Coopers Kit No Flavour And Body

[frenzal_tom]

hi guys i have started brewing coopers basic brew kit. i've tried the coopers pale and the coopers draught.
all i did was add the tin, brew enchancer 2, water and yeast. both of them i fermented under the 22 degrees.
what reason could make it have no body or flavour? should i try just add light dried malt instead of brew enchancer? try hopping also? thanks

 

[DU99]

how old are they...hops could make a difference

 

[frenzal_tom]

well my bottled ones have been bottle for 4 weeks.

 

[bum]

Tom, plain kits are, well, mostly pretty plain. Can certainly make a beer that a brewer might be happy with if that is what they are looking for, of course.

You're right in your suggested fixes - using all malt extract for the fermentables will increase both malt flavour and body and doing a small hop boil will also increase hop flavour and even bitterness if you want it to. You might also want to do a bit of research into steeping specialty grains which will also add both flavour and body. Plenty of info on all these topics about the place. Sounds like you've got a rough idea of what you need to do already though.

 

[Gormand]

I havnt tried those kits so not sure on the base flavours. I would defiantly add some hops and either full light malt or 50/50 Light malt/dex (I dont know what BE2 is). Boil up 3l water with 300g of light dried malt and once you hit boil throw in some hops (I will let people more knowledgeable then me say which ones you should use and how much) Boil for 10-15 min and strain. Add your kit and this to the tub and top u to your 23L
You could also add 500g of Maltodextrin to give it a bit more body on top of everything else you put in.

 

[DU99]

get a stepping kit ,they contain grains and hops..they make a difference

 

[Harry Volting]

Wild Yeast wild Yeast wild Yeast.
Sanitation sanitation sANITATION.
hARRY.

 

[frenzal_tom]

so wild yeast will cause no flavour or body?

 

[bum]

It will certainly cause flavour and typically ferments much lower than your average beer yeast (reducing body)...but, uh, you'd notice it if this was the issue. Not sure why Harry is so quick to present a wild yeast infection as the cause of your problem though - especially when nothing you've said suggests it. I'd put that idea to the side for now if I were you.

Of course sanitation is of extreme importance so don't ignore that bit.

 

[warra48]

so wild yeast will cause no flavour or body?

Well, it's a possibility.

If you have a wild yeast, really an infection, because it's an unwanted organism, it tends to ferment more than the yeast you intended to brew with. Thus, it tends to strip body and flavour from your brew.

However, from what you've posted, it's by no means clear that's what happened to you.

There are any number of explanations of why you consider you have too little body and flavour, including possibly your too high expections. We don't have sufficient information to take a guess.

The fixes you suggest, and endorsed by previous posts, are your obvious first steps to resolving your issues.

 

[dcx3]

I doubt it's wild yeast.That would leave a sour flavour in your beer and give you bottle bombs.Im no expert but thats whats happened to me.
I would say its more to do with a lack of hops,maybe youve drunk alot of megaswill and expected similiar results.
How long did you leave the beer before drinking?
Like the other guys said a good way to add flavour is to learn how to steep grains its pretty easy and gives good results.
Try this recipe next
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...57&hl=neils

 

[Bribie G]

Flavour and body compared to what exactly? VB, coopers commercial ales, or a European commercial beer perhaps?

 

[Punkal]

+1 for steeping grains as dcx3 said or getting a steeping kit (mix of grain and hops) like DU99 suggested they will add flavor form the grains and hops and should also increase body, mouth feel and head retention...

 

[Amber Fluid]

I havnt tried those kits so not sure on the base flavours. I would defiantly add some hops and either full light malt or 50/50 Light malt/dex (I dont know what BE2 is). Boil up 3l water with 300g of light dried malt and once you hit boil throw in some hops (I will let people more knowledgeable then me say which ones you should use and how much) Boil for 10-15 min and strain. Add your kit and this to the tub and top u to your 23L
You could also add 500g of Maltodextrin to give it a bit more body on top of everything else you put in.

Any more than 300g Malto is a waste of money imo. Better to add extra LDM.

 

[fergi]

hi guys i have started brewing coopers basic brew kit. i've tried the coopers pale and the coopers draught.
all i did was add the tin, brew enchancer 2, water and yeast. both of them i fermented under the 22 degrees.
what reason could make it have no body or flavour? should i try just add light dried malt instead of brew enchancer? try hopping also? thanks

the kits you are making are infact quite thin and tasteless,the coopers pale ale with BE2 added and the yeast under the lid of the can do not really have any resemblance to a real coopers pale ale


the BE2 pack is malt and dextrose,its better than the kilo of sugar but really needs to be doped up a bit,when i do the coopers pale ale can i add 500 grms ldme and 250 grms dextrose, i mix this into 3 litres of water ,bring to the boil and throw in 15 grms P.O.R hops then boil for 10 minutes,after flameout i throw another 10 grms in while i am cooling the wort, this takes about 10 minutes to bring temp down, then i use recultured coopers yeast.oh i throw the coopers yeast under the lid into the boiling wort.tip contents of boil into fermenter,i dont strain,ferment for about 7/8 days @18 deg then put into secondry for about 3 to 4 days,.
not a bad drop,i like to keep the yeast in suspension in the keg to get that nutty type of flavor.
fergi

 

[frenzal_tom]

thanks for the feedback guys. i thought i had to do add something else. hops what does boiling mean. put hops in boiling water for 5 mins, then add the hops to the fermenter? then for other hops boiling for say 10mins then add to fermenter?

 

[Brad Churchill]

G'day Tom.

I would reccomend you give the Cascade Imperial Voyage Pale Ale kit a go.
When I was doing kits I quite enjoyed it.
From memory I would bring it to the boil on the stove top with around five litres of water and add 1 kg of dextrose and half a kg of LME. I would boil about 10g of Northern brewer for about 45 minutes and 10g of fuggles or EKG @ 30 minutes and 10 or 15 minutes.
Chuck in fermenter and top up with cold water.
Quite a tasty brew.
If you can't find a cascade kit try this or something similar with what ever you can find.

Oh yeah and I remember my kits improved heaps when I started boiling on the stove top adding hops and specialty grains.
Kits are really just the beginning but a great way to gatting into homebrew.

Cheers

Brad

In case I wasn't clear the hops are boiled in the pot with the kit and the malt etc:

 

[frenzal_tom]

I would boil about 10g of Northern brewer for about 45 minutes and 10g of fuggles or EKG @ 30 minutes and 10 or 15 minutes.
with this part i put northern brewer in pretty much at the start, then 15 mins later the EKG?

thanks. also pellets easiest?

 

[Pennywise]

What was your OG & FG?

 

[J Grimmer]

Frenzal_Tom,

I have found the above said kits great for the basis of beers and to use in toucan recipes.

Jan