'battle Of The Toucans'

[FireBlade]

Not really a twocan though is it just a 1can + extras.

The Morgans is a can of goop, so it is 2 cans of something + some other stuff, but I get it now.

 

[Bulldog_y2k6]

I love it. great beer suprisingly for no hop additions. mind you the tin of stout is fairly bitter and actualy masks the can of mahojany porter. Considering it is a K&K and its something I put together myself its great. Its also better than the brewcraft Guinness clone (Ive made 2 of brewcrafts kit and never touched them again).

Hop additons you could add would be something like the below if you drop the stout kit, or just get rid of EKG for bittering and throw it in for flavour/aroma at 15min.
28g. EKG @ 60 min.
12g Fuggle @ 15 min.

you could also use Willamette instead of Fuggles if you wanted.

If you like real stout, you'll like this. obviously you can alter the recipe to suit. ie add more choc grain and cut back on roasted grain or vice versa.

Sounds great, I think i will keep as is, i have only just started using steeped grain and have been please with the results so far. I have never made a toucan either so i hope this works out well, with a bit of luck it will be ready in time for friday night footy :chug: (go the eagles ). Its 38 in perth today hard to even think about stout!!!!

cheers
bulldog

 

[0M39A]

Sounds great, I think i will keep as is, i have only just started using steeped grain and have been please with the results so far. I have never made a toucan either so i hope this works out well, with a bit of luck it will be ready in time for friday night footy :chug: (go the eagles ). Its 38 in perth today hard to even think about stout!!!!

cheers
bulldog

I hope you have some decent temperature control if you're brewing in weather like that...

 

[Bulldog_y2k6]

I hope you have some decent temperature control if you're brewing in weather like that...

I actually work for an insulation company , one of the more unusual applications we get used for is to wrap pallets of ice for transport without refrigerated containers, I use the product to make special coolers up for my fermenters. I just add 1 frozen water bottle twice a day, keeps temps at 18 odd degrees, if its a little warm i add another bottle, crude but it works for me. Saying that im setting up a upright freezer with fridgemate for lagers.

Bulldog

 

[pablo_h]

Yay, toucan thread! I want a do a couple before moving into AG and non prehopped tins.
Nothings open on a sunday in perth, I was low on malt and hops, so I just chucked 2x coopers dark ales in the fermenter to show my brother how to homebrew. I boiled them a bit in an effort to reduce bitterness, hopefully it works out with just them and coopers recultured CPA yeast.

As I posted in another thread, my brother came around with his home brew gear after much coaxing by me for him to get back into it.
Turns out in his gear he has a can of coopers lager and a can cascade spicy ghost draught.
Any tips on what if any hops should be added to this? I'm thinking willamette or cascade, I'm no hop expert though. Is there much point in adding hops to a toucan?
I've got heaps of yeasts, more coopers recultured, nottingham, so-4, so-5, (about 7 coopers dried, 2 muntons dried and of corse the ones in those two extract tins )
Whats the best techique for boiling the extracts to limit over pre hopped tins? I took a gues today and boiled the 2x dark ales for 20 min, but it's would be interesting to know other methods.

 

[vchead]

I love a good toucan. My latest was:

* 2 cans Homebrand lager
* 1 kg LDM
* US05 yeast.

Took about 2 weeks for the yeast to get through the fermentables. Alcolhol came out as 8.2%!!

It was a bit sweet and a bit hoppy. Don't know what it would have been like after a few months as it went long before that.

Rodders

 

[Interloper]

I put down a toucan cider yesterday:
1 x blackrock cider
1 x brigalow cider
900gms white table sugar (inverted with citric acid)
500gms pureed raspberries
4 litres apple juice
safale 04 yeast (+ the yeast nutrient from the brigalow can)

I was hoping the incredible rich redness of the raspberries would carry through, but it seems to have been overpowered by the general "brown" of the tins and the apple juice.

I can't remember who posted this recipe originally but they used 1kg dex and a whopping 18 punnets of strawberries!

We'll see how it comes out and if the yeast can eat its way through all the fermentables.

Smelt awesome when I checked the shed this morning. Bubbling along nicely.

 

[pablo_h]

I just tasted my dark ale toucan then, needs another few days as S.G. only 1014, but that thing is extremely bitter!
Used 2 x coopers kit cans boiled for 20min, no other fermentables, aroma hops added.
Does the bitterness settle down after full fermentation and bottle conditioning? Or is this hows it's going to be for ever?
Anything I can do now while still fermenting to make it less bitter?

 

[boingk]

Nothing but time will mellow the bitterness. Put on another brew to pass it!

Best one I've ever done was probably 2 x Homebrand Draught with US-05. That yeast is a demon and works through anything whilst leaving a nice crisp taste...I just can't fault it. 2 x HB Lager with Hallertau hopping was also a success.

Cheers - boingk

 

[Bribie G]

Not strictly a toucan, but on Wednesday I'm doing a Morgans Australian Pilsener with a 1.5 kg can of Coopers LME and a teabag of saaz finishing hops. Trying to get away from cheapie-old-sugar but not in a position to brew full grain for the foreseeable future so this is a compromise.

Any ideas what sort of ABV % I should expect out of this brew at 26 litres?

 

[Brewtus]

Not strictly a toucan, but on Wednesday I'm doing a Morgans Australian Pilsener with a 1.5 kg can of Coopers LME and a teabag of saaz finishing hops. Trying to get away from cheapie-old-sugar but not in a position to brew full grain for the foreseeable future so this is a compromise.

Any ideas what sort of ABV % I should expect out of this brew at 26 litres?

I count this as Kits & Bits. Better than Kit & Kilo, not extract either but a kit with malt extract and extra hops, special yeast, etc. It is for extract want'a'bes who don't want to boil hops and extract for 90min.

I'd go to extract if I could get instant bitter hop addition. i.e. add 10mls or so the get X level of bitterness and boil 8 liters of water with 3kg of extract and hops for for 15min with a 5min hop addition. Let cool for a short time and add 15l ice water to get the finished wort.

 

[quachy]

Hi all, this is an awesome thread! Got a Coopers Real Ale and Coopers Euro Larger can in the cupboard. Was wondering what you guys reakon the outcome would be as a toucan. Any more fermentables required? Hops? Yeast - ale or larger? Bitterness, mild, medium or very bitter?

Quachy

 

[tk75]

My first 2can was...(had only made about 2, maybe 3 brews previous)
Cooper's Lager x 2
LDM x 500g
Cooper's BE1 x 1kg

Boiled all ingredients in 6L water for 60mins, added to fermentor and topped to 22L, added both Cooper's supplied yeast - I had made a 500ml starter from one packet, the other was added dry.
Fermented @ around 20C - 22C for 3 weeks - 1 week primary/2 weeks secondary.
S.G. 1.064 F.G. 1.018
Bulk primed - 237g LDM + 500ml water(boiled then cooled)
Aged for 4 weeks, came out one very nice brew indeed...had a beautiful honey aftertaste. I would certainly do this one again as it gets closer to the warmer months.

Seeing as there are a few 2can stouts here, I will add the one I have currently brewing(this one I have made intentionally to put down/age for many months)...
Russian Imperial Stout
Cooper's Stout x 2
Cooper's Dark Malt x 1.5kg
Morgan's Choc Malt x 1kg
Morgan's Roasted Black Malt x 1kg
Hops
FWH(*@ 75C)
20g Galaxy
15g Pacific Gem

30min
15g Galaxy
30g Pacific Gem
10g Brewers Gold

15min
15g Galaxy
10g Brewers Gold
10g Goldings

Flameout
15g Brewers Gold
10g Goldings

Dry Hopped - added to secondary
5g Galaxy
5g Brewers Gold

Started to boil 8L water, once @ 75C added Unhopped Malts and first addition of hops(*). Total boil time of 90min then added Cooper's cans + flameout hops. Total volume in fermentor - 22L.
Once cooled added 500ml starter - Safale 04.
2 weeks in primary @ 16C - 18C and will probably leave in secondary for around 4 weeks.
S.G. 1102

Next plannned 2can...Cooper's Draught + Toohey's Real Ale + whatever else I have yet to decide on adding.

:icon_cheers:

 

[Bribie G]

My first 2can was...(had only made about 2, maybe 3 brews previous)
Cooper's Lager x 2
LDM x 500g
Cooper's BE1 x 1kg

........
Aged for 4 weeks, came out one very nice brew indeed...had a beautiful honey aftertaste. I would certainly do this one again as it gets closer to the warmer months.

Bought a heap of Coopers Lager cans on special last month because they make a good base for a kit&bits and did a straight toucan with two of them. Early on I tried a bottle and it reminded me of the UK superlagers such as Skol and Tennants. Now a month old, and it still echoes the superlagers and is quite strong in its own right. Absolutely brilliant brew with nice hop (bitter at the back of the throat like a superlager) and a nice colour. This, in a way, is a tick against Coopers because obviously if you put the ingredients in, you get a reasonable beer out. Put it another way, add a kilo of white sugar to one can and you would get the lowest common denominator brewing this kit.

It would be great to see Coopers putting out some all-extract 3k kits like ESB but no doubt they wouldn't spend a squillion dollars constructing a new assembly line.

 

[pablo_h]

Mine turned out too bitter for my taste (dark ale x 2), I should have added malt or non fermentable sugars.

But coopers even have toucan recipes on their website for their lighter beers.

Strong Ale:
2 Traditional Draught
300g sugar/dextrose
Use an American Ale liquid yeast (WYEAST or Whitelabs) or both yeast sachets plus an active Coopers yeast culture.

Light German Bock:
2 x 1.7kg Coopers Bavarian Lager
2 x 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt

 

[petesbrew]

I gotta admit, I'm a bit over my toucan dark/stout kit now. Reckon I'll do 2x darks & replace the 500g brown sugar with choc malt next time.

 

[seemax]

Did my first twocan last night.

1 Coopers Lager
1 Homebrand Draught (they didn't have any lager)
200g Crystal Malt (steeped)
20min boil of Fuggles and PoR leftovers for aroma and maybe 4IBU
Nottingham yeast

The FG was a whopping 1062 at 22L so I diluted to about 25L.

Gone with the glad wrap on top method again in my lounge room (without heating) sitting at about 16C.

I'll post back results in a few weeks.

Stef

 

[Barley Belly]

Thinkin of puttin down a BI-LO Homebrand Draught XMAS Toucan
Lookin' to do one totally sourced from BILO (have been doin all Morgans & Brewcraft kits and bits lately, sourced from my LHBS)
Wantin' a High Alc%, drinkable brew for Xmas, on the cheap

Possibly:-

2 Tins Home Brand Draught
1kg Honey
1kg Dex
Maybe some LDME
Probably the 2 kit yeasts or could use yeast cake off Morgan's Royal Oak Amber Ale in primary now


Just thought I'd put it out there for some thoughts, as I haven't attempted a toucan before and haven't used honey.

 

[MitchDudarko]

I'm probably going to try my first toucan this weekend. Im thinking either:
1 x Lager
1 x Draught (both probably coopers)
500g LDME
OR
1 x Dark Ale
1 x Pale Ale (both possibly coopers also)
500g DDME

As I don't really have access to hops or specialty grains here in Kal, I'll probably just go without.
What do you guys think?

Cheers
Mitch

 

[Tanga]

... tastes alright! I prefer a black'n'tan though!

So do I. So my next brew is going to be a Coopers Lager and Tooheys Dark Toucan. I'm not sure if it'll be too bitter though, should I boil the lager for longer? It's my first ever toucan, so I have NFI. I'm doing these two because they are what I have, and the yeast was missing in the Dark when I bought it .

Yet another vote for the Coopers stout & Coopers dark ale toucan combo!!

Will have to talk my brother into doing one of these. He loves the darks and it sounds awesome!