Coopers Kit

[misfit]

Hi everyone,I am looking at doing my first brew
Is it possibile to get a good beer out of one of these kits or should I save my money,do some more research and start with something more advanced.
If you do use one of these kits what are your tips to get the best out of this kit.
Thanks guys I hope to learn a lot here and I hope to give something back when I can.
Cheers JIMMY

 

[Rowy]

Hi everyone,I am looking at doing my first brew
Is it possibile to get a good beer out of one of these kits or should I save my money,do some more research and start with something more advanced.
If you do use one of these kits what are your tips to get the best out of this kit.
Thanks guys I hope to learn a lot here and I hope to give something back when I can.
Cheers JIMMY

Welcome Jimmy I'm pretty new as well. I started doing kits with a kilo of dextrose and if I had my time over again. I would have studied some more on this site and others. Asked questions and went straight to extracts. Some people may have a different idea but I reckon its just as easy and makes heaps better beer.

 

[Pennywise]

You sure can brew a decent drop from a Coopers kit. Main points that I can think of ATM (I've had a few so forgive me if I miss something) are

-Ferment at about 18-20c
-Use malt extract in place of the sugar/brew enhancers, a small amount of sugar is fine for some beers, no more than 300g
-Use a decent yeast or several packs of the kit yeast, the main issue with the kit yeast is it's only 7g, not enough.
-Steep some specialty grain, IMO, a must when brewing any kit. Which kit will depend on which grain, as will what you want out of it
-Hops, use them. And not those 12g stale sachets Brewcraft sell, get some fresh hops from one of the sponsors up the top of the page. generally a dry hop addition is enough to bring a kit to life
-Once you reach FG, leave it sit for another 3-4 days, this will help clear the beer a little more and also the yeast will clean up some of the rank shit it pissed out during the ferment
-Use a no rinse sanitizer like Starsan, and clean your gear well (spotless well) before you sanitize.

That's all I can think of ATM, I'm sure others will be able to add stuff

 

[Rowy]

The brewshop has a great step by step guide on line in how to do malt extract brews.

 

[misfit]

Hi Rowy,Thanks for the welcome.
Thanks for that advice mate,That is what I am looking for,people who have already been there like you can teach me more than anyone.
Anymore opinions would be welcome.

 

[XavierZ]

My first ever brew was a Coopers Pale Ale with the Brew Enhancer 2. Loved it!

My second was again a Coopers Pale Ale with the Brew Enhancer 2, but I mixed
the tin with the BE2 in a pot, added 10L of water, when it start boiling added 10g
of Galaxy Hops. Another 10g 5min later. Another 20g 5 min later again, then
poured it all into 10L of cold water (after another 5min) in the fermenter and
topped it off to 23L.

It's now my signature brew with a yeast starter from dregs and 20g dry-hop at day10.
All others are All-grain and Brew in a Bag.

 

[thedragon]

Jimmy

As the other guys have said, you can get a good tasting beer from a Coopers kit. I've recently learnt that you can get a much better beer using all grain, however I think that if I went straight to AG, I'd have given up the hobby early on. I'm the type of person that needs to get addicted slowly! :icon_cheers:

IMO, start with a coopers kit, and then ramp it up as you become more confident. A In addition to what the others have said, here are my tips to help you get a much better beer...
1. Don't take any short cuts on the sanitisation.
2. Throw away the yeast that comes with the kit and replace it with something better. The US05 which you should be able to get from your home brew shop should be good.
3. Once you've pitched the yeast do your very best to keep the temperature constant. There are many ways to achieve this - do a quick search on AHB to see what comes up.
4. Don't rush the bottling (refer Pennywise's post), or in to the drinking. I generally wait about 3 months before hooking in to a batch. That said I started on my first batch within 3 weeks of bottling. Taste will improve with time as the beer conditions in the bottle.
5. Keep notes throughout the brew day. You can refer to these notes later on to help understand why a beer tastes the way that it does - I usually do this while drinking a brew.

Xavier's advice to introduce hops to your second brew is sound advice. You'll smell and taste the difference.

If you are smart, it won't take you 20 odd brews before you move on from kits to all grain as it did for me.

In addition to this forum, have a read of John Palmer's book How to Brew.

Good luck with your first batch. Make sure you let us know how you go.

Daniel

 

[Dribs]

Depends on your reasons for wanting to start your adventure into the world of home brewing. You can make a basic beer that is similar to Carlton draught while saving 90% of what would be your slab money. Simply use 2 cans of goo, both yeast packets, 2 cups of sugar, around 26 litres of water, should come out around 5% and you'll have something you can drink* and say "wow, the savings are amazing. I'm never buying cheap beer again."

* Provided temperature and sanitizing rules are followed.

If you wish to aim higher than the standard CUB/Tooheys beer, say between Coopers and James Squire, then dry hoping, steeping crystal malts, malt extract, using better yeasts and so forth would be advisable. Hint: A toucan stout with enough malt extract doubles as a meal!

If you've tasted Leffe Brune and thought about making it yourself, you're going to need to go all grain and buy lots of ingredients. In conclusion, a cheap kit set up will produce cheap-end style beer that still tastes better than Hammer 'n Tongs/Hahn Ice. The more you put in the more you get back, etc.

 

[misfit]

Hi guys,Thanks for the info All great info that has set me on the right track.
I think I will start with the kit,get the feel of things and then move on to more advanced methods.
To start with I will just be happy with a beer that is nice to drink,then I will take it up a notch.
Once again thanks for all the info

 

[Yob]

2. Throw away the yeast that comes with the kit and replace it with something better. The US05 which you should be able to get from your home brew shop should be good.

dont throw away the kit yeast... its jam packed with nutrient the yeast love... throw it in the boil as you tuen the heat off and the yeast you do pitch will love you for it..

Depends on your reasons for wanting to start your adventure into the world of home brewing. You can make a basic beer that is similar to Carlton draught while saving 90% of what would be your slab money. Simply use 2 cans of goo, both yeast packets, 2 cups of sugar, around 26 litres of water, should come out around 5% and you'll have something you can drink* and say "wow, the savings are amazing. I'm never buying cheap beer again."

why? why the hell would this be advised? even if all he wanted was a cheap beer there are better ways of going about it... im not going to rant about it but if 1 x packet yeast is not enough for a single brew how the FK can... FK it I cant be arsed....

Penny had it down pretty well... a few hops, steeped grain if you are up to it, Spec Yeast, Temp control... Kit beeers despite what the Haters say can be effing awesome..

Yob

 

[thedragon]

dont throw away the kit yeast... its jam packed with nutrient the yeast love... throw it in the boil as you tuen the heat off and the yeast you do pitch will love you for it..

Good advice, I'll give it a go. Thanks!

 

[Dribs]

why? why the hell would this be advised?

It's cheap and everything is at Safeway
Handy when you're stranded in BF Idaho.

 

[Yob]

It's cheap and everything is at Safeway
Handy when you're stranded in BF Idaho.

I dont care where in the back of BF you are.... I would still never do what you advise in this instance...

ever...

 

[Dribs]

I dont care where in the back of BF you are.... I would still never do what you advise in this instance...

ever...

Ok. I'm still learning. I've found this works rather well. What would you alter?

 

[Yob]

Simply use 2 cans of goo, both yeast packets, 2 cups of sugar, around 26 litres of water

this... into what was IMO good advice said many posts before... not having a go... just having a go at what I feel to be VERY bad advice... feel free to correct me if this beer ever won an award apart from the summer nats...

:icon_vomit:

 

[Dribs]

I'll enter it in at the summernats then and see how it goes

 

[the_new_darren]

Sounds good Dribs.

tnd

 

[blakie21]

Hey mate

I was in your situation a few months ago. I decided to dive head first and just do it, risking a terrible beer. Just before doing my brew I had a look around here and by taking temperature control and sanitation advise my first brew came out good. Not like a euro lager or anything but very drinkable.

Since then I have done each kit with malt and maximum 200-300g dextrose (avoiding where possible). Also I add hops to almost every brew and if you are lazy the brewcraft tea bag hops have done me okay for starting out. If you want a hoppy beer though definitley go the fresh hops, you get more for your money but dont get the bag. Just buy a grain/hops bag and away you go!

I made a leffe blonde clone out of just a kit and light malt and amber malt which came out close to the real thing. (used a liquid yeast)

Overall personally having been in your situation, try one with the coopers tin but check the use by date and try and get one that has a few years (mine have all been 2013) and make sure you use a different yeast and extra hops. Will come out nice if you control the temps and get a non-rinse sanitiser like Star-San. Rinsing makes brewing not very fun... seems expensive but star-san you use very little each time.

Once you have used some dry yeasts, check out the liquid yeasts if you want a specific style. I have found they help alot in getting flavours you want. Then try steeping some grains, check out good brew shops, some have grains in a bag to steep for more body etc so you can still be lazy. Then you become like me.. and many others here.. addicted and looking towards going all grain for fine tuning your beer.

Lots of people will say kits suck, but I have found if you dont boil the crap out of them (boil the malt but switch the flame off and then add the tin so it doesnt boil.) they taste really good and could never tell they were a kit beer! I have been out recently and tried some of the beers I used to drink/tolerate and can't drink them. My taste buds have been ruined by my delicious beer!

 

[thedragon]

I have been out recently and tried some of the beers I used to drink/tolerate and can't drink them. My taste buds have been ruined by my delicious beer!

Blakie, great post. I agree with you 100%. Similar to you, my kit brews tasted significantly better than the crap served on tap at my local pub. I've recently moved to AG (3 brews, one in the fermenter, 2 in bottles) and I can tell you that the one AG which is ready for drinking leaves my best kit for dead. That said, due to the ease, I'll still use kits when I don't have 4 hours to dedicate, but like you will sex it up with specialty malt.

If you are thinking of AG, check out Nick's BIAB for less than thirty bucks thread. It does take time, but is much easier than you think - even I can do it!

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=38674

 

[Braumoasta]

I have been out recently and tried some of the beers I used to drink/tolerate and can't drink them. My taste buds have been ruined by my delicious beer!

Ruined!?!?! No way... more like enlightened! :icon_cheers: