# West End Draught



## houso (15/9/06)

Hi Guys,
Any suggestions for a kit for West end Draught??


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## tangent (15/9/06)

<biting tongue>

Try a Coopers Lager can, dextrose and some pride of ringwood hops.


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## DJR (15/9/06)

tangent said:


> <biting tongue>
> 
> Try a Coopers Lager can, dextrose and some pride of ringwood hops.



Rusty nails might also help ...

Jokes aside, use a mix of 250g dry malt and 750g dextrose in a coopers lager kit (try to find a lager kit that has the latest use by on it so it's fresh) use a lager yeast and ferment cold if possible, or use a clean ale yeast like US56.


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## Bizarre (15/9/06)

tangent said:


> <biting tongue>
> 
> Try a Coopers Lager can, dextrose and some pride of ringwood hops.




Whats this? Tangent developing a conscience all of a sudden!! Jeez he must be feeling ill or something - poor bloke! Hehehe

:chug:


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## tangent (15/9/06)

i did bite my tongue!
i was raised on that stuff <shudder>


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## jagerbrau (15/9/06)

we all started some where pitty in SA it was there. swapped to coopers by time i was 15 though.


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## houso (15/9/06)

I started in S.A aswell but been havent had West End for a while thought i might give it a go. :chug:


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## Uncle Fester (15/9/06)

Ex South Aussie as well. I was weaned on a mixture of Southwark and Coopers Stout :blink:


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## Adamt (15/9/06)

Wow. Bet that moved all the hair off your head and onto your chest!


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## tangent (15/9/06)

when i left school i almost lived on Coopers HB stout. the old story - 25C with a kilo of sugar :wacko: 
and we found when we were teenagers if we put Southwark Bitter in the fridge, Dad wouldn't drink them all :chug:


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## Darren (15/9/06)

Hey,

Easy to knock West End draught. Try and make one from grain (just for kicks) and see how hard it really is. No short cuts there.

cheers

Darren


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## tangent (15/9/06)

make a great beer and ruin it perfectly


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## Darren (15/9/06)

Tangent,

If you judge it for what it is it isn't to bad. Maybe I am thinking of the premium range?

cheers

Darren


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## tangent (15/9/06)

pilsner 108? 
i agree, people bag "megaswill" but it's not so easy to make a beer-bogun happy with homebrew

coincidence that the recent marketing term "cashed up bogans" spells CUB? you be the judge...
(i know it's LN not CUB that make Worst End Drought)


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## Darren (15/9/06)

No Southwark Premium,

Wasn't too bad the two years ago I tried it

Probably dont make it anymore, who knows?

Shat all over the CUB range

cheers

Darren


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## Mr Bond (15/9/06)

Darren said:


> No Southwark Premium,
> 
> Wasn't too bad the two years ago I tried it
> 
> ...



It's still around see Here,hav'nt had one for a couple o years either,clean and refreshing from memory.Draught has always tasted like dishwater to me.coopers(now defunct) draught was pretty rugged as well.


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## Darren (15/9/06)

Brauluver said:


> Darren said:
> 
> 
> > No Southwark Premium,
> ...





Was slightly malty too from memory. Maybe that was when they first bought it out.

cheers

Darren


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## houso (15/9/06)

I think i am interested because my parents still live there and every time i go West end is my only choice and after 2 days of drinking it it becomes really good.


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## sinkas (15/9/06)

Dude,
The whole point of homebrewing is to brew something that tastes good.
Why bother assing about trying to clone WED when you can buy it for feck all at the bottlo?
By the time you buy the ingredients, and factor in a few hours or screwing around, you will have spent more than the carton of piss would have in the first place. 
I think alot of people in Australia undervalue their time, and sheesh, 10 hours spent trying to re create a crap beer for scratch, seems like either some truly false economy, or fanaticism.
But if you have time to waste, be my guest.


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## Murray (16/9/06)

A bit elitist there, don't you think? Let the man take his own journey.


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## tangent (16/9/06)

thats a fair point Murray
although Darren makes a good point that there are some drinkable SA beers out there if you look past the norm.
Take Coopers for example


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## Uncle Fester (16/9/06)

Why not have a go at replicating WED, and then be totally rapt when the result is so far superior to what you intended.

If WED tastes far better after 2 schooners, then you will be pissed and amazed (literally) at the outcome of your experiment.

Soon you will be thinking... 'What if I add a little bit of malt, and maybe steep some grains.... And what about some extra hops..."

Soon you will be prepared to put your own inventions up against any of the commercial megaswill in a blind taste-off.


Oh, and has anyone mentioned the comparative lack of hangover you can look forward to? (All bets are off if you finish the night off with a Port or two.... h34r: 

I got back into brewing after 15 years on a quest to replicate Hahn Premium. Thank god I overshot that target!

Things have certainly changed during my absence. There were only Brigalow and the first basic Coopers kits available at the supermarket then. And HBS were non existant. At least we used Aussie cane sugar :blink: 


Have a go, and report back on your results.



Festa


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## houso (16/9/06)

sinkas said:


> Dude,
> The whole point of homebrewing is to brew something that tastes good.
> Why bother assing about trying to clone WED when you can buy it for feck all at the bottlo?
> By the time you buy the ingredients, and factor in a few hours or screwing around, you will have spent more than the carton of piss would have in the first place.
> ...



I can afford to buy any Beer i like and alot of it, i guess the idea is that it is a hobbie to make it yourself and try different things and maybe my beer will end up better than what you can buy?
If you are making a kit beer and kegging it it doesnt take that long at all really. :chug: :chug:


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## dicko (16/9/06)

Hi houso,
Back in my kit days I used to get a tin of Bi Low/Coles brand lager and 500 gr of dextrose 350gr of light dried malt and 125 gr of dried wheat malt and brew it with the yeast that was under the lid. 
It turned out a good beer (relative to ingredients and methods) and while I dont think anyone will replicate that West End taste at home it was a good substitute (read better).

In the late '70's I used to dring a beer they(west end) produced called West End Bitter.
IMO it was streets ahead of Southwark and during that time I met a bloke who was a maintenance electrician at the brewery.
Now, he told me that the West End Bitter and the Southwark Premium of the day were the same beer.
Apparently, it was an economic decision to brew large batches of the Southwark Premium but as it was a premium beer it was retailed at a higher price (of course) and therefor didnt sell the quantities as quick as the Southwark.
To move stocks along they sold the same beer as West End Bitter according to my electrician friend.
I dont know how true all this is but I guess this guy had no reason to BS.

I do know that since LN got there grubby little mits on this state icon that their product, IMO, is on a downhill slide.
Good luck with your brew Houso.

Cheers


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