Help me mod a cooper's kit....
 

I just ordered a cooper's microbrewery kit, as I want a cooper's fermenter for my primary and I also wanted all those plastic bottles. Unfortunately it comes with a can of cooper's lager and 2lbs of "brewing sugar" and I wasn't able to substitute it for anything else.

I'm not much of a lager drinker and I doubt this will be good if the recipe is followed. I do however want to use it up. Also, as I'm in crunch time before my board exams I don't want to devote the time to brewing a real ingredient kit.

So what can I do to mod this kit, while still brewing it the super-lazy "just add water" way? Should I use less water? Add light DME or something better? Toss in some hops at the end? Pour the extract over my cereal in the morning?

I want to use this puppy up so I don't store it forever. All ideas welcome.

BrewOnBoard

Mix the lager kit with 2 lbs of DME, boil for 15 minutes with .5 to 1 ounce of your favorite finishing/flavoring hop, cool to pitching temp and pitch a pack of Safale US-05 or Nottingham.

Before the boil, steep a pound of Crystal 60L at 160 F for 30 minutes if you want a little more character. ;)

I"ve heard the lager is pretty good.

I"m going to mod a coopers stout kit....sorry to hijack...by adding 3# dme w/ can.

Is there anything else that would help make a nice rich thick 'n creamy stout???
steep a pound of chocolate malt?
cinnamon, coffee, lactose?

Any suggestions on which DME to add? Light? Any suggestions of specific hops to chuck in at the end?

BoB

Light DME is fine.

If you're not sure which kinds of hops to throw in, maybe try an Ounce of Cascade if you like NorthWest-style ales (kind of "grapefruity") or an ounce of Fuggles if you like British ales (kind of "spicy"). These are just general suggestions. And I highly recommend steeping some Crystal grain in there.
:mug:

Read through Papazian's book, have a beer and, above all, RELAX! :)

About a 1/4 pound of Chocolate and maybe about a 1/4 pound of Roasted Barley would be nice.

Make the beer as is. Don't substitute the yeast -- waste of money. Do not boil the extract. Substituting 2 lbs of DME or 1 can of unhopped malt extract makes a good full-bodied beer. The Coopers Lager is good as is though.

FWIW, The OP asked for recomendations on how to mod the kit. My suggestion was to turn it into a great-tasting ale. ;)

When made with that much sugar those kits can be very "strident" and "cidery". Pretty vile IMO. Yeasts designed to ferment maltose can throw all kinds of nasty flavors when forced to ferment too big a chunk of refined sugar. :(

I mostly agree, but using a real lager yeast with that kit is wonderful if you can ferment it cool enough. S23 or W34/70 is only a couple bucks.

But the regular Cooper's yeast is good too.

I agree a true lager yeast would taste better. However, I once won a gold medal in the lager category at a local homebrew competition using an expired can of Coopers lager and a can of unhopped malt extract.