Coopers kits

I've heard good and bad things about Coopers pre hopped kits. Are they really much worse quality than Muntons? I've found Coopers are much cheaper than Muntons.

I've done both, and IMO they're pretty comparable.

SMOKEU said:

I've heard good and bad things about Coopers pre hopped kits. Are they really much worse quality than Muntons? I've found Coopers are much cheaper than Muntons.

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Coopers beer kits make consistently good beer when you follow the manufacturer's instructions. For instance, I just made the new Coopers English Bitter and in my opinion it compares with any craft beer.

I just bottled my second ESB in the past month with their English Bitter. I feel if you follow instructions you'll end up with a pretty small beer. I like to add a flavoring hop to their hops kits and about 4# of DME of sorts and go up to 5.50 or 6.00 gallon batches.

I've never had a real ESB or Bitter for that, but I know mine taste good. If I'm doing a pre-hopped extract I will ALWAYS do a Cooper's kit. I've just had great luck.

Also, it's impossible to screw up. I made their Euro Lager once (have one lagering now). I did EVERYTHING wrong. It was my first batch ever, and I pitched in the low 100°s easily. I fermented MUCH too warm, then I didn't let it age properly. The beer came out great.

The best beers I've made have always been made with Cooper's kits. Never had an problems. The only things that go wrong are when I add something and it throws of the balance.

I've had nothing but great success as well with the Cooper's kits! Unfortunately every style seems to use the same yeast (cooper's ale in the gold foil packet), so if you're looking for a different flavour try experimenting with different yeasts.

I just picked up a Coopers prehopped kit, should I add DME is the extract good on it's own?


thanks,

johnmcc said:

I just picked up a Coopers prehopped kit, should I add DME is the extract good on it's own?


thanks,

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You'll need to add DME. Probably about 2 or 3 pounds worth.

I have a SUPER easy Cooper Kit Formula:

This is for 5.5 gallon batches around 1.055 in gravity:
(1) pre-hopped Cooper's Kit
3# DME
1oz flavoring hop @ 10-15 minutes

It makes a slightly bigger (and more) beer than the kit recipe calls for. Since you're going bigger than they planned (the 3# vs 2#) you need to add a flavor hop.

You ABSOLUTELY cannot go wrong with that formula. It's my old stand by when AG gets me down.

That is a great formula PeterP. That will definitely make a great extract beer!

Also one thing to note, if you notice any 'off' (like banana or overly fruity) flavours, just give it more time. If you're bottle/keg conditioning these extract beers definitely get better and better with age.

petep1980 said:

You'll need to add DME. Probably about 2 or 3 pounds worth.

I have a SUPER easy Cooper Kit Formula:

This is for 5.5 gallon batches around 1.055 in gravity:
(1) pre-hopped Cooper's Kit
3# DME
1oz flavoring hop @ 10-15 minutes

It makes a slightly bigger (and more) beer than the kit recipe calls for. Since you're going bigger than they planned (the 3# vs 2#) you need to add a flavor hop.

You ABSOLUTELY cannot go wrong with that formula. It's my old stand by when AG gets me down.

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i have a few cooper's kits now (real ale, sparkling ale, and stout) and that's the formula is was thinking, maybe with some steeping grains to style. do you do an hour boil?

seems kit doesn't need to be boiled, dme doesn't really benefit from extended boil, and if you're adding flavor hops at 10 minutes you could really just do a 10 minute boil?

I do like a 30 minute boil, just out of habit. I'm not sure on the chemistry involved or if a 10 minute boil is long enough if you go straight to adding hops. I also feel cheapened if I go through all the trouble and am only over a flame for 10 minutes.

The only real downfall of my formula is that it is NOT cheap.

1oz hops = $3
Coopers can = $18
3# DME = $15
Yeast = $6 (if you don't use Cooper's which I think is a fine enough yeast)

You can reuse the yeast, but you're still looking at about $1/pint for ingredients.

I skip steeping grains.

so why can't you just use the Coopers can?

I was thinking of just buying a few of these for when I'm in a pinch to keep my pipeline going.

mhermetz said:

so why can't you just use the Coopers can?

I was thinking of just buying a few of these for when I'm in a pinch to keep my pipeline going.

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Just because it's not enough malt. The can is really intended to get you going.

The can is also designed for 5 gallon batches. I make 5.5 gallon batches. To get more alcohol I add 3# instead of 2# DME. Now what happens is that begins to throw the gravity hop balance off, so I like to add some more flavor hops at the end to beging to even it out more.

EDIT: I've done their Bitter which I think they changed to their English Bitter. It's a really good kit. It's surprisingly spicey with the hops. You could even do late hop adds with cascades and do an American Amber. PM if you want a recipe.

excited to see how 3# dme makes this different that the ipa kit i followed the instructions on. that ipa definately needed some flavor / aroma hops.

it is a little expensive considering you can get a midwest/austin kit for about the same and it would be AWESOME....

my coopers kit comes in a bit cheaper as i bought some stuff in bulk.

can $17
3#dme 11
grains 1+
1oz hops 1

$30 for 5.5 gallons of beer.

now when you say not enough malt...do you say that as a homebrewer or in general?

The only reason why'd I'd pick up these to fill my pipeline is for my friends who don't like overly malty/hoppy beers (IE: Labatt and Molson). Just wondering if the straight can plus added suger would cater more to them.

I've always made Coopers canned kits, okay I've made one, at six gallons. This is what their instructions say and what the makebeer.net site says is the batch size. Austin Home Brew also lists these kits at six gallons.

I've seen instructions from other brew shops saying they are five gallon kits and they could be made that way, but you'd have to make sure you are adding the right amount of additional fermentables. Otherwise you might be making a higher gravity beer, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Anyway, the Mexican Cerveza turned out decent. I used the Austin Home Brew additional fermentable pack, which adds two pounds of additional fermentable material to the batch. I have a Sparkling Ale kit to try and for that I'm roughly estimating what was in the Austin pack and am going to just add one pound of light DME, one pound of corn sugar and 1/4 pound of malto dextrin and see how it turns out. I know the Austin pack contains all three of those items and is around two pounds so who knows how it will turn out. I would normally hesitate adding a lot of corn sugar to a beer, but, like I said, the Mexican Cerveza turned out pretty good and did have some corn sugar in it.

I have made the Coopers Mexican Cervesa kit with 5 and 6 gallons. There is really no flavor difference between the two. Why not get 10 more beers?

Forrest

Austinhomebrew said:

I have made the Coopers Mexican Cervesa kit with 5 and 6 gallons. There is really no flavor difference between the two. Why not get 10 more beers?

Forrest

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Amen to that! I'm really pleased with how the Mexican Cervesa turned out. Smooth, very drinkable, and great for people that are a little tentative about trying my homebrew. Especially my dad who tastes every beer I make and says, "Boy, that's bitter." Hmm, yes, what you're tasting sir are hops and in truth that brown ale you're drinking is relatively low in overall hop bitterness, here try this IPA!!

Also, order from Austin Homebrew, because they rock! :rockin:
I even turned my brother on to them.

Forrest, is there a reason why you don't carry the Sparkling Ale? I tried a bottle of it and really liked it, but when I went on your site to order the kit it wasn't available.

Way, way back in ancient history I used a lot of Coopers to make beer. Around a year ago I bought a can of it just to see if I could change it into a braggot, and it turned out great. It was gone well before it's time.
I think they turn out a good quality product that makes some good beer.
I do not think you should boost it up with just sugar, I don't like going over 10% additions or I notice a taste I don't like.
I like adding honey, (which extends the fermentation time and lightens the taste.)
Adding malt extract DME/LME will produce a good beer.
I think I'll pick up a can or two just for those days I don't feel like driving to the LHBS or a 6+ hour days.

I made a ton of Coopers back in the day. Always added a couple of pounds of DME as well as hops. I used them kind of as a base kit, but they were very easy. I always told people you could brew them in a trash can and they would still come out good. This was back when there were a lot fewer LHBS. I would really watch the ads in the few trade magazines for new LHBS, call them and get a catalog. A lot of time I could save $2-$3/can. Enough sometimes to buy 3 get 1 free compared to LHBS (about 40 miles away). I still see a fair price difference sometimes. Just make sure you're pricing the same size cans. Of course, that probably doesn't help you, Kauai_Kahuna, you gotta pay for that scenery and climate. - Dwain

In my day, I made a lot of K & K brews. Most all came out the same way. Cidery, from adding the required amount of cane sugar. Corn sugar/cane sugar it didn't matter. What make the difference for me was replacing the sugar with malt extract and adding a little flavor hops. Took care of the cidery taste.

I guess a lot of things changed for me when I started reading these forums. Temperture control, proper yeast pitching, etc. Each added to the making of better and better beer.

Shooter said:

Amen to that! I'm really pleased with how the Mexican Cervesa turned out. Smooth, very drinkable, and great for people that are a little tentative about trying my homebrew. Especially my dad who tastes every beer I make and says, "Boy, that's bitter." Hmm, yes, what you're tasting sir are hops and in truth that brown ale you're drinking is relatively low in overall hop bitterness, here try this IPA!!

Also, order from Austin Homebrew, because they rock! :rockin:
I even turned my brother on to them.

Forrest, is there a reason why you don't carry the Sparkling Ale? I tried a bottle of it and really liked it, but when I went on your site to order the kit it wasn't available.

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I will look into it but I don't recall it being available any more.

Just the thread I was looking for. I recently bought the coopers kit which came with a lager can. I brewed it according to the directions, except that I pitched at a bit of a high temp....30 c. brought the temp down to about 26, which it stayed at till bottling. Total primary was 11 days, then bottled with coopers drops. I then bought the coopers wheat, which I pitched at 24, brought down to 22, and stayed at or below 25 for 8 days, and bottled with coopers drops. Here's the strange part. When I tasted the Wheat after one week in the bottle, it tasted exactly the same as the lager after one week. I'm drinking a wheat now, and it tastes no different than the lager did. The wheat has no wheat distinction, and is even as clear as a Coors Light. Does anybody have any ideas on what could have went wrong. Mislabeled can, city water? I emailed coopers about it, and got no reply. Tomheff who is the north american distributor for coopers replied, but couldn't offer any help. Maybe the masters of HBT could give it a crack

I haven't done their wheat but I find most extract tastes the same.

I love it, you pitched a lager at 30c and it still turned out. That's what's great about their kits. Like a previous poster said you can ferment in a garbage can and it'll turn out.

mikeysab said:

Just the thread I was looking for. I recently bought the coopers kit which came with a lager can. I brewed it according to the directions, except that I pitched at a bit of a high temp....30 c. brought the temp down to about 26, which it stayed at till bottling. Total primary was 11 days, then bottled with coopers drops. I then bought the coopers wheat, which I pitched at 24, brought down to 22, and stayed at or below 25 for 8 days, and bottled with coopers drops. Here's the strange part. When I tasted the Wheat after one week in the bottle, it tasted exactly the same as the lager after one week. I'm drinking a wheat now, and it tastes no different than the lager did. The wheat has no wheat distinction, and is even as clear as a Coors Light. Does anybody have any ideas on what could have went wrong. Mislabeled can, city water? I emailed coopers about it, and got no reply. Tomheff who is the north american distributor for coopers replied, but couldn't offer any help. Maybe the masters of HBT could give it a crack

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Did you use the Coopers kit yeast both times? If so, it's an ale yeast. Even if the can says that it is a "lager" kit, you're pitching an ale yeast if you use their yeast. Also, since it's not a wheat specific yeast, it's going to floculate the same as any other beer you make with the yeast. To me it sounds like everything worked correctly, maybe just not what you were anticipating.

I've done several Cooper's Kits and I've always been impressed with the quality... I'm fermenting a Sparking Ale kit right now... still available on www.makebeer.net...

It just may be impressive that the beer still turned out when I pitched at 30 c, but the quality of the final product wasn't impressive. I know 30c is high, and I learned from my first ever batch. after 6 weeks in the bottle, it was a whole lot better than at 2 weeks. I recently bought 2 coopers kits at 20 percent discount, so if they have that sale again, maybe I'll try the lager and the wheat again, and use different practices for both. Maybe ditch the kit yeast, and go with a true to style yeast, and see if they turn out any differently. But if what I brewed was the norm, I wouldn't buy either again.

I was told by a coopers distributor that the wheat kit uses a weizen yeast. Also, the packet was not the typical gold packet, but a silver packet. I'm about to bottle a coopers pilsner that used a white yeast packet, although I pitched the wort on top of the wheat cake, plus added the coopers yeast packet.....we'll see how that goes. I was a little disappointed that the wheat tasted exactly as the lager did at bottling, so I just threw the pilsener on top of the yeast cake to see how well it goes. Again, I'm learning, and it may not be a true pilsner, but as long as it tastes ok, I don't mind.

The two kits were definitely not what I was anticiipating, as a whole. Seperately, I don't usually like lagers, but I love wheats. If I had a choice of what the kit came with, I would not have chose the lager. The wheat definitely threw me for a loop. It was clear, and tasted like the lager. So Shooter, If I take two totally different worts and pitch the same yeast, I'll get the same beer? I hope not. But again, I'm very new to brewing, and I'm learning so much with every batch. Again, the HBT community has been very helpful, and I appreciate everyones input and help. Thanks again guys.

PlainsBrew said:

I've done several Cooper's Kits and I've always been impressed with the quality... I'm fermenting a Sparking Ale kit right now... still available on www.makebeer.net...

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If you havent noticed www.makebeer.net is Coopers.

I can't get the kit because none of the distributors has it available.

Forrest

mikeysab said:

I was told by a coopers distributor that the wheat kit uses a weizen yeast. Also, the packet was not the typical gold packet, but a silver packet. I'm about to bottle a coopers pilsner that used a white yeast packet...

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Hmm, it's possible that the silver packet is something different. I've only done one Coopers kit and it came with their standard gold packet yeast. I have the sparkling ale kit waiting in the wings and it came with a white packet. It's one of their "premium" kits, but I've always had the understanding that it's the same yeast in a nice "premium" package. I don't know about the silver packets. If it's a wheat yeast, it sounds like they're going for a fairly flocullent strain.

mikeysab said:

So Shooter, If I take two totally different worts and pitch the same yeast, I'll get the same beer? I hope not. But again, I'm very new to brewing, and I'm learning so much with every batch. Again, the HBT community has been very helpful, and I appreciate everyones input and help. Thanks again guys.

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I can't speak to the Coopers canned kits as I'm waiting to do my second one soon and will be able to tell how different they are then. With the other canned kits I've made, Mr. Beer, the beers all have a similar base quality and taste to them if I keep the process and the yeast the same. I'm talking about their standard can with an additional 1 lb of light DME and normally pitching Nottingham yeast. They aren't identical, but there is a similar basic taste to them. I suspect that the manufacturers start with a similar base wort and then manipulate it slightly from one canned recipe to the next and the flavor differences can sometimes be subtle.

Austinhomebrew said:

If you havent noticed www.makebeer.net is Coopers.

I can't get the kit because none of the distributors has it available.

Forrest

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Right, I do see that you can get it directly from Coopers, but would rather order from you when I can!

I ended up finding a can at an LHBS up north. Thanks for checking into it!

One of my roommates decided to use a coopers kit to brew his first instead of going the non-kit route. I thought it was really watery and had a weird nickel taste to it. maybe it was just his though

Hi everyone, I'm from Australia the home of Coopers. I rekon ive made just about every kit that coopers have produced and in my opinion you can stuff em up if you let the brew temp get above 21 -22 degrees, I think the yeast tends to sweat and leaves behind the "homebrew taste" we are all trying to avoid.
The best brewing time is winter when the max ambent temp in about 15 Degrees. sit the fementer on some insulating material and pitch the yeast at 22-26 Degrees then wrap the wort in a big beach towel and just let it go.
Apply no heat, the heat from the fermentation process is enough to keep the brew between 17 -20 degrees. It may take about 10 days to ferment out.
All coopers kits contain ale yeasts that work best between 14 - 25 Degrees.
so we you are making a larger you are brewing it with a ale yeast.

Started a Mexican Cervesa and just bottled it last Fri. I found this site just last night and with some threads I thought I screwed everything up. Now I feel a little better though after reading through this thread. I followed the instructions but substituted 2# of honey at the reccomendation of my LBS. My temp did rise over six days fermenting though as I live in FL, day six was 78 degrees when I bottled.
I do have a question though. If if want to move onto using DME and some corn sugar or honey what kind of ratio do you reccomend. Also can you please explain the boil with flavoring hops a little.

Thanks for the reassurance.:rockin:

Let's see... free Cooper's English Bitter kit from a buddy at work. How about if I make a 2.5 gallon batch from it and add NOTHING else. What do you think? Too bitter?

I wish there was a breakdown of AAU in their kits so you could convert to see what a smaller batch would do...

I wouldn't go that far. Maybe 5 gallons, instead of six, but I'd say cutting it in half wouldn't be too good. Check English Bitter recipes and see if any of them use any flavorings. When you boil your dme, add the flavoring, or steep some grains to add to the kit. I just did a Winter Warmer with steeping grains, and the wort tasted fantastic. I never tried brewing coopers kits any way but the way the can says to do it. If I were to fall into a coopers kit now, I'd do something to it. They make drinkable beers, but if I'm going to spend 35 dollars on a kit, I'd rather get a kit from Norther Brewer or Williams brewing.

See my recipes for a killer ESB.

So I've just received the Coopers Kit for my birthday. I'm excited to get brewing but I will be making a trip to the LHBS for some stuff instead of using just the lager extract and the brewing sugar. I figure on getting another can of extract or some DME or both. Maybe some hops to dry hop or do a simple boil. Some yeast. Not really sure of the method I'll go with at this point. I've just been reading as much material as I can. Don't want to bite off more than I can chew and figure to keep it as simple as possible for my first brew. I'd prefer to make an Ale despite already having the lager extract. Any suggestions as to which way to go with mixing or not mixing the lager with another liquid extract is appreciated. Actually, any and all suggestions are appreciated

I don't think you want to do too much liquid extract. Liquid extract is not as fermentable as dry extract and your final gravity may end up too high. FYI, it'll prob end up pretty high anyways. One of the only ways to get low final gravities is to do all grain brewing. As long as you're doing lager you'll find a large portion of the sugars unfermentable.

Welcome to the addiction.

Thanks, Pete!

Coopers is brewed in Australia,which was a colony of Englang ,which uses imperial gallons like Canada.....Therefore it is packaged to produce 5 imperial gal or 6 gal U.S.so it depends where you are...