First Time Homebrewer (Adelaide)

[Jikimus]

Hey guys,

Just thought I'd introduce myself. My names Jake, I'm from Adelaide in South Australia.

I purchased a Coopers DIY Lager Kit (not the airlock type, the one with the collar/lid) and set it up as per instructions. FG settled at 1013 over 3 days which I read was a little high but I bottled it anyway. Stored the bottles at above 18C although I had no way of checking (they were under a thermal sleeping bag).

Put some in the fridge at the 2 week mark and they tasted quite nice although lacked head/fizz. Read to roll/shake the remaining bottles and leave for another week or so.

That's my first homebrew experience, would love to hear any tips/suggestions. I'm currently looking at the Canadian Blonde Coopers kit for my next brew although any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!

 

[Pogierob]

quick question mate, (only asking as it's your first brew)

did you "prime" your bottles?
a teaspoon of sugar or carbonation drops in the bottles during bottling?

Sorry mate, I forgot to say welcome...


welcome aboard, and have fun

 

[Killer Brew]

Welcome to the forum! Your FG sounds around the mark. As Rob asked did you prime with the drops you most likely got with the kit?

 

[TheWiggman]

Checking gravities, looking at temps, waiting things out (3 days at FG!) and giving your beer time to prime - congrats, excellent start to home brewing.
Priming can be a fickle thing. Sometimes it'll prime in a few days, sometimes over a month. As painful as it is wait it out another week or two and hopefully it'll have more head then. Kits aren't always great in terms of head anyway.
Welcome to the forum, many good brews on the way.

 

[Jikimus]

Forgot to mention the bottles were primed with the supplied Coopers carb drops, 2 per bottle like the instructions said.

Thanks for the replies guys, good to hear I'm on the right track.

Any suggestions regarding a nice second recipe still suitable for a beginner? I'd love to experiment with dry or infusion hopping but have no idea where to start.

Cheers!

 

[Pogierob]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/57091-dr-smurtos-golden-ale/


This is where you want to go.

 

[Jikimus]

Thanks for the link Rob, very helpful.

I'm thinking a Canadian Blonde kit still, but I might play with the dextrose/maltodextrin instead of using BE1/2.

Any suggestions for hops for this particular kit?

 

[TehCrucible]

For reference (and from memory), BE1 is 600g dextrose, 400g matlodextrin. The BE2 is 500g dextrose, 250g maltodextrin, and 250g light dry malt.
Never tried the Canadian blonde kit but if I was going to, I'd probably try something along the lines of this recipe.

 

[Yob]

Canadian blonde is pretty bland, I used a bucket load of centennial and mosaic to pimp one out and it turned out not too bad.. This was a few moons ago now though, think I also used all malt too, no be boxes

 

[Jikimus]

So after waiting an extra week, keeping the bottles above 18c and giving them a bit of a roll/shake, I put a few in the fridge yesterday and cracked one today.

I must say, for a basic kit, this beer tastes quite nice now. The extra week has kicked up the bitterness and fizz a bit and it now gets a nice amount of head.

I'm heading to the LHBS (slowly learning acronyms) tomorrow with a recipe in mind:

- Canadian Blonde can 1.7kg
- 1kg LDME
- 300g Dextrose
- 20g Cascade (10g boil @ 15min, 10g @ 0min)

I added the Dextrose to boost the ABV (0.7% for a 23L brew) but will it really be necessary? I'm unsure how to calculate the total ABV.

The bottles will be primed with carb drops again (2 per 740ml bottle).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, cheers!

 

[Pogierob]

My 2c...
Don't add the dextrose just to boost abv. If it adds something to the beer. For example, makes it dryer, then yes.
I would concentrate on getting a beer you like the taste of and then if you feel it needs to kick a little harder make the adjustment. I have had a couple of beers that ended up with high abv and I didn't enjoy them because it was our of balance.

 

[Grott]

Hi Jikimus and welcome. Your recipe puts alcoh. content at about 5.3% and two carb drops per 750ml bottle will add around 0.5%, so 5.8 is not to bad. Follow Rob.P's advice to get the flavour right.
Cheers

 

[Jikimus]

Thanks guys, I actually went to the LHBS which stock their own brand of cans (Wal's) which is similar to the Coopers Blonde but with added hops. We went with their Ultrabrew mix (500g LDME, 250g Maltodextrin, 250g Dextrose) and 12g of Cascade which we steeped for 20 min. We are priming half the bottles with caster sugar and half with carb drops to get a feel for the different methods. OG was 1040 which was what we were hoping for.

Thanks heaps, will post updates in here!

 

[Jikimus]

Bit of an update (not much).

Brew smells amazing, so much nicer than the standard Coopers lager.

Tested SG on day 8 to be 1015, hoping it drops to around 1010 by the weekend.

 

[Grott]

Appears your on the right track, don't forget to sample your brew from the gravity checks (assuming your not at the moment?).
Cheers

 

[Jikimus]

Thanks grott, sampled my brew this morning after a gravity check (1014).

Can definitely taste the Cascade, has a very nice "fruity" flavour to it.

Very keen to bottle it on the weekend.

 

[Grott]

That's great, you've got the brewing bug now. If FG stays steady at 1014 then bottle. What temp. is your beer at now?
Cheers