Coopers Kits

[wiggins]

After brewing around 18 coopers kits in the last couple of months i've come to one conclusion,that most of the range,apart from stout and dark ale,taste the same.Ive used varying amounts of malt,candy sugar and the dreaded sucrose on them with very similar results in flavour and body.The most obvious flaw is lack of hop character,which can be easily fixed,but i wonder how much malt they really use to make these kits,as most will only turn out light bodied to medium at best. :chug:

 

[Mr Bond]

There is only so much u can do with extract and isohop

All the fancy labels and names can't weave magic.

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

What I'm drinking right now:

1 Can Cooper's Canadian Blonde
1 Can Cooper's Real Ale
1 Fistful of Saaz Pellets
Mixed to 21L
Pitched yeast supplied with Blonde kit, threw away the other sachet
Fermented @ 20degC for 9 days
Rested at room temp for 7 days in keg, then popped in the fridge.

Yummo :chug:

PZ.

 

[Mr Bond]

For more body ,try steeping some carapils or crystal type malts.Add a kilo of DME and make up to a final volume of 18 litres.

 

[DrewCarey82]

Coopers bitter with a Coopers brew enhancer 2 is fantastic, age it for about 3 months a bloody beautiful drink.

The lagers good as well, but the draft is great with once again brew enhancer 2, and a POR hop bag in primary.

Though Morgans and Brewcraft are definately my fav's.

Ignore the other guys the difference between different kits is astounding with anything in life you get what you pay for.

 

[Keith the Beer Guy]

After brewing around 18 coopers kits in the last couple of months i've come to one conclusion,that most of the range,apart from stout and dark ale,taste the same.Ive used varying amounts of malt,candy sugar and the dreaded sucrose on them with very similar results in flavour and body.The most obvious flaw is lack of hop character,which can be easily fixed,but i wonder how much malt they really use to make these kits,as most will only turn out light bodied to medium at best. :chug:

[post="110232"][/post]​

Try the Cooper's Brewmaster range and the Australian Bitter + Sparkling Ale in the in the Cooper's Heritage range.

Cheers,

Keith

 

[Trough Lolly]

...Pitched yeast supplied with Blonde kit, threw away the other sachet...

[post="110261"][/post]​

Don't toss the yeast sachet away - put the yeast in the boil, at the last 5 minutes and you have yeast nutrients for the pitched stuff to feed on.

Cheers,
TL

 

[pint of lager]

It may be time to move on from the Coopers kits and try some of the other kits. Go and visit your local homebrew shop, they should have a much wider range there and also lots of extra ingredients to try such as crystal malts, different 1 kg brew additive packs and finishing hops. Try adding 1.5 kg LME and finishing hops, make the brew up to 18 litres. Or have a crack at some of the 3kg paint tin style of brews. These are all malt, usually include finishing hops and have a better quality yeast under the lid. 200 gms of crystal malt really picks up the body and character of kit brews, doesn't cost much and takes very little extra time.

What is in your candy sugar? I suspect it is plain glucose or finely powdered sucrose. Some brewers do use a small proportion of sucrose in their brews. There is also a product called Belgian candy which is a different product again and belongs in a specialist recipe for Belgian beer. Avoid the use of sucrose or plain tablesugar in the majority of your brews.

You say all the brews taste the same, this can be a big sign that you have a continuing infection in your brewgear and beers that makes them all taste the same, usually a sour flavour. Are you pulling the grommet out, lid oring (if it is a screwlid carbouy,) the airlock out, the tap out, cleaning all surfaces with a good quality brewers detergent (or napisan) cleaning all threads with a toothbrush, rinsing thoroughly and using a sanitiser?

Also, you have not indicated what temperature you are fermenting at, high fermentation can give brews an unpleasant flavour. You ideally want to be fermenting around 20 deg rather than the excessively high temp that many of the kits have written on the instructions.

 

[Steve]

I recently did the Coopers Heritage Lager (one of the deluxe range?!@ :blink: ) with some extra malt and saaz. Did with W34/70 in the fridge and its a bloody little pearler. Great quaffer on a hot day :beer:
Cheers
Steve

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

...Pitched yeast supplied with Blonde kit, threw away the other sachet...

[post="110261"][/post]​

Don't toss the yeast sachet away - put the yeast in the boil, at the last 5 minutes and you have yeast nutrients for the pitched stuff to feed on.

Cheers,
TL

[post="110347"][/post]​

Good idea man, I'll be trying that :beer:

PZ.

 

[wiggins]

Don't get me wrong on this,these kits still make good beer with malt and a little hops,it's just that they seem to lack something,could evven be the yeast.The candy sugar was made from icing sugar with a little citric acid to invert it.As far as infections go,i don't think i've ever had one to remember of;am usually pretty clean,and my ferment temps are usually 20 to 23 with a peak of 26 on a 40 degree day.The brew with the candy sugar in it is ready for tasting tomorrow,so i'll test a sample stubbie and then decide whether it was worth it or not(it's a coopers real ale).If brewed with the exact same ingredients,the coopers draught,bitter,real ale,pale ale and canadian blonde all seem to taste very similarly.

 

[Corey]

I find the real ale, the pale ale and the draught pretty similar (presuming same yeast, same adjuncts etc.). Though I find the bitter and the blonde quite different.

 

[mika]

I must be brewing a different coopers kit then ? To me the real ale and the draught are not even close to each other... the pale ale... i could be with you in saying there's not a lot of difference between it and the draught.
The flash (brewmaster, heritage line ? something like that )coopers range is pretty reasonable stuff, costs a bit more, but IMHO you get a bit more out of it.

 

[RobboMC]

I just made the Thomas Coopers Draught with just the suggested can of LME and I must agree it tastes pretty much like extract and isohops. However the head formation and retention was incredibly better than other Coopers kits I've used, particularly Pale Ale. Any ideas why? I can easily pour a three inch head in a four inch glass.

Any suggestions on what to add to next batch to bring flavour profile up to decent levels?
The Thomas Coopers IPA does NOT taste the same, but I gave it some extra Fuggles as well so it has some help.
The Sparkling Ale is allegedly POR hops so I am adding those to current work.
Comments welcomed?

 

[Steve]

Robbo - a three inch head in a 4 inch glass sounds as if its too carbonated? Have a look on www.hbkitreviews.com for some ideas on how to improve them.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Steve]

... or have a read of this thread:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/Best...ipes-t8885.html

Cheers
Steve

 

[RobboMC]

Yeeeaahhh,,, maybe.

With OG 1044 and OG 1014 its right on the 1/3 unfermented limit, at 32% ( I'm a maths man you see ) and nowhere near 25%
And fermented and bottled at 19 deg C there's a good dose of dissolved CO2.
And with 8.6 g/l bottle priming it's not under primed.
It's a Draught though, it's meant to have some fizz.

2 days without ANY fermentation activity so I think it was complete.

The 4 inch head is just if I try and pour badly, when poured properly just results in a proper head with excellent retention.

Point is: is this a better kit, or did I just fluke the right conditions in my brewing. These conditions are pretty well the same as my other brews. My feeling is that this a is damn good kit from the heading angle.

 

[Steve]

Robbo - was the Thomas Coopers Draught one of the "Premium" selection in the black labelled tin? Ive found these are better than the white labelled tins? Especially the Heritage lager :beer:
Cheers
Steve

 

[RobboMC]

Yes, it was the Premium selection in the black labelled tin.
First time I've brewed this particular kit, though have done the Premium IPA and the Sparkling Ale.

I am doing the Heritage Lager next so I can get some nice cool fermentations.

 

[Steve]

Robbo do the Heritage with W34/70 in the fridge and a handful of extra saaz pellets in a cup of boiling water chucked in primary too. From memory I also used 500g dry malt, 250g dextrose and 250 gms corn syrup. Sensational quaffer on a hot summers day :beer:
Cheers
Steve