New Brewer, Recipe Help Please

[stixjew]

Hi all, im new to this forum and brewing but over the last few weeks have been reading as much as possible on these forums.I have purchased a coopers home brew kit complete with standard lager and also bought a copers IPA and Sparkling Ale plus 1.5kgs of light Liquid malt extract. After reading a lot of info on this forum ive decided to try to spruce up the flavour and quality of the can brews if i can.I would like to buy a grain infusion pack for each can and steep that and some hops boiled into each brew to try to add a bit of flavour and character to the lager and sparkling ales.I like most beer styles and havent got a particular favourite.

I also would like advice on wich yeast to purchase for each tin and wish to do my best with the tins before moving to more complex brewing methods.IM asking for a fair bit of info in one go as i will be purchasing online and wish to keep postage costs down and get the lot in one go.Do i need to buy a grain bag with the infusion grain packs? So im basically after an easy recipe for the lager can and the sparkling ale can and boiling info for the hops and yeast types suitable.Should i get some more types of malt either dried or liquid as well? I will be brewing in a controlled temperature range via a heatpad and temp controller as its cold where i live.Thanks a million.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Quick Reply:

Yeast - US05 in at least a 12g pack per brew. It's forgiving and doesn't strip the hop character you appear to be looking for. I used it at 15 degrees for a good result, though it forgives up to 20 degrees. Don't do what the cans say and ferment at 25-30.

If ordering online - use a site sponsor - I prefer craftbrewer. Hops come in 90g bag, for about 1/6th the cost per gram as those "hop tea bags" and far fresher as well.

As for grain steeping - Coopers IPA, I'd grab 100g Caramunich I and 100g of wheat malt for some good head retention and flavour balance; Coopers Sparkling I'd bulk up the existing base with some Malt Extract of a similar colour.

For the grain - soak for an hour at 70 degrees for the best results.

For the hops, read up on boil times and how they affect bittering vs flavour vs aroma (basically a sliding scale between 60m boil for bittering, down to 10 for flavour (the difference between the two will render a balance between bitter and flavour, according to time). 0 minute boils and dry hopping for aroma.

Honestly, you'll need to define what you want from each beer, in order to define what hop varieties and what grains would suit. I made that mistake when I extract brewed of just getting whatever I felt, and not defining my beers. It was nice, but I learned from AG, that having a clear idea in mind and choosing the ingredients that work to that idea is very helpful for the new brewer.

Hope this was of help to you.

Goomba

 

[bowie in space]

Following on from Goomba's post, go to the recipe DB and check out a few coopers style brews, etc and you'll be able to construct a rough recipe. Try using just one hop to start off with so you get to know exactly what bitterness and aroma it gives to your beer. Pride of Ringwood may be a good place to start.

Bowie

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

POR if you prefer "Aussie" style Ales, I'd go Citra or Amarillo if you prefer American Pale Ales and Saaz, Tettnang, Magnum or Smaragd if you prefer German style hopping.

Agree with bowie - really stick to one hop - get a feel for its limits and its flavour. Most sites that sell hops in larger quantities will give you a "substitute list", so if you like, say Amarillo - craftbrewer states that Cascade, Centennial, Chinook and Ahtanum you'll like as well.

Look for Kit and Kilo (K&K) recipes on the recipedb, if you get stuck as well.

Goomba

 

[big78sam]

If you want to replicate Coopers beers (I see you've bought a Coopers sparkling kit) you'll really need to reculture the yeast from some Coopers stubbies. This is a fairly straightformward process and can be done with minimal equipment. Do a search here for reculturing coopers yeast and you'll find lots of stuff. Here's a start
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...ulture++coopers

and also this attachment (I take no credit for putting this together)

View attachment Coopers_Yeast.pdf

 

[stixjew]

HI All, thanks for the replies. MAbee im trying to jam too much in and too quick.I will start with the lager and spark ales and see how they go first. So i would aim for something like below (please correct me if it sounds shite!), theres so much to learn!


LAGER
1.7 kg coopers lager

100 grams light grain??
15 gms POR @ 15 mins??

LDME how much?

Dex how much if any?

us05 yeast



Sparkling Ale

1.7kgs sparkling ale

100gms caramalt or crystal

100gms wheat

POR @ 10 mins??

1.5kgs Coopers tin LME

DEX???

US 05 yeast

Are these looking ok or not good?

I love Aussie beers, german beers , pommie beers dark and light but as you guys said i need to pick a recipe or style and stick with it.The only beer i dislike but will drink still is corona style beer, fosters and vb! I love white rabit dark ale and james squire Amber Ale, which im having at the moment, cheers.

 

[Samuel Adams]

Hey mate,

They look ok to me !

I usually use 1kg of LDME in most of my brews basically because I buy it in that size & I chuck in 300g of dex in mine just for Alc content.
That gets a beer in the 5% range I think.

If you like German beers you may want to use Hallertau or Saaz hops in the lager.
When you do a hop boil use 100g of malf per litre to give you close to the correct gravity.
I buy a 1kg bag of LDME tip 300g & 3L of water in a pot bring to boil then add hops and time away (great fun !)
Depending on you pot size you can use more or less to suit, I'd use at least 2L though.

Also since you live in a cold area you could use a lager yeast instead of the US05 for the lager.
Your local should have a couple of dried lager yeasts to choose from, use 2 packs if it will be fermemting cold like 10-12*c

For the sparkling ale you could use cascade hops (seeing as you like white rabbit dark) or amarillo which is the hop of JS golden ale.
JS amber I think uses east kent goldings which is a UK hop, could also use that one, endless options almost !

After a few brews you'll tweak things for personal taste, if you already have the POR give it a go and see how you like them.
Good to see you are steeping grain early on in your brewing career !