Coopers Canadian Blonde suggested improvements

[mtb]

Does that hurt?

Gets easier over time

 

[Ben Hardman]

Good grief if I lugged home another fridge would be murdered. Sadly she hates, beers, once I get a bit of stock up will hit you lads up on how to do some decent cider and meads, though by that time will probably be able to lager without the fridge lol.

 

[Ben Hardman]

Anyone has any of those big style esky bags in South of Sydney, Liverpool area, or Even St George area, happy to pay a reasonably price if anyone has any spare ideally 2 lol for fermentation.

 

[good4whatAlesU]

If you're stuck, just buy a couple of those supermarket cool bags. You'll need 2 for each fermenter - one on bottom, one on top - duct tape around the middle. Swap ice bricks out twice a day.

 

[Rod]

Abbey Ale

(23 Litres)



Ingredients:

1 x 1.7kg International Series Canadian Blonde

1 x 1.5kg Thomas Coopers Light Malt Extract

1 x 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt

1 x 200g Crystal Malt Grain

1 x 12g Styrian Goldings Hop Pellets

1 x 11g Lallemand Abbaye Yeast Sachet

1 x 250g Coopers Carbonation Drops

Colour: GoldenBody: MediumBitterness: Low/MediumApprox. Alcohol Level: 6.0% ABVNaturally Carbonated: Natural



Step 1: Mix

The day before: Line a pot (at least 4 litres) with a mesh cleaning cloth (pulled straight fromt he pack), then add the cracked grain and 2 litres of cold water.

Fit the lid and sit in the fridge for 24 hours.

Remove from the fridge then gather up the corners of the mesh cloth and lift, allowing the liquid to drain from the grain back into the pot.

Transfer the liquid to a good sized pot (around 8 litres) and bring to the boil with a further 2 litres of water and the 500g of Light Dry Malt.

Once at the boil, add the Styrian Goldings Hop pellets and boil for 10 mins.

Set the pot in a cold/ice water bath to cool then strain into a fermenting vessel (FV)

Add the Canadian Blonde and Light Malt Extract to the FV, stir to dissolve then top up with cool water to the 20 litre mark and stir thoroughly.

Check the brew temperature and top up to the 23 litre mark with warm or cold water (refridgerated if necessary) to get as close as possible to 21C.

Sprinkle the Abbaye and brew can yeast then fit the lid.



Step 2: Brew

Try to ferment at 21C.

Fermentation has finished once the specific gravity is stable over 2 days. It should finish around the 1010 – 1014 mark.



Step 3: Bottle

Bottle the brew with 2 carbonation drops per 740ml - 750ml bottle (priming rate of 8g per litre).



Step 4: Enjoy

Allow to condition for at least 2 weeks in the bottle. Try a bottle early but if you can, keep a few aside to experience how this brew develops over time!

Expect the alcohol content to be around 6.0% ABV.

 

[Rod]

Abbey Ale

(23 Litres)



Ingredients:

1 x 1.7kg International Series Canadian Blonde

1 x 1.5kg Thomas Coopers Light Malt Extract

1 x 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt

1 x 200g Crystal Malt Grain

1 x 12g Styrian Goldings Hop Pellets

1 x 11g Lallemand Abbaye Yeast Sachet

1 x 250g Coopers Carbonation Drops

Colour: GoldenBody: MediumBitterness: Low/MediumApprox. Alcohol Level: 6.0% ABVNaturally Carbonated: Natural



Step 1: Mix

The day before: Line a pot (at least 4 litres) with a mesh cleaning cloth (pulled straight fromt he pack), then add the cracked grain and 2 litres of cold water.

Fit the lid and sit in the fridge for 24 hours.

Remove from the fridge then gather up the corners of the mesh cloth and lift, allowing the liquid to drain from the grain back into the pot.

Transfer the liquid to a good sized pot (around 8 litres) and bring to the boil with a further 2 litres of water and the 500g of Light Dry Malt.

Once at the boil, add the Styrian Goldings Hop pellets and boil for 10 mins.

Set the pot in a cold/ice water bath to cool then strain into a fermenting vessel (FV)

Add the Canadian Blonde and Light Malt Extract to the FV, stir to dissolve then top up with cool water to the 20 litre mark and stir thoroughly.

Check the brew temperature and top up to the 23 litre mark with warm or cold water (refridgerated if necessary) to get as close as possible to 21C.

Sprinkle the Abbaye and brew can yeast then fit the lid.



Step 2: Brew

Try to ferment at 21C.

Fermentation has finished once the specific gravity is stable over 2 days. It should finish around the 1010 – 1014 mark.



Step 3: Bottle

Bottle the brew with 2 carbonation drops per 740ml - 750ml bottle (priming rate of 8g per litre).



Step 4: Enjoy

Allow to condition for at least 2 weeks in the bottle. Try a bottle early but if you can, keep a few aside to experience how this brew develops over time!

Expect the alcohol content to be around 6.0% ABV.

 

[Rod]

sorry hit the button twice

 

[koshari]

Just get a 120l bar fridge Ben. Camaflage it and tell the missus its a cabinet. She dont have to know there is a compressor in it at all. They will generally fit a 25l fermenter. And they go cheap very o ften.

I hate to sound repetitive but Mtb is really on the money here they are the most important aspect in temp control.

 

[knucklebusters]

I'm drinking a Canadian Blonde currently........well not right at this point of time as i'm at work
It is a very tasty and easy beer to drink and has had great reviews from everyone that's had one.

Coopers Canadian Blonde
Coopers Light Extract can 1.5kg
200g Caramunich
150g Maltodextrin
20g each of Cascade and Galaxy @ 10mins
US05 Rehydrated

ABV 4.8%

Brewed at 18 for 15 days in temp controlled fridge.

 

[Ben Hardman]

Sounds great, created a yeast started to start so had a huge amount of yeast to put in there, just using the kit yeast.

Coopers Brew Enhancer 2.
200g steeped light malt.

OG 1.048.

Got some cascade hops to dry hop with after racking.

At the moment doing the wet towel method in a bath half filled with water plus wet towels(will sanatise both fermenters there, have my mangrove jacks just about after adding finings y'day.

Comfortably at 18 for both of them.

 

[Ben Hardman]

Abbey Ale

(23 Litres)



Ingredients:

1 x 1.7kg International Series Canadian Blonde

1 x 1.5kg Thomas Coopers Light Malt Extract

1 x 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt

1 x 200g Crystal Malt Grain

1 x 12g Styrian Goldings Hop Pellets

1 x 11g Lallemand Abbaye Yeast Sachet

1 x 250g Coopers Carbonation Drops

Colour: GoldenBody: MediumBitterness: Low/MediumApprox. Alcohol Level: 6.0% ABVNaturally Carbonated: Natural



Step 1: Mix

The day before: Line a pot (at least 4 litres) with a mesh cleaning cloth (pulled straight fromt he pack), then add the cracked grain and 2 litres of cold water.

Fit the lid and sit in the fridge for 24 hours.

Remove from the fridge then gather up the corners of the mesh cloth and lift, allowing the liquid to drain from the grain back into the pot.

Transfer the liquid to a good sized pot (around 8 litres) and bring to the boil with a further 2 litres of water and the 500g of Light Dry Malt.

Once at the boil, add the Styrian Goldings Hop pellets and boil for 10 mins.

Set the pot in a cold/ice water bath to cool then strain into a fermenting vessel (FV)

Add the Canadian Blonde and Light Malt Extract to the FV, stir to dissolve then top up with cool water to the 20 litre mark and stir thoroughly.

Check the brew temperature and top up to the 23 litre mark with warm or cold water (refridgerated if necessary) to get as close as possible to 21C.

Sprinkle the Abbaye and brew can yeast then fit the lid.



Step 2: Brew

Try to ferment at 21C.

Fermentation has finished once the specific gravity is stable over 2 days. It should finish around the 1010 – 1014 mark.



Step 3: Bottle

Bottle the brew with 2 carbonation drops per 740ml - 750ml bottle (priming rate of 8g per litre).



Step 4: Enjoy

Allow to condition for at least 2 weeks in the bottle. Try a bottle early but if you can, keep a few aside to experience how this brew develops over time!

Expect the alcohol content to be around 6.0% ABV.

Cheers for the recipe both look great!

 

[PaulG79]

If you're looking for basic stuff to improve kits & bits brews you can't go past hops, even just the teabag finishing ones make a huge difference. I've found most of the kit beers taste quite nice on their own but you for sure know you're drinking home brew. Hops make all the difference.

Obviously temp control but everyone's already discussed that. I got a fridge for free off my brother in law so lucky me but there are plenty of other options that would work. What about wrapping the FV up in a sleeping bag and stuffing ice bricks down the insides? Wet towels sound like an annoying mess to me. Other suggestions I've seen are to pop it on the concrete floor in the garage, the concrete keeps to a fairly even temperature apparently.

Something I'm having fun experimenting with are the Coopers recipe of the month (ROTM) packs, it's an easy all in one option to experiment with different grains and hops and flavours, I've been doing so many the house is full of bottles. There hasn't been a single one that hasn't turned out nice, one or two I don't like as much as others but they've all been drinkable, tasty brews.

 

[barls]

Anyone has any of those big style esky bags in South of Sydney, Liverpool area, or Even St George area, happy to pay a reasonably price if anyone has any spare ideally 2 lol for fermentation.

I've got a spare 100 can cooler you can have for 10 bucks. but I'm up in ryde,

 

[Ben Hardman]

Recommendation 1 for me would be a fermentation fridge. You're fermenting a lager yeast at 18C which is high for a lager, you're going to get unwanted esters.
Since you bottle, this fridge is handy twofold. After the fermentation is done, simply adjust the temp controller to 2C and chill your beer without having to move it elsewhere. Cold crash for a few days before bottling and you'll greatly improve your clarity.
Recommendation 2 is wort oxygenation. Lengthy but very convincing thread here - https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/get-into-o2-guys-if-youre-serious-about-nicer-beer.92900/
Recommendation 3 (but kinda a continuation of 1) is to start using biofine if you haven't already - https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/biofine.95697/

mtb, great news mate got a fermentation bar fridge with a stc temp control, currently brewing a coopers Canadian blonde again(first ones good after 5 weeks in bottle.) brewing with kit yeast at 18 degrees. (suggested amount)

Also improved my technique to doing good yeast starters as well.

Remember how I said I used pet bottles, lesson to self, tighten properly, had undercarbonated beer and just had to retighten the lid on over 250 pet bottles(including ciders and ginger beers).

Grabbed 2 aussie pales and another Canadian blonde with brew enhancer 3. also carapilse specialty grains. Once I've done that and got enough stock for a few months planning on biab!

20% of coopers range @ big w at the moment for any at the kits stage.

QUESTION, BROUGHT A 100G OF CASCADE, PLANNING ON RACKING COLD CRASHING THE BLONDE AT 2 DEGREE'S FOR A WEEK AT 2-3 DEGREES. SHOULD I USE A HOP SOCK FOR THE HOPS OR JUST TOSS IN 10G IN SECONDARY.

 

[wereprawn]

mtb, great news mate got a fermentation bar fridge with a stc temp control, currently brewing a coopers Canadian blonde again(first ones good after 5 weeks in bottle.) brewing with kit yeast at 18 degrees. (suggested amount)

Also improved my technique to doing good yeast starters as well.

Remember how I said I used pet bottles, lesson to self, tighten properly, had undercarbonated beer and just had to retighten the lid on over 250 pet bottles(including ciders and ginger beers).

Grabbed 2 aussie pales and another Canadian blonde with brew enhancer 3. also carapilse specialty grains. Once I've done that and got enough stock for a few months planning on biab!

20% of coopers range @ big w at the moment for any at the kits stage.

QUESTION, BROUGHT A 100G OF CASCADE, PLANNING ON RACKING COLD CRASHING THE BLONDE AT 2 DEGREE'S FOR A WEEK AT 2-3 DEGREES. SHOULD I USE A HOP SOCK FOR THE HOPS OR JUST TOSS IN 10G IN SECONDARY.

Neither, secondary is pointless in your situation. Let at least 20 g swim free in the fv for a few days after or just before fg, crash for a couple of days and bottle.

 

[malt junkie]

mtb, great news mate got a fermentation bar fridge with a stc temp control, currently brewing a coopers Canadian blonde again(first ones good after 5 weeks in bottle.) brewing with kit yeast at 18 degrees. (suggested amount)

Also improved my technique to doing good yeast starters as well.

Remember how I said I used pet bottles, lesson to self, tighten properly, had undercarbonated beer and just had to retighten the lid on over 250 pet bottles(including ciders and ginger beers).

Grabbed 2 aussie pales and another Canadian blonde with brew enhancer 3. also carapilse specialty grains. Once I've done that and got enough stock for a few months planning on biab!

20% of coopers range @ big w at the moment for any at the kits stage.

QUESTION, BROUGHT A 100G OF CASCADE, PLANNING ON RACKING COLD CRASHING THE BLONDE AT 2 DEGREE'S FOR A WEEK AT 2-3 DEGREES. SHOULD I USE A HOP SOCK FOR THE HOPS OR JUST TOSS IN 10G IN SECONDARY.

call it 20G, if they're naked (no bag) you'll get better usage. Also when bottling take care to eliminate oxygen take up. Looks like the slippery slope has claimed another victim, welcome aboard!

 

[Ben Hardman]

How come racking is pointless?

Cheers mate, my early beers are making the right noises, still pissed at the bottle tightening but anyways.

Also guys using a carboy so will need to syphon into a regular fermenter to bottle, any point in leaving in the fermenter for a day or to settle or can I do same night?

 

[mtb]

How come racking is pointless?

A better question to ask is - why do it, as opposed to why not.
There's a couple of big reasons why not; oxidisation and increased infection risk.

using a carboy so will need to syphon into a regular fermenter to bottle, any point in leaving in the fermenter for a day or to settle or can I do same night?

No point leaving it in the bottling vessel unless you want it to drop clear(er). Also why use the carboy at all? A 30L water drum from Bunnings makes for a great fermenter, and for less than $30.

 

[wereprawn]

How come racking is pointless?

Cheers mate, my early beers are making the right noises, still pissed at the bottle tightening but anyways.

Also guys using a carboy so will need to syphon into a regular fermenter to bottle, any point in leaving in the fermenter for a day or to settle or can I do same night?

Is there any way you can hook your bottling wand up to the end of your syphon? It'd make bottling easier,quicker and decrease problems associated with racking.

 

[mtb]

Is there any way you can hook your bottling wand up to the end of your syphon? It'd make bottling easier,quicker and decrease problems associated with racking.

I have a setup for this exact purpose. I use it to bottle my meads. Bit of a pain in the *** though.. you have to rely on your bottling wand being fairly watertight when the spring is not depressed. Being full of beer I don't see how it could be that depressed anyway.