First Few Kits Review

[Huhness]

Well since purchasing my kit i've brewed a Lager, Pale Ale and Dark Ale..

In my coopers Lager i used what was in the kit, can of goop, 1kg of dex and the yeast. Brewed at 24C which is pretty high but i didn't have uch choice and didn't actually relise that was pretty hot for a lager.. i think i bottled it a bit too soon? its very fizzy but tastes pretty fruity not a bad beer but not great..

next i brewed a coopers aussie pale ale, i used 1 can of goop and 1kg of brew enchancer #2 and brew craft premium ale yeast, left it for 5 days at 24C and ended up with a estimated alcohol volume of 5.4%.. first couple of bottles after 2 weeks were carbed but still quite flat and not all that fizzy. Gave them another week and now they are sweet! Very nice beer nice hops scent and goes down with now weird aftertaste. Pretty happy with this!

my recent batch is a Coopers Dark Ale. I used one coopers can of goop 1kg of BE#1 and 250g LDME and packet of yeast. Brewed at 24C for 5 days and just cracked one open tonight and wow! this beer is awesome!! i think it has a alcohol volume of +5% i havent done the calculations but kinda similar to the pale ale. This is my favourite by far its a great beer!

Where to from here?? i'm down in sydney this weekend i know there are some HBS in mortdale/peakhurst area, anyone been in these stores? any helpful information in there?? are there other stores in the area? i still want to stick to cans of goop for now but i was just given an old beer fridge on the weekend i'm going to buy a fridgemate and brew at the correct temp and see how much this affects the beer??

Tim :beerbang:

 

[paul]

Replace some of the dextrose with malt and have a play around with finishing hops. Youll be amazed at the difference that this can make.

 

[cdbrown]

The only thing I can recommend is reading through other peoples threads to see what they are brewing. A lot of people say to throw the yeast that comes with the can in the fridge and get some proper yeast. Different people have different opinions on which yeast is better, but they all say they are better than what comes with the can. And from what I've read is the fruitiness comes from fermenting at a higher than recommended temp.

Well done with your results so far and kept posting your brews (it'll help me I'm sure when I get around to brewing again).

Cheers
-cdbrown

 

[QldKev]

Yep try hops, and get the temp down a couple of degrees, use a esky bag and drop a 2L frozen water bottle on top.

Also try boiling the kit, dex and malt for 10mins with adding hops about 5 mins before turning the heat off.

QldKev

 

[Huhness]

Thanks guys!

What are finishing hops? are there different kinds? (I'll do a search)

Yea i read the fruitiness is from the higher temp its not a very crisp taste for a lager but i enjoy it.

I've got the fridge now so i'll try brewing a lager at 11C and see what that gives me..

BTW are you guys saying to not even use the coopers brew enchansers?? Just replace dex kilo for kilo with LDME? so one can of goop and a kilo of LDME?

 

[Huhness]

Yep try hops, and get the temp down a couple of degrees, use a esky bag and drop a 2L frozen water bottle on top.

Also try boiling the kit, dex and malt for 10mins with adding hops about 5 mins before turning the heat off.

QldKev

do i boil the water then add all the goodies??

 

[Thunderlips]

In my coopers Lager i used what was in the kit, can of goop, 1kg of dex and the yeast. Brewed at 24C which is pretty high but i didn't have uch choice and didn't actually relise that was pretty hot for a lager

The basic Coopers Lager kit comes with an ale yeast anyway, so 24c isn't really that high.
I'm also a big fan of the Coopers Dark.

 

[sid]

yeh better yeast, add hops/malt and you could buy a cheap $10 2ltr thermos and you can mini mash 1/2kg of grain with 1.5ltr water, adds alot of flavour to a kit beer.
I was going to modify a fridge for temp control, but am using a plastic tub and frozen milk bottles to bring down the temp, works well costs nothing. Get a steady 16-18c and can get down to 12c.

 

[RobboMC]

Where to from here?? i'm down in sydney this weekend i know there are some HBS in mortdale/peakhurst area, anyone been in these stores? any helpful information in there?? Tim :beerbang:

Since you're going to a real HBS get yourself some cans of Morgans specialty malt. A can of Dark Crystal and a can of Caramalt with the Coopers Dark Ale makes a truly wonderful dark beer.

I no longer use even BE2 in my brews ( unless I'm trying to make thin watery beer for lawn mower ale or something light for my mother ) 100% all malt beer is the way to go, but to do that you need to get into boiling some of the extract ( not necessarily the kit ) and hop bittering, and the top of the line kits.

Above all, have fun.

 

[Huhness]

yeh better yeast, add hops/malt and you could buy a cheap $10 2ltr thermos and you can mini mash 1/2kg of grain with 1.5ltr water, adds alot of flavour to a kit beer.
I was going to modify a fridge for temp control, but am using a plastic tub and frozen milk bottles to bring down the temp, works well costs nothing. Get a steady 16-18c and can get down to 12c.

cool a mini mash! good idea!

Since you're going to a real HBS get yourself some cans of Morgans specialty malt. A can of Dark Crystal and a can of Caramalt with the Coopers Dark Ale makes a truly wonderful dark beer.

I no longer use even BE2 in my brews ( unless I'm trying to make thin watery beer for lawn mower ale or something light for my mother ) 100% all malt beer is the way to go, but to do that you need to get into boiling some of the extract ( not necessarily the kit ) and hop bittering, and the top of the line kits.

Above all, have fun.

Thanks robbo i'll see if i can pick up some of those items!