# Cascade Cans @ Coles



## Murcluf (4/2/09)

Went into my local Coles tonight and spotted discontinued line stickers on their Cascade range of Cans. Obviously Coles aren't making enough off of them or Cascade are not paying enough for shelf space as they are now on the bottom shelf.


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## FreemanDC (5/2/09)

Meh, no loss.


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## Pollux (5/2/09)

Possibly the only kit beer I ever made that I found UTTERLY undrinkable...


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## Cracka (5/2/09)

Pollux said:


> Possibly the only kit beer I ever made that I found UTTERLY undrinkable...




+ 1

:icon_vomit:


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## peas_and_corn (5/2/09)

Coles is stupid in its deletion policy (a few years back they decided to halve the number of products they stock)- they recently started deleting all 1.25L Coke varieties. Coke is trying to talk them out of it.


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## caleb (5/2/09)

Pollux said:


> Possibly the only kit beer I ever made that I found UTTERLY undrinkable...



+2 :wacko:


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## HoppingMad (5/2/09)

If you dig around you'll find numerous posts about the Cascade kits being a tad unreliable, particularly on the yeast front. 

The main offender has been the infamous 'Cascade Spicy Ghost'. If you get one watch your temperature control - their yeast doesn't take off the way a coopers can kit does and sometimes you have to be patient with them. Some posts have suggested they stuffed earlier batches of yeast with these kits (supposedly now fixed) or substituted lager yeast instead of ale yeast - all unconfirmed rumour though. Some posts have reported sulphur smells while brewing some Cascade kits- that would be consistent with a lager yeast. Lager yeasts brewed at high temps can really arse up your brew. Some posts have even suggested using the goo, getting a new yeast and throwing out the Cascade yeast as it is so dodgy.

Whatever the truth is, the out-take really is that the cascade range (particularly the more unusual varieties) have been difficult to brew for your average supermarket brewing newbie. Maybe the supermarkets have been the wrong place for them to be distributed in the first place. Shame as had I personally had some good results with Cascade Pale - but not the Spicy Ghost.

Hopper.


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## Adamt (5/2/09)

peas_and_corn said:


> they recently started deleting all 1.25L Coke varieties. Coke is trying to talk them out of it.



Good. There's no point to 1.25L Cokes. They're always much more expensive per litre than 2L bottles. Even on special the price still sucks. Of course Coke are trying to talk them out of it, bigger profit margin.


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## peas_and_corn (5/2/09)

Actually, the bigger price margin is on the 1.5L- though the store itself makes bugger all profit on Coke.


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## Jakechan (5/2/09)

Murcluf said:


> Went into my local Coles tonight and spotted discontinued line stickers on their Cascade range of Cans. Obviously Coles aren't making enough off of them or Cascade are not paying enough for shelf space as they are now on the bottom shelf.


Just been to Coles Kin Kora (Gladstone) this morning and noticed the same here too.

Cheers,
Jake


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## BoilerBoy (5/2/09)

Heard on the radio late last year that Coles will be reducing its product range by 30% and increasing its own brand ny 50%, 

I guess they have done there calculations and more importantly where their control lies.

BB


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## sunovagun (5/2/09)

Anyone had any experiences on the Golden harvest? I just last week threw one in the fermentor.

Didn't use kit yeast though. Us-05.


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## Pollux (5/2/09)

I did the Golden harvest, with kit yeast......

Took 3-4 days to really take off, then another 12 in primary, bottled, waited, tasted, waited some more, tasted.....

It failed, I ended up saving it for after I'd already had half a skin full of something tastier...


Although, with a different yeast, yours could be quite tasty.


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## PostModern (5/2/09)

BoilerBoy said:


> Heard on the radio late last year that Coles will be reducing its product range by 30% and increasing its own brand ny 50%,
> 
> I guess they have done there calculations and more importantly where their control lies.
> 
> BB



YAY! The supermarkets making more purchasing decisions for me. Shopping is going to be so easy now! YAY!


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## Swinging Beef (5/2/09)

I dont mind drinking real Cascade when Im in the home of the Tasmaniacs, but the cascade home brew was awful.


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## Cube (5/2/09)

I don't know what it is about cascade kits but I can 'taste the cascade kits' a mile away. 

Crap I'm afraid. Dear I say I made a Home Brand draught for a guzzler at chrissi time for visitors/stock control with hops additions and that was a lot better than cascade IA or Spicy Ghost.


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## boingk (5/2/09)

sunovagun said:


> Anyone had any experiences on the Golden harvest? I just last week threw one in the fermentor.
> 
> Didn't use kit yeast though. Us-05.



Thats what worked for me. Possibly one of the better brews I've made, although I adulterated it a fair bit.

Kit 1.7kg
1500g amber liquid malt
150g choc-malted specialty grains
20g Saaz @ 15min
10g Saaz dry in secondary.

That, done at 18'C with US-05, turned out to be one of my favourite HB's to date. I'd say the kits themselves aren't great, but if you put effort it you can get something good out of them. Just don't use the kit yeast. For the love of beer.

Cheers - boingk


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## caleb (5/2/09)

boingk said:


> Just don't use the kit yeast. For the love of beer.


Funny - everyone seems to agree on this point. Yet ironically they make a big deal about their special yeast in the instructions.


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## jonocarroll (5/2/09)

Caleb said:


> Funny - everyone seems to agree on this point. Yet ironically they make a big deal about their special yeast in the instructions.


'Special' as in breakfast cooked by a 5 year old. Burned toast and crunchy eggs.


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## sunovagun (5/2/09)

boingk said:


> Thats what worked for me. Possibly one of the better brews I've made, although I adulterated it a fair bit.
> 
> Kit 1.7kg
> 1500g amber liquid malt
> ...




Thats good to hear.

I myself did 
kit 1.7
500gm ldme
700gm dex
150gm maltodex

hallertaue @ 10 minutes
saaz @ 0 minutes

Will dry hop in secondary with hallertaue (its still in primary)

Will report back how it goes :icon_cheers:


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## Jase71 (6/2/09)

These cans are still $14+ in Sydney (well, BUrwood Coles last night anyway, I dont know if each state has uniform pricing)


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## HoppingMad (6/2/09)

Jase71 said:


> These cans are still $14+ in Sydney (well, BUrwood Coles last night anyway, I dont know if each state has uniform pricing)



Have seen them as low as $11 down in the mexico (Vic) Coles stores. Never seen it as steep as $14. Normal retail here is somewhere between I've found.

Hopper.


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## Pollux (6/2/09)

$12.68 @ Coles on Norton St today, not that I'd buy one...

Rather spend under $11 and buy a Coopers Real Ale if I really needed to do a kit and bit.


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## samhighley (6/2/09)

QuantumBrewer said:


> 'Special' as in breakfast cooked by a 5 year old. Burned toast and crunchy eggs.



Haha, nice analogy.


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## samhighley (6/2/09)

Adamt said:


> Good. There's no point to 1.25L Cokes.



I disagree. By the time I get about 70% of the way through a 2 litre bottle it has gone flat enough that I throw the rest away.

If I buy bottles then my preference is for 1.25 litre bottles, but I typically stock up on cans of Coke Zero when they're on sale.


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## st3v3 (6/2/09)

I tried the Cascade Chocolate Mahogany Porter from Coles recently, and not sure if it was me or the kit, but...
after fermenting for over 2 weeks (most of my brews are finished in 1 week, but this one was only down to 1020 after about 9 days, then down to about 1012 after 14) carbonating and leaving in the keg for about 10 days, it's pretty awful.
Admittedly I only used 1kg Dextrose and nothing else so couldn't expect miracles, but... I suspect the yeast was half dead and took the first week to get itself going.
There are some interesting smoky flavours, but it tastes like there's some unfermented malt in there, and some slightly vinegary overtones. Perhaps I didn't put in enough effort, but I won't be bothering with that kit again, as I've had much greater success with my previous efforts.


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## drtomc (21/4/09)

st3v3 said:


> I tried the Cascade Chocolate Mahogany Porter from Coles recently, and not sure if it was me or the kit, but...
> after fermenting for over 2 weeks (most of my brews are finished in 1 week, but this one was only down to 1020 after about 9 days, then down to about 1012 after 14) carbonating and leaving in the keg for about 10 days, it's pretty awful.



My very first brew was the Chocolate Mahogany Porter, though I added the Cellar-Plus "stout mix" which is a blend of dex, dark malt and I think has some liquorice extract in it too. It tasted great (maybe it was just the "first homebrew" effect), but they were waaaaay over carbonated, and gushed if not opened with extreme care. So I blame the yeast too. Actually, about 40 brews later I'm planning to do another one, but I'll use S04 or something, not the kit yeast. And because I'm more patient, I'm unlikely to have a gusher problem - I ususally do 2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, then bottle. 

T.


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## Barramundi (21/4/09)

these are likely to drop in price dramatically , i stumbled across some discontinued cans years back in coles they were selling them off at around $5 each , at the time i got everything they had left about 6 cans , looking back as most were cascade cans i probably should have left them there...


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## chug!chug! (21/4/09)

Got four cans of the harvest lager and three tooheys dark ales @ $7 each on clearance from Coles Warringah Mall
a couple of weeks ago. Probably gone now.


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## chadjaja (21/4/09)

My local coles has them as a clearance item at $14.23. Its also the normal price and when I quizzed a staff member I was told no thats a sale price and much cheaper....

They have a STACK of cascade cans in so hopefully the lack of movement helps when and if they do go on sale and I can get the porter ones.


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## Alby (22/4/09)

My local Coles had all Tooheys, Wander and Cascade cans reduced to $7.69 today  ...unfortunately I hadnt read this post before I grabbed a can of Spicy Ghost  ...I was planning on using it as half of a toucan..maybe with a CPA which I already have, or perhaps buy another $7.69 special...any suggestions?...or is the best suggestion to throw it in the bin :blink: and buy two other cheapies for a toucan???


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## st3v3 (29/4/09)

Alby said:


> My local Coles had all Tooheys, Wander and Cascade cans reduced to $7.69 today  ...unfortunately I hadnt read this post before I grabbed a can of Spicy Ghost  ...I was planning on using it as half of a toucan..maybe with a CPA which I already have, or perhaps buy another $7.69 special...any suggestions?...or is the best suggestion to throw it in the bin :blink: and buy two other cheapies for a toucan???



Alby, based on my experience with the Porter bought from the same Coles, the yeast is probably dodgy... drop in to the home brew shop and maybe grab a Safale yeast (assuming you're brewing at ale temps?) He's just started getting the Saf yeasts in which is great... 
I haven't tried a toucan yet, so can't offer any suggestions.

Cheers
st3v3


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## manticle (29/4/09)

Alby said:


> My local Coles had all Tooheys, Wander and Cascade cans reduced to $7.69 today  ...unfortunately I hadnt read this post before I grabbed a can of Spicy Ghost  ...I was planning on using it as half of a toucan..maybe with a CPA which I already have, or perhaps buy another $7.69 special...any suggestions?...or is the best suggestion to throw it in the bin :blink: and buy two other cheapies for a toucan???




Just boil out the flavour. Should just be malt and bittering hops then. Add your own flavouring hops.


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## Alby (29/4/09)

Boiling huh? will look into it!...the tooheys kits are just $6 now...grabbed one, but didnt want too many as I cant wait to put down another Morgans Blue Mtn Lager....and if I have too large a stockpile of kit goop it might never get used..or more likley will get me in the poop with the missus!


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## Cube (29/4/09)

Tooheys $3.95 at Coles Labrador yesterday. Was tempted to grab one for a 'boil the crap out of' boil up.

Decided to go Coopers Blonde for a change from my Coopers APA's.

Was a couple of months from use-by-date and dusty as.


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