coopers irish stout

[float]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum.. I've recently put my 4th brew in, a coopers Irish stout.
I made it using the mix, kilo of brew enhancer, 300 grams white sugar, and 2 spoons of coffee. It made a 40 pint fermenting bucket full. My og was 1043, and fg was 1010 so I'm guessing I bottled it at roughly 4.9% abv...

It took 7 days for the primary fermentation to give a level reading on my hydrometer. It's now been bottled 14 days. I tried a couple of glasses last night, and it was lovely.

I've trauled the internet for advice on the length of time to leave it bottled for the best taste.. I'm still a novice to all this but love sharing with family.

I tend to do stouts and dark sled because my great grandad used to brew all the time and let me drink it with him. Any advice on taking it to the next stage would be helpful. My uncle mentioned putting scolded hops in near the end to clear it through....

Look forward to don't advice. Considering a cerveza lager next brew.

Cheers.

[Pinto]

Most brews mellow and improve with continued aging - subtle flavours and highlights that were overpowered by others in a young brew slowly come out to play (example - my "Night Shift" Stout was all about toasted, malty flavours early on - now at 4-5 months in the bottle, its easing back to reveal some buttery, toffee-like notes too) - many brewers find that the best pint of the batch was the last one that got left on a shelf for 2 years and then discovered

Now you feel comfortable with putting a kit together, you should do some research in the kit forum on "mods" - adjuncts such as herbs, spices and hop teas that will take the kits to the next level - there's a LOT of information in there.

Coopers Cerveza (so im told) is one of their weaker kits - not making something unpleasent, more "unmemorable" and bland from what i've read. If lager is what you want, Coopers Euro or Pils are what you need - but you'll need temperature control to make these properly (do a search for "brew fridge" or "frooker" to find out more)

Good luck out there have fun !

[float]

Thank you for taking the time to write a reply pinto. Very much appreciated. I think I'll try and leave these till Christmas now. The last stout I did tasted better right near the end after about 2 months, so I think its probably good advice to let it settle for a bit. My uncle lives in oz, and he is really good at all his brews. He has the patience for it to leave his 5/6 months but when out there they tasted awesome.

He had already recommended the coopers euro to me so I think I'll try that. There's a garden centre in brighouse I go to that has a shop just for home brewing. They'll definitely have it there. Once again, thanks for your info.

[TC2642]

Thank you for taking the time to write a reply pinto. Very much appreciated. I think I'll try and leave these till Christmas now. The last stout I did tasted better right near the end after about 2 months, so I think its probably good advice to let it settle for a bit. My uncle lives in oz, and he is really good at all his brews. He has the patience for it to leave his 5/6 months but when out there they tasted awesome.

Damn, that's a long time, I start drinking most of my beers in two to four weeks and only leave my really strong beers for the four to six month mark.

[Pinto]

I think that AG and kegged beers mature faster tho, dont they ?

[TC2642]

I think that AG and kegged beers mature faster tho, dont they ?

Yeah, I can see that with the keg vs bottle, what would the reason be behind AG maturing faster than kit?

[Pinto]

Just saying what i've heard That AG brews tend to be ready to drink faster - not sure on the truth of it tho - logically there shouldn't be a difference I suppose.