Recommendations for my 2nd batch

bluethunder

Hi there, I have a coopers kit and made a batch of lager (don't remember the exact type) last year. All went fine but, in the end, the lager tasted quite weak with not much 'body' or flavour. I don't know why this happened but I suspect it was the temperature - I brewed when the weather was colder.

Now i'd like to give it another try and hoping to do an IPA. Can anyone recommend one and also which sugar/spraymalt to use?

BeerNut

The trick to getting the hoppiness right is to dry hop: throw in 20-30g of a good American aroma hop like Citra or Centennial a week before bottling.

I would say always use spraymalt rather than sugar.

bluethunder

bluethunder wrote: »

Hi there, I have a coopers kit and made a batch of lager (don't remember the exact type) last year. All went fine but, in the end, the lager tasted quite weak with not much 'body' or flavour. I don't know why this happened but I suspect it was the temperature - I brewed when the weather was colder.

Now i'd like to give it another try and hoping to do an IPA. Can anyone recommend one and also which sugar/spraymalt to use?

Same here, I did my first brew about two months ago. I did the coopers lager as well. No body to it and not much of an aftertaste. It's drinkable but I'm disappointed with it.
I've got my second brew on now. I'm doing the coopers pilsner. I used 500g of spray malt and approx 400 or 500g of the coopers sugar. I also threw in some saaz hop pellets. It smelled really good before I put the lid on the fermenter so I'm hoping for better results this time

covey09

Have to say i was blown away by the Coopers IPA, i use SDM and used some progress during the boil and dryed hoped with target. it was a sh1t kicker at about 7% but came good really fast

bluethunder

Ok, got the brew under way last Wednesday evening. No bubbling by Friday lunchtime and I was away from the house all weekend until last night. No bubbling when I got back but checked the gravity and it is close to 1010 after starting around 1050 so i'm assuming fermentation is pretty much done.

I'd like to dry hop now and have 100g of cascade pellets. I'm using a coopers kit so how should I do this? Simply open it up and toss in the pellets? How long should I leave them in there for?

BeerNut

bluethunder wrote: »

Simply open it up and toss in the pellets?

Yep.

bluethunder wrote: »

How long should I leave them in there for?

About a week. A few days either side won't make much difference.

bluethunder

Great, thanks for the quick reply. I was a bit confused as the Coopers instructions say to bottle when fermentation is done and you get the same gravity reading two days in a row. I suppose that's if you're not dry hopping. I reckon 7 days will do me then straight into the bottles.

BeerNut

bluethunder wrote: »

Coopers instructions say

I'd strongly recommend ignoring what kit instructions say.

bluethunder wrote: »

to bottle when fermentation is done and you get the same gravity reading two days in a row.

Certainly don't bottle before this, but I would recommend giving every beer a minimum two weeks' fermentation to let the yeast finish and clean up after itself. Rushing a beer is a bigger risk than taking too long with it, IMO.

bluethunder

50g of Cascade pellets thrown in last Tuesday. Some action from the airlock almost immediately but it settled down after about 20 minutes. I like a hoppy beer but don't want it to overpower everything. How long should I want before bottling? I'm thinking of Sunday, is this long enough to allow the hops to work their magic or do I need longer?

willabur

reckon you should be okay with that

RGDATA!

have done several coopers kits - the IPA is definitely my favourite.

have to say BeerNut's advice has stood me very well with these kits - ignore the package instructions: use spraymalt, leave a couple of weeks to ferment, dry hop for a week

Dub13

RGDATA! wrote: »

have done several coopers kits - the IPA is definitely my favourite.

have to say BeerNut's advice has stood me very well with these kits - ignore the package instructions: use spraymalt, leave a couple of weeks to ferment, dry hop for a week

I agree,he has give me a few tips as well.Its great to having someone who is knows what they are doing giving tips.

BeerNut

Thanks guys But it's not rocket science, in fairness

Dub13

BeerNut wrote: »

Thanks guys But it's not rocket science, in fairness

But still loads of people make mistakes or don't do thing correct,you have already stopped me from making a couple of fcuk up and give other tips.If it all helps to make a better beer thats a great outcome as I would say loads of people are lost to the hobby because they had no guidance.

BeerNut

Dub13 wrote: »

I would say loads of people are lost to the hobby because they had no guidance.

Ah yeah. It's the reason "homebrew" still means "awful beer" to most people. Tragic when pretty much every other product is considered better when homemade.

Dub13

BeerNut wrote: »

Ah yeah. It's the reason "homebrew" still means "awful beer" to most people. Tragic when pretty much every other product is considered better when homemade.

I have been coming across this alot over the last couple of weeks when telling people I am getting into the hobby.Alot of people are traumatized by experience's years ago,I hope to try and change a few minds if I can start making good stuff.

sharingan

Dub13 wrote: »

I have been coming across this alot over the last couple of weeks when telling people I am getting into the hobby.Alot of people are traumatized by experience's years ago,I hope to try and change a few minds if I can start making good stuff.

The stories I hear are mind boggling - one fella down a pub tried to warn me about the dangers of my home brew blowing up the house (err thats a meth lab ...).

Some of the things that I brew take almost no skill, just decent ingredients. Making simple honey wines for instance (honey, water, something to flavour it). Brewing with beer ingredient kits is dead simple and can have great results. The coopers irish stout is really good and responds well to simple flavour tricks. There are also quite a few good, pale ale and IPA kits.

Brew demonstrations are the way to go. People get really surprised when they see how easy everything is.

BeerNut

sharingan wrote: »

Brew demonstrations are the way to go. People get really surprised when they see how easy everything is.

And taste the finished product done properly.

bluethunder

Update: I decided to leave the hops in until tomorrow which will be a full 7 days. I had a quick look inside yesterday and a lot of the hops are on the surface, I assumed they would fall to the bottom. When I bottle tomorrow is there some way I can sieve out this gunk? I don't have another bucket that I could decant to, what should I do?

BeerNut

If they're floating on the top then what's the problem? You'll be filling bottles from the bottom, right? Just stop before the level has reached your siphon/tap.

bluethunder

BeerNut wrote: »

If they're floating on the top then what's the problem? You'll be filling bottles from the bottom, right? Just stop before the level has reached your siphon/tap.

I suppose the simplest answers are often the best.