# My First Kit / Extract Home Brew



## robbiep (17/12/12)

Hi All,

I am new to brewing and have just taken the first step and purchased the Coopers DIY Home brew kit.

I have spoken to a few people personally and on various forums and a number of them have told me that your first home brew generally doesnt come out that great and is generally seen as a lesson on how to make beer.

A number of people also mentioned that the home brew beers that they have tasted generally all had that home brew taste, which i got the assumption wasnt a good thing (havent tasted a home brew before, so i wouldnt know).

Now that i have my Coopers DIY Home Brew Kit, with the Coopers Lager Extract (which comes with it), i would like to ensure that my first home brew has some sort of WOW factor. Ideally, i dont want to follow the thousands of people who bought the DIY Kit, but want to add something to it which will put a smile on my face.

Im totally new to brewing, so i dont know all the tips and tricks, but It might be something as simple as leaving the beer in the bottle for an extra month or adding some added flavour to it (honey, lemon, added malt or hops?)

As i mentioned, i would like my make my first home brew have some sort of WOW factor and not a below average beer which came from the process of learning to make beer. If i can make a GREAT first beer and LEARN and the same time, that would be the ideal situation.

The last thing i want it to be stuck with 20l of below average beer, which i dont look forward to drinking.

Look forward to hearing some of your tips for turning a normal extract beer (Coopers lager) into something that has a WOW factor.

Regards,
Robbie


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## carniebrew (17/12/12)

Throw out the kit yeast to start with, and use something like the US-05 yeast in its place. And learn how to use the "Kit & Extract Spreadsheet" in this forum to customise your brews as early as possible. Oh and find somewhere where you can ferment your beer at a constant temperature, somewhere between 18-20 degrees.

What does the recipe call for on the Coopers Lager can? You could try doing the can with a box of "Brew Enhancer 2" (a mix of light dried malt extract, dextrose and maltodextrin) and only filling the fermenter up to 17 litres. Sprinkle most of the US-05 on the top, close it up and ferment at around 18 degrees. You'll end up with a 4.8% ale that should be very drinkable for a first try.


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## m3taL (17/12/12)

Iv just put down my 4th brew

first two were Kit & BE2 with US-05 yeast, fermented at 20c, they are quite nice.... they get better the longer they are in the bottle...

the next two i done extracts with 60 min boils and Hop additions, they smell so good.....

Depends what you like to drink but trust me the first brew is a learning experiance.... need to get the sanitisation down pat, find somewhere to regulate temp for fermenting and leave it alone for 5 days before taking readings....
even after 4 brews i still have a few oh shit moments.... but its mainly my clumbsyness....

good luck


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## stux (17/12/12)

The most critical thing to avoid "that homebrew taste" is to have cool constant temperatures of about 18-20C (for most ale yeasts)

The way to do this when you're a bit into it is to find an old fridge (ebay, the street, etc) and hook it up with a temperature controller. (which you build for about 50$)

(look up STC-1000 on this forum)

The other problem with kits is "extract twang", you can minimize this by using the freshest kits.

Cooper's dry yeast is okay if it hasn't been treated badly

Probably the best/easiest way to make kits not taste like homebrew is to cover up the flaws with extra hopping or to make darker kits 

So, look into dry hopping.

And when you're ready to go to the next next level, look into BIAB and all-grain, for the *real* craft beer taste


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## Blitzer (17/12/12)

Coopers Canadian & The Cerveza also apparently brew without the twang. The Canadian Kit with Cascade (Cascading Canadian) has been my best kit beer so far, quite tasty.


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## robbiep (21/12/12)

As my cellar sits at around 21-24 degrees, would US-05 yeast still be the best bet for my Coopers Lager kit?


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## carniebrew (21/12/12)

robbiep said:


> As my cellar sits at around 21-24 degrees, would US-05 yeast still be the best bet for my Coopers Lager kit?


Would US-05 improve the end result? Most likely. But without the ability to keep your temps down around 18, I personally wouldn't bother, just use the kit yeast. Then when you do a similar brew down the track use US-05 and see what you think.


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## tricache (21/12/12)

Kit yeast is fine for what ingredients you have in a basic kit but temp control is the big key, not just lower but not a lot or no fluctuation


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## J.T (21/12/12)

The first beer that I ever made had a huge wow factor; because 'I just made something that tastes like beer, it cost me bugger all and i have 21 Litres of it!!'

Since then I've grown a bit and looking back it probably wasn't all that flash, but at the time it was great.


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## tricache (21/12/12)

J.T said:


> The first beer that I ever made had a huge wow factor; because 'I just made something that tastes like beer, it cost me bugger all and i have 21 Litres of it!!'
> 
> Since then I've grown a bit and looking back it probably wasn't all that flash, but at the time it was great.



I was exactly the same...wouldn't have classed it as good beer but beer none the less :lol:


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## joshld (21/12/12)

I've found that since I've started using malt instead of just dextrose,And the addition of hops my homebrew is a lot easier to drink!
Just experiment and see what works best for you!


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## dammag (21/12/12)

If you've got an ambient temp of 21 - 24 then maybe wet towels or a water bath will keep the fermenter at around 18 - 20 degrees.

I found when I was using these techniques that you have to have the fermenter down to your target temp right at the start so have plenty of cold water in the fridge to add to your brew. These methods will maintain temp better than reducing temp if you get what I mean? In the first days of fermentation when things are going flat out the fermentation produces a fair bit of heat so you need more help keeping the temp down for say the first 5 days. This is also the critical time for producing undesirable flavours so is when temp control is most important.


Damian


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## robbiep (21/12/12)

If thats the case, when you choose the day to start the fermentation process, you should preferably choose a day of the week which was be the coolest?


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## dammag (21/12/12)

Or at least the time of day.


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## verysupple (21/12/12)

Maybe a little :icon_offtopic: but...



Stux said:


> And when you're ready to go to the next next level, look into BIAB and all-grain, for the *real* craft beer taste



Pft, I'm so sick of reading that. Sure you get more variety of malts to choose from for mashing but you can make spectacular beers of _almost _ any style with extract and specialty grains. Also, I haven't sufferend from "extract twang" since about my third batch (on my 23rd now), you just need to get your technique down and use fresh extract.


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## carniebrew (21/12/12)

You could grab one of these weather station jobbies, and use it around the house to find somewhere with the lowest temperatures, and lowest temp variations (closet, ensuite bathroom/shower...if it's not massively infested with GERMS ) by leaving it in each room for a day or two at a time and checking the min/max, resetting in each room.


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## dammag (21/12/12)

I agree with verysupple and I know that carniebrew agrees, you can make great beer with extract.

There's no need to rush out and go AG but I think as your extract brews get more complex "in the search for perfection" that it could be "simpler" to go AG. That's where I am at at the moment. By the time I steep specialty grains, do mini mashes and do a boil for hopping I believe that AG would be easier.

Having said that, a good base kit, some spec grains, some nice hops and a good yeast makes a great beer.


Damian.


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## robbiep (27/12/12)

Hi guys,

I made my first extract beer, which is busy fermenting.

I used the Coopers Lager extract, but replaced the beer enhancer (sugars) with a Brewcraft German Lager enhancer and used US05 yeast.

My cellar has been sitting around 21 degs, but i have also been using a waterbath with ice and wet towels and have managed to keep the temperature at about 19-20 deg.

I will take a gravity reading after day 3 and will take readings every day until the gravity reading remains the sames (as per instructions). 

Cheers,
Robbie


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## carniebrew (27/12/12)

You're in for a treat there Robbie...make sure you get back to us on the results.

Taking daily readings from day 3 might be a little early, personally i'd start around day 6. You use ~100ml each time you take a reading....but then being your first brew it'll be good to taste how it's going along the way.


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## FuzzyDropbear (27/12/12)

robbiep said:


> ...
> 
> A number of people also mentioned that the home brew beers that they have tasted generally all had that 'home brew' taste, which i got the assumption wasn't a good thing (havent tasted a home brew before, so i wouldn't know).
> 
> ...



I believe that the 'homebrew' taste may actually be a few different things depending on the person's taste. I've never had someone point out what 'extract twang' actually is, so I'm not sure what it tastes like. During my first few brews, a few of my mates (who had tasted homebrew before) pointed out a flavour which they described as a typical 'homebrew flavour', which I can taste but it's hard to describe. Had them around on the weekend to taste a simple Coopers kit and they were amazed that I was able to produce beer without this flavour. The only thing I'd done, was to buy a brew booster (or enhancer) which had less corn syrup in it. So if you can taste a 'homebrew flavour', you could try buying a different brew booster pack, or get some Malt Extract, etc. to sub in for the booster.

Good luck with it! By the sounds of it, you'll have a good drop there :icon_cheers:


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## Beerisyummy (27/12/12)

FuzzyDropbear said:


> I believe that the 'homebrew' taste may actually be a few different things depending on the person's taste. I've never had someone point out what 'extract twang' actually is, so I'm not sure what it tastes like. During my first few brews, a few of my mates (who had tasted homebrew before) pointed out a flavour which they described as a typical 'homebrew flavour', which I can taste but it's hard to describe. Had them around on the weekend to taste a simple Coopers kit and they were amazed that I was able to produce beer without this flavour. The only thing I'd done, was to buy a brew booster (or enhancer) which had less corn syrup in it. So if you can taste a 'homebrew flavour', you could try buying a different brew booster pack, or get some Malt Extract, etc. to sub in for the booster.
> 
> Good luck with it! By the sounds of it, you'll have a good drop there :icon_cheers:



+1 on the LDME and a little dextrose. It will make the lighter kits more than drinkable for the average punter.
That's my experience anyway.
The twang is just the taste of something out of a can. If you brew the beer well and leave it to condition the taste will be less obvious. 
Try smelling/tasting all of your ingredients on brew day and you'll soon start to notice the different flavours in the finished beer. The yeast plays a massive part in this also.

I bought my Bro one of the lager cans with some LDME, dextrose and a fermenter recently. While not the most exciting beer, it was definately very drinkable. 
Best of luck with yours.


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## robbiep (1/1/13)

Hi guys, 

After 7 days i took my first reading after pitching the yeast, which was about 1019. Seems a bit a bit high but I'll take another reading in 2 days time.

The beer actually tasted pretty decent.. very drinkable. I think a few more days in the fermenter, plus some time in the bottles, add some carbon drops and drinking it ice cold.. it will be well worth the effort  

Regards,
Robbie


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## Beerisyummy (1/1/13)

robbiep said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> After 7 days i took my first reading after pitching the yeast, which was about 1019. Seems a bit a bit high but I'll take another reading in 2 days time.
> 
> ...



Hi Robbie,

Good to hear things are coming along. 

Don't stress too much about constantly taking readings. I know it's hard when you make your first few batches but it's usually unnecessary. Try leaving the beer for another week before doing another reading and the gravity should be closer to what you want. 
It's not a perfect science but I'd imagine the finishing gravity would be around the 1.010 mark. What was your original gravity reading?


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## manticle (1/1/13)

Don't worry about days - make sure it's finished before bottling. I'd agree that 1010 with those ingredients is a reasonable expectation (providing there was no dry enzyme that hasn't been mentioned).

Read this: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showarticle=130


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## robbiep (1/1/13)

The OG reading was at about 1038, maybe slightly higher.

Will take another reading in 2 days time.


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## robbiep (2/1/13)

hydrometer reading after day 8 is about 1015.


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## yum beer (2/1/13)

Looks like its coming along nicely, few more points to drop before its finished, then 5 days before bottling.

Without a doubt will be the best beer you've made this year.


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## robbiep (2/1/13)

i must admit, yes.. it was kit beer (coopers lager) with a german lager enhancer.. but it tasted GOOD!


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## robbiep (4/1/13)

After 10 days in the fermenter, the hydrometer is reading is 1013.

So even after 10 days in the fermenter, the reading is dropping gradually.

Must just decide when to bottle, will probs give it another 3 days or so.


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## wbosher (4/1/13)

robbiep said:


> After 10 days in the fermenter, the hydrometer is reading is 1013.
> 
> So even after 10 days in the fermenter, the reading is dropping gradually.
> 
> Must just decide when to bottle, will probs give it another 3 days or so.



Sure I already saw this somewhere else...anyway I'll say again, don't bottle until it has stopped dropping robbie, especially if you're using glass bottles. There are some nasty pictures around here of people that have had a bottle bomb go off in their hand.


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## robbiep (4/1/13)

Im using plastic PET bottles, but will take another reading in a few days time.


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## wbosher (4/1/13)

robbiep said:


> Im using plastic PET bottles, but will take another reading in a few days time.



Ok, bloody horror scene averted. 

But seriously, there's no rush to get it out of the fermenter. One of mine took almost three weeks a little while back, it stalled and took a while to get it going again.

Just be patient mate.


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## bradsbrew (4/1/13)

Beerisyummy said:


> Hi Robbie,
> 
> Good to hear things are coming along.
> 
> ...



I disagree, as a new brewer I think it is good to taste the hydro sample of the beer along the way during fermentation. I found it helped to learn the different flavours that develop and disappear.
These days I generally dont sample until I think it is finished and/or at kegging time. Unless its an experimental brew and i will taste it every second day.

Main thing is to keep the orifice in the tap clean both before and after sampling.

Cheers


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## JDW81 (4/1/13)

bradsbrew said:


> I disagree, as a new brewer I think it is good to taste the hydro sample of the beer along the way during fermentation. I found it helped to learn the different flavours that develop and disappear.
> Main thing is to keep the orifice in the tap clean both before and after sampling.
> 
> Cheers



I always sample. Aside from falling gravity I find it one of the best methods for keeping an eye (or mouth in this case) on the brew and how it is progressing.


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## robbiep (6/1/13)

Day 12 and gravity reading is 1012, so a small drop since the last reading 2 days ago (which was 1013)


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## robbiep (6/1/13)

My first brew and im enjoying the tasting every few days, all part of the learning experience

Its been great to taste the changes as time goes on.

Just had a taste now and it was slightly more bitter and smoother than the last taste.

Seriously, this beer tastes good and is something i would happily buy in a bottle shop 

Definitely cant taste any sort of 'home brew twang' people talk about.


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## carniebrew (7/1/13)

robbiep said:


> Definitely cant taste any sort of 'home brew twang' people talk about.


And you never will, as long as you use fresh LME/DME, the right amount of quality yeast and temperature controlled fermentation. Home Brew Twang (or "Extract Twang" as the AG guys like to call it) is produced by mistakes, not by extract.

EDIT: And I could probably have left the yeast bit out, as even old yeast, kit yeast or too little yeast isn't going to produce 'twang', but you'll get better beer with the right amount of good fresh yeast.


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## robbiep (7/1/13)

Day 13 in the fermenter and the reading dropped another 2 points and is now down to 1011 (previously 1013 two days ago).

I will bottle it in the next few days, no real rush.


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## carniebrew (7/1/13)

robbiep said:


> I will bottle it in the next few days, no real rush.


Robbie, please stop saying that...you're killing the experienced brewers around here....you shouldn't "bottle in the next few days", you should bottle when your gravity readings are at the expected FG over at least 2 consecutive readings 24 hours apart!!


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## Boogaone (8/1/13)

carniebrew said:


> you shouldn't "bottle in the next few days", you should bottle when your gravity readings are at the expected FG over at least 2 consecutive readings 24 hours apart!!



Lets say I have reached the same FG readings twice in 2 days but I have a life and can't keg it for another few days...is there any issue with that?

Cheers,
Boogs...


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## bum (8/1/13)

carniebrew said:


> you're killing the experienced brewers around here....you shouldn't "bottle in the next few days", you should bottle when your gravity readings are at the expected FG over at least 2 consecutive readings 24 hours apart!!


You're killing the experienced brewers around here...you shouldn't "bottle as soon as FG is reached". A few days after that will still see the brew improve. Follow Boogs' "get a life" program and the beer will be better.

Robbie, Carnie isn't being entirely serious - just picking you up on what I'm sure is just loose terminology and possibly having dig at people who are right for some reason(?).


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## carniebrew (8/1/13)

Boogs said:


> Lets say I have reached the same FG readings twice in 2 days but I have a life and can't keg it for another few days...is there any issue with that?


Boogs, no problem with that at all, leaving your brew in the FV after reaching FG is fine, and in fact is preferred practice for many brewers wanting to further condition/clear their beer.

I just wanted to be clear on the wording, it's not good practice to simply "bottle after a few days" when your think your gravity is about right. For safety's sake, we need to be sure the gravity is also stable before bottling. Once those two criteria have been met, you can bottle, either straight away or after a few more days/weeks.

EDIT: And no digs intended bum, I could just picture a bunch of guys who've posted the same response a thousand times before wanting to choke kittens...


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## Deebo (8/1/13)

My beginner advice (some of which has been stated already):

Use 1kg Light Dry Malt in place of any brew blends (most dry malt probably aren't labelled but if you can find the muntons spray malt I prefer this to bintani etc it looks more powdery and less crystalised)
Decent yeast, e.g. Us05 or Nottingham, wb-06 for wheat beer (saf lager yeast only if you have temp control sorted)
Put 25g of Cascade or Nelson Sauvin in a coffee plunger, leave for 10 minutes, plunge and chuck into your fermenter with goop etc. (alternatively boil while dissolving the malt in a saucepan then strain)
Get a keg system (saves a lot of effort and from my experience tastes better, worth the investment) Some people dont mind it but I found bottling a pain in the ass after a few brews.
Sort out temperature control if you can (ideally fridge/freezer and stc-1000 temp controller or similar)

Regarding kits I found the Muntons range all pretty good (but check the useby on the bottom and only get stuff that has a fairly long shelf life)
Morgans blue mountain lager is pretty nice also, try to stay away from tooheys and cascade (I didn't mind the cascade porter I found the rest of them pretty avg). 

If you have a bit of free time and want to take it a step further look into brew in a bag.

Edit: Forgot one more peice of advice, dont stress about getting the beer out of the fermenter as soon as it is finished, leaving it there for 2 weeks is fine and will help it clear up a bit more. Relax Dont Worry Have A Homebrew etc


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## Boogaone (9/1/13)

carniebrew said:


> Boogs, no problem with that at all, leaving your brew in the FV after reaching FG is fine, and in fact is preferred practice for many brewers wanting to further condition/clear their beer.
> 
> I just wanted to be clear on the wording, it's not good practice to simply "bottle after a few days" when your think your gravity is about right. For safety's sake, we need to be sure the gravity is also stable before bottling. Once those two criteria have been met, you can bottle, either straight away or after a few more days/weeks.
> 
> EDIT: And no digs intended bum, I could just picture a bunch of guys who've posted the same response a thousand times before wanting to choke kittens...


Cheers for that carnie :beer:


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## robbiep (9/1/13)

Day 15 in fermenter and the gravity reading is at 1011, same as two days ago.

I will take one last reading on the weekend, 3 days time.


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## wbosher (9/1/13)

robbiep said:


> Day 15 in fermenter and the gravity reading is at 1011, same as two days ago.
> 
> I will take one last reading on the weekend, 3 days time.



Yep, sounds like a plan.


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## robbiep (11/1/13)

Gravity reading has been sitting at 1011 for the past few days, will bottle tomorrow


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