Brewing Newbie

[Clint Lee]

Hey guys,
Im new to the forum. I live in Cranbourne, Victoria.

Ive had a coopers kit for a few years and only did 1 brew before i got lazy and it sat gathering dust. Irecently got injured at work and as a result am off for 6 weeks.So im blowing the dust off the kit. today i bottled a batch of coopers lager. I usually drink VB or Carlton draught but would like to try making something that resembles little creatures. any recommendations?

If anyone has some advice to pass on it will be well recieved.


Cheers Clint

 

[archie82]

Theres a extract recipe by Tony on here somewhere do a search as well you will find countless posts regarding little creatures recipes kit, extract and all grain. Cheers.

Heres the link for tonys extract [topic="0"]http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=26419[/topic]

 

[RobH]

I have just started brewing again after many years .. similar story to you except I found the plastic in my old Wander fermenter had started breaking down and no matter what I did, it still smelt lile 20 year old tupperware .... so just before the shop at Faulconbridge shut down I bought two fermenters and some kits.

With my second batch of Pale ale I used the Coopers Pale Ale kit, morgans lager yeast (because I like to brew at a lower temp here in the mountains), and two Cascade hops "teabags", and 1kg 50/50 Light dried malt extract / Dextrose monohydrate.

I can't say it is up there with Little Creatures, but it's now 3 and a half weeks since I bottled it, and I gotta say those extra hops really help with that "floral"/aromatic characteristic that Little Creatures has.

I am sitting on the back deck now watching the sunset ... drinking my Pale Ale .... one thing I just noticed is that the flavour & aroma is multiplied many times when I pour the whole bottle in with the yeast at the bottom of the bottle ... I am findin g the lager yeast is not a strong yeasty flavour, but it must absorb alot of the hops flavour ... so I will be drinking my Pale cloudy from now on

PS: I bought the fermenters with the "push down" (not screw-on) lids as I find them so much easier to clean.

 

[buttersd70]

which little creatures? Bright? Golden? Different animal, different recipes.

 

[DTM]

Extract or kit?

 

[Clint Lee]

Cheers guys, yeah i did a search and found heaps. im pretty sure mines an extract kit. all i have to do is mix the can of wort with the suger and water then the yeast in the barrel. id like do all grain but dont have the room or money to set it up properly yet.

 

[manticle]

For little creatures pale ale try adding both cascade and chinook hops if you can find them.

Basically find a pale ale kit, brew according to instructions EXCEPT keep the temperature around 20 degrees and leave the brew a bit longer after fermentation has finished. Replacing some of the simple sugar with dried malt can also be a good thing.

When you add the hot water to the kit, add in some hops bags (can either buy Morgans hops bags or use a clean new stocking with hop pellets inside), let sit for a few minutes like making tea, then chuck in fermenter. You can throw in the bags/stocking or pull them out after steeping. Alternatively you can boil water and steep the hops (again like a tea) or use a coffee plunger.

 

[CDJ]

Look for the recipes in this thread....see what suits you. If you can, definitively try to add some hops in there as manticle says.

 

[Clint Lee]

thanks Manticle. Gonna pay a visit to the home brew shop on tuesday, at least now i have an idea of what to buy. and pardon my ignorance what is steeping??

 

[manticle]

Steeping is soaking in water - in this case hot or boiling water. Think of making a cup of tea, whether with bags or with leaves. You are steeping the tea.

 

[Clint Lee]

oh yep gotcha, still getting my head around the different lingo, same as when i took up pistol shooting

 

[Kevman]

Hi

I also have just got back into home brewing after a hiatus of almost 15 years. Got jaded with the same-same beer of Australian brewers and the tastier imports cost an arm and a leg.

Brewing my 4th brew at the moment.

There seems to be a lot more options available in K&K than there was 15 years ago - even more kit companies. Just trying a few of them out to then see which ones I like and want to modify to make better.

@ Clint - Is there a HBS in Cranbourne as I live near Cranbourne but haven't seen one there. At the moment I go to the HBS in Seaford.

 

[Clint Lee]

Yeah as far as i know theres isnt a shop in cranbourne. I use the one in seaford too.