First Brew - Outcome

[benny_bjc]

Hi All,

Just opened my first bottle of my first homebrew - Coopers Real Ale.

and thought it was rather overly bitter and didn't really have any head... I do like strong beers and am a fan of coopers sparkling ale as well as other strong ales.
What are others experiences with this kit?
I only made up 4 Litres worth of the kit and maybe I didn't measure the concentrate correctly?

I followed the recipe on the box which is not all that smart (i know)!

So basically used coopers real ale + brewing sugar + under lid yeast...

Colour = Dark redish brown.


Looking forward to hearing from you guys!

Thanks

 

[benny_bjc]

P.s.

I forgot to note... The beer has been in the bottles for 3 weeks at time of opening.

I know that idealy it should be 3 months in the bottle but 1 week is ok according to the info given with the kit.

 

[Cracka]

I only made up 4 Litres worth of the kit and maybe I didn't measure the concentrate correctly?

WTF :blink:

 

[Adamt]

What exactly did you put in to your fermenter? It shouldnt be that dark in colour.

 

[Steve]

WTF :blink:

ditto - what do you mean - 4 litres? :blink:

 

[beerbeergloriousbeer]

Hey Beer007!
Did you mix the Wort in the fermenter up to 23 litres with water or only 4 litres total.
If it's 4 litres total then you would have a very strong tasting beer.
Very funny first brew story if you did. :icon_vomit:

I love reading first home brew stories gone wrong.

 

[benny_bjc]

Hey Beer007!
Did you mix the Wort in the fermenter up to 23 litres with water or only 4 litres total.
If it's 4 litres total then you would have a very strong tasting beer.
Very funny first brew story if you did. :icon_vomit:

I love reading first home brew stories gone wrong.

no no. I'm not convinced it has gone wrong!

I only used part of the concentrate to the correct ratio to make up 4 Litres! (and stored the rest in air tight jar for later user)

I am thinking maybe I just need to age it longer than 3 weeks!???

 

[Steve]

no no. I'm not convinced it has gone wrong!

I only used part of the concentrate to the correct ratio to make up 4 Litres! (and stored the rest in air tight jar for later user)

I am thinking maybe I just need to age it longer than 3 weeks!???

? what did you do ? tell us how you made your beer? what ratio are you talking about ?

 

[benny_bjc]

? what did you do ? tell us how you made your beer? what ratio are you talking about ?

Instead of using all of the can concentrate (which would make up 23L) I measured out enough to make only 4 Litres of beer. I added the hot water stired then measured out the sugar to the equivalent of making 4 Litres mixed then filled with water to 4 Litres total. Allowed to ferment for about 2 weeks then primed and bottled and left for 3 weeks.

 

[Mantis]

Why only 4 litres??????????????????????//

 

[Steve]

Instead of using all of the can concentrate (which would make up 23L) I measured out enough to make only 4 Litres of beer. I added the hot water stired then measured out the sugar to the equivalent of making 4 Litres mixed then filled with water to 4 Litres total. Allowed to ferment for about 2 weeks then primed and bottled and left for 3 weeks.

How did you know how much to measure out to only make 4 litres? what ratio did you use to work out how much sugar to add? Why did you only make 4 litres instead of 23? How many bottles did you end up with? :huh:

What instructions did you say you followed?

 

[benny_bjc]

How did you know how much to measure out to only make 4 litres? what ratio did you use to work out how much sugar to add? Why did you only make 4 litres instead of 23? How many bottles did you end up with? :huh:

I chose to do only 4 Litres first go as I did not have enough bottles at the time and also did not have a big enough fermenter at that stage. I thought it would be a bit easier first go only bottling a small amount as well. It made up about 5 X 740/750ml bottles with bit left over.

I'm not sure of the ratios off the top of my head but I wrote them down somewhere and I will get back to you when I find them.

I used the instructions supplied with the concentrate kit... mix concentrate + brewing sugar + yeast.... (fairly basic no fancy ingredients)

 

[Steve]

I chose to do only 4 Litres first go as I did not have enough bottles at the time and also did not have a big enough fermenter at that stage. I thought it would be a bit easier first go only bottling a small amount as well. It made up about 5 X 740/750ml bottles with bit left over.

I'm not sure of the ratios off the top of my head but I wrote them down somewhere and I will get back to you when I find them.

I used the instructions supplied with the concentrate kit... mix concentrate + brewing sugar + yeast.... (fairly basic no fancy ingredients)

Not have a go but that is one of the most bizarre things ive heard being done to make beer.

 

[benny_bjc]

Not have a go but that is one of the most bizarre things ive heard being done to make beer.

I don't see why... its a bit like making up 23 Litres of Cordial.... there is no point making 23 Litres in one go if you only have enough bottles to store say 11 Litres. In that case you would half the concentrate and half the water and make 11 Litres. Then you can make the other half of the concentrate up at a later stage. Basically that is what I have done, except the ratio isn't half in my case.

Now that I have a full set of gear including a 25 Litre fermenter and lots of bottles I can easily make up a full 23 Litres of beer... but previously I could not do this due to limitations of equipment and storage.

 

[microbe]

I can see your reasoning for doing it that way, but as you can see from some of the reactions here - it is a little unusual. Nothing particularly wrong with it, in theory, but downsizing it like that would've made it difficult to accurately measure the goo.

Without accurate measuring (ingredients, gravity and temp) it's only guesswork as to what's happened and why but I'd guess that this batch has ended up with proportionally more than 4L worth of the kit.

Cheers,

microbe

ps - Good luck with batch 2 (Coopers Real Ale made up to 18L??)

 

[beerbeergloriousbeer]

As Microbe said the ratios being alot smaller would be alot harder to get right.
But we can't knock you for being really keen to brew even though you didn't have all the necessities.
Good luck with the next batch and re-post how it goes.
Cheers :icon_chickcheers:

 

[Adamt]

Well, anyway I'm guessing you had way too much of the can in there. To get it that colour and that bitter this would be the easiest and most likely explanation. The head retention may improve as it is likely not fully carbonated yet.

 

[EK]

I thought it would be a bit easier first go only bottling a small amount as well.

By doing this, I think that you have made it hard for yourself.

I don't see why... its a bit like making up 23 Litres of Cordial.... there is no point making 23 Litres in one go if you only have enough bottles to store say 11 Litres.

Cordial is different, it is intended so that you can use only a small (or large) portion of it, the bottle is resealable. This is not the case with a non-resealable tin of wort concentrate, a kit of wort concentrate is specifically packaged to make 23 litres.

Also given the need to sterilise items before the production beer further separates beer from cordial, you don't need to sterilise a glass before you make cordial.

I would say that the beer would need to age longer. Give it a few more weeks, though, if the ratio was out by too much then aging may not help. I usually leave it for around a month or two before I start drinking a batch.

Though, do update us with how it turns out over the next few weeks. Remember that your misfortune may help other brewers.

My suggestion would be to get a kit+kilo and make a 23L batch. Don't forget that there is a lot of information on this forum that may be helpful, a little research may assist you also, but if you can't find an answer don't be afraid to post.

Hope this has been of some help.
:icon_cheers:
EK

 

[Lobsta]

how much brewing sugar did you add to the batch? did you scale it down from 1kg to 180g of sugar? what temp did you pitch the yeast and did you make a starter? it would be good to see the calcualtions that you did also to see how much of the goo you used.

Lobby

 

[clarkey7]

I chose to do only 4 Litres first go as I did not have enough bottles at the time and also did not have a big enough fermenter at that stage. I thought it would be a bit easier first go only bottling a small amount as well. It made up about 5 X 740/750ml bottles with bit left over.

Beer007,

I like your thinking and your enthusiasm. :icon_cheers: You'll become a good brewer. Your on the right track...Thinking for yourself and willing to ask others.
Also - It took my 2 years of brewing before I found the AHB forum...So much information, assistance, ideas, beer and stainless steel...you found it for your 1st brew :excl: Well done .

I'm not sure of the ratios off the top of my head but I wrote them down somewhere and I will get back to you when I find them.

I'd say 300g of kit and 180g brewing sugar (dextrose) in 4L of wort.......

If you measured 300mls instead of 300g of Goo on scales, then this could explain why your wort was darker and more bitter than expected. The goo is denser than water and you added a little too much... If this is the case - Remember now that you have less than 1400g of goo left in your other container.

Good news on this is...your ratios won't be that far out, so follow others suggestions of leaving for a month or so.....You won't regret it. :icon_chickcheers:

Good luck with your brewing..

PB