Ideas For Big Flavour Kit Beer

[robinson_d]

I love drinking guinness, coopers vintage or extra stout and as of today some dark German beer i cant rember the name of (it came in 1lt steins at 7.2%) :drinks: . But all these beers cost way to much to drink when i have to buy my own!
What i want to know is how can i make beer like this with minimal experience? Is it possible to make something from kits that comes close or do i need to start cooking up my own mix? if so where do i start? So far ive only brewed coopers & cascade kits with brew enhancer or malt and hops added.

 

[Cube]

Toucan stout and 1 kg of malt or sugars ala BribieG headbanger.

Done.

 

[waggastew]

A Vintage Ale recipe straight from the Coopers site:

1.7kg Australian Pale Ale beer kit
1.7kg Real Ale beer kit
1kg Dextrose
30g Nelson Sauvin pellets
Commercial Coopers Ale yeast (or both sachets of kit yeast)

Personally I would go for something like this:

1 x Cooper Pale Ale Tin
1kg of LDME
0.5kg dried wheat malt
0.5 kg dextrose
200g Light or Medium Crystal Malt (steeped)
25g Hop of Choice (HOC) 30min
25g HOC 10min
25g HOC dry on day 6-9

ABV = 6.1%

HOC = Anything you are into but based on past years Styrian Golding and Magnum are good choices

Coopers Vintage 2011 HOC = Styrian Golding, Magnum, Perle, Amarillo, Nelson Sauvin
Coopers Vintage 2010 HOC = Nelson Sauvin, Magnum, Perle, Styrian Golding.
Coopers Vintage 2009 HOC = Fuggles, Magnum, Perle, Styrian Golding.
Coopers Vintage 2008 HOC - POR, Fuggles, Styrian Golding.

 

[petesbrew]

I'm a fan of the coopers stout & dark ale kits.
Step up from the Brew Enhancers to dark malt extract - either 1kg dried, or the 1.5kg liquid tins.
Hop with a bit of Fuggles, Goldings or Styrian Goldings (my favourite).
And have a look in the steeping grains section. 200g of either Crystal, Choc and Roast Barley will be perfect.
Yeast, go with S-04, or grab the Windsor yeast from Craftbrewer (my favourite in a dark beer), or look into liquid yeasts.

 

[Salt]

Im currently drinking a Toucan Dark/Stout and really like it. Mines around 6.5% from memory, good body and head and nice flavour.
The recipe was;
Coopers Stout kit
Coopers Dark kit
500g DME
250g Dextrose
250g Brown Sugar
Boil the Dry Malt, dextrose and brown sugar for 15min and add both Kits at flame out. Very thick dark wort. Add to fermenter and topped to 25Lts. I just used both kit yeasties and it came out pretty good. Only a month or so old, but will only get better with age from what I have read.
Nice and easy kit brew with big flavour.
Also have just bottled the Vintage Ale clone from the Coopers Website as waggastew has posted.

Cheers

 

[Bribie G]

Toucan stout and 1 kg of malt or sugars ala BribieG headbanger.

Done.

Comes out around 9% ABV but for a lite version just try two cans of stout and a kilo of dextrose, and add 20g of German hops such as Perle on day 4 of fermentation.
My original recipe actually made it to the National Comps a couple of years ago haha. I sent a bottle to Fourstar (a BJCP judge who judges at such auspicious occasions), who liked it.

 

[robinson_d]

Cheers guys for all the ideas. Cant wait to drink a few. Just hope i can brew them up as easy as it sounds. If my cascase pale is anything to go by ill be waiting a while. its at 1012, constant 18-19˚c and bubbling nicely. ITS BEEN 28 DAYS! last brew was bottled after 27 days.

 

[TmC]

Just remember big beers often need big a headspace

 

[robinson_d]

All i need is the alcohol content of a bottle of red, the warmth of a bottle of port and the taste of beer in a home brew. Is that to much to ask?

 

[fuddnuddler]

All i need is the alcohol content of a bottle of red, the warmth of a bottle of port and the taste of beer in a home brew. Is that to much to ask?

admirable ambition!!
go to the coopers website, check out the extra strong vintage ale recipe...won't be all your seeking, but you won't be disappointed, as long as you can wait 6 months for it to mature!
cheers

 

[bignath]

its at 1012, constant 18-19˚c and bubbling nicely. ITS BEEN 28 DAYS! last brew was bottled after 27 days.

G'day brewinhobo, not sure you are aware, just becuase your airlock is bubbling doesn't mean it's still fermenting. I'd be tempted, not definite, but tempted to say your brew is quite possible done a while ago.

Airlocks will often bubble a bit after a long time in primary fermentation, and this can be caused by trapped CO2 coming out of solution in your beer.

Most experienced brewers will agree that an airlock is one of the most inaccurate tools for indication of fermentation activity. What i mean is that they can bubble after fermentation has finished, and they can be lifeless when fermentation is charging along full steam...
The two most reliable methods of working out if your beer is fermenting are:

1. Gravity readings. I take mine every single day at the same time of day, whilst it's in primary ferment. (i use a refractometer though, not a hydrometer as this takes very samples from your beer.)
2. Signs of krausen developing on the surface of the beer.

Not really knowing what's in your recipe, 1.012 could quite easily be done, particularly after a month long ferment.

If this is stuff you already know, my apologies, i'm not trying to make you feel like an idiot.
It's just that airlock activity is one of the most posted about topics/questions etc. from brewers on brewing forums. Second to the correct usage of refractometers!

Cheers mate, hope the brews a ripper!

Nath

 

[TmC]

Has anybody actually tried making the Coopers Vintage before?( Either Kit or an AG they've developed) I have ~100 Oettenger bottles that i want to fill with a big beer and put away for 8-12 months. Just bought a metric crapload of hops/malt so im really keen on this idea. Just don't have a cellar to keep them in. Maybe once they are carbed i should keep them in the fridge?

EDIT: Spelling

 

[Squishcow]

All i need is the alcohol content of a bottle of red, the warmth of a bottle of port and the taste of beer in a home brew. Is that to much to ask?

A man after my own heart... :beerbang:

 

[fuddnuddler]

Has anybody actually tried making the Coopers Vintage before

Yep, have done it twice, kit version, can recommend it.
First used 30g cascade, was nice. Second used 50g motueka, even nicer!
Certainly gets near to the real Coopers ESVA taste (well, as near as a kit can, I reckon, but am no expert).
cheers

 

[TmC]

Cheers, i have seen a lot of posts about it but couldn't find if anyone had actually made it. Just need to wait for the kits to go on sale.

 

[robinson_d]

Big Nath Cheers some much needed advice. I know NO bubbles in the airlock can be miss leading but i always figured bubbles were a sure sign of action and only test SG regularly for 3 days after the bubbles stop.
Brew was Cascade pale 1.7kg, coopers #2 enhancer 1kg, hops tea bag 12g??, SG has dropped from 1012 to 1010 in about a week + bubbles every 30sec. Think i might bottle???
Squishcow, keep an eye out for Hobos red port brew coming soon! (one day)

 

[Silo Ted]

Add a jar of blackstrap molasses, half a kilo of unmalted roasted barly and load the ******* with bittering and flavour hops.

Ah yes, and jack it up with dextrose to reach your wine ABV%. You may need a champagne yeast handy if it doesn't finish out as predicted.

After reading Sam Calagionie's book I'm determined to make a stupidly high alcohol beer this year and store it on oak chips for 6 months. After that I will ice-distill it in the hope to make some whacky beer liquer.

Note to mods, Im referring to eisbeer, not moonshinin'

 

[Nick JD]

Two cans of an amber kit. 1kg of sugar.

One pack of Wyeast 1214.

Yeast is KING when making beer.