'battle Of The Toucans'

[climbatize]

Thanks man. That's some helpful info

 

[mrTbeer]

I might try pitching next brew onto same yeast too.Would it be ok to follow with a lower gravity brew?

 

[Cube]

Should be fine mrTbeer. Just leave half the trub in.

 

[climbatize]

Coopers Aus Pale Ale cans x2
Coopers LDME 500gms
Brewed to 22 litres. Brewcraft calculator suggests ABV 6.5%

Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 15
Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @15
Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 15

Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 10
Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @10
Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 10

Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 5
Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @ 5
Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 5

My hop straining method went to shit- badly. Well, actually I managed to strain the hops quite well. But, the wort didn't quite make it through the pantyhoze and I ended up having to squeeze a quarter of the wort through. My pasta strainer fits perfectly in my fermenter and the pair of pantyhoze were wrapped around the bottom. Just made a hell of a mess is all and my wife was wondering why she was sticking to the floor.

 

[Fish13]

doing a tester tonight after 5 days. see how it tastes. i reckon greener then a bloke seeing his first meatspin video

 

[Fish13]

its very dark about the colour of a good brown ale. Not really sort of a IPA in sorts but can taste bannanas....

might need to lay off the home made baklava

 

[wayna15]

the only twocan i have done so far

1 can coopers aus pale ale
1 can coopers real ale
1kg coopers brew enhancer 2
300g LDM
300g brown sugar


Brewed to 23 litres tasted sensational but definately not a session beer. will definately make it again once i get my kegs set up
might add some fuggles or something with it next time though

 

[Dribs]

For Xmas I got a can of Brigalow Munich Lager, read a bit that said they aren't great, so I figured I'd go crazy and use it with a can of Homebrand draught, both kit yeast and a bit of dex.
Temperature started out at 18 but got up around 24 in my absence. After 2.5 weeks in the bottle, it isn't great, bit soda watery but not as sour as the classic first homebrew. Still prefer it over my dad's barbwire Gold cans but wouldn't recommend it

 

[craigo]

Put down my first toucan the other day just from what i had laying around it was a coopers dark ale a coopers pale ale i boiled about 15g of amarillo and about 25g of galaxy hops in 3l of water and added it to the fermenter i used both kit yeasts and about 5g of us05 that i had left over from a mini biab fermenting at the moment at 18c in my temp controlled fridge will be interesting to see how it turns out ive never done a brew from a kit before so i hope its nice.

 

[Fish13]

craig

expect some banana flavours to come through. I left mine to warm to 8 degree's before drinking and it became more flavoursome then drinking it at 2 degree's and the the head retention and style changed aswell went more creamy and laced really well.

 

[Cactus]

Would you believe i have read all 26 pages of this topic? I am some the wiser and yet no less confused, i guess the only thing for it is to throw a couple of cans in a bucket and see how we get on.

So, any hints and tips appreciated, my local hbs tends to just smile and agree with everything i say, right or wrong.

Plan is
Coopers european lager
Coopers mexican cerveza
400 (odd) g light malt powder
250 g maltodextrin
Both yeasts revived in some warm water
Into primary at 26, down to 18-20 for 1 week then racked to secondary for 2 weeks or so then bottle, into basement at 14-16, cooler as we hit autumn.


So, would it be a good idea to boil up one or both to move off some malt flavour?

I have 15 g each of hersbruker and saaz finishing hops, should i add these at primary or later in the piece?

I have plenty of maltodextrin and dextrose, surely i don't need any more fermentables for a refreshing session beer?


As always, very grateful for any hints, cheers

 

[ploto]

Cactus I wouldn't bother with the maltodextrin, you will have plenty of body from the two cans and the light malt extract. It doesn't ferment so it won't give any alcohol, so if that's what you're after use dextrose.

For the finishing hops you have a couple of options. You could boil up the 400g of lme in about 4l of water, then add all the hops and boil for about 10 minutes, this will give you a good hoppy smell to the beer and add a bit more flavour, as well as increasing the bitterness. Or you could use them as dry hops, adding them to the fermenter after it has been going for a few days, this will give mostly aroma that will fade over time as the bottles age. This is easiest and you could use one or both of the hops - maybe just use one so you can see what flavour it gives. Whichever way you go, if the hops are in a tea bag, cut it open and release the hops as you will get more out of them.

 

[craigo]

did a toucan with coopers dark ale and pale ale added galaxy and amarillo hops in a ten miniute boil fermented at 18 degrees for two weeks used both kit yeasts and half a pack of us05 i had left over tried it after two weeks in the bottle way to bitter its been about a month now and had one last night the bitterness has settled down and it wasnt to bad could be a bit cleaner but im putting that down to the yeast over all enjoyable il leave it for another month and give it another taste and see if its improved.

 

[Cloth Ears]

Made my first toucan in early December (on another thread). But I thought I'd precis it, as it's ended up being quite OK.

One can each of Coopers Real Ale and Dark Ale, two kilos of dextrose (I usually make really heavy, malty porters, so this is a change) and one of those hops 'pills'. With those sugars, it should have started life as 1078, but ended up being only 1071. Let's see what happens. Pitched 2 packets of yeast (the Real Ale and an older one that was in the fridge). Had no bubble-over problems at all.

Final measure at 1010 (a little lower than I expected, but only by 2). The Brigalow hop pill is much like using ISOhop liquid - all bitterness, but bugger-all flavour and not much nose. Matches quite well with the rest though.

The first proper taste after 2 weeks. Not fully carbonated (but getting close), but poured with a lovely (brownish) head. Smell was pretty nice, with none of the estery note I get from my Belgian yeast brews, taste was fairly bitter ale, with pretty good mouth and nicely balanced body. Around 8%, so I didn't try the second bottle that beckoned. A note on the hops pill - basically crap aside from the bitterness (that is not unpleasant), but there's no nose at all, so the bitterness can take you a bit by surprise.

After 10 weeks, only had a dozen bottles left. It's addictive stuff, and the bitterness that I wasn't sure of has become an interesting point. It's still a little overpowering, and with a lesser bodied beer would be simply overkill (like drinking bitter water), but with this beer has ended up being quite nice. On the whole, I'm happy with it - for a cheap experiment. It's refreshing, although more than one bottle and you could be a little too refreshed.

 

[Cloth Ears]

Made my first toucan in early December (on another thread). But I thought I'd precis it, as it's ended up being quite OK.

OK. Second one is now in the barrel. This one is probably weird - as it's going to be my winter beer (for watching those GP's on cold winter nights). So I thought "chillies for warmth, cloves and cinnamon for spice".
Cans of Coopers Pale Ale and European Lager, 1kg of BE2 and 1kg of dex. Boiled up the BE2 and dex with chillies, cloves and cinnamon. Removed the chillies when loading the fermenter, but left in the spices. Then the two cans, followed with cold water up to 25l and a packet of (Coopers) Dark Ale and the Pale Ale yeasts.
OG was 1067, but I'd worked it out that it should be 1073. Has anyone else had the same disconnect between the OG was/should be?
It bubbled away nicely for while and then I put in the hops (dry pitched, of course). Amarillo and Pacific Jade as well as an extra can of light liquid malt and the European lager yeast.
Told you, weird. I'm expecting a FG of 1015 (as I calculated 1017). Then a few months in the bottle with as little tasting as possible. I'll report on the weirdness as it happens...

 

[iralosavic]

Coopers Aus Pale Ale cans x2
Coopers LDME 500gms
Brewed to 22 litres. Brewcraft calculator suggests ABV 6.5%

Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 15
Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @15
Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 15

Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 10
Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @10
Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 10

Cascade dried flowers 10 gms @ 5
Galaxy dried flowers 5 gms @ 5
Amarillo pellets 10 gms @ 5

My hop straining method went to shit- badly. Well, actually I managed to strain the hops quite well. But, the wort didn't quite make it through the pantyhoze and I ended up having to squeeze a quarter of the wort through. My pasta strainer fits perfectly in my fermenter and the pair of pantyhoze were wrapped around the bottom. Just made a hell of a mess is all and my wife was wondering why she was sticking to the floor.

That is going to be one extremely bitter brew! Being a Toucan (ie 1.6 times the typical bitterness using one can), you may want to consider dry hopping most of your additions.

I think volumetric calculation is kit IBU*1.7/final volume. The APA is 340IBU per Litre of goo, so in 22L you're looking at around 26IBU for a single can and using the 1.6 multiplier for the second can, your total BEFORE any hop additions would be around 42IBU. So if you go ahead with your hopping schedule, you will be drinking an APA with over 50IBU. More of an IPA without the body/malt base to balance it.

I kind of ruined (still drinkable, but way too bitter for the style) one of my kit beers a while back with a similar hopping schedule - and it wasn't even a toucan. Just thought I'd share the theory I've since learnt in a hope that it may prevent you from going through the same!

 

[Lance2]

Hi guys, just doing my first toucan (4th brew overall). I've bought:

2x Coopers APA
1kg LDME
Nottingham yeast

for a 23l batch. Is this a good recipe? I also have 1kg dextrose on hand, what would happen if I throw that in?


About to go to jaycar to get a tempmaster fridge controller kit anyone use these?

 

[redunderthebed]

Definately going to do a toucan soonish.

 

[Diggs]

Put down my first toucan last night:

• Cascade Choc Mahogany Porter
• Tooheys Real Ale
• 1kg DDM
• 500gm LDM
• Cascade (stepped for 10 mins)
• Brewcellar English Ale Yeast25lt

Fermenting at 18c
Tasted great, can't wait for the finished product.
Going to try racking to secondary for the first time on this one too.
Any feedback or opinions would be appreciated.

 

[mwd]

Looks great but don't rack to secondary just for something to do unless it is necessary it is one easy way to introduce an infection.