# Coles Farmland Draught Can



## BOG (3/1/08)

Hi,

Got desperate and picked up a can of Coles Farmland Draught to use as a base Malt. It was cheap at about $8.

Does anyone know what's in it? What's it supposed to turn out like un-modified?

And Last, Any suggestions for it use?

BOG


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## 0M39A (3/1/08)

BOG said:


> Hi,
> 
> Got desperate and picked up a can of Coles Farmland Draught to use as a base Malt. It was cheap at about $8.
> 
> ...



twocan it, and steep 200g of light crystal, then boil the resulting liquid with some EKG for a few minutes, and ferment the whole thing with some s-04

did that about a year ago, turned out fantastic for when it was cheaper to buy pre-hopped cans than it was to get normal malt (get dried extract for $6 a kilo now so things are better  )


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## Fatgodzilla (3/1/08)

BOG said:


> Hi,
> 
> Got desperate and picked up a can of Coles Farmland Draught to use as a base Malt. It was cheap at about $8.
> 
> ...


 I don't know exactly what's in it, who made it or the quality of the ingredients. But you can be certain it isn't 1.7kg of malt extract. It will contain additives to boost colour, flavour and alcohol content. I have read there is at least 65% malt, but what type, only manufacturer knows. I've tasted some all right home brand beers, but under the philosophy would I buy a six pack if made from this, no. That said, I have used them as base in a number of brews, adding crystal malts and mini mashing grain andl hops.


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## BOG (4/1/08)

Thanks,

i wasn't going to make up the brew , I was just going to use it as base malt. I was concerned about the ISOhop in it and how strong it would be.

As I'm going to use it in a very dark ale I suppose it dosn't matter.

Agree with the dry malt comment. It's cheap so why waste time with junk malts. I just need to brew something , I need the bubble sound happening.

Maybe a lawnmower brew, I've got a supply of grains so should be able to work something.







BOG


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## Fatgodzilla (4/1/08)

BOG said:


> Thanks,
> 
> i wasn't going to make up the brew , I was just going to use it as base malt. I was concerned about the ISOhop in it and how strong it would be.
> 
> ...




Boil the crap out of the kit. It'll darken the malt and I believe will diminish the hop / isohop strength (though that is a much asked but unproven theory based on a lot of conflicting answers in these threads). Then add your grains/ malts and hops accordingly. I'm guessing only but have always worked upon a "draught" to be a low bitter kit beer of around 20IBUs and use this in my Beersmith calculations. If someone has a better idea or a more accurate IBU chart for most commercial kits, please advise.


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## ibast (7/1/08)

BOG said:


> It was cheap at about $8.



You get 2 1/2 cases out of a brew. Saving $2 is not worth it. You can bet it will be made from the malt another brewer didn't want. That's saying something if it was Breweiser or similar.


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## BOG (8/1/08)

Ibast,

It's actually an experiment to see if I can find a quick can on can plus receipe that works that's really cheap. I've never used this can before.

I pour a lot of what I brew down the drain. I'm after that special flavour and not the booze as such.
Having said that I have 4 kegs in the fridge at any one time, and another fridge just for bottles, so I have a large choice.

For me it's about brewing (the bubble) and making something that tastes just right. 
If I can get a couple of cheap cans from the supermarket and come up with something special all the better.

Sort of like finding that $6 Clean Skin that drinks like a $30 bottle of well aged Shriaz. A challenge worth exploring.


BOG


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## davewalk (8/1/08)

Sort of like finding that $6 Clean Skin that drinks like a $30 bottle of well aged Shriaz. A challenge worth exploring.




Know the feeling- bought a dozen carton like that from Uncle Dans Lolly Shop and was in Nirvana for 6 straight nights... er, sorry, 24 nights


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## QldKev (8/1/08)

Maybe you should try aging the "Coles Farmland Draught" LOL

Chuck heaps of hops in it, she'll be ok..

And my mistery ingredient for draught beers, 500g white sugar; seriously.

QldKev


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## Adamt (8/1/08)

I seriously doubt you would be able tell any difference (if there is any difference) between coles draught, bilo draught, and any other branded "draught" home brew kit. 

As for any malt extract/kit, getting it as fresh as possible is paramount to a decent tasting kit beer.


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## Mercs Own (8/1/08)

BOG said:


> I pour a lot of what I brew down the drain.



Mmmmm, I can see why :lol:


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## boingk (9/1/08)

I'll fish out my record book [goes back ~19 brews and a whopping 10 months haha] and see what my home-branded el-cheapo brews were like, verbatim from the book:

*#8 - Desperation Draught:*

2 cans of Farmland Draught [1.7kg each],
12g Hallertau [Dry-Hopping],
8g/L sucrose priming,
Stock yeast.

_Result: 75c/L beer! Surprisingly good at 3 weeks. Dark, heavy bodied beer with a creamy head and good, satisfying bitterness_

*#14 - Lackluster Lager:*

2 cans of Homebrand Lager [1.7kg each],
US-05 dried yeast substituted for kit yeast,
8g/L sucrose priming.

_Result: Alright actually, a good session beer. US-05 did the trick well, making for a clean and crisp taste._

So the verdict [from myself at least] is that you can make cheap beer in a pinch, but its not really worth it to save a few bucks. I did it because of a desperate cash shortage while I was at university. Luckily that wasn't a permenant situation, and I managed to make two beers that I'll be making into the forseeable future at regular intervals:

*#9 - Choc-Mohogany Honey Porter:*

Cascade Choc-Mohogany Porter tin [1.7kg],
1kg liquid chocolate malt extract,
500g Yellow Box honey,
12g Cascade hops [in 500ml water, simmered with a few tablespoons of the honey for 15 minutes]

*#13 - Dutch Lager:*

Wal's Lager tin [1.7kg, could use another high quality tin]
600g LDME,
300g Dextrose,
200g Maltodextron,
150g Munich grain steeped for an hour,
012g Tettnanger @ 15 min, [simmered with 50g of the LDME in 500ml water]
008g Tettnanger @ flameout.

The writing in the book says "Great brew, DO AGAIN!" And I plan to... Anyways sorry for the long and rambling post which is essentially an insight into the great and the cheap of my past brews, but I guess the beers I had with lunch are putting me in a rambling type of mood. Cheers 'n' beers - boingk


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## KGB (9/1/08)

ibast said:


> You get 2 1/2 cases out of a brew. Saving $2 is not worth it. You can bet it will be made from the malt another brewer didn't want. That's saying something if it was Breweiser or similar.



You think Coles make their own extract kits? I wouldn't be surprised if they are made next to brewiser et al and wrapped in a different label.


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## ibast (10/1/08)

KGB said:


> You think Coles make their own extract kits? I wouldn't be surprised if they are made next to brewiser et al and wrapped in a different label.



Ummm, that's what I was saying.


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## Canumbler (21/1/08)

Did something similar to this saturday (haven't had time to go to the hbs to get ingredients for a real batch).
Call it the $8 Baby Brew 

1 1.7kg Farmland Lager Kit
1 Cascade hop plug @15
Recultured coopers pale ale yeast.

Batch size: 14L

OG: ~1.038 (I spilt some concentrated wort, MAKE SURE TAPS ARE CLOSED NEXT TIME)

Initial taste indicates fairly bitter but shouldn't be unpleasant, we'll see.
The coopers yeast took off like a rocket and it seems to be going along well.

If this works out I'm thinking of trying again at 15L with 100g Crystal.

The whole reasoning behind this batch was that with 20L cubes with a tap costing like $13, and those tins costing $8, I really had no excuse to not have any batch going at any one time even if I can't get to the hbs


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## pcmfisher (25/1/08)

Most, if not all of the generic kits are made by Coopers, in Adelaide anyway.
Don't know if the contents of a homebrand can is the same as a coopers can though. I would say they are not far off.


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## Deanodriver (27/1/08)

The Homebrand ones look similar (similar type of lids and that) to the Morgans kits (at least, the ones at my local Safeway in regional VIC do).

My old man used one in a beer and he seemed to like it.

I'd be tempted to use one, but mainly as a cheap source of hopped extract, I wouldn't bother with the yeast (something decent all the way).


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