Coopers Catastrophe Comes Up A Cracker!

[Ditch]

I thought I was done for! With so much going on around here, I haven't had Any oppertunity to just sling a kit together. But, economics will out ..... So it was, Oct 26, I dodged round the stacks of timber, stepped over the power tools, side stepped the Honda and got one on. Pretty much a straight Coopers / Ditch's Stout. Only, for devilment, I dropped the level to 20 Litres. Just to see .....

Nov 2. Into the keg. Nov 4. Put another one in the FV. But, this one a dead regular " Ditch's ".

Now, I haven't actually recorded exactly what happened next. Maybe Chrisx1 can help us out here? I remember I Screamed to him, in PM, about the horrible realisation. I think it was about Four Days after kegging the first one that, sitting here happily reminiscing about how I'd pulled it all off, I realised what I'd done .....

I'd just put Two brews in. One now in the Keg ..... Both only containing 500 gms of bloody Malt!!!

Summit meetings with Chris. He'd never been so mindless, himself. He'd heard from others who Had. But they'd always faded away afterwards. Well, I'm still standing. And so is a pint of my virginally young (Ye want me to leave it a month? YOU pay for what I drink while it sits there! ), 20Ltr, second 500g of dry malt added about Four Days After fermentation 'Coopers'. And I've had a few pints.

Had one, early hours of this morning. Distinctly 'Coppery' after taste. After the 'Black Treacle' flavour, that was overpoweringly strong. But ..... Now, tonight? Typically Coopers ~ the Chameleon Stout ~ it's 50% different. Mmm. Now I'd suggest it's more like black coffee? It's losing that coppery tang, fast. Yeppers; And is that a dark, roasted nuttiness in the under taste there? Yum!

Bottom line is, folks, for the record: I screwed up. I, in desperation, threw the other 50% of malt even After Fermentation. And it's going down my neck. NOT the drain. Quite how this one could end up, with 'proper' maturation? God knows. But I'd bet it'd be gorgeous!

My points are this: 1. Never assume a brew is ruined, no matter. Try Something! 2. Ask Advice. Then Tell Us what pans out. Good or bad. 3. Unless it genuinely tastes like battery acid? Try to keep it and see what it does next. Who knows?

[fractureman]

Hope it turns out OK Ditch I'm sure we've all done something daft somewhere along the line

[dunc]

I guess its hard to feck up a Coopers Stout. Wonder brew indeed.

[Ditch]

Yeppers. Unfortunately, Chris, I'm one of these people who empties my recycle bin as I bin something I like to discard everything at the earliest, regardless. And my 'Record Keeping' isn't up together yet.

Having now downed over half a keg though, I must say this is in no way a brew I'd ask a friend round to try out. I mean, I'm not complaining! I'm drinking it and, having brought two cans of Arthur's home from my night out, I'd sooner drink my 'Wrecked and Weird' than bother with those cans! But, no way is this what I'd put my stamp of approval on.

That it's better than Guinness is nothing. Guinness is better than tap water ..... But, this definitely lacks the depth and breadth I like in Coopers Stout. Dunno. Maybe that second instalment of malt didn't take after all? It lost its flavour after two nights. Weird.

What ever. True to my word, I've just gone and decanted what will settle ~ eventually ~ down to a pint of black. Interestingly; I find the massive and frothy head tends to stay quite 'high' and separates completely from the bulk of the black liquid, when I later come to pour the jug into my glass

Wonder what's going on there?