boiled in 1lt for 3mins, not strained
20g Cascade dry with top up
11.5g Safale US-05 yeast pitched @ 24c
Fermented at 18c

It makes up a real nice APA style and has been received well by everyone who's tried it. In fact I racked another one the same Monday night.


----------



## 0M39A

FireBlade said:


> I've done this a couple of times now:
> 
> 1.2Kg Thomas Coopers Premium Draught
> 1.0Kg Morgans Master Blend Wheat Malt
> 300g Dextrose
> 20g Cascade boiled in 1lt for 3mins, not strained
> 20g Cascade dry with top up
> 11.5g Safale US-05 yeast pitched @ 24c
> Fermented at 18c
> 
> It makes up a real nice APA style and has been received well by everyone who's tried it. In fact I racked another one the same Monday night.



Not really a twocan though is it  just a 1can + extras.

the whole point of a twocan is to just use 2 cans of hopped extract, then you get twice the bitterness as well.

That said though, looks like it would be a pretty decent brew. probably could do with a touch more bitterness though. next time try it with 2 cans of *insert can name here* instead and see how it turns out.

havent made a twocan in ages, should do another twocan stout again soon, last one was fantastic.

2 * coopers stout
1kg dark dried extract
50g (iirc) fugges hops steeped for a few min then dumped into the batch.
s-04 yeast
23L

had one of the nicest thickest heads ive seen on a stout, plenty of bitterness to boot and a nice alcoholic kick. plenty of chocolate and roasted and coffee flavours. went down a treat during winter. still have 1 bottle somewhere i think. had one a few weeks ago, age has done this beer well.


----------



## brettprevans

Bulldog_y2k6 said:


> citymorgue2
> 
> I realise you made this brew some time ago but can you remember how it turned out??? Would you make any hop additions??
> 
> Cheers Bulldog


I love it. great beer suprisingly for no hop additions. mind you the tin of stout is fairly bitter and actualy masks the can of mahojany porter. Considering it is a K&K and its something I put together myself its great. Its also better than the brewcraft Guinness clone (Ive made 2 of brewcrafts kit and never touched them again). 

Hop additons you could add would be something like the below if you drop the stout kit, or just get rid of EKG for bittering and throw it in for flavour/aroma at 15min.
28g. EKG @ 60 min.
12g Fuggle @ 15 min.

you could also use Willamette instead of Fuggles if you wanted. 

If you like real stout, you'll like this. obviously you can alter the recipe to suit. ie add more choc grain and cut back on roasted grain or vice versa.


----------



## brewgirl

I just put down a 'half arsed' toucan... I was board last night and had the brewcraft munich lager in the cupboard that came with the starter kit... I put that with 12L of water and half the bag of 'lager enhancer' that came with it, just used the kit yeast. Didn't want to do a whole brew coz I'm moving in a couple of weeks. Don't know how good it will turn out, just doing it to experiment a bit, and I need practice keeping temps down.


----------



## FireBlade

0M39A said:


> Not really a twocan though is it  just a 1can + extras.



The Morgans is a can of goop, so it is 2 cans of something + some other stuff, but I get it now.


----------



## Bulldog_y2k6

citymorgue2 said:


> I love it. great beer suprisingly for no hop additions. mind you the tin of stout is fairly bitter and actualy masks the can of mahojany porter. Considering it is a K&K and its something I put together myself its great. Its also better than the brewcraft Guinness clone (Ive made 2 of brewcrafts kit and never touched them again).
> 
> Hop additons you could add would be something like the below if you drop the stout kit, or just get rid of EKG for bittering and throw it in for flavour/aroma at 15min.
> 28g. EKG @ 60 min.
> 12g Fuggle @ 15 min.
> 
> you could also use Willamette instead of Fuggles if you wanted.
> 
> If you like real stout, you'll like this. obviously you can alter the recipe to suit. ie add more choc grain and cut back on roasted grain or vice versa.



Sounds great, I think i will keep as is, i have only just started using steeped grain and have been please with the results so far. I have never made a toucan either so i hope this works out well, with a bit of luck it will be ready in time for friday night footy :chug: (go the eagles ). Its 38 in perth today hard to even think about stout!!!!

cheers 
bulldog


----------



## 0M39A

Bulldog_y2k6 said:


> Sounds great, I think i will keep as is, i have only just started using steeped grain and have been please with the results so far. I have never made a toucan either so i hope this works out well, with a bit of luck it will be ready in time for friday night footy :chug: (go the eagles ). Its 38 in perth today hard to even think about stout!!!!
> 
> cheers
> bulldog



I hope you have some decent temperature control if you're brewing in weather like that...


----------



## Bulldog_y2k6

0M39A said:


> I hope you have some decent temperature control if you're brewing in weather like that...



I actually work for an insulation company , one of the more unusual applications we get used for is to wrap pallets of ice for transport without refrigerated containers, I use the product to make special coolers up for my fermenters. I just add 1 frozen water bottle twice a day, keeps temps at 18 odd degrees, if its a little warm i add another bottle, crude but it works for me. Saying that im setting up a upright freezer with fridgemate for lagers.

Bulldog


----------



## pablo_h

Yay, toucan thread! I want a do a couple before moving into AG and non prehopped tins.
Nothings open on a sunday in perth, I was low on malt and hops, so I just chucked 2x coopers dark ales in the fermenter to show my brother how to homebrew. I boiled them a bit in an effort to reduce bitterness, hopefully it works out with just them and coopers recultured CPA yeast.

As I posted in another thread, my brother came around with his home brew gear after much coaxing by me for him to get back into it.
Turns out in his gear he has a can of coopers lager and a can cascade spicy ghost draught.
Any tips on what if any hops should be added to this? I'm thinking willamette or cascade, I'm no hop expert though. Is there much point in adding hops to a toucan?
I've got heaps of yeasts, more coopers recultured, nottingham, so-4, so-5, (about 7 coopers dried, 2 muntons dried and of corse the ones in those two extract tins  )
Whats the best techique for boiling the extracts to limit over pre hopped tins? I took a gues today and boiled the 2x dark ales for 20 min, but it's would be interesting to know other methods.


----------



## vchead

I love a good toucan. My latest was:

* 2 cans Homebrand lager
* 1 kg LDM
* US05 yeast.

Took about 2 weeks for the yeast to get through the fermentables. Alcolhol came out as 8.2%!!

It was a bit sweet and a bit hoppy. Don't know what it would have been like after a few months as it went long before that.

Rodders


----------



## Interloper

I put down a toucan cider yesterday:
1 x blackrock cider
1 x brigalow cider
900gms white table sugar (inverted with citric acid)
500gms pureed raspberries
4 litres apple juice
safale 04 yeast (+ the yeast nutrient from the brigalow can)

I was hoping the incredible rich redness of the raspberries would carry through, but it seems to have been overpowered by the general "brown" of the tins and the apple juice.

I can't remember who posted this recipe originally but they used 1kg dex and a whopping 18 punnets of strawberries!

We'll see how it comes out and if the yeast can eat its way through all the fermentables.

Smelt awesome when I checked the shed this morning. Bubbling along nicely.


----------



## pablo_h

I just tasted my dark ale toucan then, needs another few days as S.G. only 1014, but that thing is extremely bitter!
Used 2 x coopers kit cans boiled for 20min, no other fermentables, aroma hops added.
Does the bitterness settle down after full fermentation and bottle conditioning? Or is this hows it's going to be for ever?
Anything I can do now while still fermenting to make it less bitter?


----------



## boingk

Nothing but time will mellow the bitterness. Put on another brew to pass it! 

Best one I've ever done was probably 2 x Homebrand Draught with US-05. That yeast is a demon and works through anything whilst leaving a nice crisp taste...I just can't fault it. 2 x HB Lager with Hallertau hopping was also a success.

Cheers - boingk


----------



## Bribie G

Not strictly a toucan, but on Wednesday I'm doing a Morgans Australian Pilsener with a 1.5 kg can of Coopers LME and a teabag of saaz finishing hops. Trying to get away from cheapie-old-sugar but not in a position to brew full grain for the foreseeable future so this is a compromise.

Any ideas what sort of ABV % I should expect out of this brew at 26 litres?


----------



## Brewtus

BribieG said:


> Not strictly a toucan, but on Wednesday I'm doing a Morgans Australian Pilsener with a 1.5 kg can of Coopers LME and a teabag of saaz finishing hops. Trying to get away from cheapie-old-sugar but not in a position to brew full grain for the foreseeable future so this is a compromise.
> 
> Any ideas what sort of ABV % I should expect out of this brew at 26 litres?



I count this as *Kits & Bits*. Better than *Kit & Kilo*, not *extract* either but a kit with malt extract and extra hops, special yeast, etc. It is for extract want'a'bes who don't want to boil hops and extract for 90min.

I'd go to extract if I could get instant bitter hop addition. i.e. add 10mls or so the get X level of bitterness and boil 8 liters of water with 3kg of extract and hops for for 15min with a 5min hop addition. Let cool for a short time and add 15l ice water to get the finished wort.


----------



## quachy

Hi all, this is an awesome thread! Got a Coopers Real Ale and Coopers Euro Larger can in the cupboard. Was wondering what you guys reakon the outcome would be as a toucan. Any more fermentables required? Hops? Yeast - ale or larger? Bitterness, mild, medium or very bitter?

Quachy


----------



## tk75

My first 2can was...(had only made about 2, maybe 3 brews previous)
Cooper's Lager x 2
LDM x 500g
Cooper's BE1 x 1kg

Boiled all ingredients in 6L water for 60mins, added to fermentor and topped to 22L, added both Cooper's supplied yeast - I had made a 500ml starter from one packet, the other was added dry.
Fermented @ around 20C - 22C for 3 weeks - 1 week primary/2 weeks secondary.
S.G. 1.064 F.G. 1.018
Bulk primed - 237g LDM + 500ml water(boiled then cooled)
Aged for 4 weeks, came out one very nice brew indeed...had a beautiful honey aftertaste. I would certainly do this one again as it gets closer to the warmer months.

Seeing as there are a few 2can stouts here, I will add the one I have currently brewing(this one I have made intentionally to put down/age for many months)...
*Russian Imperial Stout
*Cooper's Stout x 2
Cooper's Dark Malt x 1.5kg
Morgan's Choc Malt x 1kg
Morgan's Roasted Black Malt x 1kg
*Hops
*_FWH(*@ 75C)
_20g Galaxy
15g Pacific Gem

_30min
_15g Galaxy
30g Pacific Gem
10g Brewers Gold

_15min
_15g Galaxy
10g Brewers Gold
10g Goldings

_Flameout_
15g Brewers Gold
10g Goldings

_Dry Hopped - added to secondary
_5g Galaxy
5g Brewers Gold

Started to boil 8L water, once @ 75C added Unhopped Malts and first addition of hops(*). Total boil time of 90min then added Cooper's cans + flameout hops. Total volume in fermentor - 22L.
Once cooled added 500ml starter - Safale 04.
2 weeks in primary @ 16C - 18C and will probably leave in secondary for around 4 weeks.
S.G. 1102

Next plannned 2can...Cooper's Draught + Toohey's Real Ale + whatever else I have yet to decide on adding.

:icon_cheers:


----------



## Bribie G

maltaddict said:


> My first 2can was...(had only made about 2, maybe 3 brews previous)
> Cooper's Lager x 2
> LDM x 500g
> Cooper's BE1 x 1kg
> 
> ........
> Aged for 4 weeks, came out one very nice brew indeed...had a beautiful honey aftertaste. I would certainly do this one again as it gets closer to the warmer months.



Bought a heap of Coopers Lager cans on special last month because they make a good base for a kit&bits and did a straight toucan with two of them. Early on I tried a bottle and it reminded me of the UK superlagers such as Skol and Tennants. Now a month old, and it still echoes the superlagers and is quite strong in its own right. Absolutely brilliant brew with nice hop (bitter at the back of the throat like a superlager) and a nice colour. This, in a way, is a tick against Coopers because obviously if you put the ingredients in, you get a reasonable beer out. Put it another way, add a kilo of white sugar to one can and you would get the lowest common denominator brewing this kit. 

It would be great to see Coopers putting out some all-extract 3k kits like ESB but no doubt they wouldn't spend a squillion dollars constructing a new assembly line.


----------



## pablo_h

Mine turned out too bitter for my taste (dark ale x 2), I should have added malt or non fermentable sugars.

But coopers even have toucan recipes on their website for their lighter beers.

Strong Ale:
2 Traditional Draught
300g sugar/dextrose
Use an American Ale liquid yeast (WYEAST or Whitelabs) or both yeast sachets plus an active Coopers yeast culture.

Light German Bock:
2 x 1.7kg Coopers Bavarian Lager
2 x 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt


----------



## petesbrew

I gotta admit, I'm a bit over my toucan dark/stout kit now. Reckon I'll do 2x darks & replace the 500g brown sugar with choc malt next time.


----------



## seemax

Did my first twocan last night.

1 Coopers Lager
1 Homebrand Draught (they didn't have any lager)
200g Crystal Malt (steeped)
20min boil of Fuggles and PoR leftovers for aroma and maybe 4IBU
Nottingham yeast

The FG was a whopping 1062 at 22L so I diluted to about 25L.

Gone with the glad wrap on top method again in my lounge room (without heating) sitting at about 16C. 

I'll post back results in a few weeks.

Stef


----------



## Barley Belly

Thinkin of puttin down a BI-LO Homebrand Draught XMAS Toucan
Lookin' to do one totally sourced from BILO (have been doin all Morgans & Brewcraft kits and bits lately, sourced from my LHBS)
Wantin' a High Alc%, drinkable brew for Xmas, on the cheap

Possibly:-

2 Tins Home Brand Draught
1kg Honey
1kg Dex
Maybe some LDME
Probably the 2 kit yeasts or could use yeast cake off Morgan's Royal Oak Amber Ale in primary now


Just thought I'd put it out there for some thoughts, as I haven't attempted a toucan before and haven't used honey.


----------



## MitchDudarko

I'm probably going to try my first toucan this weekend. Im thinking either:
1 x Lager
1 x Draught (both probably coopers)
500g LDME
OR
1 x Dark Ale
1 x Pale Ale (both possibly coopers also)
500g DDME

As I don't really have access to hops or specialty grains here in Kal, I'll probably just go without. 
What do you guys think?

Cheers 
Mitch


----------



## Tanga

Pandreas said:


> ... tastes alright! I prefer a black'n'tan though!



So do I. So my next brew is going to be a Coopers Lager and Tooheys Dark Toucan. I'm not sure if it'll be too bitter though, should I boil the lager for longer? It's my first ever toucan, so I have NFI. I'm doing these two because they are what I have, and the yeast was missing in the Dark when I bought it .



Pandreas said:


> Yet another vote for the Coopers stout & Coopers dark ale toucan combo!!



Will have to talk my brother into doing one of these. He loves the darks and it sounds awesome!


----------



## Interloper

Tanga said:


> So do I. So my next brew is going to be a Coopers Lager and Tooheys Dark Toucan. I'm not sure if it'll be too bitter though, should I boil the lager for longer? It's my first ever toucan, so I have NFI. I'm doing these two because they are what I have, and the yeast was missing in the Dark when I bought it  .
> 
> Will have to talk my brother into doing one of these. He loves the darks and it sounds awesome!



Tanga you can throw some LDME in to add some sweetness back into the mix to balance the hoppy bitterness of a 2can, but that ups the alc content. I'd never add any extra hops to a 2can...

It WILL be bitter without a little malt, but age will mellow that bad boy out nicely. (months in the bottle, not weeks so next winter you will have a killer brew)


----------



## Peaka

I've read through the Coopers Stout Toucan posts for this topic and I still can't decide what to do with my toucan of Coopers Stout that I got tonight so I have a few questions.
Should I use no Malt, or Malt with Liquorice extract and fuggles hops? Dextrose maybe? 
Whats the best yeast to use?
Would I need to wait at least a couple months before cracking one open?


----------



## Interloper

a 2c with added hops is brave - it will be very bitter anyway. You may only want hops as a flavour, not a bittering agent, so a late addition might be the way to go.

I like me fuggles, 'specially in stouts - some find them too grassy as a flavouring agent though.


----------



## Peaka

I think I need to read up more on using hops because I normally just get those hop in a bag thingy's that you leave in hot water for 10 mins and then add to the fermenter. That process probably only adds bitterness correct?


----------



## Interloper

Peaka said:


> I think I need to read up more on using hops because I normally just get those hop in a bag thingy's that you leave in hot water for 10 mins and then add to the fermenter. That process probably only adds bitterness correct?



I'd say that's probably more flavour than bittering, but I don't use the hops in a tea bag myself. 

Boiling hop flowers or pellets is usually done for 35 mins+ for bitterness and 5-10 for flavouring. (pellets is what I use mostly)

Then there's "dry hopping" where you chuck the hops in the fermenter with no boil, which adds pretty much zero bittering, but good flave, depending on your hop choice.


----------



## Bribie G

Peaka said:


> I think I need to read up more on using hops because I normally just get those hop in a bag thingy's that you leave in hot water for 10 mins and then add to the fermenter. That process probably only adds bitterness correct?



Dry hopping principally adds aroma, but to my taste it adds a certain amount of bitterness but not as much as boiling them. I did the following Coopers Stout Toucan on 1/9 and it was perfectly drinkable after a month. I still have 8 2L PET bottles and will be saving it for Christmas but will take a bottle to the Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers meeting in a couple of weeks.

2 tins Coopers Stout
1kg Light Dried Malt Extract
750g Dextrose

Nottingham Ale Yeast 

Dry hopped with about 25g Fuggles pellets after seven days, just chucked them into the fermenter.

All those extra sugars have nicely balanced out the bitterness, but it's a lethal Alcohol strength, at least 8%


----------



## petesbrew

Just tried my toucan dak/stout last night, A gap of a few months between tastes. 
I think it's about 6 months old now, and it's really smoothed out beautifully.

Peaka, in a toucan, I'd probably use no more than a teabag, as they're pretty bitter (especially the stouts) however the teabag will mainly add flavour & aroma.


----------



## Peaka

Ahh cool thanks Interloper.
I think I may just not use any hops this time around and maybe 500g of powdered malt. That should give it a nice head hopefully. Now with yeasts, should I keep the 2 Coopers Stout yeasts in the fridge for another time and use 1 of a different kind or will it need 2?


----------



## Peaka

Thanks for everyones help


----------



## Interloper

BribieG said:


> Dry hopping principally adds aroma, but to my taste it adds a certain amount of bitterness but not as much as boiling them. I did the following Coopers Stout Toucan on 1/9 and it was perfectly drinkable after a month. I still have 8 2L PET bottles and will be saving it for Christmas but will take a bottle to the Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers meeting in a couple of weeks.
> 
> 2 tins Coopers Stout
> 1kg Light Dried Malt Extract
> 750g Dextrose
> 
> Nottingham Ale Yeast
> 
> Dry hopped with about 25g Fuggles pellets after seven days, just chucked them into the fermenter.
> 
> All those extra sugars have nicely balanced out the bitterness, but it's a lethal Alcohol strength, at least 8%



mmmmm sounds like my kind of brew. Love the Nottingham, love the fuggs and DAMN that's a lot of sugars!



petesbrew said:


> Just tried my toucan dak/stout last night, A gap of a few months between tastes.
> I think it's about 6 months old now, and it's really smoothed out beautifully.



:icon_drool2: 
:icon_drool2: 
stop it these pretzels are making me thirsty! 6 month old 2c of dark ale/stout?... delish!


----------



## Interloper

Peaka said:


> Ahh cool thanks Interloper.
> I think I may just not use any hops this time around and maybe 500g of powdered malt. That should give it a nice head hopefully. Now with yeasts, should I keep the 2 Coopers Stout yeasts in the fridge for another time and use 1 of a different kind or will it need 2?



as others have said you couldn't miss with the Nottingham Ale Yeast, all LHBS stock it. One pack should chew through your fermentables no probs.

I use it heaps in ales and stouts, but others can probably suggest something on par?


----------



## petesbrew

Interloper said:


> as others have said you couldn't miss with the Nottingham Ale Yeast, all LHBS stock it. One pack should chew through your fermentables no probs.
> 
> I use it heaps in ales and stouts, but others can probably suggest something on par?


Has anyone tried it with US-56?


----------



## Barge

I put down a twocan pilsener in June that has come up a treat. I used two coopers euro lagers and 250g each of LDME and Dex. 30g of Hallertauer at 15min and flameout. Fermented with S-189. Lagered (or rather stored at ambient) for 16 weeks. Came out at 41 IBU's. I was aiming for something like Bitburger. The bitterness is there but the colour is much darker, more like a bo-pils. Still good for a quick cheap brew, though.


----------



## Peaka

Today I bought 500g of Dark Unhopped Spraymalt for my toucan but I think I bought the wrong yeast. My local didn't have Nottinghams so I got Saflager S-23.
Would this still be ok for this brew or should I just use the 2 yeasts from the Stout cans?


----------



## barfridge

Peaka said:


> Today I bought 500g of Dark Unhopped Spraymalt for my toucan but I think I bought the wrong yeast. My local didn't have Nottinghams so I got Saflager S-23.
> Would this still be ok for this brew or should I just use the 2 yeasts from the Stout cans?


Unless you have temperature control and can brew at 10-14 degrees with your lager yeast, I'd go with the can yeast.

But in reality alsmot any ale yeast is better than what you get with the can. Personally I'f be buying a couple of bottles of coopers and reculturing that yeast


----------



## quantocks

just kegged and tasted my first two-can coopers lager. Must say, not overly impressed with the flavour of the beer. I thought it was going to be a bit VBish, but it's fairly average.

could be the kit yeasts i've been using. Just ordered some decent yeast. Will try again soon.


----------



## chug!chug!

Im drinking the toucan lager atm following bribies enthusiasm....added 200g of wheat malt...has good mouthfeel, the bitterness
does remind me of VB. Going to up the bitterness with a toucan bitter and real ale+ malt + dry hops + nottingham....
should stumble on something good + easy + cheapish.....Cheers Bribie! :beer:


----------



## quantocks

alright, I must admit, while it's still very cloudy and it's been in the keg warm for a week and chilled at 2 degrees for 3 days now, I'm pissed off 3 schooners of twocan coopers lager. I made it up to 17L that could be my problem.


----------



## Fermented

I bottled a Coopers Real Ale toucan about a week ago just as a 'look see' to understand toucans. 

It's somewhat reminiscent of a lightish porter (think of a lighter colour and mouthfeel version of Nelsons Blood porter, but lacking the burnt aftertaste). Doesn't appear to be carbing up much (6g dex/750), but it's tasty as an evening quaffer.

Only mistake on this one was tossing in two yeasts. The airlock didn't need water - it was ejecting foam for a couple of days straight.

Cheers - Fermented.


----------



## petesbrew

Fermented said:


> Only mistake on this one was tossing in two yeasts. The airlock didn't need water - it was ejecting foam for a couple of days straight.



Yep, they'll do that to you!
Sounds like a good drop.


----------



## Bizier

I had a glass of what I called "The Fugly Stick".

Coopers Stout
Coopers Dark
42g Fuggles @15 mins (all I had at the time)

Is a horrid thing cold, but is actually very nice and surprisingly complex when about 15 deg C - but I can only drink about 1 per steak, not a quaffer.

ED: made in late June this year, only drinkable now IMO


----------



## jarryd

Was thinking of doing something similar to the toucan in the above post, i'm thinking

Coopers Stout
Coopers Dark
500gm brown sugar
10gm Fuggles.

Thoughts? Maybe chuck the fuggles up to 15gm?


----------



## mwd

jarryd said:


> Was thinking of doing something similar to the toucan in the above post, i'm thinking
> 
> Coopers Stout
> Coopers Dark
> 500gm brown sugar
> 10gm Fuggles.
> 
> Thoughts? Maybe chuck the fuggles up to 15gm?



I doubt that you will get much from just 15g of fuggles. The 2 can is fairly bitter to start with and strong in flavours.
I did the same with 500g of CSR Treacle instead of sugar + about 400g ( what I had left) of DME. No extra hops.

It is a potent heavy stout still young at about 3 months. To be drunk in small quantities only. Goes very well with a fresh sweet mango for dessert.


----------



## jarryd

Tropical_Brews said:


> I doubt that you will get much from just 15g of fuggles. The 2 can is fairly bitter to start with and strong in flavours.
> I did the same with 500g of CSR Treacle instead of sugar + about 400g ( what I had left) of DME. No extra hops.
> 
> It is a potent heavy stout still young at about 3 months. To be drunk in small quantities only. Goes very well with a fresh sweet mango for dessert.


Oh my that sound's delicious!
Ive had two fermentors on the go for a few months now so i have plenty of stock and don't intend on drinking the stout for at least 6months.
I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to hops, how much fuggles would you suggest?


----------



## mwd

I am no expert on hopping for stouts but would think a minimum of 25g pellets dry hopped for aroma or steeped for about 15 minutes in boiling water for some flavour additions without adding to the bitterness.

Check Bribies post one page back for dry hopping on Coopers 2 can stout.

The treacle adds a slight but subtle molasses flavour without being overpowering.


----------



## Fermented

petesbrew said:


> Yep, they'll do that to you!
> Sounds like a good drop.


I would have liked more mouthfeel and more head. The head was almost non-existant and it felt a little thin to me. 

Also, I would have liked a little of that 'burnt' taste that Nelson's Blood has. Not as much as the original as I feel it's a distraction from rest of the flavours and aromas.

Any hints on how to make those improvements?

Cheers - Fermented.


----------



## Philthy79

Hey guys, 

Just put my first toucan in last night, a very quick last minute cheapie after stopping by the supermarket on the way home, and using what I had at home:

Wanders Munich Lager and a Coopers Lager
500gm Wheat Malt
US-05 yeast
Czech Saaz @ 15 mins

Hopefully ready to be kegged for a party next Saturday.... (and hopefully enough time to add some finings)

Should i dry hop the keg, or just let it be??? :huh: 
..... which poses another question, can I add finings AND dry hop the keg??  

Phil


----------



## Beer&Kebab

Fermented said:


> I would have liked more mouthfeel and more head. The head was almost non-existant and it felt a little thin to me.
> 
> Also, I would have liked a little of that 'burnt' taste that Nelson's Blood has. Not as much as the original as I feel it's a distraction from rest of the flavours and aromas.
> 
> Any hints on how to make those improvements?
> 
> Cheers - Fermented.




The mouthfeel and head should improve with more time that a week in the bottle.. I like to steep 150g of dark or choc grain into stouts and dark ales.. Lovely roasted flavours.. Cold steeping works well and is very easy..


----------



## Fermented

Thanks B&K! Will give it a shot... am planning to do that one again in a couple of days so will try that suggestion then.

Cheers - Fermented.


----------



## mfdu

i just dropped my first toucan too.

coopers lager + cascade lager, courtesy of the old fella across the road. they were best before date 10/07, but i figured i'd give it a go. but of course i ditched the yeast. 
not pitched. ditched.

so i used nottingham yeast (rehydrated according to the packet). damn it smelt good. so much better than the kit shit.

done to 23 litres.

forgot to take an OG before i put yeast in, so the goop in the tap brought OG to 1074 (!!!!) and i didn't want to get with the shaky shaky because i'd put the yeast in . . .
i'll see how gravity is this eve, once it's had 24 hours.

started at 20degrees. brought down to 16degrees overnight and maintaining at that temp.

+ve pressure in the airlock.

i'll be dryhopping with Galaxy in my brand new hop bag.

i'd heard folks say the cascade lager suck arse, so i thought this was a good way to get rid of the tin.


m'k.


----------



## Interloper

Philthy79 said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> Just put my first toucan in last night, a very quick last minute cheapie after stopping by the supermarket on the way home, and using what I had at home:
> 
> Wanders Munich Lager and a Coopers Lager
> 500gm Wheat Malt
> US-05 yeast
> Czech Saaz @ 15 mins
> 
> Hopefully ready to be kegged for a party next Saturday.... (and hopefully enough time to add some finings)
> Phil


So 8 days old for drinking? Pushing it my man...pushing it..... That will be a very green beer. I think as you taste it that early you'll be saying "yep that's young".

14 days minimum surely?


----------



## 0M39A

lol, i just started making a twocan actually. feeling lazy, so a quick bottle filler 

2 x farmland draught kits ($8 each, lol)
150g medium crystal
50g carapils
500g light dried malt extract
500g dextrose

25g nelson sauvin @ 20min
25g nelson sauvin @ flameout

1056 yeast @ 18C


----------



## LightLager

Noob question(s)...

What is the purpose of a "two-can"? Does it increase the body of the beer? Finally do you still make it up to 23L of wort?

Cheers...


----------



## Fermented

A toucan is basically the same as using a can of goo (the extract) and a can of unhopped liquid malt, with the only exception that it is hopped.

In other words twice the flavour of a normal K&K.

Depending on your taste or what your intended result will be, choose your ingredients, make it up to 23l or more or less as you desire, and off you go. Pure beery goodness in a week or less.

I did a Coopers Real Ale Toucan. Came out like a mild porter. Not much head if you pour it in the same manner as megaswill, but if you use a little technique, then it has quite a decent head on it.

Lotsaluck! 

Cheers - Fermented.


----------



## Philthy79

Interloper said:


> So 8 days old for drinking? Pushing it my man...pushing it..... That will be a very green beer. I think as you taste it that early you'll be saying "yep that's young".
> 
> 14 days minimum surely?



Yeah, I think i will be pushing it..... decided it may the the emergency, emergency backup if i run out of the other kegs...... :blink: 

Cheers, 

Phil


----------



## DR.RELAX

fairly new to brewing but learning a lot thanks to this forum..my daily read..
have an "almost toucan" in the fermenter at th mo..

can coopers lager
1/2 can homebrand lager
1kg amber dry malt
juice of 2 oranges
goldings teabag in boil for 30 mins
steeped 100g crystal grain
boiled the whole thing for bout an hour,pitched recultured coopers pale ale yeast at bout 25C,had it in the primary for 10 days at 18 to 20C,tasted it yesterday and its coming along very nicely indeed,kinda like a coopers sparkling but a bit fruitier.was going to leave it in the primary for a few more days then cc for a week (holiday 2 perth) pull it out and dry hop with cascade for a week or 2 then bottle.

any suggestions/airing of grievances??


----------



## PostModern

DR.RELAX said:


> any suggestions/airing of grievances??



Yeah. One question:

Why this????



DR.RELAX said:


> juice of 2 oranges


 
Why?


----------



## Fermented

I'm going to guess that, depending on the oranges, it will deliver a little sourness / tartness to the flavour, just for interest's sake. 

Cheers - Fermented.


----------



## petesbrew

That recipe sounds like it's got a bit of everything! 
I reckon I would've left out the cascade myself, but please post tasting notes, dr.relax.


----------



## quantocks

I just knocked together whatever I had laying around in the house:

1x Coopers Lager
1x Coopers Blonde
1x 1KG dextrose
2x kit yeasts

It's almost finished after only 3 days, not even sure what it will taste like


----------



## Fermented

Did your airlock spew in yesterday's heat?

Cheers - Fermented.


----------



## DR.RELAX

PostModern said:


> Yeah. One question:
> 
> Why this????
> 
> 
> 
> Why?



i read it in one of the extract recipes but i think it was for a lager recipe.i cant really taste any orange flavour at the moment (primary) but i suppose time will tell..im very much in experimental mode with my brewing as im new to it but so far its the best tasting one yet.

my first was a coopers real ale with the can yeast and 1kg of dex which im drinking at the moment which is average but drinkable,
and a coopers pale ale which ive just bottled(recultured cpa yeast) which i probably brewed at too high a temp ,(approx 25C) and tasted a bit sour on bottling.had it in the fridge for a week before bottling.


----------



## DR.RELAX

> can coopers lager
> 1/2 can homebrand lager
> 1kg amber dry malt
> juice of 2 oranges
> goldings teabag in boil for 30 mins
> steeped 100g crystal grain
> boiled the whole thing for bout an hour,pitched recultured coopers pale ale yeast at bout 25C,had it in the primary for 10 days at 18 to 20C,tasted it yesterday and its coming along very nicely indeed,kinda like a coopers sparkling but a bit fruitier.was going to leave it in the primary for a few more days then cc for a week (holiday 2 perth) pull it out and dry hop with cascade for a week or 2 then bottle.



just thought i'd post on how this turned out.it been in bottles for about 6 weeks now and turned out really nice,somewhere between a coopers sparkling and a tooheys old i suppose.cant taste any of the orange in there tho it was quite bitter up until about a month in bottles.i didnt end up using the cascade, dry hopped with amarillo at 11 days,fining with gelatine and bottled .best brew yet.

just bottled a cpa/canadian blonde toucan i did with couple of caps styrian goldings(no scales,approx 15g)at 10 mins and 100g of steeped pale crystal,then dry hopped with cascade teabag at 11 days,bottled at 15 days,very fruity smelling,tasted a bit like a little creatures PA. used wlp001 yeast.

cant wait til its done,smells fantastic!


----------



## petesbrew

DR.RELAX said:


> just thought i'd post on how this turned out.it been in bottles for about 6 weeks now and turned out really nice,somewhere between a coopers sparkling and a tooheys old i suppose.cant taste any of the orange in there tho it was quite bitter up until about a month in bottles.i didnt end up using the cascade, dry hopped with amarillo at 11 days,fining with gelatine and bottled .best brew yet.
> 
> just bottled a cpa/canadian blonde toucan i did with couple of caps styrian goldings(no scales,approx 15g)at 10 mins and 100g of steeped pale crystal,then dry hopped with cascade teabag at 11 days,bottled at 15 days,very fruity smelling,tasted a bit like a little creatures PA. used wlp001 yeast.
> 
> cant wait til its done,smells fantastic!



That orange one Sounds like a nice beer.
The cpa/blonde one sounds promising from the recipe.


----------



## Interloper

I threw down a cheapy last year of farmland draft ($7) and coopers real ale ($11) and after a month with was way hoppy and bitter - almost too bitter.

Now, 7 months on it is still bitter but much smoooooother and great body and head. Absolute ripper.

I reckon a pinch of malt might have softened the iso-hop flavour off sooner but at .80cents a litre it was worth the wait. My mates dig the flavour, it's a good quaffer drunk nice and cold with some salty snacks or deep fried food as it cuts right through the fat/salt beautifully.

Kind of reminds me of a Yorkshire Bitter I had ages ago (the name of which escapes me and I can't be bothered googling).

I love the supermarket challenge - keep the TwoCans coming.


----------



## reformed99

Did a toucan of coopers lager with us-05. Tastes disgusting after 4 weeks, I think it might be infected.


----------



## chappo1970

reformed99 said:


> Did a toucan of coopers lager with us-05. Tastes disgusting after 4 weeks, I think it might be infected.



Can you describe the taste. Also the recipe you used would be good, you know the ingredients you used. It will help to find the culprit...

Cheers

Chappo


----------



## DR.RELAX

im thinking of doing a toucan with yeast reculturd from a chimay blue,mainly just to get up a good amount of yeast for a chimay blue clone im planning on doing,has anyone ever attempted this before?any suggestions on what cans to use?might chuck in some home made candi sugar too.


----------



## reformed99

Chappo said:


> Can you describe the taste. Also the recipe you used would be good, you know the ingredients you used. It will help to find the culprit...
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Chappo



Recipe was just the two tins of coopers original lager and the us-05 yeast.
I'm not very good at describing flavours but its a really harsh bitterness, almost acidic.


----------



## Stagwa

Im interested in trying this Toucan from Coopers website but the Bavarian Lager kit has been discontinued. Which kit would be a good substitute? Has anyone tried this Bok?



Light German Bok:

2 X 1.7kg Coopers Bavarian Lager

2 X 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt

Nothing else!


----------



## dover1123

Looking at doing my first toucan over the weekend.

Thinking of 2 x coopers pale ale cans in 23L.

Best to use CPA yeast from a six pack, or provided yeast?

Any idea how bitter it will be at the end?

Cheers


----------



## pdilley

Dover said:


> Looking at doing my first toucan over the weekend.
> 
> Any idea how bitter it will be at the end?
> 
> Cheers



Its easy. If one can has x amount of hop oils for bittering, using two cans will give you a finished beer twice as bitter as you would have gotten if you only used the one can. If you are happy with the bittering as is with one can make the second can a plain liquid malt extract with no bittering or better yet use DME. Liquid malt is the worst for stability over time as they stale faster on the shelf than in dry form.


----------



## pdilley

My last? toucan camr out rather well but was a bit ruined by bulk priming method. I think I am with BribieG when saying bulk priming probably is not for me. I tried because it promised more consistent results.

Was a Tooheys Draught + Dark LiquidME (Coopers I believe)
8g S-04 yeast
+ less than 18% fermentables bill in sugar

fermented using evap cooling technique.

priming was more inconsistent than per bottle priming using bulk priming method. It was a struggle between oxygenation through agressive stirring mixation of the primin mix. I did the racking whirlpool flow plus light paddle stirring. This was not enough. Ended up way inconsistent, some bottles over primed resulting in fruity sweet off flavours and very high carbonation, large bubbles, soda drink style big fizz and quick bubble dissapation with no head and carbonation burn to the flavours to the other end of the spectrum with bottles from the end of bottling bucket session getting light carbonation, lovely flavour, tiny bubbles, thick creamy foamy head, no off flavours.

Not saying the method is rubbish just that I get better results personally when Im no using it.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## ollave

DK said:


> Ok, I kegged my very first toucan on Sunday and tasted it last night, now I was not expecting big things, it was a bit of a "throw in what I have lying around" sort of brew.
> Fermented in primary for 6 weeks cause I forgot about it, transferred to cube and kept at 4oC for 9 weeks cause baby came along and I had no time to do anything!.......... but oh my god this is a top drop, can't wait to get home to have some more tonight!
> 
> 2 X Tooheys Classic Dark Ale (1 in boil for 60min, the other added at 5 min)
> 500g dark brown sugar
> 30g Perle @ 30 min
> 15g Cascade @ 5 min
> S-04
> 
> Cheers
> DK


(Yes, replying to an old post, but it looks like the right thread ...)

Two comments:

First, I've tried something like this but without the extra hops and (BIG MISTAKE) using the kit yeast: blah. Lacked flavour, and didn't attenuate well. Then I added to the problems choosing low-ish carbonation, and the result was ... blah. Good news: it certainly wasn't too bitter. Pity it was thin and lacking in flavour. :angry: (I am working my way through it mixing it with an unexceptional pale ale, as "black and tan". Live and learn.)

Second: As I (unfortunately? -- they were on clearance) have two more of these cans, I'll give 'em another whirl, this time with additional hops (maybe only Cascade, as I have no Perle currently) and perhaps with LDME instead of brown sugar ... I have both, so that decision can wait. Comments welcome of course!

I will CERTAINLY not use the kit yeast and will use something better; either S-04 or perhaps Nottingham, as I have some Nottingham close to its use-by date and it's supposed to work at a bit lower temperature than S-04, which would be useful at this time of year.


----------



## petesbrew

ollave said:


> (Yes, replying to an old post, but it looks like the right thread ...)
> 
> Two comments:
> 
> First, I've tried something like this but without the extra hops and (BIG MISTAKE) using the kit yeast: blah. Lacked flavour, and didn't attenuate well. Then I added to the problems choosing low-ish carbonation, and the result was ... blah. Good news: it certainly wasn't too bitter. Pity it was thin and lacking in flavour. :angry: (I am working my way through it mixing it with an unexceptional pale ale, as "black and tan". Live and learn.)
> 
> Second: As I (unfortunately? -- they were on clearance) have two more of these cans, I'll give 'em another whirl, this time with additional hops (maybe only Cascade, as I have no Perle currently) and perhaps with LDME instead of brown sugar ... I have both, so that decision can wait. Comments welcome of course!
> 
> I will CERTAINLY not use the kit yeast and will use something better; either S-04 or perhaps Nottingham, as I have some Nottingham close to its use-by date and it's supposed to work at a bit lower temperature than S-04, which would be useful at this time of year.



I reckon steep 200g choc malt and add to the next kit. It should lift it up a bit. And replace the cascade with fuggles or goldings.


----------



## ollave

petesbrew said:


> I reckon steep 200g choc malt and add to the next kit. It should lift it up a bit. And replace the cascade with fuggles or goldings.


Thanks -- wonder if DK used Cascade 'cos it was available, or as a specific choice? I shall use fuggles or goldings, and see about sourcing some choc malt.


----------



## Bribie G

I've made a couple of Coopers Lager toucans earlier on in my career and found they were a nice drop and certainly not too bitter. The disadvantage of the original series Coopers kits is that they come with a cheapy ale yeast and a better yeast would certainly be the go, even subbing a basic lager yeast like Mauri / Morgans lager would help if you don't want to pay for a Saflager.


----------



## reformed99

BribieG said:


> I've made a couple of Coopers Lager toucans earlier on in my career and found they were a nice drop and certainly not too bitter.




What yeast did you use? I tried a Coopers Lager toucan with US-05 and after a month I found the isohop bitterness very harsh. Settled down with time but I think using S-04 or nottingham would be a better bet.


----------



## theMISSIONARY

Stagwa said:


> Im interested in trying this Toucan from Coopers website but the Bavarian Lager kit has been discontinued. Which kit would be a good substitute? Has anyone tried this Bok?
> 
> 
> 
> Light German Bok:
> 
> 2 X 1.7kg Coopers Bavarian Lager
> 
> 2 X 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt
> 
> Nothing else!



If you cant get the Coopers Bavarian lager try a Black rock Bock x2 that should knock your socks off  

i tend to use a dark malt with bock or a 50/50 mix of light an dark but that's just me


----------



## bradsbrew

Picked up a couple of cans for 5 bucks(out of date) a pop so I thought I'd take them home tip them in the fermenter in be done in 10min max. But that plan went out the window on the way home and ended taking about 2hrs but still good for under 20 bucks for 25L including yeast.

Muntons Irish Stout

Muntons Midland Mild

100g Roasted Barley

150g Choc malt

250g carared
15g EKG 15min
15g EKG 0min
5g POR 0min
30g Styrian G 0min
S04

Cheers Brad


----------



## Bribie G

reformed99 said:


> What yeast did you use? I tried a Coopers Lager toucan with US-05 and after a month I found the isohop bitterness very harsh. Settled down with time but I think using S-04 or nottingham would be a better bet.


At that time I just used a single Coopers kit yeast, frothed all over the place. I'm not a real fan of bitter beers and it didn't strike me as over the top. I think as well it depends on the age of the can, some old stock can get a harsh metallic twang as well, I usually tried to get my cans from a fast moving outlet like a larger BigW etc.


----------



## DR.RELAX

ive made a cpa/canadian blonde a few times with some carapils/crystal and cascade late hopping and theyve turned out very drinkable tho can be a bit bitter early on.pretty good after 2 months. my mates seem to like this one and its quick.might try it with a couple of farmland cans for comparison.


----------



## brettprevans

bradsbrew said:


> Picked up a couple of cans for 5 bucks(out of date) a pop so I thought I'd take them home tip them in the fermenter in be done in 10min max. But that plan went out the window on the way home and ended taking about 2hrs but still good for under 20 bucks for 25L including yeast.
> 
> Muntons Irish Stout
> 
> Muntons Midland Mild
> 
> 100g Roasted Barley
> 
> 150g Choc malt
> 
> 250g carared
> 15g EKG 15min
> 15g EKG 0min
> 5g POR 0min
> 30g Styrian G 0min
> S04
> 
> Cheers Brad


good looking brew brad. esp when muntons cans r $5 each. good thinking on your recipe.


----------



## lczaban

DR.RELAX said:


> im thinking of doing a toucan with yeast reculturd from a chimay blue,mainly just to get up a good amount of yeast for a chimay blue clone im planning on doing,has anyone ever attempted this before?any suggestions on what cans to use?might chuck in some home made candi sugar too.



I know this is a while ago now Dr Relax, but I have done a toucan of the following:


2X Coopers Lager Cans
900g LDME
1 sachet Fermentis T-58 yeast
I posted a thread asking for peoples opinions before trying this recipe, and the general consensus was that the IBU rating for the two lits would be too much for a Belgian style beer. I did it anyway, using IanH's Excel kit spreadsheet (BTW - bloody nice work Ian! :beerbang: ) to help me balance out the bitterness by adding an appropriate amount of LDME. The result is a 7% ABV Belgain blonde monster! The bitterness is a little bit higher than what you might expect for a Belgian, but I think that it helps keep the beer balanced rather than being this big, sweet, phenolic, alcoholic beast. It's not a session beer, but I think that for the amount of effort that goes into it the results are more than worthwhile. The guys I have shown this beer to agree as well. :icon_drunk: 

My 2c :icon_cheers:


----------



## brettprevans

and yes you can reculture chimay yeast. works well.


----------



## bradsbrew

GravityGuru said:


> I know this is a while ago now Dr Relax, but I have done a toucan of the following:
> 
> 
> 2X Coopers Lager Cans
> 900g LDME
> 1 sachet Fermentis T-58 yeast
> I posted a thread asking for peoples opinions before trying this recipe, and the general consensus was that the IBU rating for the two lits would be too much for a Belgian style beer. I did it anyway, using IanH's Excel kit spreadsheet (BTW - bloody nice work Ian! :beerbang: ) to help me balance out the bitterness by adding an appropriate amount of LDME. The result is a 7% ABV Belgain blonde monster! The bitterness is a little bit higher than what you might expect for a Belgian, but I think that it helps keep the beer balanced rather than being this big, sweet, phenolic, alcoholic beast. It's not a session beer, but I think that for the amount of effort that goes into it the results are more than worthwhile. The guys I have shown this beer to agree as well. :icon_drunk:
> 
> My 2c :icon_cheers:



+1 on that GG unbelievable flavours on that one, absolutely awesome 2can recipe


----------



## bradsbrew

citymorgue2 said:


> good looking brew brad. esp when muntons cans r $5 each. good thinking on your recipe.



Yep awesome value brew. Thought adding the extras would freshen up the cans a bit. Best thing is I wacked it in the fermenting fridge before flying out for work and it should be ready for kegging when I get back on Saturday. Missed my daily krausen checks though.

Brad


----------



## Philthy79

The missus picked me up some $7 cans on Saturday (and both exp 2011!), and i'm thinking of doing the favoured Stout/Dark Ale Toucan tonight, using what i have in the cupboard/fridge.

1 Coopers Stout
1 Coopers Dark Ale
500gm Dark Malt (dry)
Choc Malt (Steeped)
US-04 Yeast

Not sure how much Choc Malt to steep, am thinking 150gms. Any idea's preferences etc.? I'm wanting to get something like a Guinness Extra Stout/Swan Stout/Coopers Stout - 6.5%


----------



## WarmBeer

Philthy79 said:


> Not sure how much Choc Malt to steep, am thinking 150gms. Any idea's preferences etc.? I'm wanting to get something like a Guinness Extra Stout/Swan Stout/Coopers Stout - 6.5%



No point going for only 150gms of Choc, you won't be able to notice it amongst the strong flavours from the Two Cans. Up it to at least 250 - 300 gms, plus maybe another 100gm Black Malt or Roasted Barley for that stout "burnt coffee" taste.

Yup, I'm salivating at the thought... :icon_drool2:


----------



## mfdu

wipe your chin, dude.


----------



## silas

Hi all
Am gonna try my first toucan soon and bought 2 cans of homebrand lager and am gonna throw in some bannanas that i have in the freezer (2 or 3). I reaslise this wont be great beer but it is more of sn experiment to see how cheap i can make ok beer and to try adding a bannana flavour as have tried Well Banana Bread Bitter and really liked it and reading the thread on Banana beer got me interested.
I was wondering if it would be a good idea to use some of the yeast cake i will have after my currnet brew is finished (esb 3kg bavarian wheat with wb06) or just pitch both packet yeasts. I would also like to hear cheap ideas for this brew if anyone has any am tryin to keep it under $20.
Cheers 
Silas


----------



## manticle

Something in me shudders at the thought of two cans of homebrand but it's your beer. The ESB yeast slurry will be much better quality though.


----------



## silas

Just an experiment really havn't been brewing long this will be my 6th brew. and first try with bananas


----------



## manticle

Mate go for it. Don't be put off by my expression of an internal shudder - experimentation in your own beer is a good thing.

You can also get banana flavours from certain yeasts at certain temperatures so something to keep in mind for future brews.


----------



## silas

Cheers will let people know how it turns out.


----------



## manticle

The wheat yeast from the ESB might give you some banana notes too.


----------



## DR.RELAX

> QUOTE (DR.RELAX @ Feb 19 2009, 08:39 PM) *
> im thinking of doing a toucan with yeast reculturd from a chimay blue,mainly just to get up a good amount of yeast for a chimay blue clone im planning on doing,has anyone ever attempted this before?any suggestions on what cans to use?might chuck in some home made candi sugar too.
> 
> 
> I know this is a while ago now Dr Relax, but I have done a toucan of the following:
> 
> * 2X Coopers Lager Cans
> * 900g LDME
> * 1 sachet Fermentis T-58 yeast
> 
> I posted a thread asking for peoples opinions before trying this recipe, and the general consensus was that the IBU rating for the two lits would be too much for a Belgian style beer. I did it anyway, using IanH's Excel kit spreadsheet (BTW - bloody nice work Ian! beerbang.gif ) to help me balance out the bitterness by adding an appropriate amount of LDME. The result is a 7% ABV Belgain blonde monster! The bitterness is a little bit higher than what you might expect for a Belgian, but I think that it helps keep the beer balanced rather than being this big, sweet, phenolic, alcoholic beast. It's not a session beer, but I think that for the amount of effort that goes into it the results are more than worthwhile. The guys I have shown this beer to agree as well. icon_drunk.gif



i didnt end up doing this actually,instead i used a can of euro lager,1.1kg ldme,800g home made candi and 100g of cara aroma and crystal (each)as well as 10g of styrian @10 mins,made up to 16 litres.
turned out like sweet beer cordial concentrate mainly because the chimay culture i used didnt eat up all the sugars <_<though hopefully a few months in the bottl will fix that up a bit.
your recipe looks good so i might have to give that a try and give the t58 a go.
rob.


----------



## DR.RELAX

manticle said:


> The wheat yeast from the ESB might give you some banana notes too.


 :icon_offtopic: 
ive just made a couple of weizens with wb06 and i found that it wasnt very bananery.. a lot more clove even after i let it get up to 20-21C

rob


----------



## petesbrew

Been a while since the last toucan, so this is a good way to get rid of 2x 1/2 price cans
Didn't think too much on this recipe, I just went with the flow.
Just waiting for the temp to drop, and I'll pitch in the morning.

Tooheys Real Ale
Wanders Draught
500g LDME
30g Caramunich 1 (40min steep)
30g CaraAroma (40min steep)
40g Amber Malt (40min steep)
20g Cascade (40min steep)
10g Cascade @ 0min
WLP 029 German Ale/Kolsch
OG = 1060


----------



## manticle

DR.RELAX said:


> :icon_offtopic:
> ive just made a couple of weizens with wb06 and i found that it wasnt very bananery.. a lot more clove even after i let it get up to 20-21C
> 
> rob



It's that versus the homebrand kit yeast so I know where I'd be throwing my hat.


----------



## silas

manticle said:


> It's that versus the homebrand kit yeast so I know where I'd be throwing my hat.



Yeah i am definetely gonna use the yeast cake. I think the og will be about 1060 so i will need a fair bit yeah? i lokked at the mr malty page but i havnt seen the slurry as it is still under the beer.
cheers
Silas


----------



## manticle

silas said:


> Yeah i am definetely gonna use the yeast cake. I think the og will be about 1060 so i will need a fair bit yeah? i lokked at the mr malty page but i havnt seen the slurry as it is still under the beer.
> cheers
> Silas



After bottling, just brew the toucan on top of the yeast cake as soon as you can.

Put your cold water in first, then the hot mix with the goo. If you throw the hot goo in first you might kill the yeast.


----------



## silas

Cool cheers will do just that as will be bottling then putting a new brew in straight away. too easy
cheers
Silas


----------



## skurvy84

i'm looking at doing my first twocan and thought it would chuck it up for discussion.

im looking at a lager

1x Coopers lager (came with the kit)
1x Home brand lager
1kg of LDME
500g of of Dextrose
500g of dried corn syrup

12g of Hallertau hops steeped for 15 mins
and maybe dry hopping once primary has finished.

any changes recommened, as im a complete noob to this.


----------



## Interloper

skurvy84 said:


> i'm looking at doing my first twocan and thought it would chuck it up for discussion.
> 
> im looking at a lager
> 
> 1x Coopers lager (came with the kit)
> 1x Home brand lager
> 1kg of LDME
> 500g of of Dextrose
> 500g of dried corn syrup
> 
> 12g of Hallertau hops steeped for 15 mins
> and maybe dry hopping once primary has finished.
> 
> any changes recommened, as im a complete noob to this.



That is *over* 3kg of fermetable material ontop of the initial tin of goo, I reckon that's way too much. Why are you adding 1kg of LDME too? 

Ease up, add only 250gms of LDME tops, and then maybe don't dry hop.

A 2can will be very bitter so adding a little extra LDME will smooth that out nicely - but don't add a kilo of LDME, and a kilo of dex and corn syrup. It might be a high alc brew but I would think it would be pretty rough.

I would invest in a good strong yeast to go with that too. I don't really do lagers so I couldn't suggest a good one, someone will know though...


----------



## skurvy84

mainly because i had a guess. my other beers have been using the coopers enhancers and the brewcraft stuff. 

iw would this be better

1x Coopers lager (came with the kit)
1x Home brand lager
500g of LDME
250g of of Dextrose
250g maltodextrine
12g of Hallertau hops steeped for 15 mins

and 2x 11.5g SAFLAGER S-23
and maybe dry hopping once primary has finished.

like i said im a beginner and learning.


----------



## Interloper

skurvy84 said:


> mainly because i had a guess. my other beers have been using the coopers enhancers and the brewcraft stuff.
> 
> iw would this be better
> 
> 1x Coopers lager (came with the kit)
> 1x Home brand lager
> 500g of LDME
> 250g of of Dextrose
> 250g maltodextrine
> 12g of Hallertau hops steeped for 15 mins
> 
> and 2x 11.5g SAFLAGER S-23
> and maybe dry hopping once primary has finished.
> 
> like i said im a beginner and learning.



I still reckon you don't need either of the 250gm dextrose/maltodextrine additions.

Say a normal brew is 1 can of coopers goo and 1kg of fermentables (sugar, malt, Brew Enhancer 1 or 2 etc etc)

That will give you on average 5% or so of Alcohol.

If you add another can of goo for a toucan that pretty much replaces the need for the kg of fermentable material/sugars.

So normally you'd just open two tins of goo and whack 'em in the fermenter for a toucan brew.

You can improve that by maybe a hint of LDME to smooth of the isohop biterness that you get from two tins of goo (both your cans of extract are hopped, so that is a higher IBU than a tin of goo and fermentables).

But I wouldn't add that much extra dex. Even with two yeasts I'm thinking the flavour won't be greatly improved by the dex addtions.

Maybe dry hop is the way to go as it won't add too much bitterness, more aroma which is what you want.

I have a toucan stout aging at the moment and it's a cracker but it was:

1x Cooper Stout
1 x Coopers Dark
250 gms LDME
15gms fuggles at flame out.

It's a cracker, very heavy lots of mouth feel and not too bitter because of the LDME.

Previously as a benchmark I did a straight up Coopers Real Ale with a tin of homebrand draft and nothing else and it was hellishly bitter.

Took several months before it was drinkable and it's still getting better each month that it sits in the bottle. It's very dark/rust coloured and has a thick foamy head.

Cost was under $18 for 22L as the homebrand draft was on special.

Not my best ever brew but I do love the "supermarket challenge"!


----------



## skurvy84

thanks for the help, i'm beginning to understand what your saying, but its all very hard to understand being a noob.....and more into cars at this stage (lol) 

so revised brew 

1x Coopers lager (came with the kit)
1x Home brand lager
250g of LDME
12g of Hallertau hops steeped for 15 mins

and 2x 11.5g SAFLAGER S-23
and maybe dry hopping once primary has finished for aroma

will think about what to prime with but im leading towards dextroses.


----------



## Interloper

skurvy84 said:


> thanks for the help, i'm beginning to understand what your saying, but its all very hard to understand being a noob.....and more into cars at this stage (lol)
> 
> so revised brew
> 
> 1x Coopers lager (came with the kit)
> 1x Home brand lager
> 250g of LDME
> 12g of Hallertau hops steeped for 15 mins
> 
> and 2x 11.5g SAFLAGER S-23
> and maybe dry hopping once primary has finished for aroma
> 
> will think about what to prime with but im leading towards dextroses.



Yes, sounds more palatable. And you won't need two yeasts either, save yourself some cash there.

I always bulk prime with straight up table sugar dissolved in water. I've tried everything from table sugar, malts, dex, brown sugars etc etc and I can't pick a difference in the taste between priming sugars.

Bulk priming rules, you can use any size bottle from 330ml to 480ml Grolsh and not need to worry about measuring.

Here's the bulk prime calculator:
*http://www.geocities.com/lesjudith/Alcohol...Calculator.html*

Search the forums on bulk priming but I promise you once you bulk prime you'd never go back to teaspoons or carbonation drops.


----------



## ianh

skurvy84 said:


> mainly because i had a guess. my other beers have been using the coopers enhancers and the brewcraft stuff.
> 
> iw would this be better
> 
> 1x Coopers lager (came with the kit)
> 1x Home brand lager
> 500g of LDME
> 250g of of Dextrose
> 250g maltodextrine
> 12g of Hallertau hops steeped for 15 mins
> 
> and 2x 11.5g SAFLAGER S-23
> and maybe dry hopping once primary has finished.
> 
> like i said im a beginner and learning.



The recipe as listed will give you an OG of about 1062 giving 6% alc and 35-40 IBU.

Can I promote my spreadsheet Link to help you design kit & extract beers.

cheers

Ian


----------



## petesbrew

Interloper said:


> Yes, sounds more palatable. And you won't need two yeasts either, save yourself some cash there.
> 
> I always bulk prime with straight up table sugar dissolved in water. I've tried everything from table sugar, malts, dex, brown sugars etc etc and I can't pick a difference in the taste between priming sugars.
> 
> Bulk priming rules, you can use any size bottle from 330ml to 480ml Grolsh and not need to worry about measuring.
> 
> Here's the bulk prime calculator:
> *http://www.geocities.com/lesjudith/Alcohol...Calculator.html*
> 
> Search the forums on bulk priming but I promise you once you bulk prime you'd never go back to teaspoons or carbonation drops.


Thanks for that bulk priming calc, Interloper.
Just what i need!


----------



## Interloper

petesbrew said:


> Thanks for that bulk priming calc, Interloper.
> Just what i need!



No probs, whoever put that up there deserves a medal. I use it all the time to get my carb levels right for the style.


----------



## skurvy84

ianh said:


> The recipe as listed will give you an OG of about 1062 giving 6% alc and 35-40 IBU.
> 
> Can I promote my spreadsheet Link to help you design kit & extract beers.
> 
> cheers
> 
> Ian



with your amazing spreadsheet, is it as simple as just hitting "New Recipe" selecting what i want from the lists (ie kits, DME, grains, hops & boil times) and its as simple as that?

or is there more to it?


----------



## ianh

Should also add that the Spreadsheet has a bulk prime calculator.


----------



## Interloper

ianh said:


> Should also add that the Spreadsheet has a bulk prime calculator.



Just playing with that and the bulk priming calc seems a little on the low side? I was rushed, so I will have a more thorough look later.

Also am I just missing it or does it not provide an ABV%? Just high medium low guesstimates?

EDIT: Sorry should say thanks for the amazing details and effort you put into the spreadsheet - top job.


----------



## petesbrew

petesbrew said:


> Been a while since the last toucan, so this is a good way to get rid of 2x 1/2 price cans
> Didn't think too much on this recipe, I just went with the flow.
> Just waiting for the temp to drop, and I'll pitch in the morning.
> 
> Tooheys Real Ale
> Wanders Draught
> 500g LDME
> 30g Caramunich 1 (40min steep)
> 30g CaraAroma (40min steep)
> 40g Amber Malt (40min steep)
> 20g Cascade (40min steep)
> 10g Cascade @ 0min
> WLP 029 German Ale/Kolsch
> OG = 1060


I got a bit lazy with the kolsch yeast and just pitched it straight from the stubby. NOt suprisingly 4 days later it still hadn't done anything, so looking through my kit yeasts I found a morgans lager yeast. Perfect blend. 24hr later it was alive! ALIVE!
Tasted it last night... really nice!
Cheers to Joshhardie for naming rights after telling him the ingredients.... Frankenstein Brown Ale.


----------



## Bribie G

Morgans lager yeast is actually Mauribrew lager made here in sunny QLD and it's not actually a bad yeast. I've used it in a grain Classic Australian Lager and whilst it doesn't provide that subtle Euro lager sulphur component like w 34/70 or that bit of fruit like s-23 it's not to be sneezed at. And for 89 c a packet from the LHBS it's a bit cheaper than Wyeast


----------



## petesbrew

BribieG said:


> Morgans lager yeast is actually Mauribrew lager made here in sunny QLD and it's not actually a bad yeast. I've used it in a grain Classic Australian Lager and whilst it doesn't provide that subtle Euro lager sulphur component like w 34/70 or that bit of fruit like s-23 it's not to be sneezed at. And for 89 c a packet from the LHBS it's a bit cheaper than Wyeast


Cheers for the info Bribie.
Perfect temps in our garage too... roughly 15c during the day.


----------



## Nick JD

This one's great.

2 x 1.5kg Morgans Extra Pale Malt
350g Steeped Carapils
23g Southern Cross 60min
10g Southern Cross 20min
23g Southern Cross dry hopped on day 5
US-04 yeast @ 20C

Hops are boiled in the steeped liquor (5L). I get hints of jasmine in the SC hops. They are really a bittering hop, but Meh! to that.


----------



## petesbrew

Nick JD said:


> This one's great.
> 
> 2 x 1.5kg Morgans Extra Pale Malt
> 350g Steeped Carapils
> 23g Southern Cross 60min
> 10g Southern Cross 20min
> 23g Southern Cross dry hopped on day 5
> US-04 yeast @ 20C
> 
> Hops are boiled in the steeped liquor (5L). I get hints of jasmine in the SC hops. They are really a bittering hop, but Meh! to that.


Yeah, but it's an extract... not a true toucan, Nick. You gotta play by the rules here! :icon_chickcheers: 
Sounds good though.


----------



## ianh

Interloper said:


> Just playing with that and the bulk priming calc seems a little on the low side? I was rushed, so I will have a more thorough look later.
> 
> Also am I just missing it or does it not provide an ABV%? Just high medium low guesstimates?
> 
> EDIT: Sorry should say thanks for the amazing details and effort you put into the spreadsheet - top job.




The sucrose was a little low in the previous version but should now be correct in version 2.0 uploaded yesterday.

Provides % abv and the high, good and low basically just tells you how the recipe compares with the BJCP guidelines. I do a lot of my recipes mid strength so I tend to be on the low side for most styles.


----------



## Ivan Other One

Was looking at putting this down,

1 x can Coopers Canadian Blone 
1 x Can Coopers bitter
250g dried corn syrup
Nothing else

Thinking that this may or may not be too bitter

Any suggestions on addiing malt to counteract bitterness????


----------



## Interloper

Ivan Other One said:


> Was looking at putting this down,
> 
> 1 x can Coopers Canadian Blone
> 1 x Can Coopers bitter
> 250g dried corn syrup
> Nothing else
> 
> Thinking that this may or may not be too bitter
> 
> Any suggestions on addiing malt to counteract bitterness????



Drop the corn syrup, go with 250gms of LDME. Better mouth feel, more body and a balanced sweetness.


----------



## skurvy84

skurvy84 said:


> so revised brew
> 1x Coopers lager (came with the kit)
> 1x Home brand lager
> 250g of LDME
> 12g of Hallertau hops steeped for 15 mins
> and 2x 11.5g SAFLAGER S-23
> and maybe dry hopping once primary has finished for aroma
> will think about what to prime with but im leading towards dextroses.



okay this has changed again....lol

1x Coopers lager (came with the kit)
1x Home brand lager
500gm LDME
250gm dextrose
250gm maltodextrine
15gm cascade hop teabag steeped for 15mins

and another used to dry hop once fermentation has finished.

i didn't pick up the SAFlager, but i was wonder wether the standard kit yeast would be okay. if not i'll grab a SAFlager S-23 on saturday.


----------



## Bribie G

Just logging a toucan review: the Big Burper round the corner from me did up a toucan of Coopers Stout, Coopers Dark and a kilo of dex and it's now kegged, tried a jug or three on Monday and it was extremely successful. From what I can remember :blink:


----------



## Philthy79

BribieG said:


> Just logging a toucan review: the Big Burper round the corner from me did up a toucan of Coopers Stout, Coopers Dark and a kilo of dex and it's now kegged, tried a jug or three on Monday and it was extremely successful. From what I can remember :blink:




I just tasted my toucan of Stout, Dark with 500gms LDME and 300gms Choc Malt last night, US-04 yeast. It was :icon_drool2: 

The Best Toucan I have ever done, by a mile.


----------



## olde

Mine was Coopers Stout, Coopers Dark, 300g dex, teabag of fuggles steeped and added, and S-O4. 
Huge disaster.. I made the mistake of inviting a couple of friends for a session, and it was so popular they drained the keg on me.
It's a top drop.


----------



## Ivan Other One

FIRST TOUCAN
After reading this thread a fwe times, just had to have a go.

Put this down today, 1/2 hour ago

Coopers Toucan.

1 x Canadian blonde.
1 x Real Ale
250g LDME

2litres to the boil, added malt to disolve, then added the cans of goop brought to the boil and flame off.
All into the fermenter using filtered water to 23L and pitched in 1 kit yeast @27C. OG 1058.

Intend to rack @ ferment finish, for two or three days, then keg, and bottle whats left.

Thanks to Interloper for the reply to my first recipe thought, could not find a bitter so went with the Real Ale.

Hope to have a taste report in about four weeks.


----------



## Cube

Got my first toucan bubbling away now for 5 days. Scored a freebie Morgans pilsner ( exp. passed by a few months ) and a fresh Coopers stout to cope/mask any dodgy taste from the pilsner. 300 dex and 15 grms galaxy for 10 mins to add a bit of zing to it and 300 grms carapils. Yeast trub from a coopers bitter, generation four.

It will be my first stout, never had a 'dark' beer apart from Guinness so it's all new to me. Will report when drinking in four or so weeks. Will be different from my hoppy hoppy APA's


----------



## Bribie G

Ivan Other One said:


> FIRST TOUCAN
> After reading this thread a fwe times, just had to have a go.
> 
> Put this down today, 1/2 hour ago
> 
> Coopers Toucan.
> 
> 1 x Canadian blonde.
> 1 x Real Ale
> 250g LDME
> 
> 2litres to the boil, added malt to disolve, then added the cans of goop brought to the boil and flame off.
> All into the fermenter using filtered water to 23L and pitched in 1 kit yeast @27C. OG 1058.
> 
> Intend to rack @ ferment finish, for two or three days, then keg, and bottle whats left.
> 
> Thanks to Interloper for the reply to my first recipe thought, could not find a bitter so went with the Real Ale.
> 
> Hope to have a taste report in about four weeks.



Real ale is quite a darkish bitter beer so it should totally overshadow the fairly bland Canadian Blonde. However the C.B. will contribute body and smoothness to the brew so it's a good match because they won't be fighting it out and should complement each other well. With the LDME touch you should end up with a smooth malty brew. Kit yeast should be fine here, I often use spare Coopers yeasts for darker ales and it does a good clean job.


----------



## Ivan Other One

BribieG said:


> Real ale is quite a darkish bitter beer so it should totally overshadow the fairly bland Canadian Blonde. However the C.B. will contribute body and smoothness to the brew so it's a good match because they won't be fighting it out and should complement each other well. With the LDME touch you should end up with a smooth malty brew. Kit yeast should be fine here, I often use spare Coopers yeasts for darker ales and it does a good clean job.


Cheers BribieG,
Having only 1 of the coopers kit yeast pitched in, didn't expect the airlock to bubble overand there was about 50ml of liquid on top of the fermenter lid which was cleaned of and now seems to be back to normal at a temp of 23C.
Am starting to salivate at thought of tasting this, as are my local drop ins..


----------



## petesbrew

petesbrew said:


> Been a while since the last toucan, so this is a good way to get rid of 2x 1/2 price cans
> Didn't think too much on this recipe, I just went with the flow.
> Just waiting for the temp to drop, and I'll pitch in the morning.
> *Frankenstein Brown Toucan*
> Tooheys Real Ale
> Wanders Draught
> 500g LDME
> 30g Caramunich 1 (40min steep)
> 30g CaraAroma (40min steep)
> 40g Amber Malt (40min steep)
> 20g Cascade (40min steep)
> 10g Cascade @ 0min
> WLP 029 German Ale/Kolsch + Morgans Lager yeast
> OG = 1060


Mine seems to have stalled at 1024. Been almost 3 weeks now. Any comments?
Probably finished, seeing as it was only a 21L batch, but thought I'd put it out there.


----------



## skurvy84

okay next toucan i'm beginning to line up and looking for peoples input into my recipe

im looking at making a beer similar to Coopers Extra Stout (i had on on sunday morning with my bacon and eggs and thought.....hhhmm delicious)

would the following give me something reasonably close to that or am I on the wrong track?.

2x Cans cooper stout (or would it be better to use 1 can stout & 1 can dark ale)
500gm - 1kg DDME
250gm to 500gm Dex

i haven't considered hops as i believe the cans are relatively hoppy anyway and the cans of stout are 710IBU if the helps

Final volume would be 21 Litres and i would look at using US05 (open to suggestions)


----------



## Bribie G

skurvy84 said:


> okay next toucan i'm beginning to line up and looking for peoples input into my recipe
> 
> im looking at making a beer similar to Coopers Extra Stout (i had on on sunday morning with my bacon and eggs and thought.....hhhmm delicious)
> 
> would the following give me something reasonably close to that or am I on the wrong track?.
> 
> 2x Cans cooper stout (or would it be better to use 1 can stout & 1 can dark ale)
> 500gm - 1kg DDME
> 250gm to 500gm Dex
> 
> i haven't considered hops as i believe the cans are relatively hoppy anyway and the cans of stout are 710IBU if the helps
> 
> Final volume would be 21 Litres and i would look at using US05 (open to suggestions)



I'm going to do my regular winter toucan this evening and it comes out around 8% ABV or maybe a tad more:

2 Coopers Stout
1kg LDME
1kg DEX
20g fuggles boiled for 10 mins for some flavour and aroma

25 litres batch

Nottingham ale yeast and ferment coolish, around 18 degrees.


Coopers commercial extra stout is under 7 percent, I'd probably go 500 LDME and 500 DEX otherwise you would be making a headbanger. Nottingham is a great yeast for this stout as it chews through the fermentables quite quickly and I had great results with it in the two toucans I made last winter. I like a bit of aroma hop in a stout but not essential. I find that the above recipe is very drinkable indeed after only three weeks in the bottle but gets really nice after two months. After that I don't know because it didn't last that long :beerbang: BTW as I posted above I've tried my buddy's toucan with the stout plus dark ale and it was nice but a bit drier to my taste.


----------



## Ivan Other One

Ivan Other One said:


> FIRST TOUCAN
> After reading this thread a few times, just had to have a go.
> 
> Put this down today, 1/2 hour ago
> 
> Coopers Toucan.
> 
> 1 x Canadian blonde.
> 1 x Real Ale
> 250g LDME
> 
> 2litres to the boil, added malt to disolve, then added the cans of goop brought to the boil and flame off.
> All into the fermenter using filtered water to 23L and pitched in 1 kit yeast @27C. OG 1058.
> 
> Intend to rack @ ferment finish, for two or three days, then keg, and bottle whats left.
> 
> Thanks to Interloper for the reply to my first recipe thought, could not find a bitter so went with the Real Ale.
> 
> Hope to have a taste report in about four weeks.


Here's a report!

Well it's not quite been four weeks, but this brew has been in the keg for four days and am trying a glass of it now.
FG was 1012 which if I've got it right works out at around 6%.
The taste is good with no fruity flavours, the bitterness of a 4X but with much more body to it.
Would consider making this again, next time with 500g dex and 500g dark malt. (Dry)
:beer: Cheers, Ivan.


----------



## DTM

My only toucan i've done was also my best kit beer, by a long way too.

1 Coopers Heritage Lager
1 Coopers European Lager
1 kg Light DME
Both kit yeasts 
Topped to 23 Litres
16 degree ferment
Came out 7.2% and very drinkable


----------



## lczaban

A toucan that I did a little while ago is as follows...

- 2 x Toohey's Real Ale Kits ($7 ea on special at Coles :beerbang: )
- 500g LDME
- Fermentis S-33 yeast

While I calc'd this beer at about 5% ABV based on the OG and FG readings, this beer is BIG!  :icon_drunk: If I could describe the taste, it would be a Belgian crossed with a dunkleweissen. h34r: Big, but very yummy... I have shown this to a few different guys here in Brisvegas, so I'll let them comment on the results.

GG


----------



## milkman

I've recently put down 2 x coles/famland lagers

Want to do a stout now, and noticed a lot of recipies adding DME or dextrose etc

I'm new to the toucan brew, so sorry if this is a simple question, but what are the benefits of two cans and a kilo of dex, as opposed to just two cans?

With most people using two kit yeasts, will one batch of another yeast be sufficient?
Sorry for the newbie questions, just getting my head around it

cheers


----------



## glaab

Hi Bloke,
the dex will up the alcohol quite a bit, to about 7%. Half kilo would do to about 6% give or take. Half kilo of dried malt extract will give it a bit more body compared to dex.
The 2 satchets of yeast should do ok. Cheers


----------



## Ivan Other One

glaab said:


> Hi Bloke,
> the dex will up the alcohol quite a bit, to about 7%. Half kilo would do to about 6% give or take. Half kilo of dried malt extract will give it a bit more body compared to dex.
> The 2 satchets of yeast should do ok. Cheers



Hi Milkman,
Used just the one of the yeasts sachels that came with thi tin and this worked out quite fine, the brew full fermented in 8 days, no probs


Cheers, Ivan. :icon_cheers:


----------



## petesbrew

Ivan Other One said:


> Hi Milkman,
> Used just the one of the yeasts sachels that came with thi tin and this worked out quite fine, the brew full fermented in 8 days, no probs
> 
> 
> Cheers, Ivan. :icon_cheers:


Another note, if you use both yeast (which you can do) don't put your fermenter over carpet... you can expect a lot of frothing from the airlock.

500g Brown sugar goes well IMO with the stout/darks


----------



## Bribie G

milkman said:


> I've recently put down 2 x coles/famland lagers
> 
> Want to do a stout now, and noticed a lot of recipies adding DME or dextrose etc
> 
> I'm new to the toucan brew, so sorry if this is a simple question, but what are the benefits of two cans and a kilo of dex, as opposed to just two cans?
> 
> With most people using two kit yeasts, will one batch of another yeast be sufficient?
> Sorry for the newbie questions, just getting my head around it
> 
> cheers



I've currently got my annual Toucan, around ready to bottle now. It's two Coopers Stouts, a kilo of dex and a kilo of LDME with an aroma hop addition, fermented on Nottingham yeast although as the previous poster says the kit yeast should be just fine (will ferment up to 9.5% AFAIK). The reason it's so strong is that it's deliberately meant to be a headbanger mofo homie malt liquor glass-o-death :icon_drunk: 

Ha, so there. Actually it's a nice drink when you feel like a good beer session in the winter but don't really want to have to drink two or three litres of freeezing fizzy liquid and would like something more heart-warming and luscious :icon_cheers: Not a lawnmower beer, oh no.


----------



## milkman

Ivan Other One said:


> Hi Milkman,
> Used just the one of the yeasts sachels that came with thi tin and this worked out quite fine, the brew full fermented in 8 days, no probs
> 
> 
> Cheers, Ivan. :icon_cheers:




Thanks fellas - think i'll do a stout and dark mix, with half a kilo of dex - I do like 6 percenters!

cheers
Steven


----------



## petesbrew

Frankenstein Brown Toucan
Tooheys Real Ale
Wanders Draught
500g LDME
30g Caramunich 1 (40min steep)
30g CaraAroma (40min steep)
40g Amber Malt (40min steep)
20g Cascade (40min steep)
10g Cascade @ 0min
WLP 029 German Ale/Kolsch & then a Morgans Lager yeast
OG = 1060 FG=1022

Cracked this open last night, Bloody awesome! Left my toucan stout for dead flavourwise.


----------



## mwd

petesbrew said:


> Frankenstein Brown Toucan
> Tooheys Real Ale
> Wanders Draught
> 500g LDME
> 30g Caramunich 1 (40min steep)
> 30g CaraAroma (40min steep)
> 40g Amber Malt (40min steep)
> 20g Cascade (40min steep)
> 10g Cascade @ 0min
> WLP 029 German Ale/Kolsch & then a Morgans Lager yeast
> OG = 1060 FG=1022
> 
> Cracked this open last night, Bloody awesome! Left my toucan stout for dead flavourwise.



Looks an interesting recipe like the sound of it. Looks like a bit of a cupboard clearer for remnants of left over malts. :icon_cheers:


----------



## petesbrew

Tropical_Brews said:


> Looks an interesting recipe like the sound of it. Looks like a bit of a cupboard clearer for remnants of left over malts. :icon_cheers:


Pretty much so.
Actually I even poured in some WLP800 as well, hoping that'd drop the gravity a bit further? Didn't do a thing. h34r: 
Basically the name says it all. (credit goes to Joshhardie for the name).
I'm seriously surprised how well it turned out.


----------



## _HOME_BREW_WALLACE_

Gonna try a twocan tomorrow after work:

Thinking of:

- 1 x Can Brigalow Munich Lager
- 1 x Can Brigalow Draught
- 250g Light Dried Malt
- 200g Maltodextrin
- 550g Dextrose
- 2 bags Hallertau Hops
- fill to 25-30 LTRS
- Both Yeast packets


Will let you guys know how i got on.


----------



## Budron

Currently drinking my toucan.

- 1 x Can Coopers Real Ale
- 1 x Can Homebrand Draught 
- 1 x BE2
- Both Yeasts

My 6th kit brew and best yet I reckon.


----------



## Pennywise

I need to get rid of a few cans of Coopers Euro Lager, so a tucan is on the cards for tommorow because I wont use them for anything else really. I've read through the whole thread but can't find any info. Any suggestions as to what would be good to add grain & hops wise? I'll be using Wyeast 1056 so it won't be a lager.


----------



## WarmBeer

Picked up a couple of cans yesterday dirt cheap (thanks BrenosBrews).

I'm thinking:
- 1 x Coopers Stout
- 1 x Tooheys Draught
- 500g LDME
- 500g Dex
- 250g assorted Choc / Crystal / Roasted grains (depends on what leftovers I've got in my stash)
- Either re-used US-05 or re-used 1968 ESB yeast
- Make up to 18lt

The plan is to ferment that out for 2 weeks, then rack half of it onto some raspberries, and the other half to get some liquorice essence, then bottle a week later.

If I'm using frozen raspberries, do I need to boil them first to sanitize, or are they Ok due to going into an alcoholic medium? They're food grade (d'uh!) but could harbour other wild yeasts, I 'spose.


----------



## Pennywise

You'll need to pasturise them first


----------



## _HOME_BREW_WALLACE_

_WALLACE_ said:


> Gonna try a twocan tomorrow after work:
> 
> Thinking of:
> 
> - 1 x Can Brigalow Munich Lager
> - 1 x Can Brigalow Draught
> - 250g Light Dried Malt
> - 200g Maltodextrin
> - 550g Dextrose
> - 2 bags Hallertau Hops
> - fill to 25-30 LTRS
> - Both Yeast packets
> 
> 
> Will let you guys know how i got on.



Hey fellas,

This brew has been brewing for a couple of weeks now, now she seems to be a bit of a High-gravity brew! she's not moving below 1016 after 3 days. Is this common in twocan brews? She smells and tastes bloody nice though.


----------



## Ivan Other One

_WALLACE_ said:


> Hey fellas,
> 
> This brew has been brewing for a couple of weeks now, now she seems to be a bit of a High-gravity brew! she's not moving below 1016 after 3 days. Is this common in twocan brews? She smells and tastes bloody nice though.




Hi Wallace,
What was your starting, OG Mine finished at 1012 but had less fermentables in it which makes me think that your FG is Pretty much right, 

Seems like it's time for your next step mate :super:


----------



## Ivan Other One

BUMP.

Just put this down this arvo,,,,

Cooprs Real Ale & Tooheys Draught,
500g LDM

Made to 24 litres.

Hopefully not too strong.

Plan to dry hop 10g Cascade after three days, rack to secondary at eight days and then keg at fourteen days.

Any suggestions on improving this would be appreciated, as well as any reports on other brewers recent toucans.

Cheers, Ivan :icon_cheers:


----------



## Munut

Ivan Other One said:


> BUMP.
> 
> Just put this down this arvo,,,,
> 
> Cooprs Real Ale & Tooheys Draught,
> 500g LDM
> 
> Made to 24 litres.
> 
> Hopefully not too strong.
> 
> Plan to dry hop 10g Cascade after three days, rack to secondary at eight days and then keg at fourteen days.
> 
> Any suggestions on improving this would be appreciated, as well as any reports on other brewers recent toucans.
> 
> Cheers, Ivan :icon_cheers:



Very similar to the toucan I have on tap at the moment except I used a coopers bitter and a mix of LDME and Dex. 

I'd hop it at around a gram per litre for late hops.

I hopped 30g Willamette before pitching yeast and 15g 3 days in and it it dosent have any distinctive hop flavour. But I've turned into a real hop head lately so I guess it depends what your aiming for.

Mines still very very drinkable next time I'll just hop a bit heavyer and I'm thinking amarillo.


----------



## boingk

AHHH! You've all given me the toucan bug! 

Tomorrow marks me putting down 4 brews in 10 days, 2 of which are bottled. I really don't need any more. However...a toucan of dark something would be good as a winter warmer, I've got plenty of bottles as well.

Not to mention doing a QCN (quick, cheap & nasty) by throwing some Homebrand Draught kits together, perhaps some Amber and Cluster to help it along.

Cheers - boingk


----------



## Barley Belly

Heres one I bottled around a month ago 
Tastes nice already
Trying to age for Xmas :lol: 

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Tooheys Real Toucan
Brewer: finners
Asst Brewer:
Style: Altbier
TYPE: Extract
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Boil Size: 27.73 L
Estimated OG: 1.068 SG
Estimated Color: 41.2 EBC
Estimated IBU: 32.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: - %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.50 kg Extra Light Dry Extract (5.9 EBC) Dry Extract 30.6 %
3.40 kg Tooheys Real Ale (72.3 EBC) Extract 69.4 %
15.00 gm Styrian Goldings [4.80%] (10 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale


----------



## davecambo

danman said:


> hey all some toucans ive done
> 
> TRAPPIST
> morgans aus draught
> morgans canadian india pale ale
> 1kg black fern hopped wheat malt extract
> 500g belgian candi sugar
> 30g styrian goldings boil 1hr
> wyeast "trappist" smackpack
> og1068
> fg1014
> 
> DARK WHEAT
> morgans golden sheaf wheat x2
> 300g maltcraft caramalt
> 50g dark crystal malt- both steeped for 1/2 hr
> 1kg ironbark honey
> w3068 wyeast smackpack
> og1060
> fg1012
> 
> both toucans tasted fantastic and will be done again
> also done a threecan (trican maybe!) stout but that belongs in another thread
> 
> 
> cheers,dan




do you have an alcohol leve for the dark wheat? was there any need to put the honey in and would you put less or the same in next time?

cheers


----------



## Bribie G

I don't really blow my own trumpet, bang my own drum etc. If I announce a comp result it's invariably to give encouragement to a fellow BIAB brewer or to demonstrate to BIAB sceptics that the method has merit. Or I'm more than happy to share a recipe that has succeeded in a comp, for anyone who has enquired about it and is interested in trying it out. However if another BIAB brewer has success in comps or whatever I'm even more happy for them to post for themselves.

However this post has nothing to do with BIAB at all: in the QLD 2009 Brewing Competition, out of 5 Russian Imperial Stouts my Coopers Toucan Headbanger came second. Not really a fluke, everyone I have tried on a bottle of it considers it to be a good drop. It came in ahead of brews that were no doubt crafted at length as all grain brews in shiny HERMS systems whatever and were good and tasty stouts so I'm not sneering at all. The point is that it is possible to make a kit brew that can hold its head up and can be made by novices provided they follow correct procedures of sanitation, temperature control, yeast selection etc. 

It so happens that a bulletproof brew is a Coopers Stout toucan plus extras and is more than anything a tribute to the clear efforts that Coopers themselves must put into their Stout can. For novices who like a stout I reckon it's a must-do brew as part of their 'apprenticeship'

2 cans Coopers Stout
1kg dex
1kg LDME

Nottingham Ale yeast 18 degrees for at least 2 weeks

Add 20g Styrian Goldings or EKG pellets and Cold condition for a week.

:icon_cheers:


----------



## davecambo

BribieG said:


> I don't really blow my own trumpet, bang my own drum etc. If I announce a comp result it's invariably to give encouragement to a fellow BIAB brewer or to demonstrate to BIAB sceptics that the method has merit. Or I'm more than happy to share a recipe that has succeeded in a comp, for anyone who has enquired about it and is interested in trying it out. However if another BIAB brewer has success in comps or whatever I'm even more happy for them to post for themselves.
> 
> However this post has nothing to do with BIAB at all: in the QLD 2009 Brewing Competition, out of 5 Russian Imperial Stouts my Coopers Toucan Headbanger came second. Not really a fluke, everyone I have tried on a bottle of it considers it to be a good drop. It came in ahead of brews that were no doubt crafted at length as all grain brews in shiny HERMS systems whatever and were good and tasty stouts so I'm not sneering at all. The point is that it is possible to make a kit brew that can hold its head up and can be made by novices provided they follow correct procedures of sanitation, temperature control, yeast selection etc.
> 
> It so happens that a bulletproof brew is a Coopers Stout toucan plus extras and is more than anything a tribute to the clear efforts that Coopers themselves must put into their Stout can. For novices who like a stout I reckon it's a must-do brew as part of their 'apprenticeship'
> 
> 2 cans Coopers Stout
> 1kg dex
> 1kg LDME
> 
> Nottingham Ale yeast 18 degrees for at least 2 weeks
> 
> Add 20g Styrian Goldings or EKG pellets and Cold condition for a week.
> 
> :icon_cheers:



i entered the recipe details into a s.g calculator that also gives other details and it said that this brew comes out at around 9.5% for 23L...... is that correct? if so holy crap! 

did you boil one or both of the kits to remove some of the bitterness? 

and just so im sure, is the above recipe for your award winning headbanger or is this another good recipe?

im going to have to give this one a go, im thinking about adding some chocolate or caramalt to it though?


----------



## Bribie G

davecambo said:


> i entered the recipe details into a s.g calculator that also gives other details and it said that this brew comes out at around 9.5% for 23L...... is that correct? if so holy crap!
> 
> did you boil one or both of the kits to remove some of the bitterness?
> 
> and just so im sure, is the above recipe for your award winning headbanger or is this another good recipe?
> 
> im going to have to give this one a go, im thinking about adding some chocolate or caramalt to it though?



Yes about 9% so not a session beer  No I didn't boil any of the kit as that wouldn't remove any bitterness, the alpha acid is there to stay. It doesn't taste overly bitter as the extra fermentables balance that out. Some extra cara-type malts would definitely add more complex flavours, I'd go for it. 
That is the exact recipe. The Nottingham Yeast is good because it will chew its way through car tyres and leaves the beer as clean as. You don't want a yeast that throws fruity esters etc or the stout will become sickeningly fruity. Also ferment as cool as possible, around 18 or below is good.

Warning: consume in moderation and consult a doctor if pain persists :lol:


----------



## davecambo

outstanding!!!


----------



## manticle

Boiling will not remove bitterness dave.

Boiling extracts bitterness from hops which has already been done with a kit. Boiling kits may change the hop flavour profile but the bitterness is there to stay.

Once fermented and kegged/bottled perceived bitterness can round out with maturation.


----------



## davecambo

oky doky man thanks for the added info.


----------



## fiat84

What do you think about using the lightly bittered Coopers Mexican Cerveza(16ibu) kit to replace the light dry malt addition in a regular 23L lager/pilsener kit brew? Might add a small amount of dextrose to crisp up this malty two can brew depending on how much effect the added bitterness/hops has. 

Considering Coopers kits are cheaper than malt for me:
1) Coopers Mexican Cerveza kit - 16ibu, lightly hopped LME(Liquid Malt Extract) 1.7KG = 80% dry malt = 1.36KG dry malt.($11 kit)
2) Muntons "Hopped" Light Spraymalt - Bitterness (EBU's)3042($12/KG) - emailed Muntons but did not get a response on the type/quantity of hops. Am assuming this bittering EBU level is added whether the malt is boiled or not.
3) Muntons Light Spray malt - Bitterness (EBU's) N/A or zero.($14/KG)

We do not want to significantly increase bitterness/hop levels compared to using unhopped dry malt. Am thinking adding the Cerveza kit(16ibu) would be similar or even less bitter than adding Muntons "hopped light dry malt"(EBU 3042). 

From some of the helpful posts here appears you must boil hops to extract bitterness from them. And dry hopping = a technique of adding hops directly to the fermenter which can be used to impart hop aroma/flavor but not bitterness. 

Muntons website details:
1) Muntons "Hopped" Light Spraymalt - adds extra hops as well as more malt. Perfect as a general kit improver - specially designed to retain the beer's natural balance.
Typical analyses: 
Colour (EBC Units) 7 - 12
Bitterness (EBU's) 30 - 42
Moisture (when packed) 5.5%
Protein 7.5% max.
pH 5 6

2) Muntons Light Spraymalt - great for all beer styles. Adds extra body and richness. Especially useful when brewing lighter beers such as lagers and pilsners.
Typical analyses:
Colour (EBC Units) 7 - 12
Bitterness (EBU's) N/A
Moisture (when packed) 5.5%
Protein 7.5% max.
pH 5 6

Thanks for all the informative posts,


----------



## Stove

Doing my first Toucan tomorrow.

2x Tooheys Special Lager cans
5g Saaz 30min
5g Saaz 5min

S-04 yeast


Thoughts?


----------



## adz2332

great reading this two can stuff!!!

im thinking
2 cans of coopers larger
LDM 500g
DEX 500g
Coopers BE1 x 1 kg
made to 23ltres

any thoughts before i strat it??


----------



## Stove

I'm thinking that would knock your head off 
All those fermentables would make a pretty high Alc%


----------



## adz2332

lol kinda what im aiming for as long as its drinkable!! lol


----------



## husky

Going to put down my first toucan today.

2 x Coopers lager cans
250g crystal malt (steeped for 30 mins)
500g dextrose
25g Amarillo - 15 mins
25g Amarillo dry hopped
kit yeast or US05 un decided as yet

The Amarillo is basically to try add a bit more flavour, does it seem nessecary?


----------



## Coach_R

i am thinking along the lines of something like this will be my 2nd toucan after a 2x homebrand lager - 

will this turn out more stouty??

2x coopers dark ale kits
150g choc malt
150g cara aroma
500g dex
20g POR @ 20 mins
20g POR @ end
yeast not sure yet prob just both coopers yeasts..

sugestions and recipe changes are more than welcome

this will be my first time steeping grains but have read alot about this and i am pretty sure i've wrapped my head around it seems easy enough  

Happy drinking :chug:


----------



## husky

husky said:


> Going to put down my first toucan today.
> 
> 2 x Coopers lager cans
> 250g crystal malt (steeped for 30 mins)
> 500g dextrose
> 25g Amarillo - 15 mins
> 25g Amarillo dry hopped
> kit yeast or US05 un decided as yet
> 
> The Amarillo is basically to try add a bit more flavour, does it seem nessecary?



Ended up going the US 05 made up to a 22L batch. My first time using grains and boy do they smell good!
Sampled the gravity reading tube and its noticably more bitter than my previous brews so we will see how it turns out, only 4 weeks to go


----------



## _HOME_BREW_WALLACE_

Coach_R said:


> i am thinking along the lines of something like this will be my 2nd toucan after a 2x homebrand lager -
> 
> will this turn out more stouty??
> 
> 2x coopers dark ale kits
> 150g choc malt
> 150g cara aroma
> 500g dex
> 20g POR @ 20 mins
> 20g POR @ end
> yeast not sure yet prob just both coopers yeasts..
> 
> sugestions and recipe changes are more than welcome
> 
> this will be my first time steeping grains but have read alot about this and i am pretty sure i've wrapped my head around it seems easy enough
> 
> Happy drinking :chug:




steeped grains once before.... found that choc malt is overpowering IMO, definetly in that beer. Especially in a twocan.....


----------



## Coach_R

So do you reckon leave it out completely? or just halve the amount? when you say over powering too chocolatey or just didnt work right with the other flavours?


----------



## Gronko

2 cans of Coopers heritage lager
1kg light dry malt
both yeasts

6.4% and bloody sensational! Best beer I've made so far


----------



## jetfoley

So I want a Choc Porter, so I dont want it to be bitter...

1x Can of Coopers Dark Ale (boiled for 30 mins so the bitterness isnt crazy..)
1x Can of Coopers Pale Ale (Pale Ale because again i dont want to bitter a beer)
750g Choc Malt
500g Dex (purely to get Alc% over7%)
15g Sterling Hops (at end of boil)

S-04 yeast

OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS! perticularly about the Hops, and the Dex, should I use brown sugar instead? or Malt extract?


----------



## benmick6

I just sampled a toucan stout after 2 weeks in the bottle and its suprisingly good

1 can coopers stout
1 can coopers dark ale
100gms dried wheat extract boiled for 20 minutes in 3 litres
25gms fuggles @ 10 mins
15gms cascade @ 10 mins
couldnt get the hops i wanted so i used what was in the fridge
15ml licorice extraxt
safale s-04
23 litre batch

turned out a good flavoured stout with some good coffee hints that keeps a good head on it. Will be making this one again.


----------



## Parrothead

husky said:


> Going to put down my first toucan today.
> 
> 2 x Coopers lager cans
> 250g crystal malt (steeped for 30 mins)
> 500g dextrose
> 25g Amarillo - 15 mins
> 25g Amarillo dry hopped
> kit yeast or US05 un decided as yet
> 
> The Amarillo is basically to try add a bit more flavour, does it seem nessecary?



How did this one turn out Husky? Sounds interesting.


----------



## Parrothead

Gronko said:


> 2 cans of Coopers heritage lager
> 1kg light dry malt
> both yeasts
> 
> 6.4% and bloody sensational! Best beer I've made so far




Well, if it tastes as good as it looks, you've got a winner there! Nice looking glass too.


----------



## Gronko

Parrothead said:


> Well, if it tastes as good as it looks, you've got a winner there! Nice looking glass too.


Yes it "did" taste excellent. Unfortunately its all gone now.... and I enjoyed every drop


----------



## husky

Parrothead said:


> How did this one turn out Husky? Sounds interesting.




Will try one tonight and let you know, been in the bottle for 2 weeks now so should be alright.


----------



## RobboMC

JetF said:


> So I want a Choc Porter, so I dont want it to be bitter...
> 
> 1x Can of Coopers Dark Ale (boiled for 30 mins so the bitterness isnt crazy..)
> 1x Can of Coopers Pale Ale (Pale Ale because again i dont want to bitter a beer)
> 750g Choc Malt
> 500g Dex (purely to get Alc% over7%)
> 15g Sterling Hops (at end of boil)
> 
> S-04 yeast
> 
> OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS! perticularly about the Hops, and the Dex, should I use brown sugar instead? or Malt extract?




Just suggestions:

for less bitter porter replace the can of Pale Ale with a can of unhopped malt extract,
or go half way and add 1 3rd can of malt extract and up the volume by 20%.

or use Pale Ale and get some Morgans Dark Crystal to make it black


----------



## RobboMC

Coach_R said:


> i am thinking along the lines of something like this will be my 2nd toucan after a 2x homebrand lager -
> 
> will this turn out more stouty??
> 
> 2x coopers dark ale kits
> 150g choc malt
> 150g cara aroma
> 500g dex
> 20g POR @ 20 mins
> 20g POR @ end
> yeast not sure yet prob just both coopers yeasts..
> 
> sugestions and recipe changes are more than welcome
> 
> this will be my first time steeping grains but have read alot about this and i am pretty sure i've wrapped my head around it seems easy enough
> 
> Happy drinking :chug:




IMHO this will be a decent choc porter, much like a chocolaty Tooyees Old. Nice looking receipe but not so 'stouty'

Stout tends to have 'black acrid coffee' tastes and aromas that you get from Black Malt. So if you're steeping grains get
some black oor black patent grain and steep 100 to 200g of that as well. Be warned, it's really strong and creates overwhelming flavours,
so walk before you run and start with small amounts. I put 100g into 4-1/2 kg of malts and it's more than noticable.

Also, replace the dex with dme or Brew Enhancer 2


----------



## Parrothead

husky said:


> Will try one tonight and let you know, been in the bottle for 2 weeks now so should be alright.




Sounds good. I'm interested on your take on the Amarillo hops. I picked some up yesterday at my LHBS to use in the Centamarillo Ale recipe. I've never used them before.


----------



## black_labb

did a toucan of cascade chocolate porter and coopers dark ale.
into around 21L (didnt quite top it up) i put

the dark ale kit
choc porter kit
~400g dark dme 
~100g brown sugar
threw a bit of left over goldings in at the end of boiling (probably 6g or so)

threw in about half of each yeast and cultured them each separarely, then threw the cultured yeast in as well after 7 days (when the gravty was around the 1.020ish mark as i was expecting it to drop further, which it didnt)
og was 1.058 from memory
fg only came down to 1.019ish
bulk primed with 190g of dark DME and 20ish g of brown sugar





it was bottled on sunday night so its been 4 days, but i couldnt help myself. just got a bit impatient and put a stubby of it in the freezer for 20 mins and just had a glass. not bad at all. 
has a nice bitterness that is balanced by a nice malt flavour. the chocolate flavour comes through very nicely. if i knew how strong the chocolate flavour was i probably wouldnt have used it as a toucan as i wouldnt have imagined it clashing a bit flavour wise, but i think it worked out very nicely.

being only 4 days old there wasnt much head, but it has a great syrupy mouthfeel. after the first sip i didnt notice the lack of carbonation. i can imagine it would have great head retention being as thick as it is, but you need more head than this for head retention. should be great in a couple of weeks.


----------



## black_labb

just like to say that it no longer has as much of a chocolatey taste. i think the unfermented priming sugars brought out the chocolatey taste. at the moment it is very nice, but i could have improved by using more aroma hops. What can you do when you only have 6g of hops on you.


----------



## aussierover

I made a toucan tooheys lager not long ago. Added 250g of dex, to 25 litres, pitched both yeasts @ 24 degrees and stabalised @ 22 degrees. Fermenter went crazy on day 1 and 2, almost frothed the airlock. The finished product was good to go at 2 weeks but a little bitter for me. At 4 weeks, it was a little more user friendly. Cost me $16 for 25 litres which is never bad. For the price, it was a very nice and I will certainly do again. Next toucan I do will be a stout. Does anyone know a recipe (toucan or otherwise) for a murphys knockoff. Even a semi-educated guess will be good.


----------



## petesbrew

RIF said:


> I made a toucan tooheys lager not long ago. Added 250g of dex, to 25 litres, pitched both yeasts @ 24 degrees and stabalised @ 22 degrees. Fermenter went crazy on day 1 and 2, almost frothed the airlock. The finished product was good to go at 2 weeks but a little bitter for me. At 4 weeks, it was a little more user friendly. Cost me $16 for 25 litres which is never bad. For the price, it was a very nice and I will certainly do again. Next toucan I do will be a stout. Does anyone know a recipe (toucan or otherwise) for a murphys knockoff. Even a semi-educated guess will be good.


Dunno about a murphy's knock off, but I rate this toucan recipe as my fave.
Coopers Stout
Coopers Dark
500g brown sugar
both kit yeasts
fill to 23L, brew at 18c.
clear space for massive messy krausen.
I tried this again twice with "improvements" and none were as good as the first.


----------



## Sydneybrewer

i am actually down to drinking a 9-10 month old toucan atm out of p.e.t kind of reminds me of a bitter version of an american 40oz malt liquor, very cheap and nasty with mind blowing alc content.

2x cans morgans blue mountain lager
1kg dextrose
2x kit yeasts
21 litres.


----------



## aussierover

petesbrew said:


> Dunno about a murphy's knock off, but I rate this toucan recipe as my fave.
> Coopers Stout
> Coopers Dark
> 500g brown sugar
> both kit yeasts
> fill to 23L, brew at 18c.
> clear space for massive messy krausen.
> I tried this again twice with "improvements" and none were as good as the first.



Thanks for the info, I'll give this one a go. :super:


----------



## cdbrown

A very tasty APA that's about to go into the keg

23L
1.7kg Coopers Euro Lager
1.7kg Coopers Mex Cerveza
0.5kg LDME
0.5kg Dext
US-05
10g cascade dry hopped 4 days
10g amarillo dry hopped 4 days

Everything got chucked into the fermenter without any boiling. A good stir and pitch of the yeast. Ended up 1.014 and about 6.3%.


----------



## Ivan Other One

petesbrew said:


> Dunno about a murphy's knock off, but I rate this toucan recipe as my fave.
> Coopers Stout
> Coopers Dark
> 500g brown sugar
> both kit yeasts
> fill to 23L, brew at 18c.
> clear space for massive messy krausen.
> I tried this again twice with "improvements" and none were as good as the first.



Just bottled a similar brew but with 500g dark dry malt instead of the sugar and 100g dex, 20g of POR @ 15mins, to 24litres.
Intend to leave for at least six weeks before trying
A stout I made almost 1 year ago just keeps getting better, shame there is only six bottles left.


----------



## Ivan Other One

QUOTE (petesbrew @ Apr 21 2010, 12:01 PM) 

Dunno about a murphy's knock off, but I rate this toucan recipe as my fave.
Coopers Stout
Coopers Dark
500g brown sugar
both kit yeasts
fill to 23L, brew at 18c.
clear space for massive messy krausen.
I tried this again twice with "improvements" and none were as good as the first.

Just bottled a similar brew but with 500g dark dry malt instead of the sugar and 100g dex, 20g of POR @ 15mins, to 24litres.
Forgot to mention that there was also a 5cm stick of licorish, that didn't disolve in the boil.
Intend to leave for at least six weeks before trying
A stout I made almost 1 year ago just keeps getting better, shame there is only six bottles left. 

Taste report.
A nice strong stout with a noticable licorish flavour with the hops as well.
Will try this one again but swap the dark maltwith some light dry malt.
Will try to leave the remaining 30 bottles for another 6 months.
:chug: Cheers, Ivan


----------



## Bribie G

I've had 2 tins of Coopers Stout sitting in the brauhaus for a week, this thread has prompted me to get off my bum and brew a toucan before I run out of grog


----------



## petesbrew

Ivan Other One said:


> QUOTE (petesbrew @ Apr 21 2010, 12:01 PM)
> 
> Dunno about a murphy's knock off, but I rate this toucan recipe as my fave.
> Coopers Stout
> Coopers Dark
> 500g brown sugar
> both kit yeasts
> fill to 23L, brew at 18c.
> clear space for massive messy krausen.
> I tried this again twice with "improvements" and none were as good as the first.
> 
> Just bottled a similar brew but with 500g dark dry malt instead of the sugar and 100g dex, 20g of POR @ 15mins, to 24litres.
> Forgot to mention that there was also a 5cm stick of licorish, that didn't disolve in the boil.
> Intend to leave for at least six weeks before trying
> A stout I made almost 1 year ago just keeps getting better, shame there is only six bottles left.
> 
> Taste report.
> A nice strong stout with a noticable licorish flavour with the hops as well.
> Will try this one again but swap the dark maltwith some light dry malt.
> Will try to leave the remaining 30 bottles for another 6 months.
> :chug: Cheers, Ivan


I've got this one currently carbonating again.
The only difference is 12g Styrian Goldings added. Nothing too drastic, just enough for a hint of flavour.


----------



## petesbrew

petesbrew said:


> I've got this one currently carbonating again.
> The only difference is 12g Styrian Goldings added. Nothing too drastic, just enough for a hint of flavour.


I'm hopeless. Had one only 1.5 weeks after bottling.
:icon_drool2: :chug: 
Delicious.


----------



## Dementedchook

Ressurecting the thread a bit, I've got a couple of cans sitting about. Looking to make a stout, but I'm undecided what to add exactly.
Currently thinking:
1x can coopers stout
1x can coopers dark
350gm choc grain

Now, i'm having trouble deciding if I should add a can of muntons irish ale on top of that. And which yeast I should try. I currently have some us-05, s-23, the coopers kit yeasts, and the single muntons one. Planning on making a cup of coffee and adding that when I'm boiling the steep water. 
Any suggestions?


----------



## Parrothead

B.C. said:


> Ressurecting the thread a bit, I've got a couple of cans sitting about. Looking to make a stout, but I'm undecided what to add exactly.
> Currently thinking:
> 1x can coopers stout
> 1x can coopers dark
> 350gm choc grain
> 
> Now, i'm having trouble deciding if I should add a can of muntons irish ale on top of that. And which yeast I should try. I currently have some us-05, s-23, the coopers kit yeasts, and the single muntons one. Planning on making a cup of coffee and adding that when I'm boiling the steep water.
> Any suggestions?



I'm thinking that your original idea (Coopers Stout. Coopers Dark + choc grain) will be great. Throw in a couple of the Coopers ale yeasts, your coffee idea, and I think you'll be happy!


----------



## Dementedchook

Cheers mate!


----------



## Yob

Ive had a grind through tthe pages listed on this topic and could not come up with a tucan Coopers Pale, I find it surprising nobody has got one of these under the belt?... I have a few..er 8 or 10.. of these in the cupboard now thanks to some sales and was thinking of putting this in.

was thinking

300 g dme in 3.2 Lt boil
15g perle @ 30 min (more or less?)
10g Cascade @ 10 min (more or less?)
2 x CPA tins
1 x BE2 (what is in that stuff?)
top to 25lt
US05 @ 18
rack at half ferment
dry hop 15g Cascade.

I also now own (shudder) some farmland draughts, any reason they cannot be mixed with a pale tin? (the very thought freaks me out) 

I dunno much about draught brewing as Im an ale drinker normally.. but damn they weere cheap, surely something drinkable can be made.. with the right additions

thoughts?


----------



## Asha05

Gronko said:


> 2 cans of Coopers heritage lager
> 1kg light dry malt
> both yeasts
> 
> 6.4% and bloody sensational! Best beer I've made so far



Any more info on this recipe? time in fermenter? temps? etc...quite interested...


----------



## Gronko

Asha05 said:


> Any more info on this recipe? time in fermenter? temps? etc...quite interested...


G'day Asha

Hmmm... it's going back a while since I did that one. From memory it took about 2 weeks to ferment, and I think I ran the temps around 18 +/-

I haven't made it again as I've been trying a whole bunch of different recipes.


----------



## bazman

Just put down my first toucan after being intrigued by this thread and trying to figure out what to do with some random kits n bits:

Can of Tooheys draught (got for $5 from local woolies)
Can of Coopers Canadian Blond
Cascade Hop T-bag
Leftover Coopers Euro lager yeast
About 200g of leftover LDME
Made to 22litres, pitched at 18c

Colour is an awesome amber and smells really malty so far.

Also my cheapest brew - so if its swill, its only about $20 wasted.  

Will hopefully have some good results to report in a few weeks.


----------



## DangerousDave

just wanted to say thanks to whoever posted this recipe people are loving this stout

1 coopers stout
1 coopers dark ale
500g dex
500g csr treacle
500g of ldme (didnt have access to dark dme but no complaints made)
both kit yeasts 
2 weeks at 18 

thinking of steeping some grain and adding some hops next time but honestly the feedback im getting is its fantastic just as it is definetly a repeat for me


----------



## mwd

Coles clearout toucan: 

Coopers Pale Ale + Coopers Canadian Blonde
500g Coopers LDME
200g Carared steeped 1/2hour at 65C
200g raw sugar


15g [email protected]
10g [email protected]
10g [email protected]

23g Ahtanum dryhopped after 6 days
OG 1060
FG 1014

Bottled Saturday night and clear and nearly fully carbed today Tuesday. Tastes fantastic already much like a good AIPA.


----------



## Mickthe

Gotta give someone a THANK-YOU from many pages back.......think it may have been a "Pete" - glass of this brew in his avatar pic....... 

Made the Coopers Stout + Dark, 250g LDME, whacked a few pieces of licorice in a short boil with a dose of EKG, all into the fermenter with a starter of liquid Irish Ale yeast. 

Tasted tonight after 3 weeks in the bottle - best tasting beer i've made inside 2 months ageing, all my other stouts have taken 3 months to be superb, this one is almost as good after < 1 month. 

Cheers 

Mick.


----------



## Bubba

I went crazy about 3 weeks ago with a Toucan Bug (basically because I got a new 50lt fermenter and the wife picked up the wrong cans of goo), and put down 2 batches as follows.

1) Coopers Pale Ale 1.7k
Coopers Real Ale 1.7k
500g Coopers BE2
250g steeped grain
25g Amarillo Hops
Both kit yeasts
Mixed to 24 litres
13 days at 18 degrees on average
Kegged, carbonated and dispensed after 2 days
FG around 1008.

Result, nicely bittered to average out the maltiness, red/brown in colour, couldn't really pick up on the Amarillo as it was very subtle but overall a very, very nice brew. Not too heavy, but more malty and bitter than my usual Pale Ale mix.

2) Coopers Pale Ale 2* 1.7k = 3.4kg Pale Ale
Coopers Real Ale 1.7kg
Coopers BE2 1kg
LDME 1kg
500g steeped cracked grain
50g Amarillo Hops bolied 10minutes
CPA yeast starter and American Pale Ale yeast 14g together (I know, it was a bit of an experiment)
Mixed to 50lt, and fermented side by side with the first brew, same time, same temp.
FG 1008-1010
Kegged, carbonated and tasted after 3 days.

Result (although not a real Toucan as I used 3 cans plus BE2 and Malt in 50lt) was a little maltier than the first Toucan, but also a little smoother and more mouthfeel, more aroma from the amarillo. A touch darker, but still not what I would call a dark beer.

Overall, I really like both brews. Not what I would call lawn mower brews, but definately nice winter/autumn escapes from my Pale Ales. Both are nice to drink, and I have put some aside in bottles to see how they mature and age.

I also put brew 2) into 2 kegs, one I have in the fridge, the other I am using almost like racking it as it is sittign at room temp and will go in the fridge when the other keg is done, so I wll see how it matures compared to the bottles.

This is something I will definately do again, and experiment more with different hops to balance out the maltiness and bring more aroma to the brew. If you havent tried a Toucan, you really should experiement. I plan to have one in a keg, and some spares in bottles to mature at all times as a change of pace!

Bubba


----------



## petesbrew

Mickthe said:


> Gotta give someone a THANK-YOU from many pages back.......think it may have been a "Pete" - glass of this brew in his avatar pic.......
> 
> Made the Coopers Stout + Dark, 250g LDME, whacked a few pieces of licorice in a short boil with a dose of EKG, all into the fermenter with a starter of liquid Irish Ale yeast.
> 
> Tasted tonight after 3 weeks in the bottle - best tasting beer i've made inside 2 months ageing, all my other stouts have taken 3 months to be superb, this one is almost as good after < 1 month.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Mick.


I think it was Ivanotherone, who did that licorice one. Something i still need to do.

A bit of a hijack from the toucan topic, but I need to try my basic toucan against this one. I did it a couple of years back and it scored a 2nd place in it's category in the castle hill comp.
Coopers Stout kit
1.5kg Morgans Dark Malt can
110g Roast Barley (steep 30min)
15g Styrian Goldings @60min
15g Styrian Goldings @10min
Danstar Windsor yeast
Can't remember the starting gravity, but it ended at 1022.


----------



## Ivan Other One

Mickthe said:


> Gotta give someone a THANK-YOU from many pages back.......think it may have been a "Pete" - glass of this brew in his avatar pic.......
> 
> Made the Coopers Stout + Dark, 250g LDME, whacked a few pieces of licorice in a short boil with a dose of EKG, all into the fermenter with a starter of liquid Irish Ale yeast.
> 
> Tasted tonight after 3 weeks in the bottle - best tasting beer i've made inside 2 months ageing, all my other stouts have taken 3 months to be superb, this one is almost as good after < 1 month.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Mick.




Yep, 'Twas me, and at four months old this brew has smoothed a little, a nice balance of bitterness with smooth taste and a hint of licorice.

The licorice idea came from my LHBS who convinced me to try a 30ml bottle of licorice essence with a Coopers stout, and a Brewcraft stout pack. This made a very fine Stout indeed without leaving a chunk of licorice in the fermenter. 
This said, there is no worries about using fine chopped stick of licorice as the flavouring will still be achieved at a fraction of the cost of a bottle of essence.

Ivan. :icon_cheers:


----------



## lczaban

While this isnt a typical Show us your toucan idea type post, I am intending to do a BribieG inspired Toucan stout headbanger brew as follows:

2x Coopers Brewmaster Irish Stout cans (the brew store didnt have the generic Coopers Stout cans)

1kg Dex

Either 0.5kg LDME or 0.5kg crumbly, moist brown sugar (just to counteract the dryness a tad)

The question I have relates to yeast I have a sachet of US-05 and obviously the two kit yeast sachets. I am looking to finish this brew fully ASAP (ie achieve a stable FG ready for kegging by next Saturday). Am I able to achieve this by using two of the yeast sachets together (I will be putting this together shortly), will I be able to do this with just the US-05 sachet (I can probably get a hold of a second US-05 if need be) or am I just trying to do the impossible?

Any feedback would be appreciated (or offers of where I can get some Nottingham in a hurry in Brisvegas this afternoon  ). Cheers!


----------



## Bribie G

GG - personally I would try to get some Nottingham and use that, but the 2 yeasts from the cans would also be ok, but put the fermenter in a baby bath or something as it may froth over. And run it at 20 degrees.


----------



## lczaban

Thanks for the advice BribieG - will do.

Cheers, GG


----------



## winkle

GravityGuru said:


> While this isnt a typical Show us your toucan idea type post, I am intending to do a BribieG inspired Toucan stout headbanger brew as follows:
> 
> 2x Coopers Brewmaster Irish Stout cans (the brew store didnt have the generic Coopers Stout cans)
> 
> 1kg Dex
> 
> Either 0.5kg LDME or 0.5kg crumbly, moist brown sugar (just to counteract the dryness a tad)
> 
> The question I have relates to yeast I have a sachet of US-05 and obviously the two kit yeast sachets. I am looking to finish this brew fully ASAP (ie achieve a stable FG ready for kegging by next Saturday). Am I able to achieve this by using two of the yeast sachets together (I will be putting this together shortly), will I be able to do this with just the US-05 sachet (I can probably get a hold of a second US-05 if need be) or am I just trying to do the impossible?
> 
> Any feedback would be appreciated (or offers of where I can get some Nottingham in a hurry in Brisvegas this afternoon  ). Cheers!



I've got a pack of Notto if you need it this arvo :icon_cheers: .


----------



## Bart458

Just put down my first Toucan:

Coopers Stout
Coopers Dark Ale
500gm Brown Sugar
200gm Milo
Water to 26ltrs & both packets of yeast

OG : 1050, Tasted the testing wort OMG!  ROASTED COFFEE & CHOCOLATE  

Cant wait till its ready, will let you know how it goes


----------



## potof4x

Bart458 said:


> Just put down my first Toucan:
> 
> Coopers Stout
> Coopers Dark Ale
> 500gm Brown Sugar
> 200gm Milo
> Water to 26ltrs & both packets of yeast
> 
> OG : 1050, Tasted the testing wort OMG!  ROASTED COFFEE & CHOCOLATE
> 
> Cant wait till its ready, will let you know how it goes


 ,
A cracker mate, have made similar without the milo and was great. How big is your fermentor? You will probably get a massive krausen with this one, could be messy!


----------



## waggastew

Bart458 said:


> Just put down my first Toucan:
> 
> Coopers Stout
> Coopers Dark Ale
> 500gm Brown Sugar
> 200gm Milo
> Water to 26ltrs & both packets of yeast
> 
> OG : 1050, Tasted the testing wort OMG!  ROASTED COFFEE & CHOCOLATE
> 
> Cant wait till its ready, will let you know how it goes



Milo! Hadn't thought of that! Chocolatey and malty....whats not to work? ANyone else tried this?


----------



## Acasta

Dunno if its been said yet, but this dark ale came out AWESOME!

1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale Can
1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale Can
30g Fuggle pellets – 10g 15 mins, 20g steep
15g Cascade Dry hopped


----------



## Bart458

My fer
Enter is 26 litres, & I'm brewing at 18 degrees so hopefully I'll be ok


----------



## Bart458

*fermenter*


----------



## Bart458

Note to self: don't post on AHB forum until properly awake!

My fermenter is a 30litre


----------



## petesbrew

Bart458 said:


> Note to self: don't post on AHB forum until properly awake!
> 
> My fermenter is a 30litre


Just make sure it's not going to overflow (overfoam) onto carpet, and you're ok.


----------



## J Grimmer

Hi there,



Over the weekend I put down a toucan of Coopers Pale Ale, topped to 23L and pitched both yeast sachets. At the moment it is bubbling like crazy. At the moment it is bubbling like crazy. I decided to do the toucan with the CPA kit because I had results in the past with the Kit and BE2, and thought 2 CPA cant be a bad, if it bottles well great, but I am expecting to improve on the recipe. I am open to suggestions. Will let you all know how this brew goes.



Jan


----------



## MaltyHops

J Grimmer said:


> Hi there,
> 
> 
> 
> Over the weekend I put down a toucan of Coopers Pale Ale, topped to 23L and pitched both yeast sachets. At the moment it is bubbling like crazy. At the moment it is bubbling like crazy. I decided to do the toucan with the CPA kit because I had results in the past with the Kit and BE2, and thought 2 CPA cant be a bad, if it bottles well great, but I am expecting to improve on the recipe. I am open to suggestions. Will let you all know how this brew goes.
> 
> 
> 
> Jan


Hi Jan,

Are you aware that the bitterness is going to be higher by toucan-ing into
the same 23L (though CPA is relatively lowly bittered) and that perceived
bitterness can be reduced somewhat by increasing beer sweetness with
some maltodextrin?
[according to the Beer Designer, about 0.2kg would work - can be added
while ferment is still going]

Tom.

BTW - welcome to AHB.


----------



## Bubba

J Grimmer said:


> Hi there,
> 
> 
> 
> Over the weekend I put down a toucan of Coopers Pale Ale, topped to 23L and pitched both yeast sachets. At the moment it is bubbling like crazy. At the moment it is bubbling like crazy. I decided to do the toucan with the CPA kit because I had results in the past with the Kit and BE2, and thought 2 CPA can't be a bad, if it bottles well great, but I am expecting to improve on the recipe. I am open to suggestions. Will let you all know how this brew goes.
> 
> 
> 
> Jan




Hi Jan, as mentioned it will be more bitter than a single can. Improve the recipe by adding some finishing hops for aroma rather than bitternes (matbe amarillo) and extra malt can cut through bitterness (maybe 300g of light DME) or some maltodextrin for sweetness. This will balance out some of the bitterness and add aroma and sweetness.


----------



## J Grimmer

Thanks for the ideas MaltyHops and Bubba, I will keep you posted. I was thinking it will need additional hop/malt o round out the flavour some what.

Jan


----------



## petesbrew

J Grimmer said:


> Thanks for the ideas MaltyHops and Bubba, I will keep you posted. I was thinking it will need additional hop/malt o round out the flavour some what.
> 
> Jan


You could always throw some hops straight into the fermenter in a few days time? Say 20g of Amarillo, Cascade, or even goldings/fuggles?
It certainly won't hurt it.


----------



## J Grimmer

petesbrew said:


> You could always throw some hops straight into the fermenter in a few days time? Say 20g of Amarillo, Cascade, or even goldings/fuggles?
> It certainly won't hurt it.




Would i need t boil them first to sterilise?


----------



## petesbrew

J Grimmer said:


> Would i need t boil them first to sterilise?


I never have & never had an issue.... thoughts from others?


----------



## Cube

hops are pretty much sterile by nature ( first use was for prolonging the beer for transport I think ) and the process of pelleting them as well these days is even better. Just don't leave them out side or silly stuff like that and keep in freezer and wash hands before handling. Biff them straight in. Boiling them will be adding to bitterness and take away the 'aroma' and purpose of dry hopping.


----------



## Weatherby

My current Brew

1 can Coopers Dark Ale
1 can Coopers Lager
1kg Coopers Brewing Sugar
500g Coopers Light Dry Malt Extract
T-58 yeast
22C-24C
Started at 1071 and is 1023 after 8 days and still going slowly

Gonna be my best brew yet :kooi: 

But then again I am a Noob


----------



## Weatherby

http://www.liquorcraft.com.au/wa.asp?idWeb...p;idDetails=107

This link shows it finishing at 1016, would you guys be suss if it stopped at 1023 and what would you do try help it, pitch more yeast?


----------



## Weatherby

it just bubbled while i was sitting next to it so must just be going slow.


----------



## J Grimmer

Weatherby said:


> it just bubbled while i was sitting next to it so must just be going slow.




have pateince. I put a 2can of coopers pale ale down 2weeks ago last sunday it was at 1018 and today its been stable at 1014 for 2 days an am planning to bottle tommorrow.

J


----------



## Weatherby

cheers J, was hoping to bottle this weekend, doesn't look like it will happen


----------



## husky

Put down a toucan friday night to get rid of a couple of cans

26L
Coopers Mexican Cerveza x 2
200g light crystal
250g Dextrose
15g Cascade @10
15g Centenial @10
15g Nelson Sauvin @10
OG 1.051 (spreadsheet predicted 45 so a bit high)
US05 Yeasties
May dry hop with a bit of cascade

Will let yo know how it turns out. Hopefully its a good one as it was the simplest brew yet, all done and cleaned up in under 2 hrs and only about $35 or so to make.


----------



## J Grimmer

Bottled 28 tallies of my toucan Coopers APA, has actually turnned out all right not overlly bitter. I will deffinatly add some Hop next time for Aroma flavour was thinking POR (to keep with the Aust theme) or Amarillo but am very impressed with it atm. 

J


----------



## Weatherby

> My current Brew
> 
> 1 can Coopers Dark Ale
> 1 can Coopers Lager
> 1kg Coopers Brewing Sugar
> 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt Extract
> T-58 yeast
> 22C-24C
> Started at 1071 and is 1023 after 8 days and still going slowly
> 
> Gonna be my best brew yet
> 
> But then again I am a Noob



still at 1023 so will be bottling tomorrow unless anyone can convince me to try something else
airlock is still bubbling every few minutes)

The bit I tasted out of the test tube was pretty sweet, but then I tried some in a cold glass after mowing and it was a lot better, maybe I was just thirsty :icon_drool2:


----------



## mwd

1.023 is a little high IMO leave another week if it is still fermenting slowly or you can try gentle swirling or even racking to another fermenter if you have one available. I would expect a FG of around 1.015-18 at a guess.


----------



## hijax

Ive just started a toucan morgans stockmans draught. Will it be very bitter? Should i add some hops to balance it out a bit?


----------



## mwd

hijax said:


> Ive just started a toucan morgans stockmans draught. Will it be very bitter? Should i add some hops to balance it out a bit?



Are you making up to 23 litres and do you like your beers bitter? IMHO if you are making it a straight toucan with nothing more added it should be bitter enough for most tastes. You could dryhop after 5 days if you want some aroma and a touch of flavour.


----------



## Weatherby

> 1 can Coopers Dark Ale
> 1 can Coopers Lager
> 1kg Coopers Brewing Sugar
> 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt Extract
> T-58 yeast



this one is going well :beerbang:


----------



## Weatherby

just looking at that pic makes me want to grab another one :chug:


----------



## Gronko

Weatherby said:


> just looking at that pic makes me want to grab another one :chug:


 Me too!

Send me some


----------



## Weatherby

Haha, would if I could Gronko


----------



## J Grimmer

I think i have caught the toucan bug, with the recent sucess of the 2 can CPA, I reaken next time i do the toucan CPA i will add some POR flavour and aroma and another 500g malt for the boil? I guess it wont be long and my palet will be driving me to AG. For the moment I am planning a toucan Coopers Draught as an everyday session beer. One thing i have noticed is that the coopers heritage draught and regular draught have the same IBU and EBC, but do they taste simmilar? 

And then i look at a toucan Coopers Dark Ale as a basis for porter. I remember the JS Rum Rebellion Porter with fond memmories and may even soak some rum barrel chips to add some other flavours to it, any pointers on quanties?

J


----------



## Sneddy

Hey all, thinking of doing my first toucan on my 3rd brew and just wondering what you guys would recommend.

I have an out of date Coopers Real Ale and wanted to pair it up with something to compliment it.

Was thinking a...

Coopers Real Ale (quite a few years past use by so should be quite dark by now - was thinking of cooking in 3L for 20m)
Coopers Wheat Beer (Add in ferm)
500g Coopers BE1 (left overs -add in ferm)
200g Honey (have it lying around and want to get rid of it/see if it will balance the bitterness of Real Ale - boil with real ale)
Safale T-58
15g Willamette hops tea bag boiled for about 10m
12g Tettnanger hops for 5m

22L

Should make about 7.1% in the bottle, which is why I thought the T-58 would be best...

Don't really have a clue, but just went off the descriptions of all of it and thought these are things that should make a nice brew. What do you reckon???


----------



## levin_ae92

I made an IPA with 2x Coopers Draught, 500g dextrose and lots of late simcoe for good measure and it was shit house


----------



## mwd

levin_ae92 said:


> I made an IPA with 2x Coopers Draught, 500g dextrose and lots of late simcoe for good measure and it was shit house



Might improve with time nothing wrong with the ingredients.


----------



## MaltyHops

_Coopers Real Ale (quite a few years past use by so should be quite dark by now
- was thinking of cooking in 3L for 20m)_

This sort of question has been asked many times before and the consensus view
is that it usually is not worth the trouble. It might be better to just leave out the
past used by date (by a few years!? :blink real ale can and try the rest of the
proposed recipe as is.

You could try rescuing the old real ale can by getting say 0.5kg of caramalt - which will
probabaly cost a few dollars or maybe get a kilo of it) In case you're not familiar with
caramalt, it is a grain malt that already has its starches converted to a fermentable form
and to use it, either [1] heat about 2L of water to about 80C, pour the crushed caramalt
(ask the shop to crush for you) in, leave for about 30mins, then strain the liquid through
a sieve into another pot (into which you add the real ale after and mix). Then bring it to
boil for about 10mins to sterilise the wort - don't let iot boil over tho. The other way to
use caramalt is [2] pour the caramalt into 2L of cold water, leave overnight, then strain
as per [1] to mix with can.

See _here_ for a more coherent description. Probably want to add some hops to this as well
but just remember not to hope for too much using an old can.

_Honey (have it lying around and want to get rid of it/see if it will balance the bitterness ..._

I've read that honey ferments out to alcohol close to completely so will not leave much
sweetness behind so will not help to balance bitterness.

T.


----------



## JestersDarts

Made a toucan to keg, which is long gone, but I did manage to tuck away a few longies from the extra. This is about 6 months old, the kit taste has faded, and the bitterness has rounded out - and its not too bad at all. Although the bottles were slightly overprimed.

It definately needed the time to age though, I remember it wasnt the best the best out of the keg. tasted fresh, green and snappy

(from memory)
*Canadian Bomb*
2 x coopers canadian blonde cans
250g Crystal Malt
10g hersbrucker? 60mins
20g hersbrucker? 5 mins
both kit yeasts


----------



## Pennywise

Anyone else finding their 2-3 cans taking forever to carb up in the bottle


----------



## J Grimmer

seems to be forever to carb about 3 weeks in the bottle 2 x CPA and still some what flat. Proberbly the weather in brisvegas is my issue at the moment.

J


----------



## mwd

Pennywise said:


> Anyone else finding their 2-3 cans taking forever to carb up in the bottle



Not up here everything carbs up in about 4 days so I would guess it is temperature related.
It is considered to be icy cold here if daytime temps drop below 26C


----------



## felten

How do you survive in heat like that, I would have to buy a fridgemate and 2nd hand fridge just to live in.


----------



## Weatherby

Put this down today

Wals Pale Ale
Coopers Canadian Blond
US05 yeast

Big W has Tooheys Lager 7.99. What would be the disadvantages of using them over pale malt cans?

Considering maybe 15 min hop addition.


----------



## J Grimmer

Hi Weatherby,

The only thing I can saw is they they will be prehopped so maybe watch the bitterness. 

On a secondary note ive gone toucan mad in the last month and not had a bad one yet, 2x Coopers PA, 2 x Coopers Draught, and 2 x Coopers Dark Ale. The CPA has come out a cracker and draught has only had a week in the bottle and is pretty good too, and same goes for the Dark. I really don't know why i havn't done more of these in the past, it really is amazing what additional malt can do over straight dex.

J


----------



## Weatherby

Cheers J


----------



## Cube

If I may and suggest to you/us 'toucanners' that bottle condition time is longer than normal. 4 weeks min. Trust me, I toucan as well as extract. Try a toucan at 4 months in a bottle and holy cow - you thought is was good at a month. Especially dark toucans. They just get better with age.


----------



## husky

husky said:


> Put down a toucan friday night to get rid of a couple of cans
> 
> 26L
> Coopers Mexican Cerveza x 2
> 200g light crystal
> 250g Dextrose
> 15g Cascade @10
> 15g Centenial @10
> 15g Nelson Sauvin @10
> OG 1.051 (spreadsheet predicted 45 so a bit high)
> US05 Yeasties
> May dry hop with a bit of cascade
> 
> Will let yo know how it turns out. Hopefully its a good one as it was the simplest brew yet, all done and cleaned up in under 2 hrs and only about $35 or so to make.




Opened the first one a couple of weeks ago, very nice for such a quick throw together brew. If anything I would add a small 60 min addition for a touch more bitterness but it will go down well on a warmer day as is.


----------



## Yob

J Grimmer said:


> I reaken next time i do the toucan CPA i will add some POR flavour and aroma and another 500g malt for the boil?J




Its my understanding that POR is more of a bittering hop and not so much on the flavour/aroma side (though I seem to remember a debate about it somewhere).. Ive had some success using Chinook Flowers and both Cascade and Perle as well for Flavour/aroma, (edit: Pellets) I would also up the boil a bit as well, as its a tucan there should be no drama adding a few liters +250g DME + 10-15 min boil for flavour, and dry hop for your aroma...

I try all the time now to add some spec grain and hops to try and tweak, its also a good lead in to getting to know the AG process.(IMHO)
Im personally quite liking the perle 12g and cascade 15g dry hop (25lt) at about half to 3 Quaters through the ferment... lovely... :chug: 
cheers
:beer:


----------



## mwd

Nelsons Pride IPA

1x Coopers Pale + 1x Coopers Canadian Blonde
1.5kg DME
250g Caramunich III
200g dex

30g Magnum @ 60 mins
20g Nelson Sauvin @20mins
20g Nelson Sauvin @5mins

Reharvested Nottingham yeast

O.G. 1.074

Didn't taste too bitter when I took the OG yeast fired up and been running for just a day.


----------



## mwd

Been in the bottle for only a week but by golly it is good.

Coopers Pale and Coopers Canadian together make a very good base for a big bodied beer the taste is a little bit like Coopers Vintage 2010 on the malt side with a fruity hop flavour forward from the Nelson Sauvin.


----------



## Yob

Recipe as follows.. I cant put it through Ianh's Spread sheet but had this as a rough plan... appreciate thoughts.. 

First Tucan attempt.

Coopers Draught and Farmland Draught cans
350g Light crystal
150g Carapils
200g DME

3lt steep 2lt sparge
add farmland can
boil 30 min (I know I dont have to but want to reduce the bitterness)
10g Chinook 15 min
10g Cascade 15 min
5g Chinook 5 min
5g Cascade 5 min
add coopers can
top to 25lt @ 24-20'c
harvested US-05 

dryhop 
10g Chinook @ 4 days
10g Cascade @ 4 Days

Is a bit of an experiment.. I just gotta try one of these Tucans
:beer:


----------



## Nevalicious

Dont know if boiling the can will reduce the bitterness mate... 

Late additions of Chinook and Cascade=Win :icon_drool2: 

Looks great mate. It will be bitter but. My first toucan was a real smack in the face considering a short time before that I was drinking Super Dry etc... Now, too much IBU's is not enough. Within reason


----------



## kierent

Tropical_Brews said:


> Nelsons Pride IPA
> 
> 1x Coopers Pale + 1x Coopers Canadian Blonde
> 1.5kg DME
> 250g Caramunich III
> 200g dex
> 
> 30g Magnum @ 60 mins
> 20g Nelson Sauvin @20mins
> 20g Nelson Sauvin @5mins
> 
> Reharvested Nottingham yeast
> 
> O.G. 1.074
> 
> Didn't taste too bitter when I took the OG yeast fired up and been running for just a day.



Wow, sounds like a BIG beer! What did the FG and alc content come out at?


----------



## mwd

F.G. came out at a little over 1.020 which is a bit higher than wanted but tallies up with IanH's spreadsheet.
Gives an indicated ABV of 7.3 estimated seems about right only tested one bottle to check carbonation will improve with age if it lasts long enough. Done 2 toucans now with Pale and Canadian together I like the combo gives the deep flavours I am looking for.


----------



## Yob

iamozziyob said:


> First Tucan attempt.
> 
> Coopers Draught can
> Farmland Draught can
> 350g Light crystal
> 150g Carapils
> [edit]1 x BE2
> [edit]350g DME
> [edit]100g Dex
> 
> 10g Chinook 15 min
> 10g Cascade 15 min
> 5g Chinook 5 min
> 5g Cascade 5 min
> top to 25lt @ 24-20'c
> [edit]rehydrated and proofed US-05
> 
> dryhop
> [edit]15g Chinook @ 4 days
> [edit]15g Cascade @ 4 Days



Orig. Gravity 1056
Current Gravity: 1036 @ 4 days 
Tasted from Hydrometer reading today, dark amber, not over the top bitter, going to be dangerously nice with the D/hop addition h34r:


----------



## mwd

Looks like you are going to get a delicious American IPA style beer love the Chinook.

350g of Crystal should balance the bitterness a bit to make it feel not too over the top bitter.


----------



## Westoz

Just picked up a couple of bargains 1 can Brewcraft Belgian and Blackrock NZ draught both for under 20 bucks . :icon_cheers: 

Was thinking of doing a toucan with a some be2 and a KG of LDME 300g light crystal steeped.
Bung the lot in the kettle up to 40lt and do some hop additions .
40G Palisade @40min 
20G Palisade @10min
Maybe dry hop after a couple of days ferment.

Sound to funky appeciate your thoughts .


----------



## aaronR

Tropical_Brews said:


> Been in the bottle for only a week but by golly it is good.
> 
> Coopers Pale and Coopers Canadian together make a very good base for a big bodied beer the taste is a little bit like Coopers Vintage 2010 on the malt side with a fruity hop flavour forward from the Nelson Sauvin.




hi guys,

i got some coopers kits for xmas {mexican, blonde and draught}

am thinking of doing a simple toucan.. no xrta hops but maybe a little dextrose....

any thoughts/hints would be appreciated

aaron


----------



## Yob

iamozziyob said:


> Orig. Gravity 1056
> Current Gravity: 1036 @ 4 days
> [EDIT] Dry hopped 30g @ Day 4



So update.. 

Added EC1118 to primary @ day 6 - Reading 1.024
Gentle stir @ day 10 to Rouse yeast
Racked to secondary @ day 11
Gravity @ Day 14 (Yesterday) was 1.014 - 

I left this hydrometer sample on the window ledge which gets evening sun so havnt tasted it but the sample has got down to 1.010... I plan on leaving the sample exposed for a few days to see how far it gets down. This beast might be in the fridge for a month at this rate!! Another week to clean, a week to CC.. damn Ive nott got the patence for 1 brew a month :blink: 

Its grew a monster krausen too, only stopped about 5mm from the Gladwrap.. it was fearsome  

:icon_cheers:


----------



## husky

husky said:


> Ended up going the US 05 made up to a 22L batch. My first time using grains and boy do they smell good!
> Sampled the gravity reading tube and its noticably more bitter than my previous brews so we will see how it turns out, only 4 weeks to go



2 x Coopers lager cans
250g light crystal malt (steeped for 30 mins)
500g dextrose
25g Amarillo - 15 mins
25g Amarillo dry hopped
US05 yeasties

Had a few of these after ageing in the shed for nearly a year. Even better than I remember for a k&k brew. Worth trying for something simple and tasty. They were quite good after a few weeks as well but time has definatly helped round everyting out.


----------



## ploto

Hi all, newbie here just on to my second brew  My first brew was the standard Coopers lager that came with the kit plus 1 tin of the coopers light malt extract (did not use the BE1) and 15g of Cascade pellets that were added when the fermenter was filled. I forgot to take an OG, but left it for 10 days before bottling and the FG was 1.006. It has only been in the bottle for a week now and I will leave it another week before tasting, but I can't wait!


For my second brew I have used a can of Coopers Pale Ale and a can of Coopers Canadian Blond, with both the included yeast sachets. I did not add any extra sugars. I have some Cascade pellets that a friend gave me and I plan to add them on day 4, after steeping for 15 - 20 mins. I was going to add only 15g but my friend gave me 20g, should I add it all or will this overpower the flavours and aromas of the hopped extracts?

OG was 1.046 and I plan to leave it for a good 10 days before bottling. Current temp is 26C but I am trying to get it down by putting a few bags of ice from the servo in a bucket next to the fermenter - my brew set up is in a tiny room under the stairs so I'm hoping it will be enough to cool the whole space and thus bring the brew temp down a bit too. The tasting from the OG sample was quite nice so I have high hopes for this brew, but as it is only my second attempt I know I still have a lot to learn


----------



## aaronR

ploto said:


> Hi all, newbie here just on to my second brew  My first brew was the standard Coopers lager that came with the kit plus 1 tin of the coopers light malt extract (did not use the BE1) and 15g of Cascade pellets that were added when the fermenter was filled. I forgot to take an OG, but left it for 10 days before bottling and the FG was 1.006. It has only been in the bottle for a week now and I will leave it another week before tasting, but I can't wait!
> 
> 
> For my second brew I have used a can of Coopers Pale Ale and a can of Coopers Canadian Blond, with both the included yeast sachets. I did not add any extra sugars. I have some Cascade pellets that a friend gave me and I plan to add them on day 4, after steeping for 15 - 20 mins. I was going to add only 15g but my friend gave me 20g, should I add it all or will this overpower the flavours and aromas of the hopped extracts?
> 
> OG was 1.046 and I plan to leave it for a good 10 days before bottling. Current temp is 26C but I am trying to get it down by putting a few bags of ice from the servo in a bucket next to the fermenter - my brew set up is in a tiny room under the stairs so I'm hoping it will be enough to cool the whole space and thus bring the brew temp down a bit too. The tasting from the OG sample was quite nice so I have high hopes for this brew, but as it is only my second attempt I know I still have a lot to learn




hi ploto,

welcome to the world of home brew..I like you am fairly new to brewing and the forum. this place has been great for help/ideas.


your temp sounds a bit high from what ive read. it should be around 18degrees (for ales) if you can get it down to that. the ice sounds like a good idea. maybe also try a wet towel wrapped around the fermentor. have a little search on temperature control. there are plenty of posts with loads of different methods.

your 2nd brew sounds good and along simliar line to what i was thinking of. i was planning a coppers mexican with a coppers blonde. i was hoping to get some feed back from fellow brewers here but havent had any as yet. 

keep me posted on your brew as im keen to here how it goes

:icon_chickcheers: aaronR


----------



## cwhouston

Hi - I haven't noticed anyone trying the Coopers Australian pale Ale as a toucan? I put down:

2 x Coopers APA
10 g Saaz (1 min)
20 g Hallertau (1 min)
1.5 x Kit yeasts

It's now three weeks old and I cracked one last night - best homebrew I've ever done. Slightly on the bitter side but FAR better than the bottled conditioned APA Coopers sell. Seriously. I'm so GD pleased with myself and I highly recommend this to others. I will be doing again but with a heavy dose of cascade as dry hops (to my taste this requires not further bittering), without the Saaz and possibly including some carapils steeped.

Toucan = way forward.


----------



## TmC

cwhouston said:


> Hi - I haven't noticed anyone trying the Coopers Australian pale Ale as a toucan? I put down:
> 
> 2 x Coopers APA
> 10 g Saaz (1 min)
> 20 g Hallertau (1 min)
> 1.5 x Kit yeasts
> 
> It's now three weeks old and I cracked one last night - best homebrew I've ever done. Slightly on the bitter side but FAR better than the bottled conditioned APA Coopers sell. Seriously. I'm so GD pleased with myself and I highly recommend this to others. I will be doing again but with a heavy dose of cascade as dry hops (to my taste this requires not further bittering), without the Saaz and possibly including some carapils steeped.
> 
> Toucan = way forward.



Very convincing, i'll add it to my to-do list :icon_chickcheers:


----------



## going down a hill

I have only done one toucan which is the stout/dark ale, I used 25g of fuggles at 5mins, 200g light dry malt and nott yeast. It came out bitter at the start but has mellowed to a really nice stout.


----------



## ploto

ploto said:


> For my second brew I have used a can of Coopers Pale Ale and a can of Coopers Canadian Blond, with both the included yeast sachets. I did not add any extra sugars. I have some Cascade pellets that a friend gave me and I plan to add them on day 4, after steeping for 15 - 20 mins.



fwiw this combo turned out very nice. If I were to do it again would probably just dry hop rather than steep.


----------



## J Grimmer

ploto said:


> fwiw this combo turned out very nice. If I were to do it again would probably just dry hop rather than steep.




I agree on the dry hopping recently dry hopped 20g cascade and 20g amarillo to some thing similar and is very refreashing now after 6 weeks in the bottle.

Jan


----------



## timryan

Gday Guys im going to do a Dark Ale/ Stout Toucan... When planning a recipe for the brew would it basically be the 2 cans and both yeast and 23L of Water? Any other worth while additions?


----------



## TmC

With mine, i went;

1x Can of Stout
1x Can of Ale
500g BE2
Dry Hopping today with 150g ground coffee, and 2 cinnamon sticks
I used both yeasts and got a pretty monstor krausen, my temps were too high though, 24-26 celcius. Hoping it gets better in the bottle, smells pretty off.


----------



## timryan

just dropped them in? like normal dry hopping


----------



## TmC

Im going to do it this arvo, right now i have the 150g of coffee in about 2 litres of water, i am going to let the sit for an hour then wack it in the fridge. Was going to throw the coffee and cinnamon in my secondary vessels and then rack on top of that. Throw it in the fridge for a week. See how that goes, bottle it and if its shite put it away for a month or two.


----------



## going down a hill

For my Stout/Dark toucan I used 200g of LDM and 25g Fuggles for 5mins and s04 yeast. I thought I might have over hopped at first but after a month in the bottle it has come out to be a great little stout. I am trying not to drink the lot before the real cold of Melbourne kicks in. If anything, use the kit yeast as nutrient by putting it in the boil at the start and use Nottingham, Windsor or s04 yeast instead, any of these will work well with this brew.


----------



## timryan

Due to low funds at the moment i was wanting to find out if it is drinkable just as is.. The coffee and cinnamon sticks is feasible cause they are sitting around the house... I think ill run with TmC recipe and see how that flows.. first up... I have a heap of cascade hops but i dont know if they would sit...


----------



## going down a hill

Cascade has citrus, grapefruit and spicy flavours, I would save it for something else. You don't need to hop this one because both cans already are hopped so it has enough bittering to make this a little cracker. 

The link is a chart (it's only a rough guide) for what hops work with different beers. It has helped me get my head around how it all works.
http://www.kotmf.com/articles/hopslist.php


----------



## Fodder

going down a hill said:


> Cascade has citrus, grapefruit and spicy flavours, I would save it for something else. You don't need to hop this one because both cans already are hopped so it has enough bittering to make this a little cracker.
> 
> The link is a chart (it's only a rough guide) for what hops work with different beers. It has helped me get my head around how it all works.
> http://www.kotmf.com/articles/hopslist.php




That is a ripper of a resource. I've been hunting for something like this for ages! Thanks a bunch, that will make life so much easier :icon_chickcheers:


----------



## petesbrew

3 coopers kits left that I want to use up.
Canadian Blonde, Euro Lager & Ginger Beer.
Plenty of grain & hops at my disposal, so I'll leave this question open to suggestions.


----------



## TmC

Canadian Blonde and Euro Lager would make a cracker of a toucan, i have my Euro Lager in cold conditioning now and its a beaut of a beer, i steeped 100-200g of carapils in mine if i can remember. The cold condition has been helping me heaps on the clarity and flavour of my beers but it doesn't work for some people. I have only ever tried morgans ginger beer and that has been a very popular brew as i still have homebrew twang to overcome


----------



## AlwayzLoozeCount

I'm starting to get a taste for stout and was thinking about putting a high abv% down this winter and saving it for 12 months. 
Idea so far:
2 cans Coopers stout
1kg dry dark malt stuff
20L
some fuggles chucked in, somwhere

Just wondering about the carbonation, I dont bulk prime, I just use the measuring spoon thing that has one side for stubbies and one side for tallies. 
Should I just go stubbie side per long neck? I think its equall to one carb drop.


----------



## manticle

Carb low, let it age.


----------



## Pourmeanother

I gave my longneck stout bottles on carb drop each and after a month cracked one to see how it was going , almost flat really disapointed . Not sure id go down that path again .

Think i'd rather them carbed up than flat .
:icon_drunk:


----------



## Mayor of Mildura

why not go half and half as an experiment? that way next time you'll know what you prefer.


----------



## AlwayzLoozeCount

pourmeanother said:


> I gave my longneck stout bottles on carb drop each and after a month cracked one to see how it was going , almost flat really disapointed . Not sure id go down that path again .
> 
> Think i'd rather them carbed up than flat .
> :icon_drunk:



Yeh but I dont think fizzy over carbed stout is the style i'm going for.....


----------



## Cube

AlwayzLoozeCount said:


> Yeh but I dont think fizzy over carbed stout is the style i'm going for.....



Open them up, decant, fridge for 1/2 hour to knock out some fizz....... better than under carbed.


----------



## manticle

Not sure I understand. Rather than find the appropriate carb level for the relevant style and palate, the recommendation is to overcarb then wait half an hour before drinking each one?


----------



## Braumoasta

AlwayzLoozeCount said:


> Just wondering about the carbonation, I dont bulk prime, I just use the measuring spoon thing that has one side for stubbies and one side for tallies.
> Should I just go stubbie side per long neck? I think its equall to one carb drop.



One carb drop (or one 'stubbie scoop' for a longneck) makes for perfect carbonation in a stout... IMO. :icon_drool2:


----------



## Cube

manticle said:


> Not sure I understand. Rather than find the appropriate carb level for the relevant style and palate, the recommendation is to overcarb then wait half an hour before drinking each one?



Lol not at all. It was a quIck, albeit tongue in cheek, solution to a overcharged beer that was not to his liking as the thought was suggested to put two and the reply was it will be over carbed and one is not enough. Bulk priming is the go for getting it right BEFORE carving up.

Hehe


----------



## manticle

I think I see a bit I think.


----------



## timryan

I know TmC Has but has anyone else added coffee beans to the dark ale/ stout toucan for extra flavour???


----------



## Harry Volting

Yeah...cold steep ground coffee beans overnight and sanitise by adding to v hot can rinse when mixing toucan (Coopers Dark and Stout).
Much less acidity and acridity (is that a word)?
I'm partial to a fresh expresso shot with a pint of Coopers stout.
Phark the Heff, best breakfast beer I've ever had.
What was the question?
Hope this helps.
Harry


----------



## Liam_snorkel

hi guys, long time lurker first time poster here.

my recent toucan experiments:

2 x Coopers Canadia Blonde
10g leftover Cascade (made a hop tea & threw it in. why not ay)
Both yeasts.
23l
cooked at about 18deg for 10 days or so.

will post results once it's been in the bottle for a month or so.

Coopers Stout + Coopers Dark Ale
1kg brewers choice Stout Mix
200g Uncle Tobys Quick Oats (as per this
200g leftover Dex 
30g Fuggles (5min hop tea)
made to 24l
18deg 

(currently in the fermenter - been 10 days, still exhibiting positive pressure)
will post results once it's been in the bottle for a month.

one question: the oats were a bit of an experiment - what can I expect from them?
the Mrs said I looked like a mad scientist, stirring up a big batch of watery porridge with a shit-eating grin on my face.


----------



## ekul

Wouldn't you need to do a mash to convert the starch in the oats into fermentable sugars? Or are quick oats different?



Liam_snorkel said:


> hi guys, long time lurker first time poster here.
> 
> my recent toucan experiments:
> 
> 2 x Coopers Canadia Blonde
> 10g leftover Cascade (made a hop tea & threw it in. why not ay)
> Both yeasts.
> 23l
> cooked at about 18deg for 10 days or so.
> 
> will post results once it's been in the bottle for a month or so.
> 
> Coopers Stout + Coopers Dark Ale
> 1kg brewers choice Stout Mix
> 200g Uncle Tobys Quick Oats (as per this
> 200g leftover Dex
> 30g Fuggles (5min hop tea)
> made to 24l
> 18deg
> 
> (currently in the fermenter - been 10 days, still exhibiting positive pressure)
> will post results once it's been in the bottle for a month.
> 
> one question: the oats were a bit of an experiment - what can I expect from them?
> the Mrs said I looked like a mad scientist, stirring up a big batch of watery porridge with a shit-eating grin on my face.


----------



## Bribie G

The oats would certainly add a bit of beta glucan and flavour, which is really why they are used anyway to give silkiness and mouthfeel, but the starch would not get converted and there's the risk of a starch haze and other "floaties". However this shouldn't matter too much in a stout as long as you are not holding it up to the sunlight to admire the garnet highlights


----------



## Liam_snorkel

to clarify, I brewed up a big pot of watery porridge for half an hour or so, strained out the oats (chucked em in the bin) but kept the starchy liquid. left that on the stove for a bit (not boiling, just kept it hot). tipped in my kits to combine them then dumped the lot into the fermenter.

ekul: I've only really done kits & bits & extracts so not sure exactly what doing a mash entails.

like I said, it was a bit of an experiment 

BribieG: so I can expect some extra silkiness & mouth feel.. excellent  not so worried about haziness or floaties, this beast is as black as the ace of spades & I'll probably need a spoon to drink it anyway


----------



## sic_vl

I stupidly brought 3 cans of Tooheys "special" larger from the supermarket @ about $6 each. and theres a reason why they are so cheap, they are crap. so i did a toucan with the remaining 2 cans just to get rid of them.

so 2 x Tooheys special larger
250gm corn syrup
Cluster Finishing hops
and both yeast packets.

Still bottle conditioning, but opened one last week to try and its comming along very nicely. I was very suprised.


----------



## Nevalicious

Just completed my fastest brewday in ages...

Last two farmland draught cans I got from the Coles super cleanout (bought originally to make starters with) @ $3 ea!

15g ea of US Cascade10, US Centennial09 and 20g of US Chinook10 at 5 mins, 4L boil. 

Straight into fermenter, chilling down to pitch temp now, to be fermented with WLP001 top crop @18deg...

Same hop schedule for dry hopping as above

Made it similar before and it was surprisingly very drinkable at only 2 weeks in the bottle

Need stocks for a golf weekend coming up in just under a month... Unable to do an AG batch at the mo due to work commitments... 

:icon_drunk:


----------



## timryan

I bottled a Stout Dark Ale Toucan on tuesday and i am wondering how long it needs to be aged prior to testing.??? I just carb drops to prime the beer 1 per a long neck 1/2 per a stubbie.....


Cheers


----------



## mwd

timryan said:


> I bottled a Stout Dark Ale Toucan on tuesday and i am wondering how long it needs to be aged prior to testing.??? I just carb drops to prime the beer 1 per a long neck 1/2 per a stubbie.....
> 
> 
> Cheers



The longer you can keep your hands off it the better. But if like me then I get into it and test after 2 weeks when fully carbed up.
I think you will find it will smooth out nicely with time should be nice after 2 months.

Just got one going now looks like it has nearly finished fermenting used Coopers IPA instead of Dark and 500g Wheat Extract + 500g Raw Sugar so should be reasonably strong and a bit of an experiment with the IPA.


----------



## Braumoasta

timryan said:


> I bottled a Stout Dark Ale Toucan on tuesday and i am wondering how long it needs to be aged prior to testing.??? I just carb drops to prime the beer 1 per a long neck 1/2 per a stubbie.....



Good decision with the halved priming rate :icon_cheers: I started drinking mine after about three weeks and it was ok, but now it's been in the bottles for just over 4 months and it is awesome :icon_drunk: ... sadly I only have one lone bottle left, so I kind of wish I didn't drink it all so early.


----------



## dcx3

I always bottle 4 stubbies or so and use them as testers for carbonation and taste.I only use one drop per longy and it takes about 4 weeks with darker beers to get nicely carbed.


----------



## The Giant

What are most people getting for initial FG ratings on their toucans? In particular the Stout/Dark Ale combo?

I put one down last night, 2 tins of goo and 500g brown sugar and my reading was only 1050.
Tested the hydrometer in water and it came up short at 994 so its obviously a bit out (dont know how given its only a few months old)
Even with that though my reading only comes up to 1056. I was really expecting more from a toucan with 500g sugar.

Batch volume was 23l


----------



## yum beer

The Giant said:


> What are most people getting for initial FG ratings on their toucans? In particular the Stout/Dark Ale combo?
> 
> I put one down last night, 2 tins of goo and 500g brown sugar and my reading was only 1050.
> Tested the hydrometer in water and it came up short at 994 so its obviously a bit out (dont know how given its only a few months old)
> Even with that though my reading only comes up to 1056. I was really expecting more from a toucan with 500g sugar.
> 
> Batch volume was 23l





Just ran these through the program and it gives OG as 1054, so your pretty close


----------



## The Giant

sweet thanks yum beer


----------



## Ivan Other One

Got to clean out the pantry and stock up on some beer.

Have this in mind for a toucan

Coopers Real Ale and Draught
500g Dex
500g LDM,,,,, to help counter-act some of the bitterness
20-30g hops of some sort most likely dry-hopped
514 yeast
made to 25 litres.

Hops on hand are Amarillo, EKG, Nelson Savion, Cluster, Simcoe and Cascade.

Any suggestions as to hop type would be appreciated.
Cheers Ivan.


----------



## Nevalicious

Ivan Other One said:


> Got to clean out the pantry and stock up on some beer.
> 
> Have this in mind for a toucan
> 
> Coopers Real Ale and Draught
> 500g Dex
> 500g LDM,,,,, to help counter-act some of the bitterness
> 20-30g hops of some sort most likely dry-hopped
> 514 yeast
> made to 25 litres.
> 
> Hops on hand are Amarillo, EKG, Nelson Savion, Cluster, Simcoe and Cascade.
> 
> Any suggestions as to hop type would be appreciated.
> Cheers Ivan.



Dry hop with a combo of all the american hops!! Drop out the EKG and Cluster = Winning! 

Maybe 10g of each?? Great fruity punchiness. Carb low in the bottle and drink once carbed, or keg and drink near-on ASAP to get the full effect of the hops!

Nev


----------



## Cog's

This one is either gonna give me a headache,
Or give me a headache 

1 Coopers Real Ale
1kg can of Saunders Malt extract 
500g DLME
1kg CSR Brewing Sugar
25g Armarilo Hops,
1 packet Safe ale 04 yeast,(I think I needed more)

OG 1060

Been in fementer for 17 days and still got positive pressure and a slow bubble, SG 1018 atm, taste good but with a bubble gum smell?

Thickest brew I've ever done.


----------



## bignath

Cog said:


> Can't comment on the bubblegum, but mate, not trying to burst your bubble (pun completely intended) but that brew is gonna really, really sweet i reckon.
> That's like a Kit n Kilo n Kilo and a half.... The real ale can (from memory of my kit days) does have some decent bitterness built in, but that's a truck load of sugars to be adding, i'm not sure you'll notice the amarillo at all.
> 
> You'll definitely get a headache after a couple of those. Best of luck with it mate, but i reckon it will be really unbalanced and sweet.


----------



## Cog's

Big Nath said:


> Can't comment on the bubblegum, but mate, not trying to burst your bubble (pun completely intended) but that brew is gonna really, really sweet i reckon.
> That's like a Kit n Kilo n Kilo and a half.... The real ale can (from memory of my kit days) does have some decent bitterness built in, but that's a truck load of sugars to be adding, i'm not sure you'll notice the amarillo at all.
> 
> You'll definitely get a headache after a couple of those. Best of luck with it mate, but i reckon it will be really unbalanced and sweet.




I agree with you completly, but I can smell the hops and the sample's are quite bitter/sweeeeet.

If ya never go you never know


----------



## bignath

Cog said:


> Bloody right mate.
> 
> Earlier tonight i posted a thread asking for help with a recipe that includes 20% rice in a lager recipe. Haven't used it before in an all grain beer, so if you don't know, you don't know....
> 
> Tell us how this beer turns out Cog, would be interested in the results!


----------



## petesbrew

Apart from the overuse of sugar (maybe 500g would've been enough) it doesn't sound half bad.
You could dry hop with another 25g Amarillo if you're game, but let us know how it goes.


----------



## mwd

Cherry Stout toucan ???

Coopers Stout + Coopers IPA
500g Wheat Malt
500g Raw Sugar 

Nottingham yeast 

2x cans of Coles Black Cherries and juice mashed with potato masher and added after 4 days.
( heard that sour cherries work better than sweet ones but they are not ready available in supermarkets )

SG is reading 1.020 presently but looks like it has stopped.

tasted the hydro sample and could not detect any hint of cherry at all Oh well.
Leave it in the fermenter longer and see if the SG drops some more and picks up a bit of cherry.


----------



## petesbrew

Tropical_Brews said:


> Cherry Stout toucan ???
> 
> Coopers Stout + Coopers IPA
> 500g Wheat Malt
> 500g Raw Sugar
> 
> Nottingham yeast
> 
> 2x cans of Coles Black Cherries and juice mashed with potato masher and added after 4 days.
> ( heard that sour cherries work better than sweet ones but they are not ready available in supermarkets )
> 
> SG is reading 1.020 presently but looks like it has stopped.
> 
> tasted the hydro sample and could not detect any hint of cherry at all Oh well.
> Leave it in the fermenter longer and see if the SG drops some more and picks up a bit of cherry.


General concensus is you really need to add the fruit into the secondary. Primary strips a lot of flavour out of the fruit. Check out the fruit beers in the article section for more tips.


----------



## mwd

petesbrew said:


> General concensus is you really need to add the fruit into the secondary. Primary strips a lot of flavour out of the fruit. Check out the fruit beers in the article section for more tips.



Yes I was being lazy waited until the first high ferment slowed down. Although there is not really that much taste in canned cherries they are a bit bland.

Edit: should have just eaten the cherries with some ice cream yum.


----------



## petesbrew

Tropical_Brews said:


> Yes I was being lazy waited until the first high ferment slowed down. Although there is not really that much taste in canned cherries they are a bit bland.
> 
> Edit: should have just eaten the cherries with some ice cream yum.


It won't hurt it. I still put a small amount of raspberries in primary, but I leave most for 2ndary.
Just get a few more cans.


----------



## Cog's

petesbrew said:


> Apart from the overuse of sugar (maybe 500g would've been enough) it doesn't sound half bad.
> You could dry hop with another 25g Amarillo if you're game, but let us know how it goes.




Got a 25g bag of cascade I could add to this Bastard but Im gonna Carb it up in the next day or so 

Next time I will be sure to use less sugar 
Names for it so far are 
Bastard ale
suicide ale
D.U.I ale
Or all of the above

Thanks all for the advice and comments and I will be sure to let you know if it's any good

By the way I was in Hahndorf today and the family Inn has the Hoff Maiboc back on tapp if anyone has a recipe for that, I'd be stoked!! maybe the push I need to move to all grain


----------



## Cog's

Big Nath said:


> Bloody right mate.
> 
> Earlier tonight i posted a thread asking for help with a recipe that includes 20% rice in a lager recipe. Haven't used it before in an all grain beer, so if you don't know, you don't know....
> 
> Tell us how this beer turns out Cog, would be interested in the results!




Mate I Have a result



To my surprise it has turned out great FG of 1014 which seems good considering it started around 1060ish 

It resembles an I.P.A, bitter,sweet but not too sweet.
A strong brew with a reasonable hops flavor.
I invite a Hills Brewer to come and try a pint to give me a non bias opinion if they happen to be going through Lobey some time in the next few days.
That way I'll know if it is worth recommending to the novice brewer who wants to expand their horizon.


----------



## Liam_snorkel

Liam_snorkel said:


> 2 x Coopers Canadia Blonde
> 10g leftover Cascade (made a hop tea & threw it in. why not ay)
> Both yeasts.
> 23l
> cooked at about 18deg for 10 days or so.
> 
> will post results once it's been in the bottle for a month or so.



after 2.5 weeks in the bottle its pretty good. tasty & bitter. next time I'll add a fistful of aroma hops.
http://twitpic.com/51vin6


----------



## Caffeine Dealer

I have been wanting to do a 2can brew lately and i figure i might use my last 2 cans before moving onto all grain brewing.

Coopers IPA
Black Rock Pils blonde
US05 yeast

Is likely to end up overly bitter?
What else should i add if anything?

Hops?
I was thinking 40g Goldings dry hop?

Your thoughts please?


----------



## Liam_snorkel

Liam_snorkel said:


> Coopers Stout + Coopers Dark Ale
> 1kg brewers choice Stout Mix
> 200g Uncle Tobys Quick Oats (as per this
> 200g leftover Dex
> 30g Fuggles (5min hop tea)
> made to 24l
> 18deg


just tried this after only 1 week in the bottle (impatient prick I know).
very tasty. bitter, but not too bitter at all, even this early on. pours with a thick creamy head which lasts & lasts.
black as the ace of spades, just held it up to the sun and couldn't see any colour  (maybe some turd-brown around the corner of the glass).
So happy that this is drinkable now & I don't have to wait until next winter to enjoy it!


----------



## TmC

Glad you had a win, i will have to give this one a go as my toucan was good but not great, i like the idea of adding oats too.


----------



## Caffeine Dealer

Caffeine Dealer said:


> I have been wanting to do a 2can brew lately and i figure i might use my last 2 cans before moving onto all grain brewing.
> 
> Coopers IPA
> Black Rock Pils blonde
> US05 yeast
> 
> Is likely to end up overly bitter?
> What else should i add if anything?
> 
> Hops?
> I was thinking 40g Goldings dry hop?
> 
> Your thoughts please?




Put this one down on Friday evening and it is now WELL under way...bubbling like a you know what. Still waiting for it to exit stage air lock though?

In the end i went with 25g Cascade @ 10 minutes and 10g Galaxy @ flame out boiled up with 2 litres of water along with 200g of LME.

Stay tuned!


----------



## chrisso81

After reading the latest homebrewer mag I realise I have the ingredients for the Coopers Vintage Ale 'clone' sitting around and wonder whether anyone has tried it? As its a 'toucan' I'm hoping this is an appropriate thread to discuss it.

The ingredients from the mag, and the Coopers site are:

1.7kg Australian Pale Ale beer kit 
1.7kg Real Ale beer kit 
1kg Dextrose 
30g Nelson Sauvin pellets 
Commercial Coopers Ale yeast (or both sachets of kit yeast)

I'm wondering whether its worth putting down, and if its worth reculturing the yeast from the vintage, or just using the pale/sparkling reculture? Or even using both strains as they mention that they add another yeast prior to bottling. Are there any improvements I can make? I have steeped grains before and have some Pale Crystal Malt kickin around, would this be the way to go? I would like to give it a crack but don't care for making a 'clone', but something close style-wise would be nice.
Cheers all!


----------



## keifer33

Both of the cans will add enough flavour to forget the grain as you dont want it to be mental overpowering. As far as the yeast goes I recon try the coopers cultured yeast from the pale/sparkling as I believe it is all the same strain and the lower alcohol content of the beer you are culturing from will hopefully give healthier yeasties. The yeast mentioned for bottling is just to make sure it carbs up as the original yeast could be full from all the sugars its eaten to eat the priming sugar.

My vote is to give the recipe ago as it does sound tasty.


----------



## Swordsman

Hey guys. Just tasted my first 'toucan'. Have been doing beer a few years now (kit+kilo then went to extracts with added bits etc.) but never tried the 'two can' idea though i've known about it for ages. Saw Woolies had coopers cans on sale for approx $8 a few weeks ago and grabbed several. So ended up using two to make my first APA style toucan. Recipe as follows:

Volume 25L
1.7 kg Can Coopers Real Ale
1.7 kg Can Coopers Lager
200gm LDME
350gm Coopers Brewing sugar (80/20 dex/malto)
200gm crystal steeped 65deg for 40min

5gm Chinook 15min
5gm Chinnook 10min
5gm Chinook 5min
10gm Chinook 0min

(hop time estimates basically was going for a continuous addititon idea but kept gettting distracted LOL)

6L boil (half real ale can added then steeped liquor)

Fermentted US05 20deg 7 day primary. Dry Hop 10gm chinook 10gm cascade for 8 days. 
OG: 1047 FG: 1011

Tasted one bottle quickly primed (not dry hopped) after one week (sit near water heater he he) and very happy. Not too hoppy, but definitely good bite. Surprisingly smooth given very green age! Nice chinook flavour but really impressed but great malt (makes sense lots of lme in there...). 

Given price of the batch very cost effective. Will muck around with this again when i see some sales. Have tried cans with lme tubs and that was also good but this is cheaper and just as good. Have to be carfeul about the isohop from the cans (*especially cheap ones) because it appears really bitter in the wort but seems to tone out once in the final beer. Much more misleading than doing a normal beer in my experience. Can't wait to taste one that hs been dry hopped and properly aged!

PS Have decided to call this beer 'The CH-47' in honour of the sole bittering hop. Aviation fans will get the idea (or else just google it!)


----------



## PryorBrewing

Caffeine Dealer said:


> Put this one down on Friday evening and it is now WELL under way...bubbling like a you know what. Still waiting for it to exit stage air lock though?
> 
> In the end i went with 25g Cascade @ 10 minutes and 10g Galaxy @ flame out boiled up with 2 litres of water along with 200g of LME.
> 
> Stay tuned!



Did something similar recently with coopers stout can and a kilo of DME, I toasted my oats though in the oven until golden brown then steeped them with some extra grains. Adds a really nice roasted almost smokey flavour to the beer.

Maybe a thought for next time.

Love oats in a stout though just adds the best consistency to the beer and adds awesome head as well.


----------



## TmC

Picked up 2 cans of Black Rock Lager, 1 Brewcraft Irish Stout and a Morgans Golden Saaz Pilsner out of date to see what i can turn out of them. Will be interesting to see how they go.


----------



## Caffeine Dealer

TmC said:


> Picked up 2 cans of Black Rock Lager, 1 Brewcraft Irish Stout and a Morgans Golden Saaz Pilsner out of date to see what i can turn out of them. Will be interesting to see how they go.



Do i sense a 4 can brew coming? lol


----------



## Lodan

Caffeine Dealer said:


> Do i sense a 4 can brew coming? lol



Perhaps a mongrel imperial stout!
Look forward to seeing the outcome, Toucan or otherwise


----------



## TmC

I used one can of the Blackrock and added 500g table sugar, 10g cascade @ 10 and made to 10L. They are only a few months out of date but i just want to sort of test the waters to see what they are like. Was thinking i would go the irish stout, Pilsner and maybe buy a coopers dark ale for an imperial? Throw some grains in to make it better. Never made a trican before.


----------



## riverside

I did 1xcan morgans blue mountain larger with 1x brewcraft can mex cer, filled to 25 litres and added some saaz finishing hops.. not to bad at all. My mates loved it and keep asking me to do another !


----------



## kjparker

I was looking to do the following:

1 * Coopers Dark ale
1 * Coopers Australian pale ale
1 * be2
probably 500g brown sugar.

How do you reckon this would turn out? I havent read all 22 pages of this thread, so please forgive me if this one has been discussed already!


----------



## earle

clueless said:


> I was looking to do the following:
> 
> 1 * Coopers Dark ale
> 1 * Coopers Australian pale ale
> 1 * be2
> probably 500g brown sugar.
> 
> How do you reckon this would turn out? I havent read all 22 pages of this thread, so please forgive me if this one has been discussed already!



I've done a few toucans with the dark ale and the euro lager which have come out quite nice. The pale ale and euro lager have the same IBU so you will get something fairly similar. I just add 200-300g of crystal and ferment with Windsor, this adds/leaves enough sweetness to cut back the bitterness a bit. There's some malt in that BE2 of yours which will help in that respect but not having used brown sugar in a brew I can't advise what effect that will have. You have a bit of fermentables there but mine is probably a bit low on the alc% for a porter style anyway. I reckon do it.


----------



## kjparker

earle said:


> I've done a few toucans with the dark ale and the euro lager which have come out quite nice. The pale ale and euro lager have the same IBU so you will get something fairly similar. I just add 200-300g of crystal and ferment with Windsor, this adds/leaves enough sweetness to cut back the bitterness a bit. There's some malt in that BE2 of yours which will help in that respect but not having used brown sugar in a brew I can't advise what effect that will have. You have a bit of fermentables there but mine is probably a bit low on the alc% for a porter style anyway. I reckon do it.


Any idea of what alc% I should be expecting?

I was intending on using both kit yeasts, or pitch on top of the yeast cake from the coopers "lager" I have going at present.


----------



## Braumoasta

clueless said:


> Any idea of what alc% I should be expecting?



If it's going to be made up to 23 litres it would probably be around 8.5% (if bottle conditioned).


----------



## earle

clueless said:


> Any idea of what alc% I should be expecting?
> 
> I was intending on using both kit yeasts, or pitch on top of the yeast cake from the coopers "lager" I have going at present.




I get 6.12% with the brown sugar and 5.3% without. The yeasts with all those kits will be the same strain, as the packs are small even two packs could be a bit light on, pitching on the yeastcake sounds like a good option, just watch out as it will probably take off and generate a high krausen.

Edit: add 0.5% or whatever for priming sugar


----------



## Braumoasta

earle said:


> I get 6.12% with the brown sugar and 5.3% without. The yeasts with all those kits will be the same strain, as the packs are small even two packs could be a bit light on, pitching on the yeastcake sounds like a good option, just watch out as it will probably take off and generate a high krausen.
> 
> Edit: add 0.5% or whatever for priming sugar



How did you get those alcohol percentages. Did you use the BE2 as 500g dextrose, 250g dried malt extract and 250g maltodex.? 
And the pale ale kit has a different yeast, it is an ale/lager blend.


----------



## earle

Braumoasta said:


> How did you get those alcohol percentages. Did you use the BE2 as 500g dextrose, 250g dried malt extract and 250g maltodex.?
> And the pale ale kit has a different yeast, it is an ale/lager blend.


I did use those quantities for the BE2 and Beersmith gave me OG 1063 FG 1016 ABV 6.12% (would then need to add 0.5% for priming sugar if not kegged)
Would be curious to get someone else to confirm which of us is correct.

Whether or not his lager yeast is different to the Pale Ale yeast depends on which coopers 'lager' he is using. Linky 
My first statement regarding the yeast probably was a bit too broadsweeping.


----------



## kjparker

earle said:


> Whether or not his lager yeast is different to the Pale Ale yeast depends on which coopers 'lager' he is using. Linky
> My first statement regarding the yeast probably was a bit too broadsweeping.




It was the original lager series, the same one as comes in the starter kit


----------



## earle

Then your "lager"'s yeast seems to be the same as the one with the dark ale while the pale ale yeast had some some s-189 in it which is a proper lager yeast.

Yeast makes quite a contribution to the flavour of your beer which is why I generally get another yeast anyway. That way you know for sure what you've got and can choose something appropriate to the beer you're trying to create rather than what coopers chucks in with the can. If you purchase from some of the sponsors the pack is twice the size of the coopers yeasts to help you get off to a good start, especially if you pitch dry.


----------



## Braumoasta

earle said:


> I did use those quantities for the BE2 and Beersmith gave me OG 1063 FG 1016 ABV 6.12% (would then need to add 0.5% for priming sugar if not kegged)
> Would be curious to get someone else to confirm which of us is correct.
> 
> Whether or not his lager yeast is different to the Pale Ale yeast depends on which coopers 'lager' he is using. Linky
> My first statement regarding the yeast probably was a bit too broadsweeping.



I've made a very similar recipe; Coopers toucan stout (Stout and Dark ale can) with BE2 and 500g dextrose and got:
OG 1073
FG 1014

Using one online calculator and a manual method I get alcohol percentages of 8.6% and 8.4%

which is pretty close to what this estimator for the same recipe gives for both recipes (assuming brown sugar is 100% or close to 100% fermentable): http://homebrew.com.au/wa.asp?idWebPage=96...p;idDetails=120


----------



## earle

I think the difference must be coming from the figures we use for each ingredient. 
From my beersmith:
Kits/liquid malt extract 1.035
DME 1.044
Dextrose/brown sugar 1.046
Maltodextrin is set up as an miscellaneous so I think it doesn't add anything in for gravity, but this shouldn't affect the alc% calcuation as it doesn't really make any alcohol.

I may need to start comparing actual gravities with the estimated a bit more. The above figures tend to be an estimate from a range anyway. I'm not that concerned with the alc% of my own beers anyway but perhaps I'll refrain from calculating % for others unless I check the calibration.


----------



## kjparker

earle said:


> I think the difference must be coming from the figures we use for each ingredient.
> From my beersmith:
> Kits/liquid malt extract 1.035
> DME 1.044
> Dextrose/brown sugar 1.046
> Maltodextrin is set up as an miscellaneous so I think it doesn't add anything in for gravity, but this shouldn't affect the alc% calcuation as it doesn't really make any alcohol.
> 
> I may need to start comparing actual gravities with the estimated a bit more. The above figures tend to be an estimate from a range anyway. I'm not that concerned with the alc% of my own beers anyway but perhaps I'll refrain from calculating % for others unless I check the calibration.




Be2 is a mix of dme, dextrose, and maltodextrin, so that could be the difference.

I do have about a half kilo of dex, and about a half kilo of dme. Do you reckon these would be better in the fermenter as opposed to the be2? Along with the brown sugar?


----------



## going down a hill

I read on these forums a while back (so it has to be true, I read it on the internet) that BE2 is 50% dex, 25% maltodex and 25% dme. If I were you I would use what you have, maltodex is a junk adjunct dme wins for me every time.


----------



## kjparker

clueless said:


> I was looking to do the following:
> 
> 1 * Coopers Dark ale
> 1 * Coopers Australian pale ale
> 1 * be2
> probably 500g brown sugar.
> 
> How do you reckon this would turn out? I havent read all 22 pages of this thread, so please forgive me if this one has been discussed already!



Ok, Going to put this down as soon as the fermenting fridge is free.

I have the choice of using either three kit yeasts, they should be all the same, or on the US-05 yeast cake I will have when the current batch is done.

Thoughts?


----------



## mwd

Collect about 300ml of the US05 yeastcake and use that. You can boil up a packet of kit yeast and add it as yeast nutrient.

I have done stout toucans with 05 and never had any go ballistic and climb out of the fermenter.


----------



## petesbrew

Coopers European Lager
Coopers Canadian Blonde
180g Carapils - Steeped
25g Oz Saaz - dry hopped
S-189 Swiss Lager yeast

Filled to 20L - OG=1050 
Been sitting in the garage between 11-14c. Not too worried about the swing, and it's tasting promising for a toucan lager.
Currently down to 1012.


----------



## bigalwhat

This thread is really informative but a little overwhelming to read also 


I just need a bit a advice... I have 3 brews under my belt and they have all turned out really well.
But I had a mate gave me a can of coopers stout and a can of coopers Australian pale ale. 
Would these be OK to make a toucan brew? If so do I use both yeast sachets? 
And should I add some dextrose and anything else like malt extract.

Any help from you brew gurus out there would be really appreciated


----------



## mwd

Tropical_Brews said:


> Cherry Stout toucan ???
> 
> Coopers Stout + Coopers IPA
> 500g Wheat Malt
> 500g Raw Sugar
> 
> Nottingham yeast
> 
> 2x cans of Coles Black Cherries and juice mashed with potato masher and added after 4 days.
> ( heard that sour cherries work better than sweet ones but they are not ready available in supermarkets )
> 
> SG is reading 1.020 presently but looks like it has stopped.
> 
> tasted the hydro sample and could not detect any hint of cherry at all Oh well.
> Leave it in the fermenter longer and see if the SG drops some more and picks up a bit of cherry.



Bottled 10th June had one or two drinking quite well. Don't think I can detect cherry but who cares.
Stout can and IPA go together quite well. Trying to hold off to see how it improves with bottle age.


----------



## mwd

bigalwhat said:


> This thread is really informative but a little overwhelming to read also
> 
> 
> I just need a bit a advice... I have 3 brews under my belt and they have all turned out really well.
> But I had a mate gave me a can of coopers stout and a can of coopers Australian pale ale.
> Would these be OK to make a toucan brew? If so do I use both yeast sachets?
> And should I add some dextrose and anything else like malt extract.
> 
> Any help from you brew gurus out there would be really appreciated



Should be fine you can use both yeasts or buy some Nottingham or S04 may make an improvement.

Depends how alcoholic you require the finished brew on whether or not to add dex or malt extract.

See above recipe for an idea. I didn't run the figures but reckon it is between 6 and 7% I am not one who worries too much about the technicalities just do it and see how it turns out.

Here is a calculator that will give a rough and ready alcohol level Brewcraft brew calculator


----------



## timryan

Completely random but good night for a toucan in Melbourne tonight.....


----------



## Caffeine Dealer

Caffeine Dealer said:


> Put this one down on Friday evening and it is now WELL under way...bubbling like a you know what. Still waiting for it to exit stage air lock though?
> 
> In the end i went with 25g Cascade @ 10 minutes and 10g Galaxy @ flame out boiled up with 2 litres of water along with 200g of LME.
> 
> Stay tuned!



Drinking this one currently.

It is bitter but not too much so that i cant put away multiples. 

My description is passion fruit aroma and full flavoured bitter like an IPA...very nice and it has had the thumbs up from all tasters.

Next time though i think i would skip the IPA and use 2 cans of the Canadian blonde.

Successful


----------



## Ryan WABC

I'm looking at putting down a two-can in a week or so.

2 x Coopers Lager Kits
25g Hallertau Hops @ 20 Minutes
25g Tettnanger Hops @ 10 Minutes
Saflager W-34/70

How does this sound? Will it be too bitter?


----------



## wqijno

So long as you're topping it up to about 24 litres then it should be good. I probably wouldn't boil the hops for that long though. Maybe 10 and 5 mins? The euro lager I'm making at the moment used 1 can of lager but the batch is only 12L even though it's designed for 23L. Bitterness is perfect.


----------



## Ryan WABC

I'm thinking of just going 25 grams of Hallertau at 10 minutes. Don't want to make it too bitter.


----------



## 6tri6ple6

Was thinking of doing a coopers stout + dark ale toucan and adding some spices and turning it into a christmas beer. I have Jamils recipe from Brewing Classic styles and I wanted to adapt the toucan to resemble something like it.
Here's what I was thinking:

Coopers stout kit
Coopers dark ale kit
1kg dme
500g brown sugar
15ml licorice extract

Spices as per the recipe:
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice

Does this look ok? I'm keen to get any thoughts. I'm not sure on yeast yet. Any ideas?
Will the bitterness still be too overpowering for the spices. I was also thinking of adding a bit of lactose to sweeten it up a bit. 
Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers
Richard


----------



## Ryan WABC

The only advice I can give when using spices is you're better off using not enough than too much. I made a spiced Christmas beer a few years ago, used too much spice and it turned out terrible. It only became drinkable after two years in the bottle. No joke.

And after saying that, those quantities look pretty good to me. Just don't boil them for too long.


----------



## Salt

Off to get some Coopers kits on special from the supermarket to try my first toucan...

Keen to brew up a stout/dark beer...

Read quite a bit through the various posts over 23pgs and see a lot of toucans for Stout and Dark Ale kits, but wanting to know if a Stout and Real Ale kit would combine well.

Going to make it nice and simple, no grain this time round.
Stout Can
Real Ale Can
500g LDME
500g Dex

and possibly add 500mls of dark strong filter coffee. Is this enough to get a subtle Coffee hint, or too much? Considered dry hopping with Coffee beans too - anyone tried that?

So I guess my q's are;
1. Stout and Real Ale? Or should I still with Stout and Dark Ale?
2. Adding Coffee? Good idea/bad idea? How much filter coffee?
3. Dry hopping with Coffee beans?

Going to make it up to 28lts instead of my usual 23Lt brew just so its not too strong (and to get a half dozen quart bottles extra drinking).

Thanks all....


----------



## Cube

Stout and dark mate. Had good results from these. The real ale is not a great kit IMO. The stout is already quite a burnt/coffee kit and with the dark it is a good combo. Try it out in a batch without coffee as it may well be way over powering. Made to 24 or 2L was great for me and had a nice strong beer or two as I can't session drink stouts.


----------



## chrisso81

Speaking of the Stout/Dark toucan, how does this recipe look?

1 can Coopers Stout

1 can Coopers Dark Ale

1 can Coopers Dark liquid malt extract

25 grams Fuggles dry hopped. 

Or Goldings? I have no experience with Noble hops, is there a commercial example where I can taste the differences, or is it just much of a muchness?

Yeast? I wouldn't mind this brew finishing a bit sweeter so was thinking of using Windsor, but then I was thinking I could use Nottingham with say 300gms(?) of Lactose to sweeten it slightly. My aim here would be to balance some of the bitterness, I don't mind a bitter beer (love the Coopers stout in this weather) and will probably be leaving this bottled until next winter anyway, so it should balance on its own. 

Any thoughts greatly appreciated, cheers and beers :icon_cheers:


----------



## Cube

2 x coopers Lager with czech saaz and 200 grms carapils.

A great session beer. Clean and crisp with US05.

4 weeks in bottle.


----------



## Lodan

Cube said:


> 2 x coopers Lager with czech saaz and 200 grms carapils.
> 
> A great session beer. Clean and crisp with US05.
> 
> 4 weeks in bottle.



That's carapils gives great head doesn't it, so frothy!


----------



## mwd

chrisso81 said:


> Speaking of the Stout/Dark toucan, how does this recipe look?
> 
> 1 can Coopers Stout
> 
> 1 can Coopers Dark Ale
> 
> 1 can Coopers Dark liquid malt extract
> 
> 25 grams Fuggles dry hopped.
> 
> Or Goldings? I have no experience with Noble hops, is there a commercial example where I can taste the differences, or is it just much of a muchness?
> 
> Yeast? I wouldn't mind this brew finishing a bit sweeter so was thinking of using Windsor, but then I was thinking I could use Nottingham with say 300gms(?) of Lactose to sweeten it slightly. My aim here would be to balance some of the bitterness, I don't mind a bitter beer (love the Coopers stout in this weather) and will probably be leaving this bottled until next winter anyway, so it should balance on its own.
> 
> 
> .
> Any thoughts greatly appreciated, cheers and beers :icon_cheers:




I don't dryhop stouts and if you are planning on keeping for a year probably not worth it as the affects will diminish in time.

Recipe looks fine use whatever yeast that takes your fancy as bitterness should not be harsh after a year. Not sure if you can buy a milk stout here in Oz ( Mackeson springs to mind ) to give an idea on how lactose tastes.
I prefer dry stout I think the recipe as stands would produce a fairly high alcohol dryish stout sounds nice to my tastes


----------



## mwd

Cube said:


> 2 x coopers Lager with czech saaz and 200 grms carapils.
> 
> A great session beer. Clean and crisp with US05.
> 
> 4 weeks in bottle.



looks really good if carapils gives that kind of head I need to get some. None of my K&B with crystal or wheat give that kind of a head.


----------



## hirns

Cube said:


> 2 x coopers Lager with czech saaz and 200 grms carapils.
> 
> A great session beer. Clean and crisp with US05.
> 
> 4 weeks in bottle.



Cube,


how much saaz and for how long, boil volume? Final volume etc please :icon_drunk: 




Hirns


----------



## Cube

hirns said:


> Cube,
> 
> 
> how much saaz and for how long, boil volume? Final volume etc please :icon_drunk:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hirns



Brewed 12.5.11 >----- normally brew 14 days or so
US05
250 grms carapils steeped 40 mins. Boiled in about 5 L's water for 30 mins. 24 ltr total.
15 grms Saaz 10 mins
fridged 29.5.11
Filtered and bottled 12.6.11

Have the exact same drinking now as a side by side comparison but with Galena hops. Fantastic as well. I feel a dry hop addition of 15 grms steeped 10 mins and biffed in at beginning of ferment would be even better. Mind you I love hoppy beers but am experimenting with 'fake lagers and pilsners' for a change from heavy IPAs etc. Being winter I take the chance and double brew beers for summer drinking and this time around doing toucans. I am really surprised with the results this far with carapils, fridging, filtering and nice hops suited to the intended style. I am quite enjoying the lager and pilsner style and the clarity of cold conditioning/filtering makes it more enjoyable for some reason


----------



## yum beer

Put down a batch today:

1 Coopers draught
1 Coopers lager
1 Kg Coopers brewing sugar...just for a little extra oomph.
Made up to 24 litres then dumped in 250ml of 34/70 slurry from an AG pilsener, fired up straight away..I mean it was making gas before I could even get the lid on....
airlock bubbling immediately...
Plan to dry hop with Northern Brewer..20g or 10g each of Northern Brewer and Mittlefruh...will see how I feel on the day.


Cant wait to taste this one...


----------



## Squishcow

OM39A said:


> I've done a few now because I have a dedicated toucan keg but I think my favourites were:
> 
> 2x coopers stout can
> 1kg dark dried malt
> 25g fuggles hops
> 15ml brewcraft liquorice extract
> safale s-04 yeast fermented 18C-20C




What ABV did this attain? Got one in the fermenter now and I forgot to take a SG reading... <_<


----------



## J Grimmer

Squishcow said:


> What ABV did this attain? Got one in the fermenter now and I forgot to take a SG reading... <_<




6.1 - kegging 6.5 bottling 
Est Og 1.062
Est fg 1.015 

Jan


----------



## J Grimmer

J Grimmer said:


> 6.1 - kegging 6.5 bottling
> Est Og 1.062
> Est fg 1.015
> 
> Jan




Assuming you filled to 23L


----------



## Squishcow

J Grimmer said:


> Assuming you filled to 23L



Actually it was 21L. It'll be plenty heavy. Cheers!


----------



## J Grimmer

Download IanH k&k spread sheet it will do a lot of the work for you.

Jan


----------



## petesbrew

petesbrew said:


> Coopers European Lager
> Coopers Canadian Blonde
> 180g Carapils - Steeped
> 25g Oz Saaz - dry hopped
> S-189 Swiss Lager yeast
> 
> Filled to 20L - OG=1050
> Been sitting in the garage between 11-14c. Not too worried about the swing, and it's tasting promising for a toucan lager.
> Currently down to 1012.


Drank this last night, and I'm pretty pleased with it. In fact it's one of the best kit brews I've done in a long time. 
I'd say it's close to a German Lager, and would go well in a stein. As the Canadian Blonde kit is pretty lowly hopped, toucanning it makes the bitterness spot on.
A bit undercarbed, but I'm hoping time will fix that. For the moment, a vigorous pouring gets the head.
Can't remember what it finished at, but it's around 5.9% in the bottle.


----------



## [email protected]

Hi guys! just wanted to get your opinion on my latest creation!

1x Coopers Mexican Cerveza
1x Coopers Australian Pale Ale
1x Brewcraft #10 
400g dextrose
12g Super Alpha hops
24g Cascade hops
Both the yeasts from under the lids

Laid down on Saturday arvo, and currently bubbling away in my hot box at 22 degrees.

Was thinking of dryhopping some more Cascade this coming thursday.

Waddayareckon?


----------



## Squishcow

Squishcow said:


> What ABV did this attain? Got one in the fermenter now and I forgot to take a SG reading... <_<



Still waiting for this sucka to drop below 1.020... Day 12 and it's still on 1.025. Just read Acasta's post regarding exploding bottles and am now rightly terrified of bottling to early. Patience is always worth having, especially when the beer is good and nobody cops flying glass in the face.


----------



## Liam_snorkel

did you use S04, or the kit yeasts?


----------



## Squishcow

S-04 as called for in the recipe. I did change a few things... used 500g of DME instead of a kilo, and a little less hops and liqourice to balance...


----------



## Liam_snorkel

You could try rousing the yeast to knock it down a few points. There are plenty of threads on that, just search for "stuck fermentation".


----------



## Squishcow

Ya, I've been doing just that over the last two days. One more go today and then I'll take another reading and see what's going on.


----------



## J Grimmer

Have you thought about moving the brew into a secondary fermenter?

Jan


----------



## Squishcow

I don't have one just yet! I'm starting to realise that it's kinda a must. I'm only on my third brew and thought I could avoid it for a while, but seeing as i like big beers and my last 2 have taken ages to drop, I might have to splash out next pay...


----------



## J Grimmer

Squishcow said:


> I don't have one just yet! I'm starting to realise that it's kinda a must. I'm only on my third brew and thought I could avoid it for a while, but seeing as i like big beers and my last 2 have taken ages to drop, I might have to splash out next pay...




Look i would not consider it a must, but they do have there advantages, care must also be taken during the transfer process, having said that i have had some sucess motivating a few bigger beers to chew through the last few points. They can become useful when you are trying to condition/age batches in bulk. I would rate things like consistant tempreture control and qaulity yeasts over a secondary vessel.

My 2c. 

Jan.


----------



## Novacastrian

Hey guys, this one should give you a laugh.

I decided to make a Toucan for my father for christmas and went with the Goats Scrotum style, the old boy likes liquorice and Ginger!
Ingredients-
1x can Coopers Stout
1x can Coopers Dark Ale
1kg Coopers #2
70grams Honey

Let that Krausen it's head off for two days then added-
100 grams boiled Liquorice
50 grams Cocoa powder
100 grams Ginger root (chopped into about inch sized cubes, boiled)
18 grams Cinnamon

The taste out of the fermenter after those was similar to medicine hahahaha. Will be interesting to see how it turns out after a few months in the bottle.
Best i can figure out alcohol content should be around 8%. 

Feel free to call me stupid names :lol:


----------



## petesbrew

Nova said:


> Hey guys, this one should give you a laugh.
> 
> I decided to make a Toucan for my father for christmas and went with the Goats Scrotum style, the old boy likes liquorice and Ginger!
> Ingredients-
> 1x can Coopers Stout
> 1x can Coopers Dark Ale
> 1kg Coopers #2
> 70grams Honey
> 
> Let that Krausen it's head off for two days then added-
> 100 grams boiled Liquorice
> 50 grams Cocoa powder
> 100 grams Ginger root (chopped into about inch sized cubes, boiled)
> 18 grams Cinnamon
> 
> The taste out of the fermenter after those was similar to medicine hahahaha. Will be interesting to see how it turns out after a few months in the bottle.
> Best i can figure out alcohol content should be around 8%.
> 
> Feel free to call me stupid names :lol:


Haven't tried liquorice yet, but I wouldn't be scared off by the medicinal flavour just yet. It could be one that ages well. Looks like it'll have a good alcoholic kick to it!


----------



## Dribs

I'm thinking of doing a "normal" (ie, non dark beer) toucan beer using the basic cheap Coopers tins.
My question is between the lager, draught and Real ale tins, is there a combination between these three that you wouldn't recommend? I'm not adding extra hops or fermentables.


----------



## Diesel80

Just threw down a toucan to get into the spirit of things:

Coopers Mexican
Coopers Canadian
Challenger Hops - 20g quick boil with some dex, and strained into fermenter (6 mins)
S-04 yeast
23L

No OG reading taken. 
Bubbling away nicely. Will report back in due course. :beerbang: 

D80.


----------



## J Grimmer

Dribs said:


> I'm thinking of doing a "normal" (ie, non dark beer) toucan beer using the basic cheap Coopers tins.
> My question is between the lager, draught and Real ale tins, is there a combination between these three that you wouldn't recommend? I'm not adding extra hops or fermentables.




did a toucan coopers draught a bit rough but 6 months in the bottle it mellowed out, would reconmend the apa or dark as toucon personally.


----------



## Swordsman

Dribs said:


> I'm thinking of doing a "normal" (ie, non dark beer) toucan beer using the basic cheap Coopers tins.
> My question is between the lager, draught and Real ale tins, is there a combination between these three that you wouldn't recommend? I'm not adding extra hops or fermentables.



I did a toucan with the real ale and lager tins (was base for by all chinook apa from memory). Good beer in the end but the real ale was pretty damn bitter if i recall....didn't seem too bad in the final beer and it has aged very very well (what is left of it). Used the draught tin back in my k&k days and wasn't the best...then again for toucaning who cares really provided its roughly suitable to style its just cheap malt you are after anyway....


----------



## ballantynebrew

How good is beer?

Joined up not long ago after liam_snorkel suggested so and have never looked back..

This is my second toucan, the first one is bottled away and will let you know...

Did this one today- 

Ballantyne's Dark Lager Toucan

1 x coopers dark ale
1 x coles lager 
160g of dex
18 litres
OG - 105
3 packs of yeast (2 coop, 1 coles )

going to be pretty bitter so might add some hallertau hops after a few days,maybe

will report how it turns out, best enjoyed around xmas i think


----------



## petesbrew

petesbrew said:


> *Euro-Can Lager*
> Coopers European Lager
> Coopers Canadian Blonde
> 180g Carapils - Steeped
> 25g Oz Saaz - dry hopped
> S-189 Swiss Lager yeast
> 
> Filled to 20L - OG=1050, FG=1010 Brewed between 11-14c


Went terribly in the Castle Hill comp - comments like "not a pleasant beer at all", "could've been an apa".... wrong category i guess!
Still, for a toucan lager, I think this has turned out pretty bloody well. It's no AG Boho Pils, but its a great quaffer... hopefully I can make it last till summer.


----------



## Dribs

Made a Coopers draught toucan with 400g of sugar and used both yeast. Tried it after 10 days in the bottle, very green taste as is to be expected but I believe it has the potential to taste better than VB after 6 weeks or so in the bottle. Most importantly it's cheap and around 5.7%.

After drinking Hargraves ESB on tap and falling in love, I went for a tightarse, not-very-well-thought-out toucan ESB which was a tin of lager, tin of dark ale and 400g of sugar. After 4 days in the fermenter it went from 1042 to 1005. Drinking the sample now it tastes surprisingly good given that it fermented at 24 degrees much to my disappointment. Next time I'll use a fancy larger tin and dark crystal to make an ESB.

Just wondering; with coopers toucans, if you're making around 25L and gravity is going to be under 1050, would it be ok to use just the one packet of yeast?


----------



## Ivan Other One

Haven't done a toucan for a while but SWMBO scored a few cans of Coopers Stout on special, less than eight bucks a can so was thinking of doing this;


Coopers stout x 2
500 g LDM
500g brown sugar
Made to 28Litres

Not sure on the hop selection but have a few on hand;- PoR, Cascade, Nelson Sauvin, Amarillo, Citra,Simco and EKG.
The idea of using Ginger root and a bit of cinnamon also sounds appealing (Thanks Nova).



Any sugestions on this would be much appreciated.

Cheers Ivan. :beer:


----------



## Rowy

Dribs said:


> Made a Coopers draught toucan with 400g of sugar and used both yeast. Tried it after 10 days in the bottle, very green taste as is to be expected but I believe it has the potential to taste better than VB after 6 weeks or so in the bottle. Most importantly it's cheap and around 5.7%.
> 
> After drinking Hargraves ESB on tap and falling in love, I went for a tightarse, not-very-well-thought-out toucan ESB which was a tin of lager, tin of dark ale and 400g of sugar. After 4 days in the fermenter it went from 1042 to 1005. Drinking the sample now it tastes surprisingly good given that it fermented at 24 degrees much to my disappointment. Next time I'll use a fancy larger tin and dark crystal to make an ESB.
> 
> Just wondering; with coopers toucans, if you're making around 25L and gravity is going to be under 1050, would it be ok to use just the one packet of yeast?



A dog turd mixed with hot water and sugar has the potential to be better than VB. In fact I think thats the recipe. :icon_vomit:


----------



## J Grimmer

Dribs said:


> Just wondering; with coopers toucans, if you're making around 25L and gravity is going to be under 1050, would it be ok to use just the one packet of yeast?



Mr Malty claims that about 12g of yeast is the correct pitching rate for this bach size and with that og.


----------



## ballantynebrew

ballantynebrew said:


> How good is beer?
> 
> Joined up not long ago after liam_snorkel suggested so and have never looked back..
> 
> This is my second toucan, the first one is bottled away and will let you know...
> 
> Did this one today-
> 
> Ballantyne's Dark Lager Toucan
> 
> 1 x coopers dark ale
> 1 x coles lager
> 160g of dex
> 18 litres
> OG - 1050
> FG- 1005
> 
> 3 packs of yeast (2 coop, 1 coles )
> 
> going to be pretty bitter so might add some hallertau hops after a few days,maybe
> 
> will report how it turns out, best enjoyed around xmas i think


----------



## Liam_snorkel

had a taste yet mate?


----------



## Diesel80

Diesel80 said:


> Just threw down a toucan to get into the spirit of things:
> 
> Coopers Mexican
> Coopers Canadian
> Challenger Hops - 20g quick boil with some dex, and strained into fermenter (6 mins)
> S-04 yeast
> 23L
> 
> No OG reading taken.
> Bubbling away nicely. Will report back in due course. :beerbang:
> 
> D80.



Finished up at ~1.014.
Cold crashed after 8 days for 5 days @ 3-4 degrees. Kegged for 5 weeks uncarbed.

Drank this two weeks ago, uncarbed out of CC keg (5 weeks at 4 degrees). Had nice bitter / marmalede taste with some light fruitiness (i think from the S04). BUT had the dreaded kit twang after taste, and was cloudy (although first poor took out most of the yeast).

Moved keg out of fridge for 2 more weeks at room temp 16-20. Poored one last night after setting up my Keezer (uncarbed at 15 degrees lol) and it had the same pleasant taste (i and the mrs liked it anyway - like english bitters, bitter ales) and no kit twang after taste, and it has settled nicely and very clear. Total of 7 weeks kegged though.

Can't explain why the after taste has disappeared, but have asked for input in another thread, though none has been forthcoming as yet.

Very happy with this, my first toucan. (2 weeks ago i was devo!).

 

D80


----------



## rehab

My second effort was a Toucan. It was a Lager/Draught effort of the Coopers variety and had a cheeky little Amarillo Hop Tea bag in there for good measure to give a small amount of hoppy goodness. I used 250 grams Dex and 500 grams Dry Spray Malt and it has come up pretty damn good for a Summer slugger. Will have to hold onto some of this one for the beach up North over Christmas! 
Definitely keen to do another Toucan in the future after this effort!

Chris


----------



## Fish13

im keen to try one.

i am going to use a dark ale and a coopers pale ale. Use both yeasts or the US-05 in the fridge. no additional hops or a small amount of glacier...


I have the coopers brew enchancer there and i was thinking of adding 500g to it.. ok idea or just use both cans on there own?


----------



## ballantynebrew

Ballantyne Dark Toucan - 7% ABV

18 litre batch

Bottled 22/10 

Just cracked one open on 30/11 and it is lush...well worth the wait.

Will be doing another one asap

:super: :beer: :super:


----------



## Fish13

fish13 said:


> im keen to try one.
> 
> i am going to use a dark ale and a coopers pale ale. Use both yeasts or the US-05 in the fridge. no additional hops or a small amount of glacier...
> 
> 
> I have the coopers brew enchancer there and i was thinking of adding 500g to it.. ok idea or just use both cans on there own?


----------



## Mr Flibbles

#1 

Russian Imperial Stout:

1 x Coopers Stout

1 x Coopers Dark Ale

1 x Lager (or Real Ale)

1kg dextrose

OG: 1.090
FG: I'll get back to you on that

#2

Foreign Export Stout

1 x Coopers Stout

1kg LMDE

1kg dextrose

300gm choc malt (steep)

300gm roasted barley OR black patent (steep)

This will be my next brew to try, still fiddling with the hop additions.


----------



## manticle

Wouldn't do 300g of black. Go the roasted barley if anything. Probably a dark ale tin with 300 roast, 200 choc and 100 black might be better.

Too much black can be ashy.

Even a pale tin can be made into a stout - maybe a real ale tin with 500 roast barley, 250 choc and 150 black for a decent FES? I'd go 1.75 dme and 500 dex.

Might need some time to settle in. Make sure you use enough healthy yeast.


----------



## Mr Flibbles

manticle said:


> <br />Wouldn't do 300g of black. Go the roasted barley if anything. Probably a dark ale tin with 300 roast, 200 choc and 100 black might be better.<br /><br />Too much black can be ashy.<br /><br />Even a pale tin can be made into a stout - maybe a real ale tin with 500 roast barley, 250 choc and 150 black for a decent FES? I'd go 1.75 dme and 500 dex.<br /><br />Might need some time to settle in. Make sure you use enough healthy yeast.<br />


<br /><br /><br />

I like ashy firewood stout. The real ale should work, probably some brown sugar instead of the dex.


----------



## mrTbeer

One more extract brew.Been busy building up AG gear and have now tied up my fermenter with a Twocan.
1 can supermarket stout mix.
1 can Thomas cooper IPA
Galena hops 5m @60m
Boiled 18L down to 16L.
Yeast from 1pack but with a starter.

The TC IPA is my fav of the coopers cans so I'm excited to see how a blackIPA or IBA goes! Previously it was still ultra pre-hopped even after a long full boil.


----------



## mrTbeer

I was wondering if one paCk of yeast was enough.
The ferment is going off. Krausen was oozing out the airlock. Looks like its glad wrap from here.


----------



## climbatize

I'm also wondering about if I have sufficient yeast for my next brew.

I'm going to attempt my second toucan, 2x Coopers APA cans & 500gms of Coopers LDME to 22 litres. Will the two packets that come with the cans be enough to eat through the sugar? The last toucan I did I used US-05.. just trying to avoid a trip down to the home brew shop and save coin. Cheers.


----------



## Cube

2 x packets of yeast is fine. You could just make the next brew on top of the previous brews yeast cake as well. It will be fermenting in an hour or two that way.. US05 would be a good yeast for that brew as well climbatize.


----------



## climbatize

On top of that thick as hell sludge?? Would I just leave the krausen residue caked on the side of the fermenter?

Chain fermenting.. the wife is gonna bust my balls- hard. But.. if I can convince her it was the same brew all along I might just make it. Early morn weekend boil it is. I just need to come up with an excuse for the 30 odd longnecks that have been mysteriously filled.


----------



## Cube

climbatize said:


> On top of that thick as hell sludge?? Would I just leave the krausen residue caked on the side of the fermenter?
> 
> Chain fermenting.. the wife is gonna bust my balls- hard. But.. if I can convince her it was the same brew all along I might just make it. Early morn weekend boil it is. I just need to come up with an excuse for the 30 odd longnecks that have been mysteriously filled.



Yes right on top of the 'sludge' which is billions of healthy yeast cells. You would be wise to get as much of the previous beer out through the tap and even give it a good swirl with some beer left in the bottom ( by swirl I mean pick fermenter up and swirl it NOT a spoon ) and mix all that up and only leave about 2 cups or so in there. Drain it out of the tap not out top. Don't worry about cleaning off the previous brew crap at the top either. By not doing so you minimise any infections. Get that brew on top of the sludge asap not next day or week.

If you are clean enough you can harvest that yeast sludge and reuse it and reuse it as many times as you like or want to. Search for yeast harvesting.

Do it - I do with every toucan I do with US05. I remove half the sludge (yeast ) and fridge it and use that for the next brews as well ( splitting that brew sludge and so on ) so I get minimum 10 brews per packet of yeast. 

However after every second brew that has beed dumped onto of a previous brew cake I totally clean everything and use the harvested fridge yeast. Repeat and save $$.

Just make sure you half fill the fermenter with cold water on top of the yeast cake BEFORE you put anything HOT in there or you may kill some yeast. Not all some maybe a few million


----------



## climbatize

Thanks man. That's some helpful info


----------



## mrTbeer

I might try pitching next brew onto same yeast too.Would it be ok to follow with a lower gravity brew?


----------



## Cube

Should be fine mrTbeer. Just leave half the trub in.


----------



## climbatize

Coopers Aus Pale Ale cans x2
Coopers LDME 500gms
Brewed to 22 litres. Brewcraft calculator suggests ABV 6.5%

Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 15
Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @15
Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 15

Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 10
Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @10
Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 10

Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 5
Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @ 5
Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 5

My hop straining method went to shit- badly. Well, actually I managed to strain the hops quite well. But, the wort didn't quite make it through the pantyhoze and I ended up having to squeeze a quarter of the wort through. My pasta strainer fits perfectly in my fermenter and the pair of pantyhoze were wrapped around the bottom. Just made a hell of a mess is all and my wife was wondering why she was sticking to the floor.


----------



## Fish13

doing a tester tonight after 5 days. see how it tastes. i reckon greener then a bloke seeing his first meatspin video


----------



## Fish13

its very dark about the colour of a good brown ale. Not really sort of a IPA in sorts but can taste bannanas....

might need to lay off the home made baklava


----------



## wayna15

the only twocan i have done so far 

1 can coopers aus pale ale
1 can coopers real ale
1kg coopers brew enhancer 2
300g LDM
300g brown sugar 


Brewed to 23 litres tasted sensational but definately not a session beer. will definately make it again once i get my kegs set up
might add some fuggles or something with it next time though


----------



## Dribs

For Xmas I got a can of Brigalow Munich Lager, read a bit that said they aren't great, so I figured I'd go crazy and use it with a can of Homebrand draught, both kit yeast and a bit of dex.
Temperature started out at 18 but got up around 24 in my absence. After 2.5 weeks in the bottle, it isn't great, bit soda watery but not as sour as the classic first homebrew. Still prefer it over my dad's barbwire Gold cans but wouldn't recommend it


----------



## craigo

Put down my first toucan the other day just from what i had laying around it was a coopers dark ale a coopers pale ale i boiled about 15g of amarillo and about 25g of galaxy hops in 3l of water and added it to the fermenter i used both kit yeasts and about 5g of us05 that i had left over from a mini biab fermenting at the moment at 18c in my temp controlled fridge will be interesting to see how it turns out ive never done a brew from a kit before so i hope its nice.


----------



## Fish13

craig

expect some banana flavours to come through. I left mine to warm to 8 degree's before drinking and it became more flavoursome then drinking it at 2 degree's and the the head retention and style changed aswell went more creamy and laced really well.


----------



## Cactus

Would you believe i have read all 26 pages of this topic? I am some the wiser and yet no less confused, i guess the only thing for it is to throw a couple of cans in a bucket and see how we get on.

So, any hints and tips appreciated, my local hbs tends to just smile and agree with everything i say, right or wrong.

Plan is
Coopers european lager
Coopers mexican cerveza
400 (odd) g light malt powder
250 g maltodextrin
Both yeasts revived in some warm water
Into primary at 26, down to 18-20 for 1 week then racked to secondary for 2 weeks or so then bottle, into basement at 14-16, cooler as we hit autumn.


So, would it be a good idea to boil up one or both to move off some malt flavour? 

I have 15 g each of hersbruker and saaz finishing hops, should i add these at primary or later in the piece? 

I have plenty of maltodextrin and dextrose, surely i don't need any more fermentables for a refreshing session beer? 


As always, very grateful for any hints, cheers


----------



## ploto

Cactus I wouldn't bother with the maltodextrin, you will have plenty of body from the two cans and the light malt extract. It doesn't ferment so it won't give any alcohol, so if that's what you're after use dextrose.

For the finishing hops you have a couple of options. You could boil up the 400g of lme in about 4l of water, then add all the hops and boil for about 10 minutes, this will give you a good hoppy smell to the beer and add a bit more flavour, as well as increasing the bitterness. Or you could use them as dry hops, adding them to the fermenter after it has been going for a few days, this will give mostly aroma that will fade over time as the bottles age. This is easiest and you could use one or both of the hops - maybe just use one so you can see what flavour it gives. Whichever way you go, if the hops are in a tea bag, cut it open and release the hops as you will get more out of them.


----------



## craigo

did a toucan with coopers dark ale and pale ale added galaxy and amarillo hops in a ten miniute boil fermented at 18 degrees for two weeks used both kit yeasts and half a pack of us05 i had left over tried it after two weeks in the bottle way to bitter its been about a month now and had one last night the bitterness has settled down and it wasnt to bad could be a bit cleaner but im putting that down to the yeast over all enjoyable il leave it for another month and give it another taste and see if its improved.


----------



## Cloth Ears

Made my first toucan in early December (on another thread). But I thought I'd precis it, as it's ended up being quite OK.

One can each of Coopers Real Ale and Dark Ale, two kilos of dextrose (I usually make really heavy, malty porters, so this is a change) and one of those hops 'pills'. With those sugars, it should have started life as 1078, but ended up being only 1071. Let's see what happens. Pitched 2 packets of yeast (the Real Ale and an older one that was in the fridge). Had no bubble-over problems at all.

Final measure at 1010 (a little lower than I expected, but only by 2). The Brigalow hop pill is much like using ISOhop liquid - all bitterness, but bugger-all flavour and not much nose. Matches quite well with the rest though.

The first proper taste after 2 weeks. Not fully carbonated (but getting close), but poured with a lovely (brownish) head. Smell was pretty nice, with none of the estery note I get from my Belgian yeast brews, taste was fairly bitter ale, with pretty good mouth and nicely balanced body. Around 8%, so I didn't try the second bottle that beckoned. A note on the hops pill - basically crap aside from the bitterness (that is not unpleasant), but there's no nose at all, so the bitterness can take you a bit by surprise.

After 10 weeks, only had a dozen bottles left. It's addictive stuff, and the bitterness that I wasn't sure of has become an interesting point. It's still a little overpowering, and with a lesser bodied beer would be simply overkill (like drinking bitter water), but with this beer has ended up being quite nice. On the whole, I'm happy with it - for a cheap experiment. It's refreshing, although more than one bottle and you could be a little too refreshed.


----------



## Cloth Ears

Cloth Ears said:


> Made my first toucan in early December (on another thread). But I thought I'd precis it, as it's ended up being quite OK.


OK. Second one is now in the barrel. This one is probably weird - as it's going to be my winter beer (for watching those GP's on cold winter nights). So I thought "chillies for warmth, cloves and cinnamon for spice".
Cans of Coopers Pale Ale and European Lager, 1kg of BE2 and 1kg of dex. Boiled up the BE2 and dex with chillies, cloves and cinnamon. Removed the chillies when loading the fermenter, but left in the spices. Then the two cans, followed with cold water up to 25l and a packet of (Coopers) Dark Ale and the Pale Ale yeasts. 
OG was 1067, but I'd worked it out that it should be 1073. Has anyone else had the same disconnect between the OG was/should be?
It bubbled away nicely for while and then I put in the hops (dry pitched, of course). Amarillo and Pacific Jade as well as an extra can of light liquid malt and the European lager yeast.
Told you, weird. I'm expecting a FG of 1015 (as I calculated 1017). Then a few months in the bottle with as little tasting as possible. I'll report on the weirdness as it happens...


----------



## iralosavic

> Coopers Aus Pale Ale cans x2
> Coopers LDME 500gms
> Brewed to 22 litres. Brewcraft calculator suggests ABV 6.5%
> 
> Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 15
> Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @15
> Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 15
> 
> Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 10
> Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @10
> Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 10
> 
> Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 5
> Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @ 5
> Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 5
> 
> My hop straining method went to shit- badly. Well, actually I managed to strain the hops quite well. But, the wort didn't quite make it through the pantyhoze and I ended up having to squeeze a quarter of the wort through. My pasta strainer fits perfectly in my fermenter and the pair of pantyhoze were wrapped around the bottom. Just made a hell of a mess is all and my wife was wondering why she was sticking to the floor.



That is going to be one extremely bitter brew! Being a Toucan (ie 1.6 times the typical bitterness using one can), you may want to consider dry hopping most of your additions.

I think volumetric calculation is kit IBU*1.7/final volume. The APA is 340IBU per Litre of goo, so in 22L you're looking at around 26IBU for a single can and using the 1.6 multiplier for the second can, your total BEFORE any hop additions would be around 42IBU. So if you go ahead with your hopping schedule, you will be drinking an APA with over 50IBU. More of an IPA without the body/malt base to balance it.

I kind of ruined (still drinkable, but way too bitter for the style) one of my kit beers a while back with a similar hopping schedule - and it wasn't even a toucan. Just thought I'd share the theory I've since learnt in a hope that it may prevent you from going through the same!


----------



## Lance2

Hi guys, just doing my first toucan (4th brew overall). I've bought:

2x Coopers APA
1kg LDME
Nottingham yeast

for a 23l batch. Is this a good recipe? I also have 1kg dextrose on hand, what would happen if I throw that in?


About to go to jaycar to get a tempmaster fridge controller kit anyone use these?


----------



## redunderthebed

Definately going to do a toucan soonish.


----------



## Diggs

Put down my first toucan last night:

Cascade Choc Mahogany Porter
Tooheys Real Ale
1kg DDM
500gm LDM
Cascade (stepped for 10 mins)
Brewcellar English Ale Yeast25lt
Fermenting at 18c
Tasted great, can't wait for the finished product.
Going to try racking to secondary for the first time on this one too.
Any feedback or opinions would be appreciated.


----------



## mwd

Looks great but don't rack to secondary just for something to do unless it is necessary it is one easy way to introduce an infection.


----------



## Diggs

Tropical_Brews said:


> Looks great but don't rack to secondary just for something to do unless it is necessary it is one easy way to introduce an infection.


Cheers Tropical, if all I have to gain is infection then I won't bother  
That will free up the tub and fridge for another brew quicker!


----------



## fiat128s

boingk said:


> Hey all, title is pretty self explanitory: Whats your best toucan recipe?
> 
> Two cans of anything, plus some finishing hops if you put them in - thats basically it...
> 
> Essentially, I'm curious as to the combinations that people put together and what they come out like - after all its a good cheap way to make a strong, well bodied, good-headed beer! I caved in and put down a toucan of Farmland Draught the other week...looks delicious: ruby red, great aromas, and will be ~7% AbV.
> 
> So, any recipes/combinations?
> 
> Cheers - boingk


Last toucan I put down was the basic Coopers Real Ale, nothing else added.

This made a full bodied malty brew with excellent head retention, but a little on the sweet side for my taste. Many others have decleared it their favourite.

I am planning to use the same idea again tomorrow but I will also add a boil of Super Alpha (13% AA) and some homegrown Smooth Cone (approx 8-10% AA) which I thought would give some nice bitterness to the brew and also dry hop some Hallertau Aroma pellets (8% AA) to add some nice hoppy aroma.

Any thoughts on this simple recipe?


----------



## mwd

Looks good to me but I would have thought 2 cans at 23l should be bitter enough to make a good easy drinking beer. I would make your hop additions quite late in the boil say 20 mins or shorter to avoid adding a load of extra bitterness.


----------



## fiat128s

wabster said:


> A friend from Gosford way and I put down a toucan for her yesterday, using 2 x Coopers Real Ale kits, with both yeasts, and nothing else added.
> 
> When I did the OG test I tasted the wort in the testing tube and it was incredibly bitter, so my friend then tasted it and declared she'd never be able to drink it if the end product was like that. :angry:
> 
> Has anyone ever done a toucan like this and will the hops impact be lessened after fermenting and bottle secondary? I am really hoping that it will frankly, it will be a disastrous start to her brewing career if it is undrinkable for her and it took some talking to get her away from the idea of a can and kilo of sugar
> 
> I was also surprised to see that the OG was only 1040, does this sound right to the more experienced?
> 
> Grateful for any comments, Cheerz Wab




I just read this post after asking the same question on 18-4-12. I found the result of this recipe a great beer but if anything too sweet. At $NZ13 per kit it makes an excellent brew for less than the cost of a medium / high kit and kilo.


----------



## alexfl

i've been reading this thread for some time and i finally put down my first toucan yesterday (and 5th brew)..

1 coopers stout 1.7kg
1 coopers dark ale 1.7kg
500g dark brown molasses sugar
550g of light liquid malt extract
200g of dark or choc grain, steeped 30 mins
200g medium crystal malt, steeped 30 mins
50g NZ Styrian Goldings boiled for 10 mins
Safale S-04 yeast

OG - 1061

it was bitter as a bastard. i'm hoping it will come right.. bloody waiting game!

also, i pitched a little warm tho, 26*C, but have been lowering the temp (slowly by leaving it outside for a bit) until it is now about 21/20*C (24hrs later). i hope the temp change will not ruin the brew, what with it being early days etc. also, i wonder what FG it will end up at? does anyone have any insight or comments they'd wish to make? would be appreciated..


----------



## mattyra

alexfl said:


> i've been reading this thread for some time and i finally put down my first toucan yesterday (and 5th brew)..
> 
> 1 coopers stout 1.7kg
> 1 coopers dark ale 1.7kg
> 500g dark brown molasses sugar
> 550g of light liquid malt extract
> 200g of dark or choc grain, steeped 30 mins
> 200g medium crystal malt, steeped 30 mins
> 50g NZ Styrian Goldings boiled for 10 mins
> Safale S-04 yeast
> 
> OG - 1061
> 
> it was bitter as a bastard. i'm hoping it will come right.. bloody waiting game!
> 
> also, i pitched a little warm tho, 26*C, but have been lowering the temp (slowly by leaving it outside for a bit) until it is now about 21/20*C (24hrs later). i hope the temp change will not ruin the brew, what with it being early days etc. also, i wonder what FG it will end up at? does anyone have any insight or comments they'd wish to make? would be appreciated..



I make a similar beer alot. I use 1 can of Dark Ale, 1 can of Stout and 1Kg of dextrose (with all that sugar it tastes good still). I think it tastes great. Although I leave it for months before I drink it.

Also you put your brew outside. If it is in sunlight it can wreck your beer.


----------



## petesbrew

alexfl said:


> i've been reading this thread for some time and i finally put down my first toucan yesterday (and 5th brew)..
> 
> 1 coopers stout 1.7kg
> 1 coopers dark ale 1.7kg
> 500g dark brown molasses sugar
> 550g of light liquid malt extract
> 200g of dark or choc grain, steeped 30 mins
> 200g medium crystal malt, steeped 30 mins
> 50g NZ Styrian Goldings boiled for 10 mins
> Safale S-04 yeast
> 
> OG - 1061
> 
> it was bitter as a bastard. i'm hoping it will come right.. bloody waiting game!
> 
> also, i pitched a little warm tho, 26*C, but have been lowering the temp (slowly by leaving it outside for a bit) until it is now about 21/20*C (24hrs later). i hope the temp change will not ruin the brew, what with it being early days etc. also, i wonder what FG it will end up at? does anyone have any insight or comments they'd wish to make? would be appreciated..



That should be pretty awesome. I reckon the Molasses will be definitely contributing to the bitterness. Styrian is an awesome hop (not sure if what I've used were a NZ variety).
As per previous post, sunlight can ruin your beer.

Mine in the past have finished off around 1016 - give or take.


----------



## alexfl

thanks for the tips guys~ it was only in the light for a couple of hours yesterday. it's still foaming away, so should be sweet. 
it was the first time using grains, really looking forward to the results. i'll post back once bottled & tested.
cheers!


----------



## Diggs

Just reporting in on my first Toucan, whilst it still needs a while in the bottles to mature I am very happy with this one. Sweet and syrupy and reminds me of the Miliken Black Hole Stout, definitely my best beer so far and should be fully matured for the winter! 


Cascade Chocolate Mahogany Porter
Tooheys Real Ale
1kg Dark Dry Malt
500gms Light Dry Malt
12 gms Cascade Hops - steeped for 10 mins
1.5 packets BrewCellar English Ale Yeast
20 lt batch


----------



## simplefisherman

Hi all just wondering if anyones tried a toucan with
Coopers dark ale
Coopers English bitter
.5 kg of be2
Maybe some hop additions?
Not sure if it may be too bitter. 
Also would this be better put in bottles (pet) rather than keg incase it needs more aging?


----------



## hbg

2 x Thomas Coopers Light Liquid Malt (or Morgans 1.5kg Lager Malt)
American Ale / US 05 yeast
12-15 g of hops. 
Eg:
Amarillo 
Citra
Cascade
Willamette


----------



## adniels3n

simplefisherman said:


> Also would this be better put in bottles (pet) rather than keg incase it needs more aging?



I've had PET bottles lose pressure after about 6 months. Glass if you plan on aging longer I reckon. More experienced bottlers might chime in.
Drinking a Coopers Stout + Dark Ale + 1kg Dex as I type. Old faithful doesn't disappoint.


----------



## kalbarluke

This is my first toucan attempt and so far the results seem promising:

1 x Morgans Golden Pilsner
1 x Morgans Blue Mountain Lager
100g crystal
50g choc malt
20g fuggles @ 5 min
20g willamette @ 5 min
S-04 yeast

OG - 1.050

I usually only make my beer to about 19L but I made this out to about 23L. After 2 days the SG is 1.030 and it tastes like it will be a nice English ale, which is what I am aiming for.
I must say I was a bit sceptical about the toucan concept but I think I may be a convert. Will try the same base for an APA but use citra/cascade combo or cascade/galaxy combo and US-05. Am also keen to try some of the many stout recipes on this thread.


----------



## Cloth Ears

Cloth Ears said:


> Cans each of Coopers Pale Ale and European Lager, can of light liquid malt, 1kg of BE2 and 1kg of dex, along with chillies, cloves and cinnamon. Dry hopped Amarillo and Pacific Jade.



Well, this one has been tasted a bit and it's only been in the bottle for 2 months. My excuse, I had to bottle about 5 PET bottles as I didn't have enough glass (I'll use that next time also). 

OK, despite the large amount of fermentable sugars, it's a lovely light brew. Lovely light floral, grassy and almost 'pot-like' nose, along with hints of clove (but no cinnamon). I used 5 Habanero chillies in the boil and left one in the fermenter - this has left it with quite a chilli hit. It's not initially hot, but it grows on you. I love it, but I'd be hesitant in offering it to somone who doesn't like chilli at all. I'll have to alter the chilli/clove/cinnamon balance for the next one, but it's a success as far as i'm concerned.


----------



## tricache

I think my next batch will be a toucan for sure!!

I only bottled my last batch Saturday and I'm already looking to what to brew next haha


----------



## Rob S

Can't get to the grain shop until next week so going to put down this for shits & giggles

Coopers Lager
Coopers Draught
Recultured Chimay yeast (1L starter)
350g DME (all that's left)
350g sugar 

Hoping for a reasonably high gravity. Ferment at 17 and I'll probably throw some more sugar in on day 5.

Some help with some aroma hop additions with this one? Any point doing this with a toucan? For a white Chimay clone, google suggests 5 min boil of hallertau hersbrucker (8g 1.2aa) and EKG (15g 5.8aa). 

No idea what to expect. Beer probably.


----------



## tricache

Just threw this down tonight
1 x Thomas Coopers Collection Stout
1 x Coopers Dark Ale
1kg of malt/dex combo
20g fuggles @ 10 min

Also moved fermenter to a tiled area :lol:


----------



## Ivan Other One

SWMBO picked up some Coopers stout cans on special so the at the start of this month this was kegged,


2 x cans Stout

300g lLDM

300g Dex

150 g Saunders liquid malt

Thomas coopers Stout yeast

Made to 25 litres.

Hmmm, geting close to testing time.


----------



## mwd

another stout toucan

2x Coopers Irish Stout
1kg Dark dry extract 
250g Black Malt Thomas Fawcett
500g Rice Malt Syrup
Nottingham yeast harvested from bottom of fermenter.


Should be a roasty brew Do I need more sugar to bring it into headbanger territory?


----------



## Ivan Other One

Tropical_Brews said:


> another stout toucan
> 
> 
> 
> Should be a roasty brew Do I need more sugar to bring it into headbanger territory?



Sounds like a nice mix Troppo.
Final wort volume???? 
If it's around 23litres, another half kilo of dex wouldn't hurt, or even a half kilo of ldm for a more creamier head.


----------



## mwd

Yes aiming for 23litres might just add an extra 500g of raw sugar or dextrose to up the alcohol to paint stripper.


----------



## tricache

Day 1 done and no overflow...house smells amazing though!


----------



## brentice

Im thinking of laying this brew down at the weekend.

2X Coopers Mexican Cerveza tins
100g of steeped crystal malt
50g of steeped carared
15g of Centennial @ 30mins
15g of Centennial @ 20 mins
15g of Centennial @ 10 mins
All boiled in 4L of water with 500g of DME
Bang it all into the fermenter with 1kg of dextrose and 300g of goldern syrup for good measure
US-05 dry yeast
Probably make around 23L for good measure as ill keg 19 and then have some bottles for back up if the end of the world was to happen and there was a beer shortage :lol: :lol: :lol: 

Just wondering on peoples thoughts or opinions and the like. This is just some spare grain, hops and some tins i had lying around so my thoughts is to bang it all together and see how it all pans out


----------



## yum beer

brentice said:


> Im thinking of laying this brew down at the weekend.
> 
> 2X Coopers Mexican Cerveza tins
> 100g of steeped crystal malt
> 50g of steeped carared
> 15g of Centennial @ 30mins
> 15g of Centennial @ 20 mins
> 15g of Centennial @ 10 mins
> All boiled in 4L of water with 500g of DME
> Bang it all into the fermenter with 1kg of dextrose and 300g of goldern syrup for good measure
> US-05 dry yeast
> Probably make around 23L for good measure as ill keg 19 and then have some bottles for back up if the end of the world was to happen and there was a beer shortage :lol: :lol: :lol:
> 
> Just wondering on peoples thoughts or opinions and the like. This is just some spare grain, hops and some tins i had lying around so my thoughts is to bang it all together and see how it all pans out



Looks like expensive garden food...

Id just be doing the cerveza tins maybe with DME......though 1 tin with 1Kg of malt is pretty yummy.

Use your other grains and hops in a Pale Ale....



My 2 cents worth...


----------



## tricache

Bottled my "Kick In The Tooth Stout" last night now the not so patient wait :lol:


----------



## Samuel Adams

brentice said:


> Im thinking of laying this brew down at the weekend.
> 
> 2X Coopers Mexican Cerveza tins
> 100g of steeped crystal malt
> 50g of steeped carared
> 15g of Centennial @ 30mins
> 15g of Centennial @ 20 mins
> 15g of Centennial @ 10 mins
> All boiled in 4L of water with 500g of DME
> Bang it all into the fermenter with 1kg of dextrose and 300g of goldern syrup for good measure
> US-05 dry yeast
> Probably make around 23L for good measure as ill keg 19 and then have some bottles for back up if the end of the world was to happen and there was a beer shortage :lol: :lol: :lol:
> 
> Just wondering on peoples thoughts or opinions and the like. This is just some spare grain, hops and some tins i had lying around so my thoughts is to bang it all together and see how it all pans out



I've often thought the Mex Cerv would be good in toucan's due to it's low bitterness
Let us know how it goes/went !!


----------



## tonyt

Just drinking a mex cerv and an apa toucan, tastes pretty good!


----------



## brentice

Samuel Adams said:


> I've often thought the Mex Cerv would be good in toucan's due to it's low bitterness
> Let us know how it goes/went !!



It's been brewin for a week now and it smells pretty rad to the power of awesome. Should be all good to go very very soon. Woo hoo


----------



## tricache

Had a sample of my stout and HELL YEAH!!! Outstanding!!


----------



## yum beer

tricache said:


> Had a sample of my stout and HELL YEAH!!! Outstanding!!




Nice to see you controlled yourself enough to let it condition before hooking in.


----------



## tricache

:lol: gotta make sure I haven't got an infection  I bottled a few sample sizes for this specific reason


----------



## mwd

Tropical_Brews said:


> another stout toucan
> 
> 2x Coopers Irish Stout
> 1kg Dark dry extract
> 250g Black Malt Thomas Fawcett
> 500g Rice Malt Syrup + 500g raw sugar.
> Nottingham yeast harvested from bottom of fermenter.
> 
> 
> Should be a roasty brew Do I need more sugar to bring it into headbanger territory?? No.



Ready for the bottle but has stopped a bit high F.G. wise but not tasting sweet. Worth spending that bit extra for the Irish Stout cans above the ordinary Stout.


----------



## tricache

Tropical_Brews said:


> Ready for the bottle but has stopped a bit high F.G. wise but not tasting sweet. Worth spending that bit extra for the Irish Stout cans above the ordinary Stout.



I got the Irish Stout can and a dark ale can, worked out cheaper than two expensive ones and still tastes amazing (and still black as tar!!)


----------



## mwd

Yes the Dark and Stout makes a cracking drink. The LHBS did not have any Dark Ale in stock so I went with 2 stouts a bit in the style of Bribie's Headbanger. It will be a sipper not a swiller. Got to say the hydrometer sample tasted promising.
The Black Malt seems to have been a good addition.


----------



## tricache

Tropical_Brews said:


> Yes the Dark and Stout makes a cracking drink. The LHBS did not have any Dark Ale in stock so I went with 2 stouts a bit in the style of Bribie's Headbanger. It will be a sipper not a swiller. Got to say the hydrometer sample tasted promising.



I can imagine she would be mighty bitter! Mine is definitely a sipper too, 2 bottles and I am feeling it BIG time


----------



## brentice

Samuel Adams said:


> I've often thought the Mex Cerv would be good in toucan's due to it's low bitterness
> Let us know how it goes/went !!



Just bottle me double Cerveza a couple of day ago. Now the painfull part of waiting 4 weeks for it to mature  
 



It smelt awesome out of the FV but


----------



## mwd

Tropical_Brews said:


> another stout toucan
> 
> 2x Coopers Irish Stout
> 1kg Dark dry extract
> 250g Black Malt Thomas Fawcett
> 500g Rice Malt Syrup + 500g raw sugar.
> Nottingham yeast harvested from bottom of fermenter.
> 
> 
> Should be a roasty brew Do I need more sugar to bring it into headbanger territory?? No.
> 
> Ready for the bottle but has stopped a bit high F.G. wise but not tasting sweet. Worth spending that bit extra for the Irish Stout cans above the ordinary Stout.



Damn seems to have stopped at 1.030 way too high tried agitating and allowed to raise temps to 22C Krausen has dropped completely but hydro samples don't taste that sweet probably due to two cans of Irish Stout. Methinks better leave it longer and bottle in PET.


----------



## tricache

Tropical_Brews said:


> Damn seems to have stopped at 1.030 way too high tried agitating and allowed to raise temps to 22C Krausen has dropped completely but hydro samples don't taste that sweet probably due to two cans of Irish Stout. Methinks better leave it longer and bottle in PET.



The Irish Stout kits do makes things VERY VERY bitter so that will kill some of the sweet taste...obviously ageing will help that out. 

As for the gravity, mine came out higher than first calculated and I still bottled (in PET as well). I haven't had any bombs or dramas.


----------



## brentice

brentice said:


> Just bottle me double Cerveza a couple of day ago. Now the painfull part of waiting 4 weeks for it to mature
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It smelt awesome out of the FV but



I cracked open me double cerveza after a horrible nightshift at the office.
It is awesome to the power of sick


----------



## Samuel Adams

brentice said:


> I cracked open me double cerveza after a horrible nightshift at the office.
> It is awesome to the power of sick


Good to hear !
Does it taste bitter ? boozy ? sweet ?



I'm about to put down a vintage ale style toucan close to the coopers website recipe

1.7kg Coopers pale ale
1.7kg Coopers real ale
1kg Dextrose
200g LDME
250g Pale crystal 
20-30g Galaxy @ 5 min
1L starter of Coopers recultured yeast


----------



## climbatize

I've had a bit of luck with a Coopers Pale Ale & Canadian Blonde can, so i'd thought i'd give it another crack.

1.7kg Coopers Pale Ale
1.7kg Coopers Canadian Blonde
1.0kg Coopers LDM
90g Galaxy hops
90g Citra hops

To 26 litres. Drank half a pint today, chilled, after 1 week in the fermenter. Passionfruit madness.. should be a good drop after a few weeks in the bottle.


----------



## slash22000

climbatize said:


> 90g Galaxy hops
> 90g Citra hops



:blink: That is a _lot _of hops, right? My normal hop additions are something like 30-40 grams and the result is often very hoppy ...


----------



## climbatize

slash22000 said:


> :blink: That is a _lot _of hops, right? My normal hop additions are something like 30-40 grams and the result is often very hoppy ...



I'll still be satisfied if it is quite simply alcoholic hop juice


----------



## awall

Hi, I've just started brewing so I think I'll keep it simple and try a toucan for my 3rd brew. My first brew, (Morgans Aussie Lager kit with 500g DME, 250g dextrose and 250g maltodextrin made up to 21L) turned out fine, but is a bit too malty. I figured if I brew a slightly bigger batch, ~25L with similar quantities of DME and dextrose (no maltodextrin), the 2nd can would give me the added bitterness i was looking for. Which cans would you recommend I use for a pretty standard ale recipe? I would also like to give it some interesting aroma/flavour and dry hop it too. I like the JS Golden Ale, so I figured Amarillo and maybe something else?

Cheers.


----------



## slash22000

awall said:


> Which cans would you recommend I use for a pretty standard ale recipe? I would also like to give it some interesting aroma/flavour and dry hop it too. I like the JS Golden Ale, so I figured Amarillo and maybe something else?



I use Coopers kits almost exclusively. For a good, cheap ale base, try using two cans of Coopers Original Series Lager. It has the least bitterness and colour and actually comes with an ale yeast. Two of them together should come out around 58 IBU's which is quite bitter.

For a bigger flavour, use two cans of Coopers Original Series Draught. Slightly higher bitterness, darker colour. More "oomph". 

I actually have a brew in the keg at the moment that was made from 1 can of Original Series Draught + 1 can Original Series Real Ale. The Real Ale has much higher bitterness/colour than the Draught/Lager though (>30% greater bitterness) so you want to make sure you want it that bitter.


----------



## tricache

I ended up doing a Stout/Dark Ale batch and it came out at like 65IBUs :lol: mega bitter!!


----------



## simplefisherman

Well I'm sampling a 4 month old toucan of Coopers: 
-English Bitter
- Old Dark
- .5 kg be2
- Fuggles tea bag
- so4 Yeast
- 24 L
Was very bitter earlier in its life but has mellowed into a bloody lovely drop.
Would probably go a 1g/L EK Goldings next time, or even some US hops & yeast...
Anyway as is would go pretty well for a quick & easy toucan.
Cheers, sf.


----------



## Black Devil Dog

Probably the best toucan I have done so far was Thomas Coopers Irish Stout x 2, very tasty. :icon_drunk:


----------



## alboot

Hello, 
I have a Coopers English Bitter and a Coopers European Lager that I was thinking of tucanning. I have dextrose and Safale 04.
A couple of question to the knowledgeable,
!. Does this sound like a reasonable combination?
2. How long should it ferment?
3. What should the final reading be for bottling?

Thanks for any help.


----------



## mwd

Black Devil Dog said:


> Probably the best toucan I have done so far was Thomas Coopers Irish Stout x 2, very tasty. :icon_drunk:




Long time reply I had not seen this but a big +1 hell of a good brew did it myself but never managed to keep it for any period of time.


----------



## slash22000

alboot said:


> Hello,
> I have a Coopers English Bitter and a Coopers European Lager that I was thinking of tucanning. I have dextrose and Safale 04.
> A couple of question to the knowledgeable,
> !. Does this sound like a reasonable combination?
> 2. How long should it ferment?
> 3. What should the final reading be for bottling?
> 
> Thanks for any help.



Assuming you're doing a 23 litre batch and adding no fermentables aside from the two cans, you should end up with a brew ~4.5% ABV, OG 1.046, FG 1.012 with something like 68 IBU (which is quite high). 

In your place, I would add an extra kilogram of light dry malt to even the bitterness out a bit. It would be a potent brew, ~6% ABV, 1.062 OG, 1.016 FG and still quite bitter, but the bitterness would not headbutt you in the face to the same degree. You don't _need _to do this, but if you're unaccustomed to bitter beer you might be shellshocked by 68 IBU's at 1.046 OG.

Needs to ferment as long as it needs to ferment. If you're uncertain, give it at least two weeks. Try and ferment as close to possible to 18C. In the future, you might consider adding specialty grains and some extra hops for aroma/flavour.


----------



## alboot

slash22000 said:


> Assuming you're doing a 23 litre batch and adding no fermentables aside from the two cans, you should end up with a brew ~4.5% ABV, OG 1.046, FG 1.012 with something like 68 IBU (which is quite high).
> 
> In your place, I would add an extra kilogram of light dry malt to even the bitterness out a bit. It would be a potent brew, ~6% ABV, 1.062 OG, 1.016 FG and still quite bitter, but the bitterness would not headbutt you in the face to the same degree. You don't _need _to do this, but if you're unaccustomed to bitter beer you might be shellshocked by 68 IBU's at 1.046 OG.
> 
> Needs to ferment as long as it needs to ferment. If you're uncertain, give it at least two weeks. Try and ferment as close to possible to 18C. In the future, you might consider adding specialty grains and some extra hops for aroma/flavour.



Thank you for your information. What grains and or hops would you suggest. I would like to have a good brew first up so I may as well get it right.


----------



## slash22000

Well, what you'll be looking to do is accentuate the English characteristics. I'd think about steeping some English hops in some hot water, East Kent Goldings or Fuggles (or both!). You don't want to boil them in wort, last thing you need is more bitterness.

For grain basically any medium crystal grain would do fine, personally I use Caramunich II when I make an English Bitter but there are a lot of choices available.


----------



## alboot

slash22000 said:


> Well, what you'll be looking to do is accentuate the English characteristics. I'd think about steeping some English hops in some hot water, East Kent Goldings or Fuggles (or both!). You don't want to boil them in wort, last thing you need is more bitterness.
> 
> For grain basically any medium crystal grain would do fine, personally I use Caramunich II when I make an English Bitter but there are a lot of choices available.




Thanks mate,

I will get some and give it a try. Let you know what happens.


----------



## joecast

man, been away from ahb for a looong time. also havent brewed much this year. feeling a bit inspired but short on time. so what better way to get back into it than... a toucan!!

havent done a kit in years and never a toucan. got a two year old morgans amber (which i have done before and liked) and picked up a coopers ipa today. might add some dex to help it dry out a bit and somewhere around the 25-30L depending on gravity. want it ready for christmas so might be pushing it (kegging most and bottle the rest for later). have seom nelson sauvin hops which may end up in there also.
wish me luck!!


----------



## carniebrew

joecast said:


> man, been away from ahb for a looong time. also havent brewed much this year. feeling a bit inspired but short on time. so what better way to get back into it than... a toucan!!
> 
> havent done a kit in years and never a toucan. got a two year old morgans amber (which i have done before and liked) and picked up a coopers ipa today. might add some dex to help it dry out a bit and somewhere around the 25-30L depending on gravity. want it ready for christmas so might be pushing it (kegging most and bottle the rest for later). have seom nelson sauvin hops which may end up in there also.
> wish me luck!!


Welcome back and good luck! Morgans Amber Ale + Coopers IPA + 500gm dex in 25 litres = 5.5%abv with a whopping 70 IBU's...hop monster!!

Maybe do the toucan with 1kg of dex in 30 litres for 5.3% and nearly 60 IBU?

Not sure you need the Nelson Sauvin....but might help hide the fact the Morgan's is 2 years old?? :beerbang:


----------



## joecast

carniebrew said:


> Welcome back and good luck! Morgans Amber Ale + Coopers IPA + 500gm dex in 25 litres = 5.5%abv with a whopping 70 IBU's...hop monster!!
> 
> Maybe do the toucan with 1kg of dex in 30 litres for 5.3% and nearly 60 IBU?
> 
> Not sure you need the Nelson Sauvin....but might help hide the fact the Morgan's is 2 years old?? :beerbang:


Thanks carniebrew. was thinking some NS at 10 min and some at flameout. not so worried about bitterness, didnt expect that much though!


----------



## Ivonavich

had a go at a toucan with this IPA

"Thankyou Come Again"

1 Can Draught
1 Can Pale Ale
1kg LDME
300g Dex
1 kit yeast (as nutrient)
30g Williamette 10min
30g Cascade F/O
30g Nelson Sauvin F/O
30g Amarillo F/O

US 05 Yeast

Dry hopped day 6 with 25g ea Nelson Sauvin and Amarillo

OG. 1069
FG. 1012

Snuck a taste last night - freakin nice beer


----------



## carniebrew

Keen to hear how that goes...i've done plenty of Amarillo brews, and Cascade with NS...and later today doing an Amber with Willamette & Cascade. Have not yet mixed Amarillo with Cascade or NS though...I find Amarillo gives me a very different flavour/aroma profile that for whatever reason I like to keep on its own. But I'll mix 'em one day I'm sure.


----------



## Asha05

Just put my first toucan on. CPA & Canadian Blonde. Made to 23ltrs. Used US05 also have 50gms each of Galaxy & Saaz that i will dry hop later on...Looking foward to tasting...


----------



## mwd

A Coles shelf toucan with extras.

2 x Coopers Draught 
1 Kg BE1 ( that's all they had )
500g Maltose Rice Syrup

30g Galaxy @20 mins
10g Galaxy 10g Nelson Sauvin dry hopped at 6 days

US05 and one packet of kit yeast. took off real fast but slowed right down after a week.


----------



## mwd

Bottled and tasting good. Plenty of the fruity flavours pushing through no trace of kit twang. Turned out very well with very little effort.
Next up will be Stout/Dark toucan got some black malt to use up.


----------



## tricache

Sounds good!

I just bottled my "Kick In The Teeth" Stout

Coopers Selection Irish Stout tin
Morgan's Old Ale tin
Dex/LDME mix (1kg)
Kit yeast x 2
40g of Willamette dry hopped @ 6 days

Weapon of a drink, bitter as (which I like) and dark as night :lol:


----------



## carniebrew

Would be a lot more useful if you'd post your batch sizes! Toucan with 1kg of brew enhancer in 18 litres will be a hell of a lot different to the same kits 'n bits in 23 litres....


----------



## Joel Mcleod

Coopers web site has some good tocan recipes. SMOTY Ale (23L) http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/how-to-brew/ale/smoty-ale
• 1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale beer kit
• 1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale beer kit
• 10g East Kent Golding pellets – 15 mins
• 20g East Kent Golding pellets – steep
• Both sachets of yeast or ale yeast of your choice

I thnk I'll try this one next.


----------



## tricache

carniebrew said:


> Would be a lot more useful if you'd post your batch sizes! Toucan with 1kg of brew enhancer in 18 litres will be a hell of a lot different to the same kits 'n bits in 23 litres....


23L


----------



## slash22000

Joe Mc said:


> Coopers web site has some good tocan recipes. SMOTY Ale (23L) http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/how-to-brew/ale/smoty-ale
> • 1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale beer kit
> • 1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale beer kit
> • 10g East Kent Golding pellets – 15 mins
> • 20g East Kent Golding pellets – steep
> • Both sachets of yeast or ale yeast of your choice
> 
> I thnk I'll try this one next.


I made this twice before, and it's quite good, but be aware that both times I made it (in the 30L plastic barrels ala the ones in the Coopers kit) to ~22 litres, there was so much krausen it shot my airlock out of the barrel and spewed unspeakable brown filth over the entire floor. Looked like Satan had the runs.

I'd advise a blowoff tube, or if you can't use a blowoff tube, use one of those 3 piece airlocks instead of the s-curve one (I had to throw mine away, it was encrusted with yeast diarrhea).


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## Joel Mcleod

slash22000 said:


> I made this twice before, and it's quite good, but be aware that both times I made it (in the 30L plastic barrels ala the ones in the Coopers kit) to ~22 litres, there was so much krausen it shot my airlock out of the barrel and spewed unspeakable brown filth over the entire floor. Looked like Satan had the runs.
> 
> I'd advise a blowoff tube, or if you can't use a blowoff tube, use one of those 3 piece airlocks instead of the s-curve one (I had to throw mine away, it was encrusted with yeast diarrhea).


Good Advice Slash, cheers


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## mwd

Super Stout

1 x Muntons Export Stout
1 x Morgans Dark Ale
250g Black Malt steeped for 30mins @65C
500g LDME
1 kg BE2
20g Centenial @20mins

23>24 litres.


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## Lionman

slash22000 said:


> I made this twice before, and it's quite good, but be aware that both times I made it (in the 30L plastic barrels ala the ones in the Coopers kit) to ~22 litres, there was so much krausen it shot my airlock out of the barrel and spewed unspeakable brown filth over the entire floor. Looked like Satan had the runs.
> 
> I'd advise a blowoff tube, or if you can't use a blowoff tube, use one of those 3 piece airlocks instead of the s-curve one (I had to throw mine away, it was encrusted with yeast diarrhea).


What temp was it at?


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## slash22000

Made that back before I had temp control, so probably 24 - 26 degrees. Still came out perfectly drinkable, mind you, aside from the explosion.


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## mwd

Tropical_Brews said:


> A Coles shelf toucan with extras.
> 
> 2 x Coopers Draught
> 1 Kg BE1 ( that's all they had )
> 500g Maltose Rice Syrup
> 
> 30g Galaxy @20 mins
> 10g Galaxy 10g Nelson Sauvin dry hopped at 6 days
> 
> US05 and one packet of kit yeast. took off real fast but slowed right down after a week.


One of the best kit beers I have every made highly recommended and of course the last bottle tasted way better than the first.


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## aamcle

May I ask for a toucan recipe suggestion please?

I have two cans of Bitter (made by Muntons I think) that came with a Tap-a-Draft, each tin makes up 20 pints. Their "use by date" is June so I could do with using them up but :- 


Just right now I don't need 40 pints of bitter 
I'm afraid they may be past there best.
so if I put them together to make a 20 pint kit what hops/grains/adjuncts/yeast would I need to add to get something really good from them? 

Would it be possible to use them for the basis of a stout or..........?



Many Thanks aamcle


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## Tiprat

slash22000 said:


> I use Coopers kits almost exclusively. For a good, cheap ale base, try using two cans of Coopers Original Series Lager. It has the least bitterness and colour and actually comes with an ale yeast. Two of them together should come out around 58 IBU's which is quite bitter.
> 
> For a bigger flavour, use two cans of Coopers Original Series Draught. Slightly higher bitterness, darker colour. More "oomph".
> 
> I actually have a brew in the keg at the moment that was made from 1 can of Original Series Draught + 1 can Original Series Real Ale. The Real Ale has much higher bitterness/colour than the Draught/Lager though (>30% greater bitterness) so you want to make sure you want it that bitter.


Nice one bro, i will try this...


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## billyben

3rd brew first toucan...

23L
2 x coopers lager
1kg light spray malt
both yeasts

bubbling away like a beast at 18-20C. I'll let it go two weeks...

Brew calc predicts 6.5% ABV in bottle and 42.3 IBU's


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## Stove

I reckon the best beers I have brewed to date are Toucans.
Should get into BIAB or something to progress in the craft, but who's got time? : 

Anyway- the one I am drinking now is going down a real treat.

1x Home Brands Lager
1x Home Brands Draught
15g Cascade dry hopped after 3 days
10g Galaxy dry hopped a week before kegging.
Took a while to brew (Winter and all), and I only used the can yeasts, but tastes the deal.
Lots of mates who've tried it reckon "Fat Yak", but as it has no Sauvin, I don't get that.

Next one will be same base, but hopped with Sauvin and Galaxy?, plus a proper yeast.


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## LiquidGold

Just chucked this on last night

1x Coopers Pale Ale
1x Coopers Dark Ale
250g Carapils Steeped at 65 for an hour
150g DME (dregs from a previously opened pack)
13g POR (also just leftovers) @ 15
Half a pack of 1056 Wyeast

23L
OG 1.060

Question is will half a liquid yeast pack be enough for that high a gravity or should i be chucking in a sachet of kit yeast


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## slcmorro

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html


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## menoetes

After reading this massive thread I finally got my first toucan on, it's pretty simple but to amateur me it's also pretty exciting. Here's what I went with:

1 x can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale (boiled in 2 Lt of water for 30min to try and reduce some of the bitterness)
1 x can of Coopers Canadian Blonde
1 x sachet of US-05 yeast

Filled to 25Lt and pitched dry yeast at 22'c after a little time in an iced water bath to get the temps down. Used my hydrometer and got an OG of 1039, tastes pretty bitter straight from the tap but that can change. Then I stuck the whole thing in my new brew fridge and now I am eagerly awaiting the results with baited breath. I just hope I didn't mess about with it too much.


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## Takasonfletcher

Hi all 

I'm a first time brewer (hard to get any work done as I spend all day on this site at work tsk), I have my first batch fermenting away on day 3 (kept it real simple with the Lager kit (Coopers Kit) with 1 kg of Beer Enhancer, followed the instructions on the tin before I looked here so its been at around 22-24 degrees, still exciting not too fussed about how it turn out for my first.

I recently went to a Home Brew Store and got 3 cans of Tooheys Dark Ale on sale 3 cans for $20, I've been drinking Russian Imperial Stouts and Guinness extra Stout this winter in the lead up to this so I'm happy with a full bodied dark ale. Was hoping to get some tips on what else to add to a Tooheys Dark Ale Toucan before (A friend was kind enough to give me his homebrew kit so I now have 2 sets of everything I figured I might as well get a Toucan going so I can do it over a longer period of time and drink whatever the product of my first attempt is in the meantime (I figure this toucan will need to ferment for a while and age for sometime to get the best results)

any tips or suggestions please!!!

Cheers


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## mwd

Coles shelf IPA. Noticed Coles have their homebrand bitter and lager kits back on the shelves.

1 x Coopers Pale Ale
1 x Coopers Draught
1Kg BE 2
500g raw sugar 

40g Simcoe 20g Galaxy @ 20mins. US05

23Litres or thereabouts.


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## menoetes

Finally cracked open a bottle of my Toucan (which I have affectionately named 'Backpacker's Extra Pale Ale'), that was the;

1 x can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale
1 x can of Coopers Canadian Blonde
1x Sachet of US05 yeast

It tastes good, it's clear and light gold in colour. It is quite bitter for certain but not over-powering. It came out at around 3.8% alcohol which is fine with me too. If I do it again I'll add some finishing hops and maybe even steep some grains to make it a truly fine drop. But for the very little work and expense it represents this is a lovely beer.

All in all, I gotta say that I am impressed by toucan brewing. I think I'll definitely be doing in again in the future.


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## Tahoose

Just put down a toucan last night

2 x homebrand draught

ended up putting this on the yeast cake from the last brew, (esb traditional bitter) yeast - s04

got another one on the go aswell which is a 2 x coopers Canadian Blonde + 300g of sugar + 2 x kit yeasts, plan for that is to leave in the primary for 3 weeks bottle and forget for 3 weeks then see how we go.

Think I'll be moving to FWK's / moving to AG just about as soon a I can convince my mate/brew partner...

Loving the brewing,and haven't even cracked a bottle of beer yet!


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## mwd

Tropical_Brews said:


> Coles shelf IPA. Noticed Coles have their homebrand bitter and lager kits back on the shelves.
> 
> 1 x Coopers Pale Ale
> 1 x Coopers Draught
> 1Kg BE 2
> 500g raw sugar
> 
> 40g Simcoe 20g Galaxy @ 20mins. US05
> 
> 23Litres or thereabouts.


Tasting really good from the hydrometer sample the hops are shining through the yeastiness.
Just wondering what other people are getting for FG on toucans. I only brew toucans and most have ended up at around 1.020
They don't taste sweet and the hydrometer reads 1.000 in water. Is it only me or is this common with the 2can


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## bmarshall

My first toucan was with added 1kg brew booster.
OG 1058 FG 1016, 23l.


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## eungaibitter1

Done plenty of kk and extract but never tried a toucan. I've got these at hand, 1x Coopers real ale, 1x Coopers select sparkling ale. Probably 500gm Ldme and some fuggles pellet, bout 30gms. Kit yeasts. Ferment at about 20-22 degrees, haven't got fridge but current brews temp even.


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## menoetes

Tropical, do you have any idea at the alcoholic level in your beer? I'd be interested, my straight toucan (with no added sugar & topped up to 25lt) came to around 3.8% which I figure to be about 1.1 standard drinks per 350ml. I imagine yours with the brew enhancer 2 and 1/2 kilo of sugar would be far stronger.

As to gravities; my toucan with no added sugar and made up to 25lts started at 1039 and ended at 1010. I'm no pro but your FG seems a bit high to me, do you use one or two yeast packs?


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## mwd

I don't worry about the ABV but at a rough guess would be 6-7. My toucans are mainly sourced from Coles as it is quite a hike to the LHBS. I never bother taking the OG of the brew everything goes in the bucket topped up to about 23L. Yeast was a hybrid recycled from the previous brew with US05 and a packet of kit yeast. The beer is not sweet but the FG does seem a bit high maybe it is the Matodextrin in the brew enhancer.

Next toucan will be the Coopers supplied Saison kit from their website. Might have to add some BE to enhance the ABV a bit.


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## menoetes

Tropical_Brews said:


> Yeast was a hybrid recycled from the previous brew with US05 and a packet of kit yeast. The beer is not sweet but the FG does seem a bit high maybe it is the Matodextrin in the brew enhancer.


Ah, that makes sense. I thought your yeast might have been slacking off early due to your high OG but two yeasts shouldn't have that trouble. I think you're probably right about the maltodextrin.


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## Tahoose

Now the real wait begins.... Bottled my first Toucan yesterday

I'm definatley sold on Ianh's spreadsheet now, all of the reading ect were right on the money.

2 x Coopers Candian Blonde
2 x Kit Yeast
300g Sugar
OG 1.052
FG 1.012
IBU 45.6

Bulk Primed with 200g Sugar for an AVB of 5.5%


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## Walshy McSkeptic

First Toucan was:

Muntons yorkshire bitter
+
Morgans Pale malt
+
Fuggles tea
+
Styrian tea
+
East Kent Goldings tea
+
Styrian Dry
+
WLP005



Delicious.....


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## mwd

found this Trican Russian Imperial stout recipe on the Cooper's website looks like a real headbanger.

http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/how-to-brew/strong/russian-imperial-stout


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## sticksy

does anyone have an IPA toucan recipie for a new brewer?

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk


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## mwd

Coopers IPA Can
Coopers Draught Can
1 kg Be2 or 1kg LDME
300g Crystal malt steeped @65C for 30-50 mins

30g Styrian Goldings @30 mins boiled in liquor from steeped grains.

IPAs should be quite high ABV and 'Bitter'

Steeping grains is dead easy if you can boil a kettle you can steep grain.

Or try post #601 tastes excellent but is a bit light on bitterness.


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## sticksy

Steeping grains is dead easy if you can boil a kettle you can steep grain.


do I just get the grains and the bag thing and basically make a tea with it and put the tea in?

after the foam subsides for flavouring hops right?

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk


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## mwd

Steeping Grains http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/23880-steeping-grain/

Most of the bitterness comes from the cans but boil the hops in the steepings from the grain for 30mins or less if you want less bitterness.


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## Forever Wort

I picked up a can of Tooheys Lager on special for $8. Grabbed a Coles Lager to go with it for another $8. Toucanning them at 26l, no adjuncts, 20g Perle at 40mins, 20g at 20mins. Aiming for 48 IBUs, a light 7-8ish EBC and 4.5% ABV.

Naming it the Wales St Pale Ale.


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## eungaibitter1

First toucan racked to secondary.
1 coopers real ale
1 Coopers select sparkling ale
500g LDME
2 Fuggles tea
Both kit yeasts

This tasted and smelled alright out of the primary. Looking forward tasting it in a month or so out the bottle.


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## Tahoose

So tried my 2 x Candian Blonde brew last night and it wasn't too bad, probably needs a little bit moire time in the bottle as it still tastes a touch like LME but overall not too bad.

The Home Brand Draught Toucan tasted pretty good out of the fermenter so we will probably bottle that this week and see how it goes...


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## eungaibitter1

Home brand toucan put down last night
2 Home brand Lager
500g LDME
200g Crystal
2 Amarillo tea
2 Coopers kit yeast


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## menoetes

Any suggestions on finishing hops for a toucan brew?

I was thinking of doing 2x Coopers Australian Pale ale and no toucan needs bittering hops, but I can't settle on a finishing and dry hop. My reading on bitters leads me to look into East Kent Goldings (which I have) but cluster and hallertau (I also have) seem to be used a bit as well, something else that I was considering was Galaxy (I have as well)? Maybe to sweeten the end aroma?

Any advice or shared experiences welcomed and appreciated.


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## mwd

My choice would be Galaxy about 30g boiled for 20mins for an American IPA style with passion fruit. I quite like Galaxy though and bitter beers. Dry hop Galaxy 20g but not too long about 5 days before bottling should be O.K. I have dryhopped that amount of Galaxy without grassiness but got bugger all aroma.


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## Stinger

I did a toucan coopers pale ale and dry hopped with Cascades - was good but I also used yeast harvested from the coopers pale ale sediment out of 6 stubbies - stepped it up once and pitched and it turned out really good.

Galaxy is really good, especially for those unreal aromas but don't use too much - a little goes a long way. you can chuck it straight into the fermenter with your extract and hot water and enjoy the smells coming off the airlock through fermentation.


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## Forever Wort

Gonna put down 1x Coopers Lager and 1x Coopers European Lager with T38 and 500g DME at 26l this weekend. Can't wait.


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## menoetes

thanks for the advice guys, I'm making a Pacific ale before I make the Toucan and that uses a fair amount of galaxy but I will definitely consider using it for the toucan brew.


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## RobboMC

have you tried Amarillo - truly awesome flavours IMHO


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## menoetes

Never brewed with Amarillo before actually, that's a good idea, I should give it a shot.


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## mwd

Christmas heavy Stout 'Trican'. I was intrigued by the Coopers recipe http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/how-to-brew/strong/russian-imperial-stout so did a recipe based roughly around this.

1 x Muntons Irish Style Dublin Stout
1 x Morgans Dark Ale 
1 x Coles Homebrand Lager
500g BE2
30g Pioneer @20mins

Belle Saison yeast recovered from the Coopers Saison recipe kit.

Just made it up waiting till it cools before pitching expecting a volcano when fermentation starts.


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## Braumoasta

Tropical_Brews said:


> Christmas heavy Stout 'Trican'. I was intrigued by the Coopers recipe http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/how-to-brew/strong/russian-imperial-stout so did a recipe based roughly around this.
> 
> 1 x Muntons Irish Style Dublin Stout
> 1 x Morgans Dark Ale
> 1 x Coles Homebrand Lager
> 500g BE2
> 30g Pioneer @20mins
> 
> Belle Saison yeast recovered from the Coopers Saison recipe kit.
> 
> Just made it up waiting till it cools before pitching expecting a volcano when fermentation starts.


Did you make it up to 20L like the Coopers recipe? 

I'll be interested to see what it gets down to with the Belle Saison yeast, should be a interesting one.


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## mwd

No it was 23L the coopers saison kit wheat and pale ale toucan got down to 1.004 see what happens with this. I might even take an OG if I remember when it cools off, bloody slow in a wine fridge.


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## ian4379

ive been doing some all grains, am short on time and wanted to "stock up" for the summer in a hurry. so i've just dropped this down this arvo. modelled on some coopers extra strong vintage ale 2012 recipes and a bit of what i had in the cupboard.

1 can coopers pale ale
1 can coopers real ale

boiled up
500gm ldme - 5 litres water with
10 gms citra 15 mins
10 gms nelson sauvin 15 mins
10 gms nelson sauvin flame out

steeped
50 gms crystal 120
50 gms carared

bry 97 yeast

23ltrs 6.4%


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## Clemo

Sorry if this has already been mentioned in this thread, but roughly how strong is a toucan without adding and sugars and filled to 23l?


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## rheffera

Clemo said:


> Sorry if this has already been mentioned in this thread, but roughly how strong is a toucan without adding and sugars and filled to 23l?


4.5% keg / 4.9% bottle


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## Clemo

Thanks rheffera


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## Ninegrain

Thought I would say farewell to Kits as I move to all extract with a Toucan, it was also only $8 a tin at Woolies so my inner cheapness couldn't resist. Going to do this tomorrow after I pick up the grain.

Is a Toucan red porter-

2x 1.7kg Homebrand Draught Tins
600g Caraaroma (Steeped)

15g Galaxy
15g Citra
15g Cascade

all @ flameout for the boiled steeping liquor, rest for 5 minutes

Add tins and make to 23L

Ferment at 18'c with Nottingham?? (Suggestions?)

Dry hop at 7 days with 10g ea of Citra and Cascade

OG= 1.050
FG= 1.013 
IBU =45.6 + flameout addition
EBC= 43.8
%Alc= 5.3 in bottle

Any thoughts on how this will turn out? Only matching beer I could find in Ian's spreadsheet was for the Robust Porter


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## menoetes

Ninegrain, that sounds like it has the potential to be a lovely fruit salad toucan ESB, Are you gonna dry hop at all? Maybe 15-20g of galaxy?

I've made a few extract recipes myself now but I still go back to Kit & bit brewing one brew out of two just to keep my beer shelves stocked. They are easier and I don't mind rushing them a little as they seem to handle it better (and aren't as expensive). 

My next toucan (on after my current Cheeky Cherub extract brew is finished) will be:

1 x can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale
1 x can of Coopers Lager
250g of crystal malt
10g of Amarillo @ 10min
15g of Amarillo @ 5min
15g of Amarillo - dry hopped about 4 days into fermentation.

Hopefully bottled before Xmas.


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## Ninegrain

Yeah I have 10g ea of citra and cascade down for dry hopping. That's the last of my cascade but have more of the others if I feel it needs it. 

Mmmm Amarillo. I would love to use some of that in this recipe, I just love that hop, but don't have any on hand. May get some though if the price is right at my LHS. Your recipe does look tasty. Those apa kits are a good base imo. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Yob

Ninegrain said:


> Those apa kits are a good base imo.


Gotta agree, they were my go to base when doing partials.


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## Ninegrain

Slight changes as I got hold of some Amarillo and my LHS did not have CaraAroma so got CaraRed instead. This is the result of today's brewing session-

2x Homebrand Draught 1.7kg tins
600g CaraRed (Steeped for 60mins)

20g Amarillo 
15g Galaxy
15g Cascade

all @ flameout for boiled steeping liquor. Added tins, then dumped the pot into chilled laundry tub of water to cool.

Made to 23L and its now cooling to 16'c, at which I will pitch the Notto. I have read about Notto being a beast and stripping hop flavours so I'm opting for a cold ferment temp to try and control this. The EBC was estimated to be much lower than it would have been with CaraAroma so it may not quite be a red beer after all but should still be tasty I hope  

I plan on dry hopping with 10g ea of the same hops at 7 days

Oh yeah, I ended up having an OG of 1050 as predicted so yay for efficiency!


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## menoetes

I just finished putting this sucker down 5 minutes ago, here's how I decided to go in the end;

1x 1.7kg can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale.
1x 1.7kg can of Coopers Lager.
300g Crystal Malt (steeped).
300g Light Dry malt.
20g Amarillo Hops @ 15 minutes.
15g Amarillo Hops @ 5 Minutes.
10g Cascade Hops @ 5 Minutes.
15g Amarillo Hops - to dry hop on day 4 or 5.
10g Cascade Hops - to dry hop on day 4 or 5.
1/2 teaspoon of yeast nutrient.
1x packet of US-05 rehydrated and pitched @ 24'c

Made up to 28lts and into the brew fridge to get it down to somewhere between 18 - 20'c with an OG of 1038.

Estimated FG somewhere around 1010-1012. Estimated IBU's 44. Estimated ABV (after bottling) 3.7% (thanks to Ian for the spreadsheet as always).

It looks like it should turn out to be a lovely summer session beer that I could be enjoying in the new year. I'm pretty happy with it as it stands.

I shall name it my 'Armadillo & Toucan Bitter'.


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## eungaibitter1

Just cracked my first toucan after a month in the bottle.
Coopers real ale
Coopers sparkling ale
Fuggle 2x tea bag
500g ldme
Both kit yeasts.
Quite strong and bitter. Didn't calculate the alcohol content. Hops hardly evident. A short boil and or dry hop would've been better. Reminds me a bit of some sort of strong Polish drop. Its not too bad but at the same time, not quite one for the greatest hits collection.


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## menoetes

A straight toucan is never going to be brilliant without some extra work but is certainly quite good for the minimal work and cost involved IMHO. Because you are using two pre-hopped kits your IBU's will already be in the 45+ range before any additions (depending on the volume you made it up to) basically making it an Extra Strong Bitter (ESB) from the get go.

As you've started with two can that are already quite bitter (I know the real ale is 30 IBU more than twice that of the Cerveza and almost twice that of the APA) you have probably got a _very _bitter ESB.

How long did you boil the Fuggles for? Most toucans only really need the finishing and dry hops, as you've worked out. A boil of over 15 - 20 minutes could be adding another 6 or 7 IBUs to your already strong tasting brew.

If you don't like bitters then this might not be the brew for you. Having said that, I wasn't sold on my first toucan at the start but it quickly grew on me and soon I was planning my next one. See how you go after a few more bottles.


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## eungaibitter1

Could get a taste for it. The fuggles were just the tea bag variety. Not boiled but added before the yeast. I have a couple more toucans in the waiting which I employed the short boil. 20 min I'm sure. This one is more of a two longnecker. Three tops, rather than getting stuck well into it. I don't mind the bitter or the strength. A bit more hop presence would be the key.


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## boingk

Sounds good mate, although I've never been one for Fuggles, bi too earthy for my tastes. Could do well with some Galaxy or Centennial to cut through the double canning?

- boingk


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## menoetes

I used Amarillo (with a little cascade) which, from the taste of it out of the fermeter, has done a great job of cutting through the toucan bittering effect. I'm sure that Galaxy would do just as well and though I have never used Centennial, from what I have heard of it I don't doubt it would be pretty effective. From what I have learned so far, I have to say that late hopping a toucan is an excellent idea.


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## eungaibitter1

Amarillo works well. Since above post I've cracked the home brand toucan with Amarillo. Much more palatable than the coopers/fuggle. Galaxy seems to get a pretty good rap though I've not tried it yet. About to replenish stocks soon and will include some galaxy for sure.


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## aamcle

Sugestions please, I have to hand, 2 x bitter and 1 x lager kits, and a range of hops n grains.

I got the kits because they were stupidly cheap and well in date, what could I make as a toucan?

Should I get a stout ( sadly full price) and go for a RIS, I like dry stout so maybe S05?

Atb. Aamcle


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## menoetes

Toucaning two bitter kits will produce something extraordinarily bitter. Some have tried it before and most say that they can't drink it. A bitter and a lager kit together, made up to 27lts or so will still be _very_ bitter but if you like ESBs (and other beers of the bitter breed) than you should be ok. 

What hops do you have? I try using the more floral/fruity hops to cut through the bitterness, thought in my last brew I used over 70g of amarillo and cascade late in the boil and you can only just taste them over the isohops. Someone has mentioned using galaxy previously and as it is very fruity I would certainly consider it for a toucan (maybe with some citra). Just keep in mind that you'll be trying to balance an extremely bitter beer.

If you are worried about the kits being a bit old, why not just make up three hoppy brews? The used by dates on these things are never the actual date of spoilage, in fact they are rarely even close. The Bitter cans could make for a nice base for a couple of IPAs and a faux lager late hopped with some galaxy could make for a very drinkable session beer...


----------



## aamcle

Menoetes thanks for responding, I think I'll either get a can of stout and make a RIS (coopers recipe) or go with IPA as you have suggested.

ATB. Aamcle


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## Forever Wort

I have done sixteen extract and kit brews now, with the seventeenth fermenting in the wardrobe as I type.

For some reason without exception my most popular beer has been the following toucan:

_*The Wales St Lager*_

_1x Coles Lager kit_
_1x Tooheys Lager kit_

_20g Perle @ 40 mins_
_20g Perle @ 20 mins_

_Both kit yeasts used and fermented for seven days at 20-22 degrees. OG 1040, FG 1013._

What gives? I have no idea. It is a nice drop but nothing special. Mid-strength in alcohol, easy to drink, nice clear light colour, dry bitterness. In my own opinion I would put it in the mid-range of the beers I've done; not the worst, nowhere near the best. Yet the popular verdict is this is The Beer of The Heavens and I must Repeat It Or Perish.

I put this recipe out there for those who are looking to try something different, to succeed in unusual ways but mostly because I don't want to brew this beer again but am interested in what more beer aficionados think of it for the laity have spoken and their judgement is bizarre.


----------



## Wigarus

Forever Wort said:


> I have done sixteen extract and kit brews now, with the seventeenth fermenting in the wardrobe as I type.
> 
> For some reason without exception my most popular beer has been the following toucan:
> 
> _*The Wales St Lager*_
> 
> _1x Coles Lager kit_
> _1x Tooheys Lager kit_
> 
> _20g Perle @ 40 mins_
> _20g Perle @ 20 mins_
> 
> _Both kit yeasts used and fermented for seven days at 20-22 degrees. OG 1040, FG 1013._
> 
> What gives? I have no idea. It is a nice drop but nothing special. Mid-strength in alcohol, easy to drink, nice clear light colour, dry bitterness. In my own opinion I would put it in the mid-range of the beers I've done; not the worst, nowhere near the best. Yet the popular verdict is this is The Beer of The Heavens and I must Repeat It Or Perish.
> 
> I put this recipe out there for those who are looking to try something different, to succeed in unusual ways but mostly because I don't want to brew this beer again but am interested in what more beer aficionados think of it for the laity have spoken and their judgement is bizarre.


Well at least it looks cheap  for a toucan anyway...


----------



## jkhlt1210

Anyone got a killer stout toucan??


----------



## eungaibitter1

I've got this in the secondary at the moment.

Coopers Stout
Coopers Dark Ale
500g DME
300g roasted barley steeped
30g goldings 20 min.
Nottingham yeast 
20ltr.

Bout to bottle it. Wort from hydrometer tests has tasted great. OG 1060. Around 1010 now. Pretty basic but should come up nice.


----------



## jkhlt1210

eungaibitter1 said:


> I've got this in the secondary at the moment.
> 
> Coopers Stout
> Coopers Dark Ale
> 500g DME
> 300g roasted barley steeped
> 30g goldings 20 min.
> Nottingham yeast
> 20ltr.
> 
> Bout to bottle it. Wort from hydrometer tests has tasted great. OG 1060. Around 1010 now. Pretty basic but should come up nice.


 Keep us posted..... That sounds great !


----------



## Droopy Brew

Cams 2can IPA- one of the best I have made. And pretty easy with just a bit of pimping.

OG: 1.065
FG: 1.017
IBU: 54
ABV: 6.3%
Volume: 22L

2 cans of Coopers Lager
1x Goodies pack (400g DME light, 400g Dex, 200g Cornstarch/maltodextrin)
250g Medium crystal (135)
Cascade 20g @ 5min
Simcoe 10g @ 5min
Galaxy 10g @ 5min
Cascade 20g dry hop
Simcoe 10g dry hop
Galaxy 10g dry hop

Packet of Bry 97 West coast Yeast 
Ferment 10 days, dry hop on the 8th day then cc for 4 days.




This is a photo of the first pull after 3 days in the keg. It has cleared up significantly since then and is a very nicely balanced beer. Plenty of sweet maltiness to balance out the bitterness- even the missus can drink a few of these and she normally cant touch anything greater than 30IBUs. The head lasts to the final deliceous drop.

This one will be made again without doubt although I may even up the dry hop schedule a bit next time for more aroma.


----------



## Tahoose

Droopy that looks the goods, think I might do something simular but maybe with 1 tin and a half batch... 

I really want a pint of that IPA now...


----------



## Droopy Brew

Just a tease- 7 days in:

High tide




Low tide


----------



## Tahoose

It was straight after I posted yesterday that I realised that my IPA fresh wort kit that I bottled 2 weeks ago was good to go, so off I went to the fridge and did manage to have a couple of IPAs 

Mind you yours still looks good


----------



## Droopy Brew

Bonus!

I read your thread on your AG cherry. I've been meaning to get into it for a few months now and after going to the link to the 2v system you provided Im finally going to give it a go. Turning out a brew like this in an hour but makes it hard to commit to a 3 hour process, if all my extracts were this good I wouldn't bother to be honest, alas they are not.


----------



## Tahoose

Do it mate, that system works for me and is good efficiency wise. It is worth the extra time, believe me... As long as you enjoy it your time is free, so it takes a couple of hours longer but you get great beer then who cares.

I just bought a second pot today so I'll be moving up from 12ltr batches to full batches (23-24)...

I would suggest if time was a massive issue then maybe BIAB is another option to consider.

Make sure you let us know how it all goes and photo's are always good.


----------



## Asha05

Put down a toucan last night.

23 ltrs
1 x coopers dark ale
1 x coopers lager
1kg x Dark ale improver from LHBS (50/50 dry dark & dex) possibly.
250gms x crystal malt
250gms x toasted quick oats
nottingham yeast
sitting at 18 deg

OG - 1065

Spreadsheet estimates around the 7% mark.


----------



## hwall95

Thinking about doing a really basic kit brew (American Brown Ale) with what I have laying around and to test how it turns out. Currently have a European Style lager in the fridge so therefore I will ferment this beer at ambient 15-20 degrees and probably use some washed US-05 I have sitting it my fridge currently.

Currently the recipe is similar to one above actually:

1 x Coopers Dark Ale
1 x Coopers Mexican/Lager
300g of Crystal (I have laying around)
20g Cascade
20g Chinook

OG: 1.052
Est FG: 1.013, therefore around 5.5%
IBU: 51

Note: All based on Ian's spreadsheet.

I will dry hop the cascade and Chinook for some aroma and some flavour on the basis that currently the brew is fairly bitter for a brown ale style, approx 50 IBU, so dry hop should lessen the bitterness further,

Will let you know if I go ahead and if so how it turns out.


----------



## kalbarluke

I recently made a toucan that was undrinkable.

1 coopers stout can
1 cascade spicy ghost draught can
Both yeasts.

More bitter than cat shit and just as tasty.


----------



## menoetes

Yeah toucans can turn out stupid bitter, I generally have trouble handling anything over about 45 IBUs (with a few exceptions of course) so I don't understand people how can drink double stout toucans or use anything more bitter than the pale ale kits in them.

Just a matter of personal taste I guess...


----------



## slcmorro

kalbarluke said:


> 1 cascade spicy ghost draught can


I've used this can before and I can safely say, it's an absolute tin full of rubbish.


----------



## paulmerrick

Just mixed up my first toucan.

Cascade Golden Harvest Lager x 2

Hersbrucker hops bag

Saflager S-23

OG 1.040


----------



## paulmerrick

I just had a little taste of the Golden Harvest toucan and so far so good! I'm guessing about a week to 10 days at these temps... So now I'm going to do a similar brew but with three cans (a threcan?) of Mr Beer Classic Light American (I got them for fifty cents each). 

Mr Beer Classic American Light x 3 

Hersbrucker hops bag x 1

1 kg BE2

Saflager S-23


----------



## shacked

I put my first coopers toucan down a couple weeks ago:

1x Coopers Pale Ale
1x Coopers Real Ale
1kg Dextrose
1x S04 Yeast

OG: 1.072.

Topped up to 23L and dry hopped on day 7 with 24g Nelson Sauvin.

It's been in the primary for 14 days and the SG is reading 1.016. The Coopers recipe (albeit for 21L) states a FG of 1.008 to 1.012, IanH's spread sheet says 1.011 and my LHBS recipe is at 1.019.

What sort of FG should I be looking for??

Cheers!!


----------



## menoetes

Did you pitch both yeasts? With such a high OG the yeast is going to be working hard to get through all those delicious sugars. It could be that they petted out towards the end exhausted but I wouldn't be too concerned. You're still looking at a heavy 7.4% beer and the malty sweetness of the residual sugars might balance out the high bitterness value you'll have in that batch. 

Still if you want it lower still, give the fermenter a gentle swirl to try and re-suspend the yeast or add more if you have it. Otherwise if the the FG is stable I'd give it another week (cold crashing if you can) and then bottle it.


----------



## shacked

I only pitched 1x 11.5g sachet of S04. It still seems to be bubbling through the airlock. I'll check the SG again in a few days; happy to leave it for an extra week.

It tastes unreal so far! Looking forward to trying some of the other toucans from this thread. 

Cheers!!


----------



## ballantynebrew

*Les Murray's Vintage Ale - SEQ Swap Beer- IBU - 99.9% - 6.0% ABV Kegged*

19lt total 

12lt Boil 

1 x Coopers Real Ale

1 x Coopers Pale Ale

65g Caramunich III steep for 35mins

Zythos - 53g at 10mins

Chinook - 51g at 5mins

US-05


----------



## Liam_snorkel

^ I can vouch for the above. Very tasty.


----------



## maaark

Just put down my first toucan, the Coopers SMOTY Ale.

1.7kg Aus Pale Ale
1.7kg Dark Ale
10g EK Goldings (15min simmer)
20g EK Goldings (30 min steep)
100g Crystal
100g Chocolate Malt
Kit yeast x 2
23lt
OG=1045

The original recipe doesn't call for any grain but I couldn't help myself. Has anyone had success with this recipe?


----------



## i-a-n

slcmorro said:


> I've used this can before and I can safely say, it's an absolute tin full of rubbish.


My Mrs loves it, shame they've stopped production.


----------



## pipsyboy

Just put down my first. 

Coopers draught
Coopers lager
Half kilo BE1
Both yeasts

Og was a hefty 1067. 
Anyone done this toucan? Any ideas as to fg and therefore abv? Also what was it like taste wise? I don't like them too bitter. 

Cheers


----------



## maaark

1067? Wowzers! 23lt brew?

It should be a decent drop mate, heavy (in ABV) but sessionable.

I have a tin each of Coopers APA & Coopers Wheat Beer ready to go for when the weather warms up to make their Saison recipe. Hopefully it's nice so I can put one down every summer.


----------



## pipsyboy

Yeah mate, 23 litres. Was going to add more water when I saw how high og was then I thought, **** it.


----------



## maaark

Here are the estimates I got from IanH's sheet:

OG 1053
FG 1014
IBU 44
EBC 9.7
ABV 5.5% (bottled).

Cheers!


----------



## pipsyboy

After reading the thread I was expecting a vigorous ferment but not this. 





Do I just leave it until the vigour has stopped and replace airlock?


----------



## menoetes

You should mop up all the beer mess on you lid ASAP, pull out and clean your airlock and sanitize everything as best you can before replacing it again. If you have a spray bottle full of star-san (or a similar no-rinse sanitizer) you'll find it useful here.

Leaving that mess there too long will be giving other bugs and micro-beasties you don't want around your beer a place to grow and multiply. Check on it every couple of hours, if it blows out again, then clean and sanitize again. It's all you can do at the moment until it settles down IMHO. It shouldn't stay this active for much more than 24 hours.


----------



## pipsyboy

Done and done. 

Changed airlock and not bubbling at all now.


----------



## Spohaw

i-a-n said:


> My Mrs loves it, shame they've stopped production.



Got one a month or so ago .... I named it door stop beer then threw it on the garden .......


----------



## panzerd18

With tou-cans, wouldn't you have double the hopps?


----------



## Alex.Tas

panzerd18 said:


> With tou-cans, wouldn't you have double the hopps?


Yeah, generally when you go down this path you use cans that have a lowish IBU.
I made the mistake of trying out two tins of real ale. Would have been okay if i planned around it with more malt to back it up, but it certainly wasn't the best beer I've made. I just got too excited when i saw them for sale at kmart for something like 8 bucks a can or something stupid.


----------



## panzerd18

Was very surprised with the amount of bitterness in the Coopers Real Ale can with just one. Although it has started to mellow out since bottle conditioning.


----------



## menoetes

My first toucan was a Coopers Pale and a Coopers Canadian Blonde with some amarillo added to it, tasted like a dry IPA to me as I didn't add any extra malt to balance it out. The tin bitterness was so much you couldn't even taste the late addition Amarillo. Not the worst drink I ever made but far from the best.


----------



## Kalthor

About to put down my first Stout (toucan) with the following ingredients:

Coopers Stout 1.7kg
Coopers Dark Ale 1.7kg
1kg Light Dry Malt
500g Brown Sugar
12g Fuggles teabag (for Dry hopping)
Danstar Nottingham Yeast

I also want to steep some grains into this and I'm not quite sure of how much of each grain to use.....
At the moment I have 200g available of each of these grains:
Roasted barley,  Chocolate Malt, Dark Chrystal

Lastly, should I bother adding extra Dextrose into this?


----------



## hwall95

Kalthor said:


> About to put down my first Stout (toucan) with the following ingredients:
> 
> Coopers Stout 1.7kg
> Coopers Dark Ale 1.7kg
> 1kg Light Dry Malt
> 500g Brown Sugar
> 12g Fuggles teabag (for Dry hopping)
> Danstar Nottingham Yeast
> 
> I also want to steep some grains into this and I'm not quite sure of how much of each grain to use.....
> At the moment I have 200g available of each of these grains:
> Roasted barley,  Chocolate Malt, Dark Chrystal
> 
> Lastly, should I bother adding extra Dextrose into this?


Hey Kalthor, 

That pretty much sounds like my first toucan as well although I had the two stout cans which made it a bit more bitter. 

Grain wise, it depends how much you long dark beer. Personally I would steep all it because I love the flavour roasted barley and choc malt, and the dark crystal would add a nice dark fruit/slight toffee character. 

Also try to keep the temp down as when I brewed mine she got a bit hot and ended undeniable for 3 months.. 

Make sure you hide a few bottles away as it turns our amazing after a year!

And personally I wouldn't add any dextrose as you already have brown sugar which should help thin it out a bit as well as adding flavour


----------



## Kalthor

Sounds good... thx for that!


----------



## hwall95

Kalthor said:


> Sounds good... thx for that!


All good, let us know how it goes :chug:


----------



## Bribie G

I kegged off my latest toucan last night.

Coopers stout 2
Dex 500
LDME 500

Wyeast Irish Ale Yeast

about 25g Chinook on day four dry hopped.

It's turned out fairly bitter compared to my usual atomic 9% version as it doesn't have the malt and alcohol sweetness to temper it. I just wanted something around 7% to be slightly more sessionable than my aqua-de-derro past versions.
Hopefully a couple of weeks in cold conditioning and serving on Nitrogen will smooth it out.


----------



## Ivan Other One

Another Toucan.
Coopers Real Ale
Draught.
Goodies pack.
Stella. Kit yeast x 2
24 litres.
OG. 1.062
Made this on monday morn and it's Fermented at 23C to a standstill already.
Will leave for another week and keg. Will do an FG reading to calculate Alcohol.


----------



## maaark

I've got a toucan in the fermenter at the moment as well 

*Coopers Saison*
Oz Pale Ale Tin
Wheat Beer Tin
500g LDM 
25g Saaz
Belle Saison Yeast
20 litres

OG = 1053

My first Saison, really looking forward to tasting the finished product.


----------



## menoetes

Looks like solid wheat saison style sir; is the wheat tin hopped or unhopped malt? if it isn't then you are going to have one seriously bitter saison :lol:


----------



## maaark

Yeah mate it's a Thomas Coopers hopped wheat beer can as per their recipe.

http://www.coopers.com.au/#/diy-beer/beer-recipes/strong/detail/biere-du-mois-saison/

And I stuffed up my first post - I filled it to 22 litres, not 20.


----------



## Ivan Other One

Ivan Other One said:


> Another Toucan.
> Coopers Real Ale
> Draught.
> Goodies pack.
> Stella. Kit yeast x 2
> 24 litres.
> OG. 1.062
> Made this on monday morn and it's Fermented at 23C to a standstill already.
> Will leave for another week and keg. Will do an FG reading to calculate Alcohol.


FG was 1.016, so about 5.7%
Taste of the wort when kegging was a bitter taste so should be a good bitter beer.
Cheers. :beer:


----------



## LiquidGold

Just put down this toucan with winter in mind

Coopers stout
Coopers dark ale
500g DME
250g DDME
250g Dextrose
both kit yeasts

23 Litres
OG 1.062

Thinking of dry hopping with chinook or goldings on day 4-5


----------



## Maffew

Thought I'd give a toucan a go while waiting for the LHBS to open back up.

- 1x coopers APA
- 1x coopers Sparkling ale
- 1x coopers amber malt extract

both kit yeasts

OG 1.064

Fermenting at 18C

Almost bubbling out the airlock after 12 hours


----------



## Grott

Put a tea towel or rag on top of the lid around the airlock. This will soak up most of any over-flow and make cleaning easier.
Cheers


----------



## theMISSIONARY

after a long time having not brewed i got round to doing a toucan

2x tooheys lager
500g DDM
250g LDM
1kg Dex
yeast S-23

its been in the formenter for about two weeks now and the gravity is right down now started some where above 1050(my brew book is at the other place) so it should be a good one for Xmas :chug:


----------



## TheBigD

Ive had a couple of testers of my Coopers stout,dark ale with 1kg Dark dry malt made to 21L with an ABV of around 8-9% Its an awesome robust stout cant wait to crack the keg for the family at Xmas. In fact I've just put another bottle on ice to have later tonight then ill put the last 5 bottles away to age for 12 months or longer


----------



## dibbz

My first toucan came out a treat, thanks to everyone that has posted results.

2x cans Home Brand Draught
500g LDME
200g CaraRed Malt and 50g Roasted Barley (Red ale grain pack) - steeped 20 mins @ 70c
25g Centennial in steep @ half way
Filled to 23l
US-05 @ 20deg, ~8 days
25g Centennial when krausen drops, @ 21.5deg for 3 days.
3 days cold crash @ 1 deg. Gelatin after 1 day
Straight out of primary into keg and gassed.

1.057 to 1.014

Awesomely bitter, keg is almost empty so I'm going to do it again with Citra/Centennial mix and only 20l.

d.


----------



## Benn

Got my first Toucan in the FV at the moment,

1x Coopers Australian Pale Ale
1x Coopers Canadian Blonde
500g Carapils
500g Crystal
25g Cascade at 60min
25g Cascade at 0 min
US-05
18 deg.
21L
1:046 OG


----------



## NikZak

I'm inspired to try my own Toucan soon folks thanks to finally getting through all 36 pages and getting lots of ideas. I'm thinking I'll get whatever is on special when I find it on special and adding a bit of BE2 and some extra LDME and pitching onto the US-05 yeast cake that comes out of my next brew (American Pale Ale). Surely this will be enough yeast to sustain a toucan


----------



## NikZak

Out of these cans what do you guys suggest for something different? I'm going to the LHBS tonight after work so can pick up some things to add if you suggest but I have he following:
2× home brand draught
1× Tooheys special lager
1× Cooper's Australian Pale Ale
1× Cooper's dark Ale
1× BE2 
The yeast packets from each can
1× US-05
Lots of EC-1118

Will be pitching on an active US-05 yeast cake mixed with Cascade hops put in as a dry hop when I rack the currently brewing Pale Ale to secondary so there should be enough hop juice left in there to give some extra hoppy goodness to this brew. 

I'm thinking of making this a Christmas beer so will probably dump some cinnamon and star anise in there as well as a vanilla pod and whatever else people suggest

Currently thinking the Australian Pale Ale and the dark Ale with the above adjuncts but what are other people's thoughts?


----------



## Mattrox

Dropped into the local Foodland and they had Coopers tins on special. 

I picked up 2x Coopers Pale Ale and 2x Real Ale and a kilo of dex.


I'm going to make 2x Extra Strong Vintage Ale recipies. Undecided on hops yet. I'll probably do the '13 and '15 styles as I'm an odd kind of fellow.


----------



## NikZak

I decided to get my Toucan Julebryg or Christmas Beer down a few days ago, it smells amazing, haven't tasted it yet but here's what I went with:

1x 1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale
1x 1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale
100g Maple syrup
60g Brown sugar (it's all I had left)
1.5 Star anise
1 Tbsp Cloves
1 Large vanilla pod
2 cinnamon sticks
10g Cascade hop pellets
Both kit yeasts pitched into 28 degree water for 30mins prior to pitching

Method

Put the spices, maple syrup, brown sugar and hops into a saucepan with about 2.5L of water and bring it to the boil
While this was coming to the boil, clean and sanitise fermenter and all other tools (spoon, seive, airlock, can opener) and put both cans of Coopers goo into sink of hot water
Simmer spice mixture for 20 mins then let cool for 30 mins with the lid on the saucepan
Open cans of goo, pour into fermenter and rinse cans with boiled water into fermenter
Strain spice mixture into fermenter
Stir well to dissolve the extract
Pour one saucepan full of water through strainer into the fermenter to extract as much tasty goodness into the mixture then continue to top up to about the 20L mark
Check temperature (mine was at 24 degrees at this point, just perfect) and OG (mine was 1.053)
Pitch yeast, put on lid and airlock, fill airlock with water/fluid of your choice and leave to do its thing in a dark cool spot

By the next morning, I had a 5" krausen on it and the airlock was going totally nuts with a huge bubble every second, that evening the krausen hit the top of the fermenter but didn't come out the airlock. The smell was delightful

I've now left it for the last 6 days and will be racking it into a secondary to get it off the yeast cake and trub and let it finish off nicely


----------



## boingk

Can't believe this thread is still going after starting it in 2007! Awesome stuff.

The Coopers Aussie Pale / Dark Ale kit combo sounds like a good one, NikZak, might have to give it a go, or sub a Stout for the Dark perhaps...

Cheers - boingk


----------



## peekaboo_jones

My next Toucan will be:
2x Coopers Canadian Blonde cans
100g Special B grains
1x Danstar Belle Saison yeast
Brewed to 26L


----------



## NikZak

boingk said:


> Can't believe this thread is still going after starting it in 2007! Awesome stuff.
> 
> The Coopers Aussie Pale / Dark Ale kit combo sounds like a good one, NikZak, might have to give it a go, or sub a Stout for the Dark perhaps...
> 
> Cheers - boingk


I was thinking of doing the stout but not everyone likes that and as I was doing it for a Christmas beer I'd like as many people as possible to try it. 

On topic though, I dropped a toucan of homebrand draught on the yeast cake of he Christmas beer after it was racked to secondary last night and within two hours I had an explosion of krausen out of the airlock! Popped my volcano cherry 

Funny thing is that brew seems finished airlock activity wise in 24 hours! Might just leave it a week to be safe. Didn't take an OG but as long as FG is around 1.010 or 1.008 I'll be safe


----------



## ajg

think my next brew will be a toucan batch as rego just hit. I am thinking using 2 draught tins only and I have 25g of both summer and Amarillo at my disposal for a dry hop.


----------



## NikZak

About 4 nights ago I put down a toucan of homebrand draught and it fermented like crazy pitched on a yeast cake but seems to have stopped already and is stuck at 1.020. Should I be concerned? I'm leaving it for now until at least Wednesday but will be away next weekend from Thursday night. Maybe I'll just leave it until next week to be safe. 

I have heard that when putting wort onto a yeast cake it will ferment significantly faster but I wasn't expecting it to be done in 2 days. I may bottle it into PET just to be safe


----------



## peekaboo_jones

Yesterday I put down a quickie:
Lazy Saison
1x Coopers Aussie pale ale tin
1x Coopers Canadian Blonde tin
Filled to 26L
1x Danstar belle Saison yeast
OG 1.041.

Hopefully turns out ok.
Plan to rack another Saison onto this yeast cake in a few weeks. Probably something more traditional, stronger and with specialty grains


----------



## ajg

Just did my first toucan today. Went with -

2 x coopers draught tins
20g cascade steeped in hot water 10 minutes and added to the wort.

Hope it turns out ok.


----------



## menoetes

How many liters did you make it up to Ajg? The volume makes all the difference when it comes to bitterness in a toucan brew. The cascade is a nice addition though sir. I'm sure it'll turn out nice enough...


----------



## AlwayzLoozeCount

ajg said:


> Just did my first toucan today. Went with -
> 
> 2 x coopers draught tins
> 20g cascade steeped in hot water 10 minutes and added to the wort.
> 
> Hope it turns out ok.


http://store.coopers.com.au/recipes/index/view/id/46/

There's this one on the Coopers site, says it has lots of cascade hop character and that's just using the tins without any hop additions. Should turn out nice I reckon.


----------



## Lager Bloke

First couple of brews I made were a tin each of Coopers Dark ale/real ale + 1kg DME=quite nice.Also tried 2x Dark ale tins,licorice extract(15ml's from memory)Lactose + corn syrup = as nice as well,bit more complexity


----------



## ajg

menoetes said:


> How many liters did you make it up to Ajg? The volume makes all the difference when it comes to bitterness in a toucan brew. The cascade is a nice addition though sir. I'm sure it'll turn out nice enough...


I made it up to 20L


----------



## menoetes

Two Coopers draught tins made up to 20lts? Whoa, that drink is going to be thick, strong and very bitter. My first toucan was a Coopers pale ale & a coopers blonde made up to 26lts with some Amarillo in the end and I found that to be _very_ bitter. You need to remember with a toucan that you are effectively doubling the bitterness by replacing the unhopped malt/sugar addition with another hopped tin of malt and increase the volume to compensate.

However if that's how you like 'em; bitter & chewy then it won't be a problem. It'll kinda be like a DIPA I think... did you pitch both yeasts?

I'm not trying to get you down but maybe taste a sample from your fermented and see what you think. It could be alright after-all...


----------



## hwall95

ajg said:


> Just did my first toucan today. Went with -
> 
> 2 x coopers draught tins
> 20g cascade steeped in hot water 10 minutes and added to the wort.
> 
> Hope it turns out ok.


It should turn out pretty well, two tins according to the spreadsheet only bring the OG to 1.052 @ 50 ibu. Will have a decent bitterness but nothing too extreme, and won't be too boozy. FG predicted at 1.013, so the extra sweetness should balance with the bitterness. It may need some more flavour depending on how you like your hops, if I were you I would dry hop another 30-40g after fermentations finishes either of cascade or another hop that compliments. Make sure it doesn't get too hot and it should be a nice easy beer.


----------



## menoetes

There you go, listen to Hwall95 - I didn't bother plugging it into the spreadsheet. h34r:


----------



## ajg

menoetes said:


> Two Coopers draught tins made up to 20lts? Whoa, that drink is going to be thick, strong and very bitter. My first toucan was a Coopers pale ale & a coopers blonde made up to 26lts with some Amarillo in the end and I found that to be _very_ bitter. You need to remember with a toucan that you are effectively doubling the bitterness by replacing the unhopped malt/sugar addition with another hopped tin of malt and increase the volume to compensate.
> 
> However if that's how you like 'em; bitter & chewy then it won't be a problem. It'll kinda be like a DIPA I think... did you pitch both yeasts?
> 
> I'm not trying to get you down but maybe taste a sample from your fermented and see what you think. It could be alright after-all...


I love a bitter beer so no problems there. tests from the fermenter have been good so far


----------



## ajg

hwall95 said:


> It should turn out pretty well, two tins according to the spreadsheet only bring the OG to 1.052 @ 50 ibu. Will have a decent bitterness but nothing too extreme, and won't be too boozy. FG predicted at 1.013, so the extra sweetness should balance with the bitterness. It may need some more flavour depending on how you like your hops, if I were you I would dry hop another 30-40g after fermentations finishes either of cascade or another hop that compliments. Make sure it doesn't get too hot and it should be a nice easy beer.


OG was 1050 so pretty much what you estimated. I plan on a dry hop of 30g of either cascade or amarillo that I have on hand.


----------



## Lager Bloke

Hi,just had a taste of my latest toucan.DeF#%ken Delicious 
2 x Coopers Draught tins
250g Dried Corn Syrup
30g Hallatua pellets steeped
19l total liquid
1 week in fermenter,transferred to keg + 2 x 450ml flip top bottles/keg not yet carbonated but threw bottles in fridge-my opinion was very nice + very morish.You had a taste of your toucan yet ajg?
Rob.


----------



## ajg

no havnt tasted it yet. only got it in the bottle on the 1/11 so dont think its carbed enough yet. will post results once I try it.


----------



## ajg

sampled my toucan tonight. WOW!! was pleasantly suprised how nice it is. a good amount of bitterness but enough cascade flavours to offset it.

will be hard to only have one of these at a time I reckon


----------



## theMISSIONARY

theMISSIONARY said:


> after a long time having not brewed i got round to doing a toucan
> 
> 2x tooheys lager
> 500g DDM
> 250g LDM
> 1kg Dex
> yeast S-23
> 
> its been in the formenter for about two weeks now and the gravity is right down now started some where above 1050(my brew book is at the other place) so it should be a good one for Xmas :chug:


potent alcohol taste, not overly rough but not something i would drink a heap off,head doesn't last long


----------



## djsmi4

Hi all,

I've been considering making the following brew:

1x Coopers Stout
1x Coopers Dark Ale
1kg Coopers BE1
1 cup desiccated coconut (to be steeped in 1 cup rum)
1 cup ground coffee (to be steeped in 1 cup water)
1 cup cocoa powder







I intend to produce 23L from the above mix. I've picked up conflicting info regarding proportions of coconut/cocoa/coffee, and on times where to add to the brew. What I'm intending is:

1. Steep a cup of desiccated coconut in a cup of rum 1 week prior to starting the brew itself.
2. Add a cup of cocoa powder to the brew prior to adding the yeast from both cans.
3. Primary fermentation at 19*C for a fortnight or where hydrometer FG reading is consistent for 3 days, whichever takes longer.
4. Steep a cup of ground coffee in a cup of water overnight in the fridge, add carefully to primary 1 day prior to bottling. Also add the coconut/rum mix at this time.
5. At bottling prime the longnecks but only with a stubbie's worth of dex (I've had past experience where my stout has more of a "coke" carbonation than "guinness" from priming with the full amount).
6. Leave for 3 months minimum to condition.

I'm not fussed on alcohol % (hence half-priming) but I am concerned on whether any of the following will A) be overpowering in flavour (or lost), B) will kill head retention, C) will infect the brew, D) the fermentation will fill the entire brew fridge with krausen. I'm also quite happy to use the standard Coopers yeast. These side ingredients are things I'd like to clear out of the pantry, hence the toucan brew.

Looking forward to your replies, and apologies if these cocoa/coffee/coconut queries have been clearly addressed before.

Cheers

Dave


----------



## djsmi4

djsmi4 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I've been considering making the following brew:
> 
> 1x Coopers Stout
> 1x Coopers Dark Ale
> 1kg Coopers BE1 *to swap with BE2 for more body*
> 1 cup Entire packet of desiccated coconut (to be steeped in 1 cup rum *toasted*)
> 1 cup ground coffee (to be steeped in 1 cup water) *to be steeped in a french press*
> 1 cup cocoa powder* to dissolve in hot water*
> 
> I intend to produce *21L* from the above mix. I've picked up conflicting info regarding proportions of coconut/cocoa/coffee, and on times where to add to the brew. What I'm intending is:
> 
> 1. Steep a cup of desiccated coconut in a cup of rum 1 week prior to starting the brew itself. *Toast all of the desiccated coconut and add FIRST to the brew. (Ideally add first into a secondary but I'm doing primary direct to bottling)*
> 2. Add a cup of cocoa powder to *hot water in* the brew prior to adding the *wort, cold water and* yeast from both cans.
> 3. Primary fermentation at 19*C for a fortnight or where hydrometer FG reading is consistent for 3 days, whichever takes longer.
> 4. Steep the ground coffee overnight in the fridge, *filter and* add carefully to primary 1 day *immediately* prior to bottling. Also add the coconut/rum mix at this time.
> 5. At bottling prime the longnecks but only with a stubbie's worth of dex (I've had past experience where my stout has more of a "coke" carbonation than "guinness" from priming with the full amount).
> 6. Leave for 3 months minimum to condition.


After some further online research I've come up with some consensus (shown in *red*)


----------



## bonk1972

Well after reading this forum i was inspired to try my our twocan. which i put down today it goes like this...
2 cans of woolies homebrand draught
250g of crystal malt grain steeped for 30min @ 66c in 2ltr of water
250g of LDME 
Boiled the malts for 15min with a 25g Nelson hop at10min
Then put all into FV with draught cans topped up to 24ltrs guessing it might water the bitterness down but after tasting the sample should have just done 23ltrs
Then put it to bed at 18c with my first attempt at harvesting US05 yeast from my last brew..hoping to dry hop 25g of Amarillo or cascade not sure yet
SG 1.048


----------



## pablo_h

Yeah, woolworths have OS coopers on sale for $10 right now, so I'm tempted on a coopers draught toucan. Some crystal, some dex/sugar for a brew - I don't think it needs any extra l/dme or bittering hops though. 
Just can't get any yeast right now (I hate OS coopers yeast and most have shot down using brigalow yeast)*











* I will get to a HBS one day, but they're all in industrial estates, no public transport nearby and stuff paying $10 to mail a couple of dry yeast sachets. 
But when I do get to a HBS, I will do a C-PA with us05, and get some saison yeast for a brew and stock up on ldme again.


----------



## bonk1972

I get my yeast of ebay 3 packets of US05 for $12 free postage it comes from Newcastle i usually get ir in couple days same with the hops


----------



## boyracer

Morning all. 

I have a toucan stuck on 1021 FG. I didn't do an OG.
2 x coopers RA
1kg #1
1kg #2
cascade and czech saaz
both kit yeasts produced a vigorous Krausen from hour 1.
23 litres... no temp control but but keep my fermenter in a large water barrel which keeps temp stable at < 25 deg.

tastes fine at 8 days with a noticeable alcohol hit ...

Q: do i need to adjust my prime rate to bottle as will surely have a lot of residual sugars?
I read a bit about exploding bottles. Should i separate it from others and keep in a barrel?


----------



## Hpal

Is that 2 cans plus 2kg of fermentables? Haven't done kits for years but that seems strong in a 23L batch. And you probably know that 25 is a bit warm...


----------



## boyracer

always learning... read about the toucan and had 2 cans of SA that i wasn't using...
the temp thing is interesting. i thought and was told by LBS that consistent temp was the key as long as < X. Been brewing ( partials ) all summer at this temp ( off a strip thermometer-could be out a bit i s'pose) with no 'problems'. about 50 litres of water surrounding fermenter and I put ice in during day. A few being drunk now...nice, clear and well carbonated. I'm reading now that yeast is a key... usually use us04/us05/ premium yeast. 
Gonna bottle, store separate and stand well back...

AHB prime calculator says 659 gms!...


----------



## Dozer71

boyracer said:


> AHB prime calculator says 659 gms!...


 Might want check your calcs - that is way too much and you will have bottle bombs. Generally between 5 and 8g/L depending on carbonation levels which results in between 120 and 180 grams of sugar


----------



## theMISSIONARY

my Current!

Tooheys special Draught x2 cans
Dex700g
LDM 300g
Yeast S-23 
all in 23L....currently the temps range from 15-18  so i am being hopeful it will come out alright.


----------



## Grott

Temp is ok however did you use more than one lot of yeast?


----------



## Hambone

djsmi4 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I've been considering making the following brew:
> 
> 1x Coopers Stout
> 1x Coopers Dark Ale
> 1kg Coopers BE1
> 1 cup desiccated coconut (to be steeped in 1 cup rum)
> 1 cup ground coffee (to be steeped in 1 cup water)
> 1 cup cocoa powder
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I intend to produce 23L from the above mix. I've picked up conflicting info regarding proportions of coconut/cocoa/coffee, and on times where to add to the brew. What I'm intending is:
> 
> 1. Steep a cup of desiccated coconut in a cup of rum 1 week prior to starting the brew itself.
> 2. Add a cup of cocoa powder to the brew prior to adding the yeast from both cans.
> 3. Primary fermentation at 19*C for a fortnight or where hydrometer FG reading is consistent for 3 days, whichever takes longer.
> 4. Steep a cup of ground coffee in a cup of water overnight in the fridge, add carefully to primary 1 day prior to bottling. Also add the coconut/rum mix at this time.
> 5. At bottling prime the longnecks but only with a stubbie's worth of dex (I've had past experience where my stout has more of a "coke" carbonation than "guinness" from priming with the full amount).
> 6. Leave for 3 months minimum to condition.
> 
> I'm not fussed on alcohol % (hence half-priming) but I am concerned on whether any of the following will A) be overpowering in flavour (or lost), B) will kill head retention, C) will infect the brew, D) the fermentation will fill the entire brew fridge with krausen. I'm also quite happy to use the standard Coopers yeast. These side ingredients are things I'd like to clear out of the pantry, hence the toucan brew.
> 
> Looking forward to your replies, and apologies if these cocoa/coffee/coconut queries have been clearly addressed before.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dave


Hey Dave
How did this go?
Cheers


----------



## trustyrusty

I did a simple Coopers Draught, + Woolies Homebrand Draught (Acting more like the liquid malt) + 8 g steeped cascade + both yeasts...
For about $20.00 it turned out to be a good drop, simple thirst quencher on hot day. Nice golden colour too..


----------



## trustyrusty

paterson2929 said:


> Just started my first Toucan
> Coopers Lager + Coopers Draught
> Saflager W34/70
> Should be interesting when I can drink it.



Looks like you copied me  - How did it go? Pretty simple and can get anytime in Woolies .. I wonder what difference the yeat made, I just used both yeasts.


----------



## Woong

trustyrusty said:


> Looks like you copied me  - How did it go? Pretty simple and can get anytime in Woolies .. I wonder what difference the yeat made, I just used both yeasts.


Hi. Been doing this for a while now. Draught, lager and 10g of either galaxy or cascade pellets straight into the fermenter. Usually 7-10 days ferment then 4-5 cold crash and into kegs. Easy to name the beer too.......Laughter


----------



## trustyrusty

Woong said:


> Hi. Been doing this for a while now. Draught, lager and 10g of either galaxy or cascade pellets straight into the fermenter. Usually 7-10 days ferment then 4-5 cold crash and into kegs. Easy to name the beer too.......Laughter



Thanks next time I might add gelatin, with 2 yeasts it does not clear as well as one yeast... thanks


----------



## Colfa

Im interested in trying this, how does it end up tasting?

I am considering doing something similar, a coppers draught and homebrand lager toucan fermented with us-05 and dry hop with galaxy?

Bad idea?


----------



## trustyrusty

Yep , sounds good... I think recipe is a good drinker. Good yeast like us o5 will make it better..


----------



## koshari

Woong said:


> Hi. Been doing this for a while now. Draught, lager and 10g of either galaxy or cascade pellets straight into the fermenter. Usually 7-10 days ferment then 4-5 cold crash and into kegs. Easy to name the beer too.......Laughter


Iam thinking you might mean 100g of cascade? Anyway thets pretty much what i do.


----------



## Colfa

Have you tried it with home brand draught and homebrand lager?


----------



## koshari

Colfa said:


> Have you tried it with home brand draught and homebrand lager?


I use the home brand draft as the base for my summer ale. Its become my standard brew. 2 cans and 1kg of lme with 100g cascade dry hopped in 40l is a very refreshing drop.


----------



## Colfa

Put a coopers draught and homebrand lager toucan down today, straight on top of the us05 yeast cake from a pale ale I kegged just before. Added about 30 grams of cascade pellets straight to the fermenter. Experient could end badly but I'll post in a few weeks and let you know how it turns out. Brewing at 20 degrees. 2 hours after pitching the krausen was an inch high. Very vigorous fermentation.


----------



## trustyrusty

Trying coopers lager and home brand lager + 8 g of steeped galaxy just for bit of extra + both yeasts, 20 degrees see how it goes. Cheers


----------



## Colfa

Just tasted my coopers draught and homebrand lager toucan from the fermenter. It's a bit cloudy for the amount of time I have let it sit but the taste is promising. Real test in two weeks after the bottles have carbed up. Next time I make it I'll be more liberal with the dry hop as its lacking aroma. However I think the idea of using a homebrand lager basically as a cheap malt isn't a terrible one. Surprisingly good so far.


----------



## trustyrusty

Yep that was my idea, cheap malt with a bit of flavour... for $20 with kit not a bad drinker.. cheers


----------



## Colfa

Well the verdict is in, the coopers draught and homebrand lager toucan tastes horrible. It was an interesting experiment but the taste is unbearable. Luckily I have a mate who will drink anything, so this lot is all his. I have a coopers pale ale and home brand draught experiment to come also. Just needs another week in the bottle, let's home that one is an improvement on the last.


----------



## trustyrusty

@Colfa ... You have mixed your drinks  Draught and lager, I found that the draught works well with draught, lager with lager... there is homebrand lager and draught, which I did not realism until the other day. I made this mistake a while back ... it was OK, but I think it makes a difference.


----------



## brewgasm

Colfa said:


> Just tasted my coopers draught and homebrand lager toucan from the fermenter. It's a bit cloudy for the amount of time I have let it sit but the taste is promising. Real test in two weeks after the bottles have carbed up. Next time I make it I'll be more liberal with the dry hop as its lacking aroma. However I think the idea of using a homebrand lager basically as a cheap malt isn't a terrible one. Surprisingly good so far.


I just finished a keg of homebrand draught. It was still very cloudy after a few weeks in the fermentor and a few weeks in the keg. I haven't opened the keg yet but I am expecting a lot of sediment. A few times pouring it would dump a bit bit of sediment in to the glass. When the keg kicked flow just stopped. I cracked up the pressure and started pouring pure sediment lol. Apart from this the beer was ok, nothing special about it


----------



## trustyrusty

I found mine a bit cloudy coopers lager/homebrand lager but I did use steeped hops and I find that makes it a little cloudy..

What was the whole recipe?


----------



## Colfa

All is not lost, the coopers draught and homebrand lager combo was a fail but the coopers Aussie pale ale and homebrand lager toucan using us05 and dry hopped for 4 days with galaxy is a winner.


----------



## trustyrusty

Sounds good, have you tried homebrand draught with the pale ale?


----------



## Colfa

No, haven't tried it yet. I am pretty limited due to being a long way from nearest home brew store so kinda have to rely on woolies. I have brewed the coopers lager with brew enhancer 2 before and didn't really like it. May have been better if I added hops I suspect


----------



## mongey

I made this toucan from coopers recipe and it came out really good .unfortunately I only 7 long necks left 

Trappist Belgian coaster 
*Ingredients*


_1 x 1.7kg Thomas Coopers Preacher's Hefe Wheat_
_1 x 1.7kg Coopers Canadian Blonde_
_1 x 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt_
1 x 25g Nelson Sauvin Hop Pellets
1 x 25g Bravo Hop Pellets
1 x 50g Calypso Hop Pellets
1 x 11g Lallemand Abbaye Belgian Dry Yeast

But used M31 instead




also making their saison toucan this weekend for like the 4 or 5th time .always comes out good 


1.7kg Australian Pale Ale 
1.7kg Thomas Coopers Wheat Beer
500g Coopers Light Dry Malt
25g Saaz Hops
11g Belle Saison Yeast


----------



## boingk

Again, I can't believe this thread is still kicking along strong in 2018 after I started it in 2007, haha.

Good to see so many good (and bad!) experiences from the varied brews - I do like the look of the Trappist, mongey! One downfall of where I am at the moment is no HB shop and having to rely on Woolies / Big W, so Amarillo, Saaz and even the humble PoR are a thing of the past for me at the moment.

Keep up the good stuff!

- boingk


----------



## ACT_Brewer

This might be a stupid question, but could I just make up a single can brew to like 11L and get a similar result to a toucan made up to 23L?


----------



## Cheap Drunk

Budron said:


> Currently drinking my toucan.
> 
> - 1 x Can Coopers Real Ale
> - 1 x Can Homebrand Draught
> - 1 x BE2
> - Both Yeasts
> 
> My 6th kit brew and best yet I reckon.


I just put down almost exactly the same a couple of days ago. Only difference is I had Thomas Coopers pale ale instead of the real ale. Have to say I'm relieved to read yours went well.


----------



## YAPN

ACT_Brewer said:


> could I just make up a single can brew to like 11L



I often do a single kit in a 14lt batch with no problems.

It's a good method for trying new kits and having a crack at All Extract.


----------



## Yuz

ACT_Brewer said:


> This might be a stupid question, but could I just make up a single can brew to like 11L and get a similar result to a toucan made up to 23L?


I've done Cooper's Lager x 2 + some hops and "proper" lager yeast @ 28 litres a few times and will do it again


----------



## Cheap Drunk

I was wondering about the homebrand yeasts. The can on the homebrand draught said to brew from 25-35 °C... I just chucked both in. Being in Sydney it's about 15-25 at this time and I figured the other yeast would do most of the work. But doesn't 25-35 seem high? I've never done a draught.


----------



## huxley

yeh man its pretty high reading for temp, though you will find that the kits yeasts are made to operate at a wide range of temperatures to ensure a result where as a top line yeast bought in a packet is usually a bit fussier and need good temperature control though the end product is better. What your doing will produce beer that may need to be matured for a while to get rid of the unwanted flavours. Did one like yours a while ago and left it for a year, mothers milk.


----------



## stevonz

I do a can of Canadian Blonde & Wheat beer
US-05
Dry hop with Galaxy or Mosaic

A definite crowd pleaser


----------



## Uncle Fester

Coopers Stout + Coopers Dark + 40g of cascade into fermenter. Done to 21 litres is a standard falling over water for me.


----------



## koshari

boingk said:


> Again, I can't believe this thread is still kicking along strong in 2018 after I started it in 2007, haha.
> 
> Good to see so many good (and bad!) experiences from the varied brews - I do like the look of the Trappist, mongey! One downfall of where I am at the moment is no HB shop and having to rely on Woolies / Big W, so Amarillo, Saaz and even the humble PoR are a thing of the past for me at the moment.
> 
> Keep up the good stuff!
> 
> - boingk


i live out of the city as well and its easy to get hops delivered, they are prolly the most cost effective ingredient to have delivered.


----------



## Chods1

What do you think of a Black Rock Pale Ale and a Coopers Aussie Pale Ale with say 30g of cascade hops boiled for say 15mins, teamed with 1kg DME? Reckon it'll work?


----------



## Chods1

I guess no one thinks much of my toucan idea!!


----------



## Errant

I like a 2 x Coopers Draught. I warm up 5L of water, add the tins, heat to 68C, then add 150g total of your typical IPA hops (I like 50 each of Simcoe, Amarillo and Galaxy), put the lid on and leave it a few hours. Then fill to 20L to ferment, use the Coopers yeast, then use a good dose of whole hop cones in the keg too, after it's had a month in there.

Coopers Australian Pale Ale and Coopers Hefe Wheat with another can of Breiss Wheat extract and Belle Saison yeast. 23L.

2 x European Lager with 1.5kg Honey, 1.5kg Light Dry Malt, 2 packs M31 Belgian Trippel Yeast, made to 26L. Ferment it above 25C.


----------



## shuesmek

Errant said:


> I like a 2 x Coopers Draught. I warm up 5L of water, add the tins, heat to 68C, then add 150g total of your typical IPA hops (I like 50 each of Simcoe, Amarillo and Galaxy)/QUOTE]
> 
> Hey @Errant
> Just curious on your post, if you were to do the exact same thing but using only 1x coopers draught can what would be the difference in comparison to using two cans? I have 2 cans of draught coopers kits but still unsure what to do exactly with them ( 2 brews or 1 toucan brew)


----------



## stevonz

Chods1 said:


> What do you think of a Black Rock Pale Ale and a Coopers Aussie Pale Ale with say 30g of cascade hops boiled for say 15mins, teamed with 1kg DME? Reckon it'll work?



Of course it'll 'work'... but the resulting taste may not be to your liking. I would suggest that this may come out a little bitter, but probably drinkable if your tastes are that way inclined.


----------



## Chods1

Errant said:


> I like a 2 x Coopers Draught. I warm up 5L of water, add the tins, heat to 68C, then add 150g total of your typical IPA hops (I like 50 each of Simcoe, Amarillo and Galaxy), put the lid on and leave it a few hours. Then fill to 20L to ferment, use the Coopers yeast, then use a good dose of whole hop cones in the keg too, after it's had a month in there.
> 
> Coopers Australian Pale Ale and Coopers Hefe Wheat with another can of Breiss Wheat extract and Belle Saison yeast. 23L.
> 
> 2 x European Lager with 1.5kg Honey, 1.5kg Light Dry Malt, 2 packs M31 Belgian Trippel Yeast, made to 26L. Ferment it above 25C.


Thanks for that. I'll definitely look at your alternative with the Coopers Draught. Cheers.


----------



## Errant

You could just copy the recipe, but halve everything and it will be essentially the same. If you like a bitter IPA, then a Double Draught will be up your alley.


----------



## Chods1

stevonz said:


> Of course it'll 'work'... but the resulting taste may not be to your liking. I would suggest that this may come out a little bitter, but probably drinkable if your tastes are that way inclined.


I do like a very bitter beer so definitely will give this a go this week end. Thanks. I'll report on the results and post my thoughts as soon as ferment is over.


----------



## petesbrew

Uncle Fester said:


> Coopers Stout + Coopers Dark + 40g of cascade into fermenter. Done to 21 litres is a standard falling over water for me.


Haven't brewed since November, due to life getting in the way, and a low care factor.
But my stocks are empty, first time in many years.

I have some grain ready to go for a brew, but in the meantime, I picked up the gear for something similar.
Toucan Coopers Stout/Dark, 500g brown sugar, 30-40g UK hops from the freezer (goldings/fuggles), filled to 23L
I have an old WLP013 London Ale starter on the go, but if that doesn't kick off, I have the kit yeasts ready.

I haven't done a kit beer in many years, but I've always wanted to go back to this one.


----------



## batfastard

Hi guys,

I'm wishing myself up to trying a toucan brew.

What I'd like to end up with is something similar to the James Squire Porter.

I'd expect the coopers stout +dark ale may come out too bitter.

I'm thinking adding some dry light malt to sweeten it up a little. 

Any suggestions?




Ta.


----------



## batfastard

batfastard said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I'm wishing myself up to trying a toucan brew.
> 
> What I'd like to end up with is something similar to the James Squire Porter.
> 
> I'd expect the coopers stout +dark ale may come out too bitter.
> 
> I'm thinking adding some dry light malt to sweeten it up a little.
> 
> Any suggestions?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ta.


Doh! Wishing = setting or something. Got autocorrected.


----------



## YAPN

batfastard said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I'm wishing myself up to trying a toucan brew.
> 
> What I'd like to end up with is something similar to the James Squire Porter.
> 
> I'd expect the coopers stout +dark ale may come out too bitter.
> 
> I'm thinking adding some dry light malt to sweeten it up a little.
> 
> Any suggestions?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ta.


I'd go the dark ale + real ale combo and add some steeped chocolate malt


----------



## batfastard

Ta for the tip.

Re the chocolate malt, is that something I can get as a can of extract? 

I'd prefer to avoid the whole mashing and boiling and straining thing if I can.


----------



## koshari

batfastard said:


> Ta for the tip.
> 
> Re the chocolate malt, is that something I can get as a can of extract?
> 
> I'd prefer to avoid the whole mashing and boiling and straining thing if I can.


Just steep it.


----------



## batfastard

And this means...?

Is it as simple as sticking a kilo of chocolate malt in an old stocking and just hang it in the fermenter while it all brews?

Or is there more technique than that?


----------



## Digga

You have to boil a pot of water then “steep” the grain in this with a lid on and towel around it for 1/2hr. Remove the grain and then you are supposed to boil the resultant liquor for 15 or so min to sanitise.

I’m sure it’s not been boiled before and been ok but to be safe to be sure!


----------



## batfastard

Cool, got it.

Thanks for the explain.

Do I keep the water on the boil during steeping? Or do I take it off the boil for that bit?


----------



## YAPN

batfastard said:


> Ta for the tip.
> 
> Re the chocolate malt, is that something I can get as a can of extract?
> 
> I'd prefer to avoid the whole mashing and boiling and straining thing if I can.


I get mine from the homebrew shop.
200gm milled Chocolate malt, place that in about a litre of water overnight in the fridge, strain into a pot and bring to the boil to sterilize the liquid, add to fermenter.


----------



## batfastard

Brilliant! Thanks, will give that a go.


----------



## Cheap Drunk

I just recently finished the last of my toucan that was Thomas Coopers amber ale and a Homebrand draught, with just the Coopers yeast. Pretty good for my standards.
Today I chucked in a Coopers Mexican Cerveza with a TC pale ale and a kilo of Coopers brewing sugar. Both yeasts.


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## monkey brewing

If doing a toucan is there any need for extra added ldme or dextrose?
I have this laying around 
1x coopers stout
4x coopers real ale
1x coopers ipa


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## peterlonz

IMHO, No so long as you feel comfortable with an ABV in the range 4.0 to 4.5.
I have had good success with Coopers Real Ale but I seem to use a different approach every time I brew it.


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## PaulG79

Most recent one I did was a Canadian Blond + Wheat on a T-58 yeast cake leftover from one of the Cooper's recipe packs. The Belgian yeast gave it just enough character to take it out of the soft drink aisle but it was still ridiculously easy drinking lolly water basically. It got smashed in record time though so I must be doing something right 

I'm thinking of trying that dark ale + stout combo that seems to be a classic, I've got some fuggles in the freezer - what would ppl recommend? Tea steep? Dry hop? 5 min boil with a bit of malt?


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## Jet01

I’ve done a search but can’t find and answer.
Just wondering whether anyone has done a similar coopers toucan

1 x Coopers Lager
1 x coopers pale ale
1 box of light dry malt
1 box of BE2


I wasn’t really a fan of the standard coopers lager and hoping to up the ABV and get a better flavour.

Anyone done something similar. Would love to be able to get it between 5-6%.

Should I be mixing a pale and an amber ale together instead of the mixing the lager in?


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## KegLand-com-au

Hey guys. We have been looking for someone to work with us in making extract recipe kits. Would any of you guys like to work with us in recipe development for clone recipes. We would like to work with someone who has done quite a bit of extract brewing and extract recipe development.

We have already started to make a few recipe kits ourselves like these ones:
https://www.kegland.com.au/ingredients/recipe-kits/extract-recipe-kits.html

Ideally would like to put together a database of clone brews and have 50-100 different recipes. We have also been working with Muntons to do some competitions for extract beers. What type of competitions would you guys like to see us do. It would be good to get some ideas from you guys.


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## DU99

Dr Smurtos Golden Ale extract made a few times.


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## KegLand-com-au

DU99 said:


> Dr Smurtos Golden Ale extract made a few times.



Really got to meet this Dr Smurto some time. He is practically a genius in recipe development.


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## Jet01

Made a few toucans. 

Stout/dark ale/1kg brown sugar - will be good with more time in the bottle
Sparkling/real ale/500g LDM - looking forward to this one being ready. 
APA/Lager/1kg coopers BE2 - too sweet. 

Going to try the following

Stout/dark ale/500LDM/500brown sugar. 
Real ale and dark ale toucan with 500LDM

I’ll keep you posted.


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## Cloth Ears

Just started a 'toucan' - 2 Coopers Canadian Blonde and 2 Coopers Real Ale (plus 4kg of malt).

And just realised I don't have a hydrometer, so the OG sample is waiting for me in the fridge.


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## stevonz

Wow that is more like a four can... looking for high gravity beer? Probably need 2 x packs of yeast to ferment that right out ?


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## Jet01

This is a bit of a combo post that i’ll put in both threads for the stout novice. 

My second batch of beer ever was a coopers stout kit and kilo. Used the kit and bag of ESB stout booster. Started drinking it after 3 weeks in the bottle and was finished the whole batch at the 4week mark. The last few bottles were a lot better than the first few. Lesson learnt to be as patient as you can to get the best taste out of your stout. 

I also made a toucan last month. Coopers stout/dark ale with 1kg brown sugar, M42 yeast. 2carb drops per long neck. 

13days in the primary 
26days in the bottle. 

I ran out of home brew after I took a case away with me on a camping trip, so was forced to buy some off the shelf stuff. I bought a case of cooper Best Extra stout, which was the beer that inspired me to start home brewing. 

I was surprised that I really didn’t like the taste of the BES anymore, tasted like a burnt mess. 

I prefer the toucan that I made and will be doing what I can to make more in the future so I don’t have to buy the commercial stuff. 

It’s really bitter which I like, but doesn’t seem to taste as burnt as the BES. I’m thinking the sweetness from the brown sugar has taken some of that out. 

I’m going to make another Stout/Dark Ale toucan next batch, but with 500g LDM instead of the brown sugar. See how that goes... 

Thanks for all the tips and tricks so far. It’s been great.


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## Jet01

I’ve noticed that all of my toucans seem to have this weird taste in common, i’m sure it’s not an infection, and have had my mates taste it. 

I’m a newbie and have only been using coopers kits.

I’ve made the following toucans so far. With the youngest being 27days in the bottle.

I’ve made:
stout/dark ale with 1kg brown sugar
Sparkling/real ale with 500 LDM
APA/Lager with 1kg BE2.

Best out of the bunch is the APA/lager I reckon. All are pretty average. 

Fermented all 3 for at least 14 days in the fermenter and then bottled with 2 carb drops in longneck bottles.

I’m assuming they’re all way too bitter and that’s the common theme.

Has anyone else noticed anything similar?


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## hoppy2B

Jet01 said:


> I’ve noticed that all of my toucans seem to have this weird taste in common, i’m sure it’s not an infection, and have had my mates taste it.
> 
> I’m a newbie and have only been using coopers kits.
> 
> I’ve made the following toucans so far. With the youngest being 27days in the bottle.
> 
> I’ve made:
> stout/dark ale with 1kg brown sugar
> Sparkling/real ale with 500 LDM
> APA/Lager with 1kg BE2.
> 
> Best out of the bunch is the APA/lager I reckon. All are pretty average.
> 
> Fermented all 3 for at least 14 days in the fermenter and then bottled with 2 carb drops in longneck bottles.
> 
> I’m assuming they’re all way too bitter and that’s the common theme.
> 
> Has anyone else noticed anything similar?



It's going to have a higher bitterness because you are using 2 cans of extract which are both designed to have a level of bitterness from 1 can to suit the style. If you want a lower level of bitterness you will need to use 1 can of hopped extract and 1 can of unhopped extract.

Rather than using carb drops, just boil up 6 grams of sugar per litre in a small amount of water and add it to your ferment vessel / bottling vessel and then fill your bottles. Make sure the sugar mixture is properly mixed in before bottling.

You should really boil the whole volume of water and all of your ingredients (if you are not). Some people don't think so, but I recommend it.


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## Jet01

hoppy2B said:


> It's going to have a higher bitterness because you are using 2 cans of extract which are both designed to have a level of bitterness from 1 can to suit the style. If you want a lower level of bitterness you will need to use 1 can of hopped extract and 1 can of unhopped extract.
> 
> Rather than using carb drops, just boil up 6 grams of sugar per litre in a small amount of water and add it to your ferment vessel / bottling vessel and then fill your bottles. Make sure the sugar mixture is properly mixed in before bottling.
> 
> You should really boil the whole volume of water and all of your ingredients (if you are not). Some people don't think so, but I recommend it.



Thanks for the tip. 

Will boiling the water and ingredients change the flavour?


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## stevonz

Jet01 said:


> Thanks for the tip.
> 
> Will boiling the water and ingredients change the flavour?


No. Just safeguards against introducing an infection to you wort.


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## hoppy2B

Jet01 said:


> Thanks for the tip.
> 
> Will boiling the water and ingredients change the flavour?



As stevonz points out, it is a precautionary measure. 

If you get into steeping specialty grains, you only boil the liquid after removing the grains.

Check out John Palmer's free online book "How To Brew".


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## spotarama

just finished the last of a toucan blackntan this weekend, came out way better than i expected

it was coopers dark ale and stout with i kilo dextrose and the 2 packets of yeast that came with the cans, a month in the fermenter

i knew i'd got it right when a lad i know from county mayo in ireland said after the first mouthful " dats orright dat is" high praise from one brought up on the real stuff....after a couple more he pronounced it as good a stout as he'd had, none of the bitterness of commercial brews, very smooth and 'thick' with a beatiful dark amber head that stays to the bottom of the glass

both he and another friend have commissioned me to brew for them to buy but i think i'll stick to giving it away

now we shall have to wait and see what the lamington beer comes out - coopers lager, cocoa powder, vanilla extract ( the expensive paste stuff, not the thin cheap liquid version, just don't tell mrs spotty thats where her good cake making vanilla went...) and toasted dessicated coconut


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## Cloth Ears

stevonz said:


> Wow that is more like a four can... looking for high gravity beer? Probably need 2 x packs of yeast to ferment that right out ?


Sorry for not replying earlier. 
My fermenter is 60l, not the usual 30l version. It give me a few better options and it also means that the first major ferment doesn't overflow like it did with the smaller ones.
And I tend to use two yeasts. The first one is the major flavour profile and the second is to ensure that the sugars are close to fully fermented. Prior to doing this the beer would be a bit sweet, as I like using malts instead of dextrose and a lot of yeast just cannot cope...


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## peterlonz

Not sure what is meant by the post from Cloth Ears.
In the case of stout you are not generally expecting any flavour from the yeast.
But you always hope & expect complete fermentation, even when tow cans is the basis of the brew.
I acknowledge that I have also noticed more recently that my brews are often sweeter than I like & this after up to 2 weeks in a controlled temp fermentor.
I'd like to know why?
BTW most two can stouts will taste better than Guinness, no question, every time I have friends do a taste comparison my stout is selected as the better of the two.
I have yet to master a chocolate stout & cherry/choc mix. So any pointers ????


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## Journeyman

peterlonz said:


> Not sure what is meant by the post from Cloth Ears.


I think he was responding to the post he quoted - the OP addressed those Q's.

I hae a toucan running in the FV right now. I bought some 2nd hand brew equipment and there were 2 x out-of-date (Sept 2019) cans of Coopers Draught.

So both have gone in, with 11g US-05 (plus the kit yeast and some boiled bread yeast as nutrient) along with Coopers BE3 pack & 200g brown sugar.
Have just added in 50g Cascade tea and 50g Simcoe dry hop to the mix. (Late on the tea I know - been brewing since Saturday 9th arvo)

OG 1.072, IanH's SS says FG (as an APA) should be around 1.010 for around 8.7 ABV.

Now THAT should make a decent Xmas drink! (I hope )


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## Grmblz

peterlonz said:


> I have yet to master a chocolate stout & cherry/choc mix. So any pointers ????


Ok it's cheating and not "proper brewing" but seeing as this is a can thread, for a super chocky stout get a creme de cacao essence (still spirits or similar) your LHBS will have it in the distilling section, it's quite potent so start with half or quarter of a bottle to 19ltr of stout, you can always add more. Check this out https://distilleryking.com.au/blogs/news/still-spirits-essence-guide the options are endless, after choc stouts try coffee stouts, or an IPA with a hint of strawberry maybe, for experiments try an eye dropper with one drop of essence into a ltr of beer it's surprising what tastes great (and absolute shit but you've only lost one ltr) not exactly cherries but Icon liqueur black raspberry royale would be interesting mixed with the choc stout.


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## Blackman

Really enjoying this thread. Been BIABing for last 5 years, never toucan'd. My first one is still carbing at the moment. 
Coopers draught
Canadian light
500g ldme
25g Citra steeped
Both yeasts
25g Citra dry hop.
Made 30ltrs cos I like to fill keg and put a carton aside for later.

Got another one on go straight away. 
2 x Blackrock Munich Lager 
1kg ldme
450g honey
2 x 10g Belgium M41 rehydrated
30ltrs again.

I have 100g of Hallertau to use in this one too. Haven't decided yet how much I will put in.

After 12hrs it is well on the way.


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## Blackman

She has settled down now, tomorrow I will clean the air lock.
Any suggestions on the Hallertau dry hop addition?


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## Blackman

Perhaps I should have used only one yeast. I have never had a beer cook the air lock like that.
Fermenter was pretty full I know, but have had it there before with whole grain brews.


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