KISS Beer

[davester]

Hi people, I cruised in here from the overclockers site.
I have been brewing for about 5 years (over 130 brews)

Well here is my recipe, simple yet effective, and tastes Ok for a simpleton like me, very crisp

Coopers Lager brew kit
1Kg Dextrose
too easy

Make it as per instructions, keep temperature as close to 21 degrees C as possible...
Before bottling, add 30mls of boiled water to each 750ml bottle or 15mls to 375mls.
This partly dissolves the sugar and I give it a quick swirl before adding the wort.
I have found "it imparts a crispness to the beer". Very easy to drink.
The only downer is I age my beer for 3 months before I drink it.
I use central coast tap water too if that makes any difference, I don't know...

Enjoy

 

[Indy]

cheers davester B)

this is about the most consistant brew i've made too (without the water in the bottle tho)

could other ppl please add their good simple recipies to this?

i would like to find another 1 or 6 different styles that are easy to replicate


cheers :chug:

 

[GMK]

Munich Helles -Pale Lager
Made in Mar this year 2001. This is one of the best, easiest and cheapest and summer drinking lagers you can make.

It came 3rd in the ACT State Championships in 2001 with a score of 107.

Equipment:
Morgans Saaz Golden Pilsner
250 gms of Corn Syrup (optional - dont use this now)
2 teaspoons of Gypsum (optiional)
1 kg of Dextrose
1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient
Half a handful of Saaz Pellets for Dry Hopping.
Saflager S23 Yeast

Method:
Add all ingredients except for hops into a sterilised fermenter with 3 litres of boiling water.
Stir vigorously adding yeast nutrient then add cold water to 20 litres.
Make a yeast starter with S23 yeast.
After 10 mins, pitch yeast starter into fermenter after checking that yeast is multiplying and OK.
Rack after 7 days dry hop with one table spoon/half hand full of Saaz pellets heated with just boiled water for a couple of mins prior to pitching into secondary fermenter dont mix/stir in.

Let stand for a further 10 days, then in the fridge ( as in Lagering) for two days prior to bottling/kegging.
I bottle with the beer still cold within half an hour after taking the fermenter out of the fridge.
I find this helps greatly to reduce the cloudiness of the finished beer and keeps the frothing down during bottling.

Note: it takes longer to bottle condition as in to get enough gas into the beer because the beer is cold when bottled.

Ready for drinking by week 3 or4 - better at 2months and excellent balance and flavour at 3 months old.
This Beer has good flavour, a nice tang from the SAAZ hops and is very well rounded. Very good for summer drinking.
:chug:

 

[GMK]

Australian Draft

This beer came 1st in the Pale Kit Category at the ACT State Championships 2001 and 3rd in the Australian Nationals the same Year...

Equipment:
Coopers Draft
250 gms of Corn Syrup (optional
1 kg of Light Malt
1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient
Handful of Heller tau Hop Pellets with boil.
Half handful of Heller tau Hop Pellets for dry hopping.

Method:

Boil in a large saucepan 6 litres of water with Handful of Heller tau Hop Pellets, malt and Corn syrup for 20 mins at a rolling boil.
Let stand for a further 10 mins in saucepan.
Add can to sterilised fermenter. Add contents of saucepan to fermenter dont strain.
Stir vigorously adding yeast nutrient then add cold water to 21 litres.
Make a yeast starter with coopers yeast supplied.
After 10 mins, pitch yeast starter into fermenter after checking that yeast is multiplying and OK.
Rack after 5 days ( due to the Coopers yeast being a very vigorous and quick fermenting yeast dry hop with half handful of Heller tau Hop Pellets heated with just boiled water for a couple of mins prior to pitching into fermenter dont mix/stir in.
Let stand for a further 10 days and then place in the fridge ( as in Lagering) for two days and then bottle.
I bottle with the beer still cold within half an hour after taking the fermenter out of the fridge.
I find this helps greatly to reduce the cloudiness of the finished beer and keeps the frothing down during bottling.
Note: it takes longer to bottle condition as in to get enough gas into the beer because the beer is cold when bottled.

Any Feedback adjustments to my recipees are welcome...
Only condition to using my award wining recipees is that if i am every down your way, i get invited in to try some home brew....not too much to ask...

:chug:

 

[Trev]

Ken,

Thanks for the recipes, I'm going to give them a try.

Up until now I've only made up about 20 kits and have only played around with substituting malts & Corn Syrup for sugar. The last batch I made though I added some hops but I just steeped them in boiling water for 10 mins, strained and added to wort.

Your receipes though say not to strain - does that mean you end up with little bits of hop pellets floating around or does it all settle out?

Regards,
Trev

 

[GMK]

Trev....

Let me know hoe you go with the recipees...

I find that the hops will settle out at the bottom of the fermenter.
In the primary fermenter, once the hops are covered with dead yeast cells - the hops will no longer be in contact with the wort - therfore no more hop flavour.

If you dry hop in the secondary, again they will settle out, but they should stay in contact with the wort, ie there should not be sufficient dead cells to cover them up.

This is why i feel that the four best things you can do to improve your home brew when starting out is to:
1/ Substitute Dextrose or better liquid malt for the sugar.
2/ Rack into a secondary fermenter - gets rid of dead yeast cells that can cause autolysis, off smells and that traditional home brew yeast flavour. Also, makes the final beer much more cleaner/clearer.
3/ Dry hop into the secondary fermentor - best value bang for your hop dollar spent.
4/ Try using speciality yeasts and grains as adjuncts to the kit can.

Let me know if you ever to get to Canberra - your welcome over for a Beer.

 

[Trev]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for all that - I've just bottled a dark ale that I racked etc as discussed. Now all I've got to do is wait a few weeks. I added Golden Cluster hops, but just steeped tham for 15 mins and then strained. Maybe next time I'll try adding them directly to the secondary.

I also followed some advice I got on the Craftbrewers site regarding the kit - I boiled it up for 20 mins or so prior to throwing everything together, something to do with removing the extra proteins?

Anyway, have just put down a Bitter, again with GC hops so we'll see how that goes.

I did have one other question though. In your recipe above you have optional Gypsium. Isn't that chalk? Does it settle out and what is it's impact on the brew. Sorry for all the DA questions.

Thanks,
Trev

 

[GMK]

Trev,

Chalk is Calcium Carbonate....used for dark beers...hardens the water...accentuates malt and bitterness.

Gypsum is Calcium Sulphate.....used mostly in pale beers...softens the water...mellows the bitterness/malt flavour.

This disolves in the water...you need some salts - minerals for good hop utilisation and for healthy yeast cells.

Most Tap water has enough minerals.

I use Rain water so i add some chalk and gysum prior to the boil. Also, when i rack i taste the wort. If it tastes a bit too bitter i will add some Gypsum to soften, mellow the flavour.

Sometimes i will add Chalk if i feel that the underlying bitterness of the hops and malt flavour needs to come through more....

This is done to try and better balance the final taste of the beer.

 

[kook]

One simple kit based receipe that floats around a lot is one that I beleive was first published by Mike Rodgers-Wilson in his book "Home Brewing". I've seen it on Oliver & Geoffs website (www.homebrewandbeer.com), on the Coopers website, and OCAU. I've never tried it, but I'm going to as my next brew for something quick and simple.

Caledonian Brown Ale

1 Draught kit (Coopers seems to be used a lot)
500g of dried or liquid light malt
500g of liquid dark malt
15g of fuggles pellets

Bring 2-3 litres of water to the boil, add the malt carefully, stirring so it doesnt stick to the bottom. Boil carefully for 5 mins avoiding any boilovers if you're using a small saucepan. Add the hops, boil for another 5 mins. Turn off the heat, add the kit, stir it well. Strain it into your fermenter, top up the water to 23litres (making sure pitching temp is around 26-29 degrees). Pitch 1 or 2 packs of ale yeast.

I'll make this on the weekend and get back in a month or two as to how it tastes

 

[[SweN]]

hi all.
i too have just cruised in from ocau. thanks for the heads up vinds.

this is one im trying to replicate at the moment, my mates old man makes this one.

coopers real ale
1kg White sugar. yes not dextrose etc
rest as per instructions.

thing is after i bottled he informed me that he adds about 1 inch (volume?) of water to each stubbie that he bottles. basically this seems to water down the beer to about mid-strength, and also stretches the beer out furthur. something like 3-4 cartons he makes each go??

 

[GMK]

Using White Sugar

SweN,

Next time you are making this recipee try this.
Boil the white sugar for 15 mins with a teaspoon of Citric or Tantaric Acid.

This will break it down into simple sugars and will leave some unfermentables from the white sugar processing to add extra flavours.
Boiling eliminates the green apple taste and aroma that is usually found with using white sugar.

Adding the extra water makes the beer go further - but i woulod have thought that it would have made more thinner and watery.

I prefer my beer thick and full of flavour.

 

[Trev]

Ken,

I made up your recipe for the Australian Draught about 8 days ago. It brewed as vigorously as anything. SG of 1037. It's now been racked into the secondary, together with the hops etc and I'll bottle in up in another 10 or 12 days.

How long in the bottle before I can crack one and report back to you?


Trev

 

[PostModern]

It depends on what you prime with and the storage temp.. Primed with DME stored at room temp (20-22C) should have enough fizz in a week. It's taste won't be all that great tho... unless you have it in secondary, which you do

 

[GMK]

Trev,

Because it has been Racked for two weeks - make sure you taste the wort again at day 7 in the secondary - this will give you time to adjust / balance (dry Hop) again if it is not quite uoto where you would like it to be.

I have drunk this at the end of a week. I had some friends sample it at a week old - they were amazed at how well it tastes for only a week.

It will get better by six weeks (or put some in the fridge for 2 weeks storage before drinking)

I can't wait to hear how it turns out....

 

[Trev]

Ken,

I'm sorry but here's my next silly question - why keep it in the fridge for two weeks. Does that aid the absorption of the CO2?

Trev

 

[GMK]

Trev,

Once the yeast has produced enough CO2 to gas the beer - one week generally at room temp to allow the yeast to work effectively- keeping it in the fridege will then do the following:

allow for better absorption of the gas into the beer.
it also ages better/quicker in the fridge.

It is a form of lagering.

 

[Trev]

Ken,

It's taken a while to reply but I've just had a couple of stubbies I made up using your Australian Draft recipe - damn fine.

I was lucky enough to have Grolsch bottles around for it so not only does it taste good but presentation ain't too bad either.

I didn't use any finings but with the racking etc there's so little sediment (mainly from the secondary fermentation I suppose) that it doesn't matter, and the little bit there just seems to stay stuck to the bottom of the bottle.

Now I've got to let it age another month or two and try it again.

Thanks for the recipe and the tips etc, much appreciated.

Trev

 

[kook]

Caledonian Brown Ale

1 Draught kit (Coopers seems to be used a lot)
500g of dried or liquid light malt
500g of liquid dark malt
15g of fuggles pellets


I'll make this on the weekend and get back in a month or two as to how it tastes

Well, I'm almost through the keg of this!

Its tasty stuff Really simple too. I deviated slightly from this receipe by using 800G of dried light malt, 500g of dried dark malt, and 20g or so of goldings rather than fuggles.

If anyones looking for a simple kit-based brown ale, its a good one.

 

[GMK]

Trev,

Thans for the feedback and i am glad the recipee worked for you and tastes great.

Exchanging recipees and tips for better brewing is what this forum is all about.

if you ever get to Canbera...look me up.

 

[Indy]

ok my Coopers Larger honey beer is over due for bottling...

put it on the go 27/3 and now it's 8/4 (12 days) silly, it almost stopped (well it slowed markedly) 2 days ago... but i accidentally got quite drunk and hung over the last couple 'a days...

anyway i put the following into my barrel:

coopers larger - (can thing)
1.5kg honey (in tub form with yellow lid) (ps: the honey is ~80% sugar)
1kg dextrose
22litres o water
yeast sachet into 22*C brew (stayed between 20-22)

the orig spec Grav = 1054 ------> *slips next door*
the final spec grav = 1004

from my chart: 7.3 - 0.6 = 6.7% alc/vol
but the real alc/vol is once you do the secondary and pour it from the bottle right?

seems to be bubbling away in the little tube thingy ok... but it also tastes quite wine'y, why would that be? the dextrose? maybe the sugar in the honey...?

anyway enough typing time for bottling...