Cooper Home Brew Cans - Difference Between Each Series?

[Fermented]

'Evening all!

Sorry to be asking a question which may have already been asked, but is there a significant difference between the regular, Brewmaster and Premium series cans from Coopers?

I have a Leffe Blond clone just about to be bottled and want to do something quick and tasty but don't have enough time to go to my LHBS so was thinking to cheat and grab something from the supermarket. I've got a BE2 equivalent and a can of Coopers Light Malt to hand, so was thinking to use that.

In short, I don't want to have lesser quality for the sake of haste.

Cheers - Fermented.

 

[peas_and_corn]

During my brief foray into kit brewing I found no real difference between the 'premium' and normal cans- the best way to improve the flavour is not what can you use, but how you brew them and what you brew the cans with

 

[Fermented]

Cool. Thanks for the straight answer.

This is not for a fussy brew, just something a couple of steps ahead of megaswill.

Cheers - Fermented.

 

[Bribie G]

I only use the original series, as a 'filler' in a partial mash brew, because they are a good cheap dose of fermentable goop with little aroma hops but some basic bittering 'for free'.

Example: a can of original series Lager with two k of grain malt, some flavour and aroma hops, a better yeast etc.

I once did a Bavarian Lager and was completely underwhelmed.

The stout is not too bad and makes a nice 'toucan', and the lager, as a 'toucan' is a pleasant beer that holds its own with many commercial beers such as VB.

However if you are into kit brewing and want to spend fourteen bucks, go for a Morgans any day. And use plenty of adjuncts like light dried malt extract, a better yeast such as Nottingham etc.

 

[peas_and_corn]

+1 on the Morgan's cans. When I skipped from Coopers to Morgan's things got a lot better. I also recommend you use ESB cans, they are not only easy to brew with, but make handy containers to use for storage.

 

[Jase71]

Another great thread that I'll be following with interest. Base Goop + educated extras seems to make sense to me when there's a difference of up to $10 between a Coopers Supermarket vs a HBS can. The generall concensus amonst the more experienced hobbyists here is that you're all adding & refining the kits anyway, so why bother with a twenty buck can when you're adding refinements such as specialty grains, extra hops, good yeasts and the like. Yes ? No ? Is this going to start a flame war ?

After putting down my first one of a Coopers Brewmaster Series Wheat with liquid wheat malt and Tettnangers, and having a wee dram this morning when I checked the gravity, it's tasting very bloody good, and I can't wait (but invariably will) to get it bottled, conditioned, and into the guts about four weeks from now. But I'm taking the 'basic kit' route for the next, a supermarket Coopers with 'tweaking'. And planning to repeat the exact same basic kit a few times back-to-back so I can 'tweak' individual elements and determine what works well. To me, it a more logical experiment if I'm to stay on the same goop for a while, twist & turn one or two variables in each brew, and take notes on what works and what doesnt. I figure that's going to be the best way to establish how each variable works, being that it's untainted by varying kit styles.

Not that money-saving is the issue here. F**k, I've spent $120, then another $70, then another $10 in the last week - and I already had a fermenter ! I keep repeating the mantra "You gotta spend money to, um, save money". The carton of Schwelmer bought about an hour ago was strictly for the swing-top bottles, so I'm counting that as incidental collatteral damage :icon_cheers:

 

[peas_and_corn]

I certainly hope it doesn't start a flame war...

But certainly, the best approach for kit brewing is to use the kit in conjunction with other ingredients- that is, at the very least some LDME, if not some hops, grains etc etc. Couple it with good temperature control and you'll have a fine beer made. There's a monster thread somewhere on the forum with kit recipes on it, and that will certainly help any budding kit brewer on what sort ofthing you can do with a kit brew.

 

[flattop]

Jase i am doing the same mantra, 2x fermenters and half a dozen cans of various LME's and 45 pet bottles later and i am still spending... spend to save (tasted my first brew off the tap a week after pitching and thought fark what have i done!!!!) but i drank a 750 of my mates Bavarian kit today (standard ESB kit, no extra's) and it was fanfarkintastic, clear, crisp and lovely an i figure if i can make a few brews of that quality it would be worth the investment.

 

[Goofinder]

I reckon if you're just going to brew kit & kilo (of dex or brew enhancer) then it's worth spending a couple of extra bucks to get the 'premium' kits. If you're adding lots of malt, hops and steeping grains, stick to the basic kits like Coopers Lager or Real Ale as a base and work from there.

 

[Jase71]

....tasted my first brew off the tap a week after pitching and thought fark what have i done!!!!

Oh you poor bugger. Does it taste that bad ? Luckily, my bubbler's going to be awesome i think. I tell a lie here when I speak of this one as 'my first' - gave it a go two years ago on borrowed equipment, and it was such a bad outcome after conditioning that it went straight down the sink. It was a Morgans Pils from memory, with no regard for temperatures, and dometic sugars somewhere in the mix. Also think it was infected.

This time I have the advantage of a shitload of good information at hand.

I reckon if you're just going to brew kit & kilo (of dex or brew enhancer) then it's worth spending a couple of extra bucks to get the 'premium' kits. If you're adding lots of malt, hops and steeping grains, stick to the basic kits like Coopers Lager or Real Ale as a base and work from there.

Yes, that's my theory as well. Why mess with lots of premium kits until you get to know the subtelties of additives.

As an aside to this discussion, I can't believe the instructions on a can of regular Coopers. It basically suggest that you simply throw in the goop, add sugar (to the genuinly uninformed, that reads as white table sugar), wait a while and chuck it into bottles. I'll bet there's as many people per year that swear off home brewing as there are that take up the torch and get serious about brewing a good bevvy.

 

[buttersd70]

As an aside to this discussion, I can't believe the instructions on a can of regular Coopers. It basically suggest that you simply throw in the goop, add sugar (to the genuinly uninformed, that reads as white table sugar), wait a while and chuck it into bottles. I'll bet there's as many people per year that swear off home brewing as there are that take up the torch and get serious about brewing a good bevvy.

Absolutely. And thats something I can't quite understand, from a business perspective. Yes, they need to make it seem easy, otherwise people will be put off. But on the other hand, the poor results do make people swear off. If the instructions provided by the manufacturer erred slightly more toward the quality side, rather than the ease of it, surely they would decrease the loss of customers due to people getting bad results and giving up. Even just something as simple as stating temperatures under 22C instead of the 26 or whatever it is they say....

End OT rant.Sorry.

 

[Gavo]

Some very good advice here about the sins of the kit instructions, and how to improve a kit by using dextrose instead of sugar and better still malt instead of sugar or dextrose. Fermented if you want a coopers kit that you can get from the supermarket, go for the Real Ale or the Australian Pale Ale. Both of these kits go well and are easily available. Use a better yeast, say US05, and you are on to a quick and easy brew.

Cheers
Gavo

 

[quantocks]

I've just done my second lot of Coopers Real Ale and I must say it's by far the best kit I've done (only done 7 so far, two being Real Ale)

to get a good range of easily accessible kits Fermented, try KMart at Chatswood Chase. the Coles up here only has Homebrand/Homeland? Draught kits and Coopers Lager or Draught generally, but KMart has a whole wall of different types and also has dried fermentables you are after

 

[Gavo]

try KMart at Chatswood Chase. the Coles up here only has Homebrand/Homeland? Draught kits and Coopers Lager or Draught generally,

What sort poor cousin of Coles do you have? :huh: I have not been to a Coles yet where I can't find at least all of the Coopers Original range, not that I am looking for kits anymore, and I am talking some of the smaller country coles stores.

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[Pollux]

What sort poor cousin of Coles do you have? :huh: I have not been to a Coles yet where I can't find at least all of the Coopers Original range, not that I am looking for kits anymore, and I am talking some of the smaller country coles stores.

Cheers
Gavo.

Coles in Broadway shopping centre stocks ZERO homebrew stuff at all...

That said, bilo and kmart in the same centre both stock a fairly decent suppply..

 

[Bizier]

BUT the Broadway Bi-Lo does, as does the K-Mart.

Ed: Oh yep... I'm an idiot.

 

[AntCoop]

Getting back to the OP question, 1 thing I have noticed between the Cooper's Draught Original and Premium cans of goo is that the premium has different yeast in the packet provided to the original.

I have just finished bottling a premium and the yeast supplied has 2 types of little yeasties in the packet.(shape and size)

The next brew i have bubbling right now uses the Original Draught and has only 1 type.

Cheers Coop :beer:

 

[Gavo]

Getting back to the OP question, 1 thing I have noticed between the Cooper's Draught Original and Premium cans of goo is that the premium has different yeast in the packet provided to the original.

That can also be said about the international series as I used the Australian PA and it had a different yeast with it. The yeast was labeled APA. The origianal series all seem to use the same yeast and it is only identified by a code.

 

[Fermented]

'Morning!

Quantocks: The KMart at Chatty has a poor selection at best. Each time I've popped in there I find, bluntly, SFA. Maybe a few cans, a kit or two, a bench bottler, a few accessories on the wall and a sparse selection of dry goods. I didn't notice any HB stuff in the Coles at Westfield, or maybe I just keep my eyes shut and only grab a few items as their grocery and fruit and veg prices are extortionate.

Jase71: The method you've suggested of choosing a "standard base, tweak it, taste it, do it again with a new tweak" sounds like a rather good plan. I've started buying bulk lots (100g) of hops to do pretty much exactly what you've suggested. I figure that a can of malt plus a kit is a pretty stable and repeatable base to start from as it's very repeatable compared even to a kit and dry powders.

BribieG: I'm no longer into plain kit brewing. I am taking the next steps to make a better product. The only straight kit I've done was my first. Even the (cough) cerveza for the missus was modified with the kind assistance of my LHBS guy. Then into fresh wort (waiting on one to be ready to drink now) which felt far too easy and now fun with hops. The reason for the fast change was the the straight kit and can of malt was about as interesting as a plain boiled potato. Yep, it was a beer and was better than commercial megaswill but it was no match for a premium import. VB? Great for a cooling drink after doing physical labour with my brothers, but I want to aim higher for sipping at home on the balcony.

Gavo: I figured the kit instructions for snake-oil before I did my first one. I found this forum and lurked and read before I opened my mouth. I headed straight into canned malts, but also received some bags of BE2 equivalent with my starter kit. There's no way I will use dex for anything more than priming or to lift OGs on some recipes. I'm none too keen on malto either, but for some quick and dirty jobs I think I may have to suffer the dark side. I've got the S-04 in stock, so will use that for now. I had a look at the Fermentis site to learn the difference between S-04 and S-05. The 05 seems to be the choice for more modern styles with a lighter, cleaner finish and the 04 for a more traditional ale taste. 05 is on my shopping list for the next bulk buy.

So, back to the original question. From all the answers, I get that there's not a huge difference between the different Coopers series. Overall, they're pretty unremarkable but are useful as a base from which to build with various adjuncts. Other brands may give a better result for the straight K&K hobbyist.

Thanks for the advice and for exploring side options too. Very greatly appreciated!

Cheers - Fermented.

EDIT: Left one thing out (yeasts).

 

[Adamt]

The Brewmaster and Premium series mostly carry different yeasts than the standard yeast... but they're still strapped to the can and face the same punishment as the standard kits. However you may find you get better yeast quality in the brewmaster/premium due to lower production levels/low shelf time/better handling. The malt is all made on the same equipment and some of the brewmaster/premium series is from the same wort at some of the standard kits.

Hope this makes sense as I'm sleep deprived and delirious.