Coopers Draught

[Jonez]

Hi everyone I am new to this forum and to the homebrew world. I just did my second batch using the following:

1/2 can coopers draught
(1 cup) 250 ml white sugar
(1 cup) 250 ml dextrose
(1 cup) 250 ml LDME

total volume 12 L
original SG= 1.034

I have read that the yeast that comes with kits is not good but was the only one I had. I did only half a batch and will do the other half with better yeast and hops when I bottle this one. I guess doing half gives me a sooner chance to try again. (not many bottles here yet).

I do not have a scale at the moment but have measuring cups. I read somewhere 6 -7 cups is ok for a full batch of 23L, so I thought 3 cups of "fermentable" sugars would do for half batch.

Is there any chance that this turns out good?

I am still trying to drink my first batch bottled on 29/12.... it seems OK but probably needs more time to carbonate.

 

[mick8882003]

Umm, you chuck the other half of the can of coopers out?

- Nothing wrong with the coopers, I have done it frequently for a cheap, easy, no fuss brew.

Oh yes and welcome.

- Mick

 

[razE]

Hi and welcome to the forums

Firstly everyone works in grams more so than cups, if i were you i would skip adding white sugar to your brew and up the LDME. Your LDME will add more flavour and body to your beer. I would give the satchet of yeast that comes with the can of goo a miss, alot of them are very old and you can buy some good quality dry yeasts for next too nothing. I would generally add anywhere between 500g - 1000g of fermentables with a whole can of goo. As far as the brew turning out good, try and keep it around 20 degrees or slightly less and it will be fine! Fresh ingredients, good yeast, good water and the tempreture you ferment at will generally be the key to producing good beer.

Good luck with it and happy brewing.

 

[boingk]

Good stuff, experimenting already, we like to see that! You'll have an excellent comparison of the two brews once the second one is ready to drink - try the proceedure from here if you want to use the legit Coopers yeast.

Welcome to the forum, hope the brewing goes well - boingk

 

[Jonez]

Thanks for the replies.
yes I am experimenting, will exclude white sugar next. The first brew does not seem to have much alcohol because I seem to drink a lot of them easily.

here is a photo of my air lock. home made since I could not find one on coles/big W...I think it is good, no water spill problems... and bubbling away as we speak!

Forgot to say, the other half can is in the fridge , covered but in the same can. will I have any issues with it?

 

[Gavo]

I have used the Coopers draft some time ago. I did not like it too much after a few weeks so I left them in the carton for about three months and they were ok. This kit seems to benefit from time in the bottle. I am trying to get through them ATM.

Recipe was:
1 can of Coopers Draft
500 grams of LDME
600 Grams of Dextrose
Safale S-05 yeast.

I don't know about the viability of keeping half of the tin in the fridge,... but I would probably use it quickly. Keep it sealed and it will probably be fine.

Cheers
Gavo

 

[dpadden]

Thanks for the replies.
yes I am experimenting, will exclude white sugar next. The first brew does not seem to have much alcohol because I seem to drink a lot of them easily.

here is a photo of my air lock. home made since I could not find one on coles/big W...I think it is good, no water spill problems... and bubbling away as we speak!

Forgot to say, the other half can is in the fridge , covered but in the same can. will I have any issues with it?

View attachment 24047

I wouldn't want to leave it too long before using as a 'normal' kit. Otherwise it may need to be boiled for 10 min to get rid of any nasties that might come along....

 

[mick8882003]

Your probably best to stick with full can brews for the time being (make that permanently), infections can easily ruin you brewing experience.

The reason I asked was that saving half a can sounds like a recipe (no pun intended) for an infection.

Hope I don't sound like your school teacher, just sounds like a bad plan to me.

- My tip and the biggest one out there is be bloody paranoid about cleaning.

Things like keeping a bucket of sanitiser handy (maybe from leftovers from sanitising the fermenter) and wash your hands in it every time you go near your wort (especially when your stirring the wort in.)

Also I find it handy to have two or three buckets on hand for things like cleaner and sanitiser, and disposal of clean water. Nothing worse than realising you need some more cleaner and you tipped it out five minutes ago.

- Hope I made brewing a little easier.

Oh, and if you stick with it, look into kegs.

Mick

Oh and if your keen on doing half brews, take a look at extract brewing using DME.

 

[razE]

Your probably best to stick with full can brews for the time being (make that permanently), infections can easily ruin you brewing experience.

The reason I asked was that saving half a can sounds like a recipe (no pun intended) for an infection.

Hope I don't sound like your school teacher, just sounds like a bad plan to me.

- My tip and the biggest one out there is be bloody paranoid about cleaning.

Things like keeping a bucket of sanitiser handy (maybe from leftovers from sanitising the fermenter) and wash your hands in it every time you go near your wort (especially when your stirring the wort in.)

Also I find it handy to have two or three buckets on hand for things like cleaner and sanitiser, and disposal of clean water. Nothing worse than realising you need some more cleaner and you tipped it out five minutes ago.

- Hope I made brewing a little easier.

Oh, and if you stick with it, look into kegs.

Mick

Oh and if your keen on doing half brews, take a look at extract brewing using DME.

If your looking for a good sanitiser that is easy on the wallet purchase some star san. If your LHBS doesn't have it (which most probably dont) i brought mine from craftbrewer, theres a link at the top of the site. Mine has lasted me months and will probably last the whole of this year lol. I like to keep some in a spray bottle handy and would definately boil that last half of goo for 10 minutes as paddo suggetsed before use. Your waterlock looks fine

 

[Jonez]

Hi All,
Hope this answers most of your questions/comments
1 Yes I will move to full batch brews after this one
2 Yes will boil the second half of the can to avoid problems
3 I have been using household bleach on water as sanitising solution
4 I will remove white sugar on the next brew (does it mean priming with dextrose? and if so how mch dextrose per bottle/ per litre?
5 boingk: thanks for the link. I actually bought a six pack of Coopers Sparkling Ale to try using the yeast but did not have this info (how to cultivate it) and ended up drinking the beer and rinsing the bottles.

6. The reason I posted the airlock photo is because I have seen some poeple posting here or on other forums about thier airlocks going empty. This one I made does not have that problem, but need to be removed when bottling, otherwise it will suck water into the fermenter.

Cheers and thank you all!

 

[boingk]

Remove white sugar from the actual ingredients in the fermentor, but using it for priming is fine. You'll find a few discussions floating around on the forums about the pros & cons of sugar v dextrose. End point is you'd be VERY hard pressed to find anyone who could tell the difference in taste between the two when used for priming.

Cheers - boingk

EDIT: No worries about the link, I've been meaning to try it for over a year now and only just got around to doing it myself.