Good beginner's goo

[TheBaron]

Hi guys,

I'm new to brewing and about to start my first batch in a few weeks. I'm planning on using one of the Cooper's cans to start with for simplicity and simply to get my feet wet. My eventual goal is to do all-gran brews.

Is there any particular type (especially in the Cooper's range) that would be easier for a beginner, or are they all inherently simple due to the nature of the cans? For example, from reading around it sounds like a lager is a slightly more difficult beer and maybe shouldn't be attempted first up.

P.S. I've had a search but couldn't see any similar questions, happy to be pointed in the right direction if there's an existing thread.

Cheers

 

[dicko]

Hi guys,

I'm new to brewing and about to start my first batch in a few weeks. I'm planning on using one of the Cooper's cans to start with for simplicity and simply to get my feet wet. My eventual goal is to do all-gran brews.

Is there any particular type (especially in the Cooper's range) that would be easier for a beginner, or are they all inherently simple due to the nature of the cans? For example, from reading around it sounds like a lager is a slightly more difficult beer and maybe shouldn't be attempted first up.

P.S. I've had a search but couldn't see any similar questions, happy to be pointed in the right direction if there's an existing thread.

Cheers

My advice would be to make a style close to what you like to drink.

Things to note are that the Coopers Pale Ale kit wont make beer like a Coopers Pale Ale unless you can use a Coopers yeast and probably add some more hops to it.
Temp control during fermentation is important as well....too hot may give you off flavours and too cold may cause the fermentation to stop. When starting out try to keep the temp around the 20 deg c mark.

My suggestion if you are undecided, would be a Coopers Canadian Blonde which should come out fairly similar to a Teds or Super dry etc.

There is a wealth of knowledge contained within this forum and by having a read through in particular the Kits and Extracts sub forum you will improve your technique from the start.

Cheers and happy brewing

 

[TheBaron]

Thanks for the reply. Are you implying that they are more or less as easy/difficult as each other?

I like the suggestion of the Canadian Blonde. I was considering trying to make a Pale Ale first up as it seems like it would go well in an Adelaide winter temperature-wise. I just don't want to use the default 'Lager' which comes with the kits as I've had a few mates make that and it was quite poor (but they might have just done it badly).

 

[Pogierob]

Change the yeast, don't use the packet that comes with the kit, go to your local homebrew shop (LHBS) and ask them for a suitable yeast.

But yes, the coopers kits are very straight forward, mix, pitch, forget, bottle.

 

[Nizmoose]

Thanks for the reply. Are you implying that they are more or less as easy/difficult as each other?

I like the suggestion of the Canadian Blonde. I was considering trying to make a Pale Ale first up as it seems like it would go well in an Adelaide winter temperature-wise. I just don't want to use the default 'Lager' which comes with the kits as I've had a few mates make that and it was quite poor (but they might have just done it badly).

I feel your pain, I was a bit bummed about getting the lager tin when I bought my kit as it was pretty much the only tin out of the coopers range I didn't really care for.

 

[manticle]

Stout is undeniably the most forgiving.
Try 500g fresh, pale dried malt, 750g dex and fresh, new yeast. Ferment at 18.

Is your Gran aware of your future plans for her?

 

[wereprawn]

Brew an Old style beer. You probably should use your own gran as you never know where others have been.

On a serious note. The can that comes with the kit says Lager but it's actually an ale (or maybe a combo of ale and lager yeast depending on who you ask). No better or worse than any other coopers basic tins if brewed correctly.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

One of my favourite cans was Morgans Blue Mountain lager, that was a pretty easy drinking beer.

Ditch the yeast that comes with the can and see if your LHBS has Fermentis S-189 yeast, it's a true lager yeast that tolerates fermenting at ale temps.

 

[TheBaron]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Definitely planning on taking a trip to my LHBS this weekend and picking up some stuff. I wouldn't have thought to buy different yeast but I'll definitely give that a try. Is the pre-packaged stuff that comes with the cans generally of low quality?

Stout is undeniably the most forgiving.
Try 500g fresh, pale dried malt, 750g dex and fresh, new yeast. Ferment at 18.

Is your Gran aware of your future plans for her?

Hard to say, I've been following her around for 2 weeks while carrying my fermenter and reciting brew recipes so I think she may be becoming suspicious....

 

[Black Devil Dog]

Lower quality, but most unfortunately, they have an insufficient number of yeast cells. Typically Morgans has a 5g yeast sachet and Coopers has a 7or 8g sachet, whereas Fermentis has 11.5g, Danstar has 11g.

If you do use a kit yeast, you probably should pitch 2 sachets.

 

[TheBaron]

Right, so about 15-16g of yeast for an average can kit?

 

[Beer Ninja]

My advice would be to make a style close to what you like to drink.

Things to note are that the Coopers Pale Ale kit wont make beer like a Coopers Pale Ale unless you can use a Coopers yeast and probably add some more hops to it.
Temp control during fermentation is important as well....too hot may give you off flavours and too cold may cause the fermentation to stop. When starting out try to keep the temp around the 20 deg c mark.

My suggestion if you are undecided, would be a Coopers Canadian Blonde which should come out fairly similar to a Teds or Super dry etc.

There is a wealth of knowledge contained within this forum and by having a read through in particular the Kits and Extracts sub forum you will improve your technique from the start.

Cheers and happy brewing

What would be a suitable yeast for Coopers Canadian Blonde?

 

[Black Devil Dog]

It certainly won't hurt and is better than underpitching.

 

[manticle]

I wouldn't have thought to buy different yeast but I'll definitely give that a try. Is the pre-packaged stuff that comes with the cans generally of low quality?

Not so much that the strain itself is low quality. As BDD says it is around half of what you really need. The other part of it is that yeast should be stored cold and used as fresh as possible and under the lid of a tin that sits on a shelf is less than ideal for either of those.

Therefore, if you buy different yeast, check the date and make sure the LHBS has kept it in the fridge.

 

[Beer Ninja]

Once you've measured your OG you can enter the value into the Mr Malty Pitching Calculator to find the correct amount of yeast needed for your brew. The default value for the wort is in US gallons but you can change it to litres using the settings tab.