# Coopers Canadian Blonde



## claassy77 (9/6/10)

Howdy,

New to brewing and new to forum posting so this is a double cherry pop for me.

I've only ever put on two brews, the Lager that came with the Coopers kit (mediocre results) and just bottled a Mexican Cerveza (can only get better then the lager).

I've been given a can of Coopers Canadian Blonde, and I'm looking for any hints/tips to get the best results. Anyone put on a Canadian Blonde, or is it even worth doing?

Cheers in advance! :icon_cheers:


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## juzz1981 (9/6/10)

Hmmm, probably depends on you taste, but i used one of these kits with 750g dex and 250 LME and it tasted ok but not great, not enough IBU for my liking.

Doe seem like a 'soft' sort of beer.

See what other guys think though, that only IMO


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## michaelcocks (9/6/10)

claassy77 said:


> Howdy,
> 
> New to brewing and new to forum posting so this is a double cherry pop for me.
> 
> ...



tell us what beer you like ( commercial beer that us)
we can help you make something in the style of th beers you like
all the beer kits you have described so far are lager style ( although they actually have an ale yeast with the kit) 
conusing I know ... There is lots to learn !! 
But let's start with the commercial beers you like..


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## Nevalicious (9/6/10)

Great kit. All you need is the addition of a few things to make it better. It is a low IBU kit, which gives you the base to make it almost whatever you want... Almost. 

I used to make this regularly before moving to extract... I just added 200g of steeped crystal grain, 20g of amarillo pellets at 5 mins and 20g more of amarillo at flameout, ferment at on near 18 deg c using safale us-05 yeast. Probably adds about 12-15 bucks extra cost to your batch, but its quality you should be after. Amarillo late additions will make an American Pale Ale type of beer. 

My opinion only

Tyler


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## petesbrew (10/6/10)

There's been threads on this kit before. IMO, it's a great kit for experimenting with.
I've made 1/2 decent framboises (belgian raspberry) from it, and I think it's pretty forgiving.
Near the bottom of the linked page I've posted a rough recipe for Buxom Blonde, which came in a coopers mailout.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...mp;#entry288420


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## Fireman Sam (10/6/10)

..hhhmmmmm..

Jury is still out on this one... I have a batch in the primary now. Was done with New Zealand Clover Honey... so we'll see how it goes...


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## Bribie G (10/6/10)

When I was doing partial mashing, before I got into All Grain, the Canadian Blonde was often my base kit. If you want to experiment with a bit of additional grains and hops you could do worse than:


300g of Carapils steeped in 2 litres of hot water for an hour
Strain into a pan and boil the runnings with 20g of a US hop such as Cascade for 20 mins
Tip into fermenter (the hops will sink to the bottom after fermentation)
Add the tin and a pack of Coopers Brew Enhancer 2


That will give you a bit of extra grain flavour and extra hop flavour / aroma, as well as a nice creamy head.
It would also help to use a better yeast such as US-05

Welcome to the obsession :icon_cheers:


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## claassy77 (10/6/10)

This forum is a wealth of knowledge! I've been reading here for a couple of weeks and I'm blown away by what people know.

Beers I like??? Tough one........I love a Corona (not a fan of Sol though), Tooheys Extra Dry, Carlton Dry, Becks, Heineken and please be kind......a VB on the right day.

My beer knowledge isn't huge, but i do want to get the most out of my homebrew kit, love the idea of being fully sustainable at home, veggie patch, chook shed, now I just have to get back to work on the perpetual motion machine.....

Thanks for your input folks, just one last question......the mexican cerveza i just bottled 2 days ago, how long do i give it before i give it a go? It sat in the tub for 2 weeks, and all i added was BE2 and 500g of dex and currently sitting in PET.

Again, thanks.


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## marksfish (10/6/10)

if you keep your bottles at 20 degrees it should be carbed in two weeks or so, but keep a few back for as long as you can to see how your beer matures and improves :icon_cheers:


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## Nevalicious (10/6/10)

Hey mate. Definitely crack one after two weeks. As mentioned above, if primed correctly and kept at reasonable temps (ie inside if SWMBO allows it) then it will be nice and carbed up. BUT, keep them for as long as you can. Try them at one week intervals. You'd be amazed how much better the beer tastes as it matures...

Keep on brewing, collect a stock pile of bottles and build up enough beer stocks so you'll never have to buy the megaswill again...

BTW, I tend to steer well away from it, but I'll back you up and say that ONLY on the hottest of days, VB is great. BUT, it has to be so cold it'll house polar bears!!

Enjoy it mate. Welcome to the forums


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## tavas (11/6/10)

Hi Classy

I made this one a few months ago. I used the Brew Enhancer recommended (I think it was BE2...before I got my new logbook). I am only new to enhancing home brew myself so I started with the bare minimum. I found the beer quite drinkable. It gets better after 6 weeks. A good lawnmower beer, easy to drink after a busy day. Its not a full bodied ale that will knock your head off with flavour and bite, but then its not supposed to be.

I don't think I have made a bad beer, simply because I made them. Some might taste better than others but my view is I made it so its all part of experimentation (just like some cooking is better than others). I am sure some of the more experienced brewers could pull apart my beers but then I might not like some of theirs. Its all subjective. 

I would recommend you start simple, try to define in your mind what tastes good/bad and start experimenting from there. This site is excellent for information and help, but sometimes you can overload on info and miss what works for you.


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## Nick JD (11/6/10)

Those BE (brew enhancers) are almost double the price of buying some LDME, Maltodextrin and Dextrose and making your own "brew enhancer".


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## Aus_Rider_22 (11/6/10)

Nick JD said:


> Those BE (brew enhancers) are almost double the price of buying some LDME, Maltodextrin and Dextrose and making your own "brew enhancer".



Good tip. When I first started brewing and before I got into this site I thought the BE1/2 were the greatest and nothing else could improve a kit beer. Just takes some research and finding a good shop/supplier. You can buy kilos of dextrose for around $3 a kilo and most home brew shops sell cheaper liquid malt extract that they have packaged themselves. Alot cheaper and you can adjust dextrose/malt to alter body/abv of brew. Then once you get more experiend you can look into extracts and steepin specialty grains!


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