Coolcal11

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Ok so this is going to be my first brew. I'm going to use a basic coopers ale no boil beer concentrate. However i have read in multiple places that adding in malt extract instead of sugar is a better choice. I know this may sound stupid but i'm not exactly sure what this means. Does it mean once you add the coopers can you should add more extract. If so what kind and how much? And is it really true that you shouldn't boil and no boil kit? any help is really appreciated! thanks
- Cal

lucasszy

Recipes 

Im just as new and green behind the ears as most, but I would recommend using pale malt extract as the addition. I've used it to bottle carbonate as well as to add fermentables. Seems that its an acceptable practice!

Cheers

Lucas

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DutchK9

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I am no pro and a noob just like you, but I have been reading this forum alot. Most extract kits have LME (liquid malt) and DME (dry spray malt). If you kit didn't have the DME, you should get some and use it instead of sugar. Sugar can give a bitter cidery taste if used in quantities. The only time to use the sugar is when you get ready to bottle. You add some to the wort after fermentation and just prior to bottling so your bottles will carbonize.

If I am wrong, will somebody with more experience please correct me?

Chip

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Yesterday I started a Coopers Mexican Lager.

I used DME by heating up about 3/4 of a gallon of water and adding the extract to it a bit at a time to prevent clumping. Once it was all dissolved I added it to the fermenter along with the LME and additional water. A starter was made with the yeast, a starting gravity of 1.038, and today it is bubbling away.

About as simple as it gets.

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Stratotankard

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Cool-
I've done the Cooper's kits with the supplied sugar and substituting DME in the same quantities. The Sugar will give you a little bit thinner feel and might give a cidery taste as mentioned above. I didn't notice it in mine, but the amount of sugar they supply (1#) is fairly low in a 23L (6.2gal?) batch. I've heard not to exceed 1# in 5 gallons if you use sugar at all. That said, if you can get some light or extra light DME, go with that.
As far as boiling a no boil kit goes, I accidentally boiled my first one and other than coming out a bit darker than expected I didn't notice that much of a difference than not boiling it the second time I made it. Perhaps more bitter with the boil, but since I topped it up to the full volume after I boiled the OG was the same. Still, never hurts to read the directions on the can.

Cheers and best of luck on your brew!

Terje

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Stratotankard

Recipes 

Almost forgot! My LHBS suggested that I not fill my Cooper's kits to the full 23L like the directions say. Rather they recommend only topping off to 5 gallons. Having done it both ways, I don't notice much difference in taste, but the smaller volume of water does give a slightly higher ABV.

Terje

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Primary: Burned Mead
Secondary: Bourbon Barrel Porter
Bottled: More Bourbon Barrel Porter, New Pekin Common, Flat Tail Old Ale, Bad Monkey Banana Wine, Flanders Red, Pumpkin Ale
Drinking: Too Much
On deck: Something crazy to use up the 3+ pounds of hops sitting in my freezer

paul_h

Recipes 

OK, most beer doesn't have any dextrose or sucrose in it all (some do, like high alcohol beguims, but not standard ales like APAs or lagers like pilsners). The sugars in a normal ale or lager are from the grains only (maltose), so if you were an all grain brewer or a proper brewery you'd mash the grains, then ferment it as they come out of the lauter tun adding no other sugars at all.
If you want to make a decent home brew, you can do similar, by not adding any sugar, but adding extra malt extract (1kg dry or 1.25kg liquid)
If the style is supposed to be thin and you're doing a cheap brew, you could add some dextrose with the malt. Likewise I wouldn't add heaps of malt, if you're impatient and want to drink the beer quickly, using too much malt makes the beer very sweet without aging it for a while. So you could use dextrose if you want the beer stronger than 5% (ie 1kg malt for 5%, plus 300g of dextrose to bump it up to 6%), or want to drink it quickly (dextrose fully ferments, so you get alcohol without sweetness in young beers).
eg.
My super pale ale had 1.4kg dry malt extract and was strong and sweet when young. My other one has 600g malt and 400g dextrose and was lighter in finish and easier to drink when younger.

As far as boiling the kit, I would only do it for under 10min if you were adding heaps of hops, was anal about sterilization and you were boiling it in the full 20L volume of water to mix it in well.
If your making just a brew with no added hops, using cold tap water for make up water, didn't have a stock pot large enough to boil the whole wort, there's no reason to boil the kit can.