'battle Of The Toucans'

[petesbrew]

I'll be brewing mine up today with a couple of additions

Coopers Stout
Coopers Dark Ale
375g Demerara sugar
75g leftover palm sugar
150g choc malt, steeped 30min
15g fuggles @ 15min
And a huge starter of WLP002 English Ale
filled to 23litres.

I'm expecting a lot of mess, but that's the price you pay!
Also, on bottling day I'm going to rack about 5 litres onto some mulberries for a week or so.

Wish me luck.

 

[wabster]

A friend from Gosford way and I put down a toucan for her yesterday, using 2 x Coopers Real Ale kits, with both yeasts, and nothing else added.

When I did the OG test I tasted the wort in the testing tube and it was incredibly bitter, so my friend then tasted it and declared she'd never be able to drink it if the end product was like that. :angry:

Has anyone ever done a toucan like this and will the hops impact be lessened after fermenting and bottle secondary? I am really hoping that it will frankly, it will be a disastrous start to her brewing career if it is undrinkable for her and it took some talking to get her away from the idea of a can and kilo of sugar

I was also surprised to see that the OG was only 1040, does this sound right to the more experienced?

Grateful for any comments, Cheerz Wab

 

[0M39A]

OG sounds fine.

If she is sensitive to bitterness, should have gone with something a bit softer to start, like 2xlager or 2xpale ale.

Anways, the bitterness should mellow out a little with some time in the bottle, but its always going to be reasonably bitter, especially to somebody who is used to a regular k+k

 

[Luka]

Just started my first Toucan
Coopers Lager + Coopers Draught
Saflager W34/70
Should be interesting when I can drink it.
Would never have thought to use two cans until I started reading this site

hey mate, i did this exact combo earlier this year and I'm really pleased with it, so are my mates. I dry hopped with some Hallertau for extra flavour too. Bitterness level is up there but not so high as to make it to bitter I think, don't know what the exact IBU's are though.

Cheers

 

[brettprevans]

A friend from Gosford way and I put down a toucan for her yesterday, using 2 x Coopers Real Ale kits, with both yeasts, and nothing else added.

When I did the OG test I tasted the wort in the testing tube and it was incredibly bitter, so my friend then tasted it and declared she'd never be able to drink it if the end product was like that. :angry:

Has anyone ever done a toucan like this and will the hops impact be lessened after fermenting and bottle secondary? I am really hoping that it will frankly, it will be a disastrous start to her brewing career if it is undrinkable for her and it took some talking to get her away from the idea of a can and kilo of sugar

I was also surprised to see that the OG was only 1040, does this sound right to the more experienced?

Grateful for any comments, Cheerz Wab

At risk of runnning onff the topic of best toucan recipes, Im going to make a post that doesnt give a recipe. Wabster, 1) get your friend to start looking at AHB. 2) Give her the link to the very first page of this thread which has bitterness ratings of cans and an explanation of how to calculate bitterness. This should help her make toucan that arent bitter. Or use a simple rule: 1 can of bitter wort = bitter. 2 cans of bitter wort = really really bitter.

 

[petesbrew]

Good advice citymorgue2.
There's some bloke on another toucan thread who's just done a Bitter/IPA toucan. Can anyone top that for bitterness? (hands down, Doc).

 

[brettprevans]

Good advice citymorgue2.
There's some bloke on another toucan thread who's just done a Bitter/IPA toucan. Can anyone top that for bitterness? (hands down, Doc).

maybe a coopers stout toucan? christ knows why you would make that. yuck. The most bitter Ive made is the Choc Stout Mahogony with choc grain (recipe on page 2 of thread). Had a bottle last night (I felt the darkside calling me). With only 3 weeks in the bottle it was bitter but not undrinkable. major burnt choc and bitter choc tones coming through that will mellow with age.

 

[0M39A]

ive done a twocan stout and a twocan farmland draught one.

the twocan draught also had some ekg that was boiled in some malt extract for 30 min, and some more at 5min (dont remember exactly how much).

was nice. bitter, but not overly so.

twocan stout ive documented enough times in this thread, so look it up yourself you lazy bums.

result was amazing. bitter, but in no way overly so. maybe 70ibu? just nice for a stout. loads of chocolate/coffee flavours to balance it out. only have 6 tallies of this left didnt last nearly as long as i wanted. was going to save some in the bottle for 6 months and taste again. dont see that happening.

 

[andyk]

Just put down a twocan Farmland Lager today, OG was 1042, with 23L does that about right?
It foamed like crazy when I was mixing it up, but settled down after a while.

Hopefully it will be tasty

 

[jimmylt]

I've been meaning to do my first toucan for a while but haven't got around to it. Picked up a can of Coopers Bitter and one of Tooheys Lager on special last week so thought they could be my first.

Is this a good mix, or are they not compatible?
Should i use 1 yeast or both, or something else entirely?
Do I need to add any more fermentables, or is there enough in the kits?
Do I need to boil 1 or both?
Any other tips?

Thanks guys.

 

[petesbrew]

I've been meaning to do my first toucan for a while but haven't got around to it. Picked up a can of Coopers Bitter and one of Tooheys Lager on special last week so thought they could be my first.

Is this a good mix, or are they not compatible?
Should i use 1 yeast or both, or something else entirely?
Do I need to add any more fermentables, or is there enough in the kits?
Do I need to boil 1 or both?
Any other tips?

Thanks guys.

Just my opinion,

As long as you like bitter beers you'll be fine.
I've used both yeasts before... quick and very frothy. Or grab a pack of some Safale 04 from your HBS.
There's enough in your kits, but add more if you want. Say 500g dry malt, or sugar.
I've only boiled a few kits, to tell the truth. Most of the time I couldn't be bothered and they've turned out fine. The one I've got now I boiled the stout with some choc grain, and added the dark ale can in the last 5 minutes.

Hope it works!

 

[0M39A]

you boiled a stout kit with some grain?

why would you do that? boil grain i mean.

 

[petesbrew]

you boiled a stout kit with some grain?

why would you do that? boil grain i mean.

Actually I steeped the grain and boiled the sparge. Should've clarified that.

 

[0M39A]

ahh, much better.

 

[Brooksy]

Actually I steeped the grain and boiled the sparge. Should've clarified that.

And don't forget to apologize to the families of the AG'ers who died of heart attacks after reading the post :lol:

 

[petesbrew]

Apologies to all shocked by me not typing bloody everything.
I shall also add i cut corners every-bloody-where in this last boil (I'm not going to say where).

At least I didn't drop the wort on the carpet.

 

[AlwayzLoozeCount]

Just been at Big W Burly Heads, found some Brewiser cans on special $6 each. I bought some Pacific Draught some Lager and Australian Ale. They expire 12/07. I've never done a Brewiser Kit before, are they any good? would any 2 of these go good in a toucan?

This site is great btw

Cheers.

 

[Plastic Man]

Just thought Id add my 2c to the Stout toucan debate.

I did one last year and it turned out great. I initially brewed a 2 can Canadian Blonde lawnmower beer using a yeast starter made from a coopers sparking ale long neck. I then dumped the 2 can coppers stout on the yeast cake from the Canadian blonde 2 can brew.

I added a few extra bits, (not sure if it needs anything else though). I boiled about 4l of water, added the 2 cans of coopers stout to the boiling water. Added a cup or 2, (cant remember which) of light DME and the same of maltodextrix to increase the body. Turned the heat off and added 15gr of Fuggles and 15ml of liquorice extract. Cooled in the sink and then dumped this on top of the Canadian blonde 2 can yeast cake. Topped up fermenter to 18 litres. OG was about 1062 from memory. Fermentation took off like a rocket and it fermented out very quick. Racked it after about 2 weeks and left it in secondary for 2 3 weeks. Primed with 80gr of sugar and after a month or two in the bottle it tasted great. Thick, black and dry. Great head. Drunk the last one not long ago. By that time it was a year in the bottle and it tasted even better. Was a bit sad when it was all gone. If your time poor this is a great way to get some nice stout. Was not overly bitter.

I repeated this a few weeks ago but didnt rack to secondary which I think was a mistake. I did the same thing again and dumped it on the yeast cake of a previous smaller beer, (coopers sparkling ale yeast again). The previous beer sat on the yeast cake for 3 weeks and then I left the stout on it for 3 weeks and teh final yeast cake was a bit scungy when I bottled. It didnt taste too good on bottling and I was pretty dissappointed. Its amazing though 4 weeks later the flavour has really cleaned up. There is still a hint of the off flavour but its fading fast. In future Id rack it off the yeast cake after a week or two.

richard.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

A friend from Gosford way and I put down a toucan for her yesterday, using 2 x Coopers Real Ale kits, with both yeasts, and nothing else added.

When I did the OG test I tasted the wort in the testing tube and it was incredibly bitter, so my friend then tasted it and declared she'd never be able to drink it if the end product was like that. :angry:

Has anyone ever done a toucan like this and will the hops impact be lessened after fermenting and bottle secondary? I am really hoping that it will frankly, it will be a disastrous start to her brewing career if it is undrinkable for her and it took some talking to get her away from the idea of a can and kilo of sugar

I was also surprised to see that the OG was only 1040, does this sound right to the more experienced?

Grateful for any comments, Cheerz Wab

In June I put a can of Black Rock Lager with a can of Homebrand Lager. 23litres of water. Nothing else added. Used a Saflager S23. Opening SG 1050. Fermented at 11 degrees (in a cold shed) then cold conditioned in a cube for a month at about 2 degrees. Bottled them 11 July. Tasted like absolute ***** out of the fermenter - thought I'd wasted time and money on that effort. Opened one yesterday - still a tad under carbonised (still in a cold shed) but tasted pretty good. Really needed time to settle down. Tell your mate's wife to remember the bad taste and compare to a bottle around grand final time. Should make :super: a lot of difference.

 

[microbe]

Just been at Big W Burly Heads, found some Brewiser cans on special $6 each. I bought some Pacific Draught some Lager and Australian Ale. They expire 12/07. I've never done a Brewiser Kit before, are they any good? would any 2 of these go good in a toucan?

This site is great btw

Cheers.

I've just bottled a toucan made with 2 cheap Brigalow kits. I reckon that @ $12 for a couple dozen longnecks you can't go too wrong.

Go for it.

cheers,

microbe