Happy to be here!

[MCBrewer]

Hi all,

Thank for having me! I'm looking forward to having a read of the forums and learning from everyone.

My dad and I have got back into brewing after many, many years and both of us purchased a Coopers brew kit. Lucky for me he decided he couldn't really be bothered at the moment so now I have two bubbling away at home!

I bottled my first lager a couple of months ago, and my first pale ale 4 days ago. I now have a stout in one fermenter (11 days in), and a dark ale in the other (3 days).

I'm currently using the Coopers kit cans to get used to the process, but really keen to start trying out some recipes. If anyone knows of an easy one for a beginner please feel free to share. I enjoy stouts, dark ales and pale ales. Not overly keen on most IPAs or Lagers.

Thanks everyone! Great to meet you all, and have a lovely day

 

[YAPN]

Welcome. The best thing I've done with kits is to steep some specialty grains. Lots of different rich malty flavours to add. My current favourite is Rye and also Golden Promise worked well. Enjoy.

 

[nvs-brews]

I did extract for a few good years before the grain bug got me.
Are you temp controlling?

I guess this is a big key for brewing. Also swapping out the standard yeast for specialty yeasts.

If your not temp controlling I would skip the whole lager cans...infact in general I would just skip the lager cans. Stouts come out fairly well. Adding a touch of coffee post ferment or while it slowing down works.. A lot of different methods to go by, I personally add whole coffee beans (about 25g per 23l) and keg when the taste is right. I've brewed coffee before and chucked that in. That also works pretty well.

I found with dark ales you can also go alright and same with pales.

Dark ales, get a nice "english" style yeast..Nottingham/S04/ESB, they will give out a nice dark fruit flavour..Works pretty well with extract cans..I often get a similar flavour to them.

Pales, get a nice neutral yeast US05/M54 work pretty well. and some nice hops to dry hop with on approx day 6/7.

If your not doing temp control I found wheat beers to be one of the best options as the stress and strain on the yeasts brings out some of those nice banana/clovey flavours.

Major tip i find to help with flavour, skip the sugar/brew enhance/brew booster shit.. Either buy some DME or another can of LME.

 

[MCBrewer]

Wow, thanks for the tips!!

I don't have a temp control unit or a thermostat, though I'd like to look into something like that eventually. In the meantime I've got a couple of heating mats, and will probably play around with ice packs and wet towels when the weather's warmer.

Coffee in the stout is a superb idea!! My stout is 12 days in and fermenting has slowed. I might let some coffee beans steep in it between now and when I bottle it.

I'm looking forward to having a dig through the forums here and learning more about the different sugars and yeasts. I'll make note of your suggestions and give them a go.

Cheers

 

[borchz]

hey i have a inkbird temp controler and i love it works a treat im going to be upgrading to a fride as well soon, it was a little pricey but **** yeah it work.
for stout coffe works as well as licourice essence