Toucan But 1 Can+ Extras

[sxs19]

*****Newbie question alert*****

I need some advice on a couple of brews that i have planned sort of based on a toucan idea.

First one -

1 can coopers draught 250g light dry malt and the supplied yeast

Second one

1 can coopers real ale 250g light dry malt and the supplied yeast

both topped up to 15l

Basically i have done a couple of toucan brews before with 1 can coopers stout and 1 can coopers dark ale and both yeasts and really enjoyed the final product ( and the fact the it usually only takes about 4 days to finish).

I was planning on doing a toucan draught but after spending a few hrs reading on the forums i thought that i would start to experiment with using malts as well.

just after some feedback from people who have done smaller batches of beer to experiment with and also wondering how i would scale up if i like the end result. Say if i liked the ale recipe and i wanted to brew 45l at a time would i just put 3 coopers cans and 750g of light dry malt and the 3 yeasts into a 60l fermenter and expect the same result?

Also any advise on the basic recipe would be great too.

thanks in advance for any feedback

P.s

i usually drink coopers pale ale and coopers dark ale if this helps

 

[Bribie G]

Sounds like a plan. If you like a malty beer then toucans are good, and the extra malt will balance out any increased bitterness from the background isohop that they put in the kits. However I would be wary of putting 3 yeasts in for a 45L brew as you could end up with frothing through the airlock. Every time I have made a Coopers toucan to 25L with the Coopers ale yeast I have ended up with frothing. I have just made a toucan stout and instead of using the Coopers yeast I used a 12g pack of Nottingham Ale yeast and fermented it at 19 degrees and didn't get frothing on this occasion.

Nottingham is a good bet because it will chew its way through a stronger ale no worries, and will also happily ferment down to 15 degrees without going to sleep. So if you have temperature control - although it will take longer than the 4 days you mentioned - it will give a cleaner beer. Another good ale yeast is US-05.

Also you may want to put in some hops for aroma - adding some hop pellets to the brew after three days will give some aroma without increasing the bitterness by much.

 

[manticle]

I'm not sure how this constitues a toucan. Not saying it will be a bad beer by any stretch of the imagination but a toucan uses two cans. You're using one with less malt/sugar and less water.

To answer your question though - if you like the results exactly as is then I would just scale up accordingly (ie - 3 x volume = 3 x ingredients).

Not much help probably and for that I apologise. I'm just not seeing the relationship to a toucan.

 

[bum]

You're saying it'll be the same thing if he scales up - why not if he scales down? He also says "based on a toucan idea" - which a half volume, single can brew certainly qualifies for.

sxs19, I've got a similar idea floating around in the back of my mind for a Thomas Coopers IPA kit. Good luck with it.

 

[manticle]

I'm not even remotely suggesting he can't do it although a half volume brew would be closer to 11 litres.

 

[bum]

He's adding extra fermentables though - it evens out close enough and I don't think his sipposed crime is great enough for us to be going a n00b.

 

[Jonez]

He's adding extra fermentables though -

wouldn't this be another reason not to consider it a toucan? By definition in this site
"The 'toucan brew' is done by using 2 kit brew cans, about 20l of water, yeast and nothing else"

Just a thought....

 

[bum]

I'll say it again for the hard of reading:

'He also says "based on a toucan idea"'

Greatly reduced volume with one can certainly qualifies as being "based on" the toucan technique.

Ignore our shitfight, sxs19. Your idea seems like it'll work out ok but only one way to find out for sure, mate. Make sure you let us know how they turn out if you do put them down.

 

[manticle]

I'll say it again for the hard of reading:

'He also says "based on a toucan idea"'

Greatly reduced volume with one can certainly qualifies as being "based on" the toucan technique.

Ignore our shitfight, sxs19. Your idea seems like it'll work out ok but only one way to find out for sure, mate. Make sure you let us know how they turn out if you do put them down.

Hardly a crime, nor a shitfight. Ignore my slight pedantry. I'd rather help the OP make better beer than debate semantics.

 

[bum]

The only reason I said anything is because debating semantics is exactly what you were doing.