Coopers Kit, Lager or Canadian Blonde..?

Dub13

I have been meaning to get a Coopers Kit for some time now,going to get the wife to pick me one up for fathers day.Can anybody tell me the pros & cons between the Lager & Canadian Blonde both taste wise and difficulty in making.

mayto

To make a proper lager you really need to ferment it at 10C and lager it near zero for a month or so. Some of the coopers kits come with a lager/ale yeast blend so you can ferment it low at about 10C or ale fermenting temp of about 18C. I would go with the Coopers Blonde Ale with 1kg of light spraymalt like this http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_36&products_id=1044 . You can ferment this at about 18C no problem. Two can kits are worth looking at too as everything you need comes with the beer kit except brewing fermenters etc of cource, like St. Peters http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_156.

Dub13

Cheers,what stage would the spraymalt be added at right at the start..?will this have much of an effect on the taste..?

BeerNut

Right at the start. You use it instead of sugar or brew enhancer. It'll improve the taste, there'll be less of a cidery tang which you often get with these kits.

Dub13

BeerNut wrote: »

Right at the start. You use it instead of sugar or brew enhancer. It'll improve the taste, there'll be less of a cidery tang which you often get with these kits.

Thanks,lucky I asked as I am not a fan of cider so this will help alot.I am buying from homebrewwest so would this spraymalt do the job..?

http://www.homebrewwest.ie/spraymalt-light-1-kg-1120-p.asp

One other thing,I was thinking of getting bottled water assuming it would have a better taste than tap water.Would this make much of a difference..?

BeerNut

Dub13 wrote: »

would this spraymalt do the job..?

That's the stuff, yes.

Dub13 wrote: »

I was thinking of getting bottled water assuming it would have a better taste than tap water.Would this make much of a difference..?

Depends how bad your tap water is. If it tastes fine raw it'll taste fine as beer.

sharingan

mayto wrote: »

To make a proper lager you really need to ferment it at 10C and lager it near zero for a month or so. Some of the coopers kits come with a lager/ale yeast blend so you can ferment it low at about 10C or ale fermenting temp of about 18C. I would go with the Coopers Blonde Ale with 1kg of light spraymalt like this http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_36&products_id=1044 . You can ferment this at about 18C no problem. Two can kits are worth looking at too as everything you need comes with the beer kit except brewing fermenters etc of cource, like St. Peters http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_156.

Those St Peters kits look nice ... must pick some up soon.

Dub13

BeerNut wrote: »

That's the stuff, yes.

Thanks,so the coopers brew enhancer you get with the kit is usless..?I am not sure about the tap water yet will have to think about that bit.

BeerNut

Dub13 wrote: »

Thanks,so the coopers brew enhancer you get with the kit is usless..?

You can use it, but you won't get as good results, especially with a pale beer.

Dub13 wrote: »

I am not sure about the tap water yet will have to think about that bit.

If chlorine is the problem you can remove it with campden tablets, or just by letting the water sit out overnight.

stuchyg

currently making a coopers canadian, the instructions read as fermenting at at temp of 20 or so, tasted it tonight after 5 days of fermenting, starting to get that taste of alcohol, gonna bottle her on Tuesday hopefully and il let you know how it goes

Dub13

stuchyg wrote: »

currently making a coopers canadian, the instructions read as fermenting at at temp of 20 or so, tasted it tonight after 5 days of fermenting, starting to get that taste of alcohol, gonna bottle her on Tuesday hopefully and il let you know how it goes

Please do let us know,will be getting mine in the next week two so it will be nice to here from someone that small bit ahead.Did you use the coopers brew enhancer..?

Ratsathome

I did the kit as well.Used all the stuff that came with it.Bought bottled water.Bottled it on the 29th of last.Opened one yesterday(I know it's a bit soon)Taste good,head was so so.Good lace in the glass.Opened one this afternoon.Low carbonation and no head at all.Will keep testing them

stuchyg

Dub13 wrote: »

Please do let us know,will be getting mine in the next week two so it will be nice to here from someone that small bit ahead.Did you use the coopers brew enhancer..?

I didnt get the brew enhancer so just used brewing sugar and tap water. Also have an IPA kit put aside to try next with malt extract

BeerNut

stuchyg wrote: »

gonna bottle her on Tuesday hopefully

11 days? Bit soon. I'd recommend giving it the full two weeks if you can. Anything up to about four or five weeks is better than bottling a beer that isn't fully finished.

Dub13

BeerNut wrote: »

11 days? Bit soon. I'd recommend giving it the full two weeks if you can. Anything up to about four or five weeks is better than bottling a beer that isn't fully finished.

Half the instruction videos on the net have lads bottling after 4/5 days.Is leaving it longer best practice..?

stuchyg

BeerNut wrote: »

stuchyg wrote: »

gonna bottle her on Tuesday hopefully

11 days? Bit soon. I'd recommend giving it the full two weeks if you can. Anything up to about four or five weeks is better than bottling a beer that isn't fully finished.

Il start checking the SG from Friday and bottle if it's level for the two days instead, it will be bottled for at least 3 weeks before I try drinking it

Ratsathome

Dub13 wrote: »

Half the instruction videos on the net have lads bottling after 4/5 days.Is leaving it longer best practice..?

Even on the Coopers dvd they said you should start testing the SG from day 6 and if you have 2 days with the same SG fermentation is over and should be bottled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1l1oCyCZKo&lr=1

BeerNut

Dub13 wrote: »

Is leaving it longer best practice..?

It is. The fundamental rule is make sure fermentation has finished: that you're getting the same gravity reading days apart. If it hasn't finished your beer will be overcarbonated and possibly explosive. Even when fermentation has finished, the yeast does some cleaning up after itself, removing some undesirable flavour compounds. This takes a couple of days, but is especially worth allowing for in a blonde beer where any off-flavour will stick out a mile. I find two weeks is a good rule-of-thumb time to allow everything to finish.

Dub13

BeerNut wrote: »

I find two weeks is a good rule-of-thumb time to allow everything to finish.

Thanks,with this tip and the spraymalt one I think my first batch should be alot better now.

stuchyg

Just realised I never put water in my airlock, am I right in thinking my wort will be fine,the airlock is more of a visual bubbling representation that your beer is fermenting

BeerNut

Yes, it'll be fine.

Ratsathome

Question.
Start testing my beer and found out the carbonation is very low(1 carbonation drop/500ml according to the recipe) and I have very little sediment in the bottle.
What went wrong?

BeerNut

Ratsathome wrote: »

.Bottled it on the 29th of last.Opened one yesterday(I know it's a bit soon)Taste good,head was so so.Good lace in the glass.Opened one this afternoon.Low carbonation and no head at all.

Ratsathome wrote: »

the carbonation is very low(1 carbonation drop/500ml according to the recipe) and I have very little sediment in the bottle.
What went wrong?

I think you may have the answer to your own question here. Give the bottles another week or two at room temperature.

Dub13

The Mrs missed the courier with this today,I hope they come again tomorrow.Another quick question,whats the best thing to use for sanitizing the gear..?something handy to get would be best.

Ratsathome

I saw on a few forums you can use 30ml thin bleach,30ml white vinegar and 19L water as a no rinse solution.Mix the bleach with the water and NOT with the vinegar.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Homemade_No_Rinse_Sanitizer
I use it myself.

sharingan

Dub13 wrote: »

Half the instruction videos on the net have lads bottling after 4/5 days.Is leaving it longer best practice..?

You need to pay attention to the instructions of the other half who do it properly.

Bottling early is a good way to end up with bottle bombs.

Dub13

I got this on tonight,the gravity was 1.036 is that about the norm..?

Cheers for the help,will keep this thread updated.

Ratsathome

When I did mine my reading was 1.038 and if you do the correction for the temp it was 1.040.So yours sound in that bracket depending on your temp when you took the sample.

stuchyg

@Dub my initial reading was 0.37. After 5 days it was down to 0.115 and just after checking on what is its 12th day of fermentation and is now down to .10.

Getting close to bottling stage and that slight dry cider taste it initially had has disappeared. Keep the faith brother!!

Dub13

stuchyg wrote: »

@Dub my initial reading was 0.37. After 5 days it was down to 0.115 and just after checking on what is its 12th day of fermentation and is now down to .10.

Getting close to bottling stage and that slight dry cider taste it initially had has disappeared. Keep the faith brother!!

Thanks for the update.How long you planning on leaving them bottled..?

stuchyg

Il leave them bottled for 3 weeks, it seems to be the standard length. Im hoping the FG will drop another bit but i reckon i will have a beer of around 3.8 ABV

Dub13

With the change in weather this has dropped down to 18 degrees,will it be ok or should I try to get it back up around 22..?

BeerNut

18 is perfect. Leave it.

Dub13

BeerNut wrote: »

18 is perfect. Leave it.

Thanks,some online saying 22 is ideal so was not sure.

stuchyg

Bottled my batch of Canadian Blonde yesterday, was happy with the taste prior to carbonation so hoping it turns out well, got 52 bottles worth, happy days

Ratsathome

Opened mine today after 20 days of carbonation.Great color but no head,plenty of carbonation and virtually no sediment in the bottle.Taste very good to me.

Dub13

Cheers for the updates lads,its good to here from people that bit further down the line.Have you any plans for another batch...?if so of what..?

Ratsathome

Looking at an American Golden Ale,Wheat Beer or Ginger Beer.Can't make up my mind yet.

sharingan

Ratsathome wrote: »

Looking at an American Golden Ale,Wheat Beer or Ginger Beer.Can't make up my mind yet.

I haven't seen anyone that is happy with kit Ginger Beer. Its pretty easy to make from first principles (blend + boil lots of ginger, add to fermentables). It works especially nice if you use spray malt instead of sugar (it goes down like beer, but it has a great ginger kick).

A real favourite around my place.

Ratsathome

sharingan wrote: »

Its pretty easy to make from first principles (blend + boil lots of ginger, add to fermentables). It works especially nice if you use spray malt instead of sugar (it goes down like beer, but it has a great ginger kick).

A real favourite around my place.

I make the non-alcoholic for the kids, wife and friends from fresh and ginger powder.Every 2-3 weeks I make about 20l

stuchyg

Dub13 wrote: »

Cheers for the updates lads,its good to here from people that bit further down the line.Have you any plans for another batch...?if so of what..?

Have a Coopers IPA kit in the shed waiting to be brewed, will use bottles water and DME this time as am more of an Ale fan than lager

Dub13

I am just after bottling this,all went well bar one thing.For the first 15 bottles I was putting in 2 carbonated drops as I taught the bottles were 750ml they are 500ml and should according to the instructions only have got 1 drop.

Will this effect them much..?

Ratsathome

Dub13 wrote: »

I am just after bottling this,all went well bar one thing.For the first 15 bottles I was putting in 2 carbonated drops as I taught the bottles were 750ml they are 500ml and should according to the instructions only have got 1 drop.

Will this effect them much..?

I used 1 drop per 500ml bottle and my carbonation is a little low.The instructions said "1 drop for 330ml and 2 for 750ml". Logic say 1 1/2 for 500ml.Will not use them again. Will do batch sugar next time.

idrinkbeer

I've used 2 drops per 500ml bottle twice now. First one was a Canadian Blonde and tasted excellent - some bottles were maybe a little over carbonated but no real harm done. 2nd one is a Coopers Lager and still conditioning under the stairs. No bottle bombs yet (touch wood)

stuchyg

opened a bottle of my Canadian tonight after 10 days of carbonation, head still disappears almost immediately but has the fizz and a nice taste, cant wait for the 3 weeks tasting

MANUTD99

Ratsathome wrote: »

When I did mine my reading was 1.038 and if you do the correction for the temp it was 1.040.So yours sound in that bracket depending on your temp when you took the sample.

My reading was 1.038.

At bottling when I put the carbonation drop into the bottle will that boost up the ABV% at all?

BeerNut

A bit but not much.

Ratsathome

Carbonation normally up it by about 0.5%

MANUTD99

Ratsathome wrote: »

Carbonation normally up it by about 0.5%

I'm guessing then my beer will turn out at about 4/4.1 %ABV.

I got a gift of the Coopers Pilsner so that will be my next brew. How can I get this up to around 5 %ABV.

I have 1.5kg of light spraymalt. Would it be too much to use all of that and would it leave bad head retention?