Batteries Not Included.....

[cellar dweller]

Or in this case "Wheres the alcohol?"
In the past I have dabbled a little with this home brewing thing and have been reasonably satisfied with the results. I got the shits with bottle cleaning and so gave it away for the convenience of the bottle shop. Recently built a bar with appropriate beer dispensing equipment ( more on that another day ) and eureka! no more cleaning bottles! And so 3 weeks ago I brewed up a Coopers Draught ( as Draught is what it shall be ). I followed the directions on the can, which was in date and decanted the lot from the fermenter into a commercial 50L keg. Allowed 1 day for forced carbonation and then poured an impressive looking and tasting beer. Alas it had all gone so smoothly up to this point that I thought I had aced it however after myself and an associate had enjoyed several pots we found that we were both still boring SOB's with far too much coherence and a firm grip on the laws of physics and gravity. "What the hell?" Good thing the fridge was still stocked with satisfactory amounts of gravity, speech and social skill altering fluid or else our Saturday night would have been a complete loss.
Ok here is how it went;
1. Sterilize everything - check
2. Chuck can into sink of hot water - check
3. Boil the kettle - check
4. Forget what I am doing and make coffee from boiling kettle -
5. Coffee imbibed - back on track
6. Open can and add to fermenter with 2L boiling water and 1kg of coopers maltodextrin - check
7. Mix about - check
8. Bring up to 23L mark on fermenter with cool water arriving at 24deg when filled to this mark
9. Toss in yeast packet, well the contents of it anyway
10. screw on lid, move it to the back room and add airlock.
11. 7 days later bubbling ceased through airlock and as per instructions now is the time to bottle / keg
12. Sterilized keg and and force carbonate as per the instructions they give on they're website
13. 24hrs later Clean lines in anticipation
14. Pour first frothy. Impressed with a) carbonation. B) color. c) aroma. d) taste - all going well up to this point!
15 2.5hrs after first joyous swill reality is still pretty much the same as it ever was and there seems to be no escape through this brew.

So what went wrong?
The facts that I know;
1 can coopers draught
1kg coopers brew booster - thats maltodextrin isnt it?
temp when yeast pitched - 24 deg c
wort capacity - 23L
duration of brewing - 7 days
Average temp - 19 deg ( missuses does love the central heating )
I didnt take hydrometer readings unfortunately - I figured if I followed the instructions all would be well.

So given that it is a pretty good looking, smelling and tasting brew would it still benefit from conditioning after being forced carbonated? I believe that by adding sugar for carbonation it would only increase 0.5%.

Also since I am kegging into 50L kegs would I be able to just use a 50L vessel to brew in and simply double everything up in regards to using kits?

Any help that anyone can offer would be appreciated.

 

[Rother]

6. Open can and add to fermenter with 2L boiling water and 1kg of coopers maltodextrin - check

Thats probably part of your problem right there... Malterdextrin doesnt ferment... its used for mouthfeel (ie, bubbles and head).

Did the wort ferment at all? Was there a krausen in the carboy? Without SG readings, it makes it hard to work out just how much fermentation took place, if any... Thats one thing ya need to get into the habit of doing... and keep a record of it too...

 

[BIGRO]

Go to your local home brew shop and have a tak to them. i would never do a bew with just plain dextrose anymore. its sounds like you need some flavour, you should at least use a coopers brew enhancer 2, muc beter and tastier than dextrose i think!!

 

[BIGRO]

tyr some hops to!!

 

[simpletotoro]

hi...
maybe a few things going on here

1 maltodextrin...doesn't ferment out fully (as otheres have already said )
2 what temp you maintain for fermentation (18-20/c ideal for ales...)check out this thread for more info on fermentation temp control...and a crap load of other links as well
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...ic=15323&hl
also for adding hops my post #13 but many other great tips here as well
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...ic=15659&hl
3 heres a pretty good draught recipe if i do say so ...
ingredients
1.7 kg tin of goo (draught)
700 g light dried malt
250 g dextrose
250 g maltodextrin

15-20 g cluster hops @ 10 mins
10-15 g cluster hops @ 1 min

specialty grains
250 g crsytal
150 g carapils
both steeped roughly 80/c for 1/2 hour then boiled for 10 mins before adding LDM and hops
yeast either us-56 or safale -04

brew at 16-20/c if you can
hope this helps
cheers simpletotoro

 

[Kingy]

so what ur saying is the beer was carbed up but tastes like shit. Did you pour the beer into the keg or did you syphon it without splashing. You need to minimise splashing or this will oxidise your beer.
Splashing is only advisable before you add the yeast.

 

[BIGRO]

so what ur saying is the beer was carbed up but tastes like shit. Did you pour the beer into the keg or did you syphon it without splashing. You need to minimise splashing or this will oxidise your beer.
Splashing is only advisable before you add the yeast.

Yes, try something like simpletotoro said for more flavour, when you keg your beer do you syphon from your fermenter into a cube? (25 litle drum) for a few days to let it settle out? thats what i do. i go from the fermenter to a cube. for at leat 7 days in the fridge then from the from the cube i syphon into the keg, gas it up and leave it for to days and you left with a clean tasty beer...

 

[BOG]

Throw away the cheap cans and head down the your local HBS for something decent.

Generally speaking the cans available in the supermarket taste like shit.

You can make something decent out of them when used as a base and adding some hops and malt but your starting from a low base anyway.

It took me some time (15 brews) to work out that only a few kits tasted ok. I poured many , many litres of beer down the drain (whole kegs) before I produced something decent.



BOG

 

[Adamt]

A few comments here...

Coopers brew booster is not all maltodextrin, it may have some in it but definitely would not be 100%. (There a difference between maltodextrin and malt extract, big difference)

It sounds like you are making beer, good beer. 7 days of fermentation at ~19C with a 24C pitch should have got you there. Always best to take hydrometer readings, that way you can deduce alcohol percentage, whether it's finished or not, and so on.

If your beer is quite sweet, there may be a chance that little or even no fermentation has happened, and so would be rather low in alcohol. Better still, draw off a sample of beer, let it warm up to room temperature and swirl it to dispel excess carbonation, then take a hydrometer reading. If it's anywhere around or above 1.020 you have non-fully-fermented beer, and this is your problem.

In a nutshell, if your wort (stuff in your fermenter before you pitch yeast) is sweet, and after fermentation it tastes like beer, is no longer sweet and has a much lower SG than before, you have alcoholic beer.


EDIT Re 50L batches: Yes just increase ingredients accordingly, especially yeast. Make sure the 50L container you are brewing in is food-grade and is sanitised.

Adam

 

[boingk]

I was lucky and started off with top-notch kits. In my opinion, the Country brewer range of 'Wals' kits are fantastic. The Lager kit is especially good in that it comes with an S23 yeast! Hot-Damn!

I've yet to try an extensive range of other kits, but the few I have have gone very well - the X-Tract 3kg range comes to mind. Some of the not-so-amazing kits are easily identifiable...generic brand kits are definitely up there, although some of my mates think a toucan of Homebrand Draught is the best that I've made to date - I politely say 'Really? Well, if you reckon' and reach for an APA, Becks, Cascade Lager, or other decent brew I have made up. Personal taste plays a big part.

But Cellar Dweller, you may want to have a shot at this recipe - a bunch of mates found it irresistable after 4 weeks in the bottle:

1.7kg can of Lager
600g LDME [light dried malt extract]
200g Dextrose
200g Maltodextron [could be replaced by LDME]
12g Tettnanger hops soaked in a cup of boiling water for 12 minutes then thrown in water and all.
Saflager yeast [S23]

Very simple, very tasty - comes out like a Heineken. If you want to step it up some you could try steeping some grains for it - go with 150~300g of Munich.

Cheers - boingk

 

[RobboMC]

The risk of 50 litre brews is that if you stuff it up you have 50 litres of crap to drink, or throw away. And of course 50 litres of the same thing which can get boring, even if it's first class brew.

I've dabbled with 29 and 30 litres brews and find even that gets tedious to drink, I much prefer doing a 20 litre brew of stronger beer ( flavour and alcohol ) and being able to select from 5 or 6 different types in the fridge depending on my mood.

 

[Uncle Fester]

1. Sterilize everything - check

What steraliser did you use? was it "rinseless"?

8. Bring up to 23L mark on fermenter with cool water arriving at 24deg when filled to this mark

Are you sure it was 24 and not more? Could have temperature shocked the yeast

11. 7 days later bubbling ceased through airlock and as per instructions now is the time to bottle / keg

Was the bubbling in the airlock constant and about 1-3 seconds apart?

14. Pour first frothy. Impressed with a) carbonation. B) color. c) aroma. d) taste - all going well up to this point!

As mentioned above, was the beer sweet? Bitter? From memory the Coopers Draught is quite bitter

1kg coopers brew booster - thats maltodextrin isnt it?

No - Brew Enhancer (1 and 2) are mixtures of Maltodextrin, Dextrose and Dry malt.

I didnt take hydrometer readings unfortunately - I figured if I followed the instructions all would be well.

As mentioned before, hydrometer readings are the best guide to the fermentation status

So given that it is a pretty good looking, smelling and tasting brew would it still benefit from conditioning after being forced carbonated?

The beer will clear after being left in the keg in the fridge for a period to condition.

Also since I am kegging into 50L kegs would I be able to just use a 50L vessel to brew in and simply double everything up in regards to using kits?

Valid. However smaller 20lt Corny style kegs will allow you to have a greater variety of beers in the same sized fridge.

Any help that anyone can offer would be appreciated.

Hope this has helped.

BTW, I would try another brew, and use 1.5kg of liquid malt. You should have a result in the 5% range that tastes superior, has better mouthfeel and retains a better head. I would recommen some of the higher end kits in lieu of the standard ones you get from the supermarket (Muntons, the higher end Coopers, Morgans and Brewcraft (rebadged Muntons, most of them) would be my aim.


Cheers,

Fester