Modding Cooper's Lager Kit, help?

scottmd06 · 11-17-2011, 02:33 AM

Modding Cooper's Lager Kit, help?

I picked up one of the Cooper's pre-hopped Lager LME cans and 1lb of golden light DME. I planned on filling out the rest of the fermentables in the brew with corn sugar (dextrose) but Im not sure how much would be TOO much... Ive heard that you can really dry out a beer by using too much and I dont want the corn sugar to make the beer taste too "hot." What would you recommend doing here?

Also, I'd like to freshen up the aroma a little since IT IS a pre-hopped kit, so do you think 5-10 mins with .5oz of some Cascade pellets would do the trick?

Thanks!

Skyforger · 11-17-2011, 04:37 AM

Why not just skip the dextrose? All it'll add is alcohol. No flavor or body. Unless you're making a beer that will be too rich for your purposes otherwise, might as well use all malt. What OG will the kit and the extra DME give you?

Yes, the hops will help. You could also dry-hop, if you like hops. And I might even add a bit at the beginning, as you are adding some DME. Might need more bitterness to balance out the added sweetness from the malt.

scottmd06 · 11-17-2011, 12:49 PM

The "kit" itself is only the pre-hopped can of liquid malt, so the OG will only be about whatever the 3+ lbs of malt ferments to. I only have the extra 1lb of the golden light DME available to add right now so I was going to use some dextrose for the missing alcohol content I'm foreseeing. I'd like it to at least get to around 4% after priming and bottling but if I can push the gravity a little with corn sugar without making the beer too "hot" and alcohol-y I would like to... Would 1.5lbs be too much dextrose in anyone's opinion?

**unionrdr** · 11-17-2011, 08:02 PM

I use the Cooper's OS lager can as a base in some of my beers. The Original Series has some bittering only with Pride of Ringwood hops. And not a lot at that. I'd add 2lbs of plain light DME & skip the dextrose. Half ounce of Cascade at 15 minutes,& the other half ounce as a 1 week dry hop.

Skyforger · 11-17-2011, 10:40 PM

I don't think adding much of any dextrose will help the beer any. If you want to use it, I wouldn't go above say a half pound. I would just get some more DME, unless you're in a real time bind. It'll make better beer.

Homebrewtruth · 12-15-2011, 01:45 PM

This beer shouldn't be made with extra malt if you want it to taste anything close to a lager. I'd just go with 600g of dextrose and 500g of maltodextrin. This is typically what they make their BKE 1 out of.

P.S, adding too much dextrose will not make it taste too dry. It will become fruity because of the cider like residues left behind after using too much dextrose.

**unionrdr** · 12-15-2011, 06:25 PM

Or use plain extra light DME if you want to keep the light lager color. 2 or 3 pounds of plain extra light DME won't add that much color to it. I've done it myself.
But with the brewing kit I bought,they gave me the cooper's OS lager can,& one 1kg box of brewing sugar (which I don't think they have anymore?) which was 80% dextrose,20% maltodextrin. It actually tasted pretty good,but def needed some flavor/aroma hops. The cooper's OS cans have some bittering only,so flavor/aroma hops are just what the doctor ordered.
Now I add plain DME & hops to make them into whatever style can be done from that color/style of LME can.

badlee · 12-16-2011, 03:01 AM

I have done a bunch of Coops kits and thy are pretty hard to f**k up.
If you only have a lb of DME,use it all and half a lb of the Dex.
I do a 15 minute boil with 2 hop additions. But I wouldnt recomend dry hopping that kit,my pal did and it didnt come out well.
That's just what I have found. Do what you reckon feels right and find your brewing legs.

badlee · 12-16-2011, 03:02 AM

I have done a bunch of Coops kits and thy are pretty hard to f**k up.
If you only have a lb of DME,use it all and half a lb of the Dex.
I do a 15 minute boil with 2 hop additions. But I wouldnt recomend dry hopping that kit,my pal did and it didnt come out well.
That's just what I have found. Do what you reckon feels right and find your brewing legs.

**unionrdr** · 12-16-2011, 12:21 PM

I've dry hopped it,but I also added DME & flavor hops as well. But I will say that the smooth,spicy German noble hops work better if you're keeping the original intent of the OS lager straight up. A 7 day dry hop is plenty.
I do a summer ale recipe with the OS lager can as a base With 1lb plain light DME,& 1lb plain wheat DME. Also 1oz US Golding & 1oz Willamette @ 20 & 12 minutes,respectively. Primed to 2.3 volumes co2 to which 12 packets of Trulemon were added (lemon juice crystal equaling 6TBSP juice). It looks like it'll have a nice gold color. The aroma at bottling was floral/lemon,kind of a bright cheerful smell. They go in the fridge tonight for Christmas.