# Simple Pimping Kit tins



## Josho (14/5/13)

Hi Fellas,

Just a quick question, with kits and Keeping It Simple Stupid, whats the best way to get a fairly yummo brew, tell me if im wrong.

I would normally do the regular thing tin hot water Brew enhancer and then use some better yeast than the tin yeast and just add in some tea bagged hops tea.

Just reading through the site some of the guys here spend some serious money on their brews,

I have been reading through the coopers website - as the kits are so readily avail here at Big W, and chhep at 10 dollars a go and they have a few simple recipie cards there also- based around thier tins.
I have a feeling that they sell a light malt also this might be a little bit more flavour?


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## bum (14/5/13)

Yes? Not sure what you're looking for here.

All those things you mention will make beer. Good yeast and good temps will make good beer from a kit if you give it some extras.

I recall the Coopers website recipes (not tin recipes) looked decent a while back.


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## Josho (14/5/13)

Nah just wanted to make sure im not missing any extra flavour opportunities 

AS my fermenter is in my garage at the moment about 18 degrees im going to be limited to seasonal brewing though, does that mean Lagers in winter and ales in summer?


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## bum (14/5/13)

Pretty much. But I'm guessing that if you've got 18 now (which is great for ales) then the middle of summer won't be much good for anything. You've got 6 months to work on getting permission though.


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (14/5/13)

Or start brewing saisons in summer, if permission is not forthcoming.

Wise man once told me (and after 10 years of marriage, I know it's true) "better it is to ask for forgiveness, than permission".


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## Yob (14/5/13)

either way, looks like you'll be gettin none tonight with that attitude.. is the response I got when I tried that one :lol:


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## Bribie G (14/5/13)

My favourite brews during my kit days (which were only about 5 months till I started AG) were:

Tin of something fairly bland such as the original series Lager
Clean fermenting yeast, either Nottingham or US-05 (edit: if it gets cooler where you are, S-23 the lager yeast works great, doesn't _have _to be 12 degrees.

Coopers Brew Enhancer 2

steep some Carapils (gives a nice creamy head and lacing and a more grainy taste) and boil about 15g of an aroma hop such as Saaz or Hallertau in the runnings then tip into fermenter.

Hop teabags are a ripoff, buying the hop pellets from the likes of Gryphon Brewing is a quarter of the price


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## db73 (14/5/13)

This is my basic and absolute minium that I do with kits

1 Tin of Coopers Mexican Cerveza
500 g LDME
250g Light cracked grain (Carapils for example) steeped for 20 minutes
12g of Amarillo hops 10 minute boil in the above
1 pkt of Dry enzyme
1 pkt of US05

Ferment in primary for 2 weeks @ 18 degrees
Secondary for 1 week @ 18 degrees

I know I'm open to ridicule in using the dry enzyme but i dont get any weird taste at all

For me this make a very easy drinking and widely accepable beer

As Bribie says the Carapils make for good head retention and i would never go without.

OG 1.035
FG 1.002


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## gsouth82 (14/5/13)

hey josho,
if your looking for easy recipes then chose something from the coopers site. I've made a bunch of their recipes and some are average but some are quite good.
If your shopping at BigW then try the Unreal Ale, you can get everything from BigW. (the Unreal Ale was even better with a US-05 and some galaxy hops tho)
I've just bottled and kegged the old Coopers Best Extra Stout recipe which is also available at BigW. 1x Stout tin, 1x Dark tin, 1kg Dextrose made to 23L.
If you can get to a brew shop then try the Fruit Salad recipe. Its quite simple and quite rewarding. 
I've got a SMOTY Ale in the fermenter at the moment which i'm looking forward too.


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## Josho (14/5/13)

Thanks for the heads up fellas,

I will be aquring some hops proper hops ASAP, I saw the unreal ale grabbed one of the recipe cards, will give that a red hot go,

Any advice on buying the yeast the bloke at my brewshop has US-05 it for 5 dollars a sachet - seems a bit expensive to me.

And the extra stout sounds brilliant im guessing its deep rich chocolatey and a pure delight to drink, wow its like theres so much to brew and ive only scratched the surface


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (14/5/13)

$5 a sachet (assuming it is the legit 12g sachet) is on the marginally expensive side, though $4-$5 is considered about the range you should buy it in.

I can understand that as a new kit brewer you're thinking "why should I pay $5 for this yeast, when I pay $10 for my kit and get it for free?". 

Realistically, the yeast is only marginally less useless than the instructions on how to use it. Good yeast and good yeast management is imperative to good beer.

Why, you may ask? Think of it this way. Yeast is what converts your watered down goo (wort) into beer. It is the most critical part of the brewing cycle. Without it, you have a tin of gooey stuff that doesn't taste very good.

For that tin to become the tastiest beer possible, it needs good yeast. And that yeast needs to be treated well. It's a bit like using the cheapest oil in your car, because you don't want to shell out for the expensive stuff, but expecting your car to drive like a hot rod. It ain't gonna happen.


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## Josho (14/5/13)

Yeah too right mate, might as well have a bloody ace beer instead of oh yeah it's ok i guess,

I do see the tins good value at eleven dollars even without the yeast,

its a shame that they just dont come with good yeasts, but why, is it to make them more foolproof?


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## Bribie G (14/5/13)

Yes basically it's to be foolproof as in proof against fermenting at 28 degrees in a shed in Rockhampton or at 15 degrees in a laundry in Launceston. A lot of the Coopers kit yeasts are a mix of two strains so they can handle a bigger range of temperatures. However the downside is that they don't impart much character to the beer. The yeast is one of the major sources of unique flavours in each style.


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## Josho (14/5/13)

Its also a bit of a pain the the bum that you have to go to a home brew shop just to grab the yeast whn Big W has all the stuff minus the decent yeasts 

Bloody buggers.


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## Josho (14/5/13)

And also the fact that if I go into a hmoe brew shop i wont be able to just buy yeast, so many goodies in there,


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (14/5/13)

Bribie G said:


> Yes basically it's to be foolproof as in proof against fermenting at 28 degrees in a shed in Rockhampton or at 15 degrees in a laundry in Launceston. A lot of the Coopers kit yeasts are a mix of two strains so they can handle a bigger range of temperatures. However the downside is that they don't impart much character to the beer. The yeast is one of the major sources of unique flavours in each style.


Pfft, 15 degrees, mine was at 10 last night.

Seriously - slightly OT - it's fantastic brewing a lager at ambient temps on the cold side of the house.

Josho - ask yob (hopdealzaustralia.com) to stick a sachet in the post for you. His yeast is generally around $4 a pop (though slightly more for exotic stuff) and 60c envelope. No visits to LHBS to temp you (though his cheap hop prices might).


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## Bottla (19/5/13)

Hi Josho, the best beer i have made from a pimped kit was using a Malt Shovel Brewing pale ale all malt kit(2 x tins for 23 l ), 2 x 7 gram packets of pure ale yeast batch yo4408 from Brewcraft, 8 grams of Hallertau and 16 grams of Amarillo hop pellets tea bagged and 400 grams of light dry malt. OG was 1049 and FG was 1018. Brew temp was 20 - 22 C. This beer had nice fine bubbled creamy head that lasted, citrus/floral hop tones and that nutty malt flavor after taste. I think i did not extract all hop flavor from the pellets by not tea bagging long enough (15 min) once water boiled. Did not change this in latter brews as the first batch was so nice. Dont know if i am right but maybe the short teabag time released the more volitile citrus/floral flavors and not to much bitterness. The malt already had Shaz in it so maybe my mistake saved the brew from being over hopped. Cheers Bottla


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## alimac23 (20/5/13)

Hi Josho,

The yeast that comes with the kits is useful for one thing.. chuck it in to the boil, it'll kill the yeast but it makes a good yeast nutrient for when you pitch your proper yeast.

I used to have loads of packets of kit yeast laying around but since I've started chucking a packet into the boil, fermentation lag time seems to have decreased and i get a very healthy fermentation, give it a shot, it saves having a draw full of useless packets of yeast.


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## Josho (20/5/13)

Bottla,

That sounds like a nice brew buddy,

alimac, how exactly does this work as food, when you kill it off?


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## Pennywise (20/5/13)

Hold on to the kit yeasts and use several packs in the Dark Ale or Stout kits


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## Josho (20/5/13)

Penny,

What are the yeasts that come in the kits? ale yeast or???


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## Bribie G (20/5/13)

Depends on the kit - they generally use two strains from Mauri in Toowoomba - you can download the specs from their website.
There's a list published by Coopers somewhere re what goes into what kit.

_*Ale 514*
This strain was selected based on its ability to produce English-style ales. It is a strong fermenting strain with rapid attenuation of fermentable sugars. Most noteworthy is this strains alcohol tolerance, producing commercial ales with up to 9.5% alcohol.


*Lager 497*
Lager 497 is a bottom fermenting lager yeast that produces highly desirable flavour characteristics consistent with quality lager beer. While producing almost no yeast head during fermentation, it is a rapid fermenter with a low oxygen requirement, generally completing within 5 days. This strain has good settling properties, resulting in a green beer of good clarity._


I don't mind the Lager 497 when I can get it individually - makes a nice clean lager without too much stinky sulphur. Used to be sold as Morgans Lager Yeast but don't get into LHBS much nowadays and havent seen it lately. The major problem with the kit yeasts is the small pack size, they should really double it, can't see that it would add all that much to the price of a kit.


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## Josho (20/5/13)

From the coopers website,

Original Series:- Ac (26807)

International Series:-
Australian Pale Ale - Ac+L (26807 Int)
Mexican Cerveza - Ac+L (26807 Int)
European Lager - L (26807 P)
Canadian Blonde - Ac (26807)
English Bitter - Ac (26807)

Brewmaster Selection:-
Wheat - A (26807 W)
IPA - Ac (26807 IPA)
Irish Stout - A (26807 IS)
Pilsener - L (26807 P)

Premium Selection:- Ac+L (26807 PS)

Note: Ac = Coopers ale yeast, A = ale yeast and L = lager yeast


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## Mattrox (20/5/13)

Josho said:


> Hi Fellas,
> 
> Just a quick question, with kits and Keeping It Simple Stupid, whats the best way to get a fairly yummo brew, tell me if im wrong.
> 
> ...


I just put this one down late last week. My 3rd brew. 

1 can OS lager
1 can Real Ale
1kg BE 1
750g Dextrose
250g Chocolate Malt 

SO4 yeast

25g fuggles in the tea strainer in FV......... Can't vouch for the result yet.

My 2nd brew is at the drinking stage now. It went something like this (if this is wrong I'll edit it, recipe on other computer):

Coopers European Lager Kit
1kg Dry Light Malt
1kg Brew enhacher 2
200g Crystal Malt
Proper Lager yeast that I don't have at hand right now
25g Saaz Hops in tea strainer in FV

After FG; 2 months at 2 deg C in FV.

It is drinking beautifully now.


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## Josho (23/5/13)

Hey Guys,

I just found this recipe can someone help?

Its for a Pale Ale

2 x Coopers Draught 
1 Kg BE1 
500g Maltose Rice Syrup

30g Galaxy @20 mins
10g Galaxy 10g Nelson Sauvin dry hopped at 6 days

US05 yeast made up to 23L

Now the question is how exactly do I do this?


Boil just the Cooper Draught with a couple of litres of water and add the hops at 20 mins or another process??? 


Also where would you get Maltose Rice Syrup from? LHBS?


Any help would be greatly appreciated...


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## bum (23/5/13)

Josho said:


> Boil just the Cooper Draught with a couple of litres of water and add the hops at 20 mins or another process???


The simplest way to do it would be to mix up X amount of water (the largest volume you can manage is best) to around SG 1.040. Rule of thumb is 100gm of LDME per 1L of water is close enough. The BE1 would probably be fine but if you can be bothered working out the amount to use with the tin goop then that might be better.

Once this starts boiling, add the hops and leave them for 20 minutes. Take it off the boil and chill in a sink of water (or something).



Josho said:


> Also where would you get Maltose Rice Syrup from? LHBS?


Most supermarkets seem to have little white pots of the stuff these days. Sometimes in the asian food section, sometimes with the sugars, sometimes in the health food section. Cheap as chips, too.

[EDIT: ambiguous typo]


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## Josho (23/5/13)

So even if I only have a 10 litre pot i can just chuck in say 1kg of goop to 10 ltrs,

Thanks Bum1


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## RobboMC (23/5/13)

Going back to the original question:
the best way to get a really yummy brew is to

1) use a high end kit and
2) pimp it with lots and lots of high quality ingredients from your LHBS.

How far you go really does depend on your budget. Once you are brewing wholly with extracts
a decent hoppy 6% brew can cost over $60, but it's very much worth it in my opinion as the beer
you are making would cost around $200 at the shop, say 3 cartons of Vintage Ale or similar.

Also, look at steeping up to one kg of grain in hot water and adding the run-off. The grain bag I purchased is the best beer investment I ever made.

The high cost of extract brewing normally drives people onwards to all-grain brewing, where large amounts of grain and bulk hops can be purchased reletively cheaply and brewed up into excellent beers, time and permission permitting of course.

Currently I brew with 3 roughly equal parts of wort, 1 part kit, 1 part extract and 1 part grain. Makes pretty good beer that is good enough to hold it's own against any micro-brewery beer in the country. Yes I boil hops into the extract and the grain runnings.


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## Josho (23/5/13)

Grain steeping wise - something like -

[SIZE=11pt]200g of crystal malt (crack it in a mortar & pestle or use a $12 coffee grinder from kmart) in 2L of hot water (about 80 degrees C) for 30 minutes, strain and then boil the liquid for 15 minutes (important to strain the grain out before boiling), then use that liquid to dissolve your sugars and the juice from your can, then top up to 23L and pitch your yeast.[/SIZE]


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## bum (23/5/13)

Josho said:


> So even if I only have a 10 litre pot i can just chuck in say 1kg of goop to 10 ltrs,
> 
> Thanks Bum1


You'll have no chance of boiling 10L in a 10L pot. Well, I mean you could bring it to the boil but then it'd be all over you stove/floor/feet/kids/dog/etc and you'd be in the shit. Scale it down some.

The thing with using liquid extract for this is that the kit goop already has water in it (about 20%, I believe) so you need to increase the amount used accordingly.


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