I've got a Coopers IPA kit that I plan to get started this weekend. I know the kit says to use 500g spray malt and 300g brewing sugar but I bought 1kg of light spray malt. Will this be fine with 1kg of spray malt? Will this affect fermentation/taste?
Plus I also bought a sachet of Safale04 yeast. Should I use this instead of the Coopers yeast and should I re-hydrate the yeast before pitching?
Advice appreciated.
Coopers IPA
-
Coppertone
Thanks DaaB,
After doing the Coopers Lager with the 1kg brewing sugar that came with the starter kit (that was before I found this website), I would like to taste the difference that the spray malt makes.
I do not know why Coopers include brewing sugar in their starter kit. My lager is 4 weeks in the bottle and I can taste the thin cidery taste that you talk about.
After doing the Coopers Lager with the 1kg brewing sugar that came with the starter kit (that was before I found this website), I would like to taste the difference that the spray malt makes.
I do not know why Coopers include brewing sugar in their starter kit. My lager is 4 weeks in the bottle and I can taste the thin cidery taste that you talk about.
-
Fatgodzilla
Coopers
Coopers Brewery do not recommend the use of too much extra malts for their kits but aren't 100% certain why. They simply say that their brews are designed to be made as is. The general assumption is too much extra malt affect the hop levels (especially bitterness). Overcome this by adding more hops to your kit brews.
Commercial Aussie beers are brewed light tasting and quaffibles - you are probably familiar with Victoria Bitter / Fosters, Tooheys New / XXXX and Swan. All use cane sugar to get some punch and has little hop aroma (Pride of Ringwood hops are high bitter / low aroma)
You'll be pleased to know the brewing revoution is alive and bubbling down here. More craft brewers bringing more and more different brews into the market and of course home brewing is very strong and getting stronger. But as like the UK, the big commercial outfits dominate the market.
Commercial Aussie beers are brewed light tasting and quaffibles - you are probably familiar with Victoria Bitter / Fosters, Tooheys New / XXXX and Swan. All use cane sugar to get some punch and has little hop aroma (Pride of Ringwood hops are high bitter / low aroma)
You'll be pleased to know the brewing revoution is alive and bubbling down here. More craft brewers bringing more and more different brews into the market and of course home brewing is very strong and getting stronger. But as like the UK, the big commercial outfits dominate the market.
-
Dave d
I bought the Coopers starter kit and replaced the yeast with saflager s-23, and got a fridge especially for it so I'd get a better lager then to my horror I was reading an aussie website which warned to stay away from brewing sugar that contains sucrose as its just ordinary sugar I double checked the bag of brewing sugar provided in the Coopers kit and and its says its sucrose it also has the cheek to say it was developed by their scientists and this sugar will give a more fruity taste. Very dissapointed in Coopers !!!!
-
Coppertone
I spent a year in Australia and have to say I really enjoyed the beers. I liked the way that when you travelled round each state had its own associated beer, eg. Swan in W.A. , VB in Victoria, NT bitter etc.
As an introduction to homebrewing though, I have been slightly dissapointed with the Coopers starter kit. The equipment is great, its just that the Lager, using all brewing sugar as supplied, does not taste like a proper lager (5 weeks in bottle now), it has a thin cidery taste. Maybe this will improve with age, I do not know. Another big no no around here is do not put your FV in with the water heater, although in the Coopers instruction booklet that was one of the suggestions for Temperature Control????
So, I put my first brew, the lager, in with the hot water tank and also suspect this as affecting the taste of my brew.
Since then with the knowledge I have gained from this site, I have decided to give another Coopers (IPA) a go, this time using 1kg Light Spray Malt and keeping the FV well away from the water heater.
I put the IPA in the FV yesterday and it is bubbling away nicely, so hopefully this one will be alot better. All in all, I hear great things about the Coopers kits.
As an introduction to homebrewing though, I have been slightly dissapointed with the Coopers starter kit. The equipment is great, its just that the Lager, using all brewing sugar as supplied, does not taste like a proper lager (5 weeks in bottle now), it has a thin cidery taste. Maybe this will improve with age, I do not know. Another big no no around here is do not put your FV in with the water heater, although in the Coopers instruction booklet that was one of the suggestions for Temperature Control????
So, I put my first brew, the lager, in with the hot water tank and also suspect this as affecting the taste of my brew.
Since then with the knowledge I have gained from this site, I have decided to give another Coopers (IPA) a go, this time using 1kg Light Spray Malt and keeping the FV well away from the water heater.
I put the IPA in the FV yesterday and it is bubbling away nicely, so hopefully this one will be alot better. All in all, I hear great things about the Coopers kits.
-
mysterio
-
Curious Brew
-
Coppertone
-
discodave
You should get 1010 dead with 1kg light spraymalt...leave for a week after fermetation finishes to give it a chance to clear as well.
This is a beer which is miles better when bottled if you can deal with the hassle.
Give it AT LEAST 4 weeks before tasting. I've had some for 10 weeks and they walk all over the crap they sell in the offy.
Even my wife favours this ale over shop bought beer.
Coopers are great kits when using spraymalt. I can recommend their whole range...
This is a beer which is miles better when bottled if you can deal with the hassle.
Give it AT LEAST 4 weeks before tasting. I've had some for 10 weeks and they walk all over the crap they sell in the offy.
Even my wife favours this ale over shop bought beer.
Coopers are great kits when using spraymalt. I can recommend their whole range...
-
Coppertone
Cheers for that Discodave,
I am also planning to bottle my IPA. Can you tell me how you primed yours?
What type of sugar did you use and how much?
Did you boil it and add it cooled to the FV or did you add it to the bottles individually?
I am planning to use 1 litre PET bottles.
Any info would help me out a lot as with my first brew, I just used the carbonation drops that came with the starter kit. Although these are very handy they are more expensive than ordinary sugar. So I have not tryed any other method before.
I am also planning to bottle my IPA. Can you tell me how you primed yours?
What type of sugar did you use and how much?
Did you boil it and add it cooled to the FV or did you add it to the bottles individually?
I am planning to use 1 litre PET bottles.
Any info would help me out a lot as with my first brew, I just used the carbonation drops that came with the starter kit. Although these are very handy they are more expensive than ordinary sugar. So I have not tryed any other method before.
-
Wauny
Coppertone,
I recently finished drinking my 40ish bottles of Coopers IPA. I bottled it in 500ml glass bottles, primed with ordinary sugar, added about 1/2 teaspoon to each bottle. I found that this had over-carbonated it to my taste, even after chilling the bottles in the fridge - several bottles fizzed up when I opened them (wasted beer
)
I would also recommend resisting for at least 4 weeks after bottled, the flavours with this kit really do improve with time
I recently finished drinking my 40ish bottles of Coopers IPA. I bottled it in 500ml glass bottles, primed with ordinary sugar, added about 1/2 teaspoon to each bottle. I found that this had over-carbonated it to my taste, even after chilling the bottles in the fridge - several bottles fizzed up when I opened them (wasted beer
)I would also recommend resisting for at least 4 weeks after bottled, the flavours with this kit really do improve with time
-
andyp
-
Curious Brew
-
Bryggmester
-
Curious Brew