"lme/dme- Free" Fermenting With Coopers Can

[Jase71]

Quite stupipdly, I placed an order yesterday which has already been delivered, but I forgot to get some malt extract. Can anyone suggest what i might use for sugars in my forthcoming Coopers Draught Kit brew ? I have dextrose & maltodextrin only, and the usual household white & raw (although I think I know the answer to that !) And I'm not adverse to throwing in some honey. There's a few suggested mixes on the dextrose thread, but they mostly involve an element of LME or DME - not much good if I dont have.

Outside of the sugars, any other recipes would be well received fro this common goo. What's in the cupboard you might ask ? Some Saaz & Cascade pellets, and also some crystal malt grain, the latter of which I dont really know what to do with !

Suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Pollux]

Does the Woolies at Concord stock coopers HB stuff??

Go grab a 500gm pack of LDME and work from there...

 

[mwd]

A 'Toucan' perhaps ?
500g Dex
250g Crystal Steeped 30mins @65-70 deg C.

Or try Coles or Woolies as they usually stock Coopers Dry Malt in 500g packs.

just a couple of ideas off the top no scientific reasoning behind.

 

[Bribie G]

Jase, living in SydneyI would have thought you would be handy to a LHBS? If not, then the lesser of all evils would be to pop out to a Coles, Woolies etc and get yourself a kilo of Coopers BE2.for about six dollars. It contains LDME, dex and maltodex. If you are after a tad more alcohol put 500g of your existing dex in as well.

I did a 'demo' brew a few weeks ago for a buddy with a Coopers Real Ale, BE2 and nothing else and you know what, it's quite drinkable as a kit & kilo.

Never tried the Coopers Draught. If you want to give it a more copper-colour and some added malt/caramel flavour, just steep about 200g of the Crystal malt in very hot water for about half an hour as if you were making tea, strain off into a pan and boil briefly to sanitise and chuck that into the brew as well.

The Saaz pellets would not, IMHO, blend well with an Australian 'Draught'
However if you want to try hopping put about a rounded dessertspoon of the Cascade pellets into the pan when you are boiling (see previous paragraph) and give them a five minute boil to extract some aroma. Just chuck the whole thing into the fermenter, the hop material will sink to the bottom in due course.

Hope this helps

Cheers
Michael

 

[Jase71]

Does the Woolies at Concord stock coopers HB stuff??

Go grab a 500gm pack of LDME and work from there...

LOL, no, they don't stock ANYTHING I want. EVER. It was from Newington Woolies, and they dont have any other HB stuff, I checked near the brew cans and also the sugar aisle.

So um, what's LDME ? Not in the trusty acronym list....

As for 500G Dex and 250g steeped grain, are you basing that on a toucan or a single sparrow ?

 

[Pollux]

Sorry mate, LDME - Light dry malt extract.....

Looks like this

And Bribie: I live in Sydney too, oddly enough I can't easily get to a HBS either.....

 

[AntCoop]

LOL, no, they don't stock ANYTHING I want. EVER. It was from Newington Woolies, and they dont have any other HB stuff, I checked near the brew cans and also the sugar aisle.

So um, what's LDME ? Not in the trusty acronym list....

As for 500G Dex and 250g steeped grain, are you basing that on a toucan or a single sparrow ?

ldme = light dry malt extract

 

[Jase71]

Jase, living in SydneyI would have thought you would be handy to a LHBS?

Yea, you'de think so, but no. The inner city suburbs are a wasteland for HBS. There's two on the northside, three out west, a couple down south, but nothing around my area for miles. This is generally not going to be a drama when I buy a few things, but in this case when I forgot something, it's difficult to just 'pop in'. I'll try some of the other local supermarkets, cheers fellahs. And many thanks for the hopping suggestion, Bribie!

EDIT: So LDME = DME that's not been roasted as long ?

 

[mwd]

As for 500G Dex and 250g steeped grain, are you basing that on a toucan or a single sparrow ?

Toucan. It will be bitter enough no need to add hops to this unless for aroma.
I didn't work out expected %alc. vol

 

[Gavo]

+1 for the cascade hops. I have done this kit with the 500 grams of LDME and 600 grams of dex only (no hops) and have found it bitter enough but lacking in any hop flavour. This kit is bitter enough So definately put the the hops in as a flavour addition.

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[buttersd70]

Jase
Its always better to use at least some malt....however, if you're stuck, use 600g dextrose and 400g maltodextrin and make it up to 23L. This will give you the same result as using the coopers BE1 pack. If you want slightly more alc, up the dextrose to 750g (but I wouldn't suggest going over that, personally.)

If you combine that with a steep of the crystal, like bribie said. 200,250g ish. Crack the grain a bit with a rolling pin, mortar and pestle or whatever (if its not already cracked). It doesn't need to be crushed properly like it would for a mash, just broken open a bit. Put it in a pan of water (2L ish, but the volume doesn't have to be specific at all.) put it on the heat and bring it up to about 70C. (as long as it doesn't go over 78, the exact temp doesn't matter). Take it off the heat, leave it for 5 minutes, strain it and discard the grain. Put the resulting liquid on the heat, bring to the boil, and gently simmer for a couple of minutes to sanatise it.

At this stage, add the hops. Cascade would be the go, thats what is in this kit to start with. There are 2 options....add the hops and boil for 10-15 minutes. This will add flavour, but will also add some bitterness. And given that theres no extra malt in your mix, I think thats not required, there will be enough bitterness as it is. Option 2 is to add the hops and then immediately take off the heat. Leave it to sit for a minute, then tip the lot into the fermenter. The hops should settle out in the fermenter by the time its ready to rack off, anyway. If you are worried about floaties, and don't want the hops themselves in the fermenter, strain it. But if you do this, leave the hops in the hot liquid for 3-4 minutes off the heat instead of just a minute.

Just my 2c.

 

[KGB]

Trawl woolies or coles around your area until you find some malt or a pack of BE.

 

[WarmBeer]

Big W are also good for Coopers supplies. Not sure if you have them up in NSW, but generally have a better range than Coles/Woolies.

 

[seemax]

You will pay $6 for 500g of LMDE at Coles/Woolies/etc. I would recommend doing a toucan, get a Coopers lager of Homebrand lager, usually $10 for 1.7kg!

Use 1 packet of yeast, or better yet use a decent ale yeast (US-05), steep some cascade hops in boiled water for a few mins to add some aroma and off you go.

Leave it in the bottle for min. 8 weeks and you'll have a cheap full bodied quaffer !

 

[rclemmett]

Coles sells saunders liquid malt, should be with the honey, and liquid rice malt, should be in the health food section.

I haven't tried the rice malt yet, but the saunders malt does the trick.

 

[Jase71]

Detailed, concise information again Butters, thank you for the advice on getting brew 2 bubbling this weekend. That post hold pretty much every relevant bit of info a new brewer could hope for. Nice to know I can ramp up the alcohol a little bit by increasing the dextrose.

I'll keep an eye out for the LDME at another supermarket, since I already have the other sweeties. Would prefer to customise my own mixes too, so the pre-mixed blends arent really my thing.

Cheers to all !

 

[Jase71]

Use 1 packet of yeast, or better yet use a decent ale yeast (US-05),

Am using S-04... ... .. ...

 

[buttersd70]

Detailed, concise information again Butters, thank you for the advice on getting brew 2 bubbling this weekend. That post hold pretty much every relevant bit of info a new brewer could hope for. Nice to know I can ramp up the alcohol a little bit by increasing the dextrose.

I'll keep an eye out for the LDME at another supermarket, since I already have the other sweeties. Would prefer to customise my own mixes too, so the pre-mixed blends arent really my thing.

Cheers to all !

No worries, mate. As has been said, if you can get malt, use malt. If you can get some, post again and we'll revisit the mix.

 

[Bribie G]

Supa IGA often stocks a better range than Woolies or Coles:

 

[peas_and_corn]

Have you tried adding mugwort? I have heard that it tastes awesome.