My first try...Will it be any good?

Ok, I bought Cooper's Stout extract.
I Boiled like 6 litres of water, and then put the extract on it, and about 300-400 g of sugar. Then I boiled it with lower temperature so it didnt boil, but the extract and sugar melted, I did this like 10 minutes, all the time stirring it.

Then I tried to colden the stuff very quickly, I used running cold water on my sink (no water to the cettle ofcourse). It went to 28 celsius like in 15 minutes.

Then poured the mixture to my plastic container and filled it with water to 11 litres. (Stuff was then about 23-24 celsius) Stirred heavily and added the yeast, and stirred some more.

Closed the container tightly and filled the waterlock (is that the right word?) half.

On the next day everything seemed fine and the yeast seemed to work nicely, as I witness alot of bubbly action going on in the waterlock. Now it has gone 6 days and the bubbles are like 1 in a minute or something, should I start bottling it?

I was wondering, will it be ok as I used the extract to almost only half of water? The idea was to make abit stronger taste and more alcolohol using less sugar.
As I read this forum I realize that maybe even the 300-400g of sugar is a bad thing for the beer's taste, but too late to fix that. The extract recommened 1 kg to 20 litres of water...

Any other ideas, suggestions, and notes would be very helpful and im thankful for any information!

I'm not sure about the extract side of things, I use grain.

But 6 days I way to early to bottle in my opinion.
Do you have an hydrometer?

Not yet, im buying one today.

Then later today you'll know if it's done.

6 days is still too early to bottle though. imo.
But it's your beer.

Yeah ill definetaly measure it later today, and probably leave it for few days still. Cheers!

At least TWO weeks before bottling. That is the absolute minimum.

What were the exact directions per the kit? I mean, how much malt extract is in the can and how much sugar are you supposed to add for 5 gallons/20L? And you only used 11L correct?

I am an extract brewer, but I use steeping grains, non-canned extracts (usually DME), real hops (not hopped extract), and recipes from books and whatnot so I don't use the canned kits that say 'add water and sugar'.

If you can provide some more details, we could probably tell you more what to expect out of using the one can to 11L as opposed to 20L. I'm guessing it's not going to hurt that much as most of those canned kits IMO call for too little malt/too much sugar. So, using 1 can of malt with half the water MIGHT actually be better if you cut back on the sugar at the same time...

Can't tell though without more details.

Here's some general info I found on a site regarding cooper's kits. This is if you make 5 gallons:

Cooper's Site said:

Coopers Beer Kits w/yeast and hops - From Australia's only remaining family owned brewery. Already hopped. All you need is water and brewing sugar.
Note: These kits contain yeast and hops, but require additional malt or sugar. You may either add 1-2 lbs of sugar, or 2-3 lbs of unhopped malt extract (not included). When made with sugar, beer kits will make a beer that is characterized as being high in alcohol and thin in body and mouthfeel. They tend to ferment very quickly, and will reach a state of maturity with a couple of weeks. If 3.3 lbs (standard can) of unhopped malt extract is used, the beer will have more body, more mouthfeel and more “beer” flavor. It will also take a bit longer to ferment and mature. This type of production is mostly favored by homebrewing hobbyists and “microbrewery” fans. Most use light malt. See the bottom of this page for additional required ingredients.

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So, now my guess is this: If the original can is 3.3lb. and you can either add 2lb. sugar or another 3.3lb. of extract to get 5 gallons of beer if following the directions exactly, then using 1 can to 11L normally wouldn't hurt much (1 can to 2.5 gal = 2 can to 5 gal) at all. So, basically all you did was doubled the malt, which is what they suggest for a fuller, better beer anyway.

However, you also added 400g (roughly 1lb.) sugar, so that is also going to bump up the alcohol content...

The other thing to consider is normally Coopers directions say "3.3lb hopped extract and 3.3lb un-hopped for a fuller, better beer". Well, since you are just using the hopped extract can to less water, you are going to get a hoppier beer. For a stout, I'm not sure how good this is, but it can't be as bad as too much sugar making your 'beer' into 'cider'.

All in all, I would say you might very well be OK on this one. The 1lb. sugar might be a little much for 2.5 gallons of beer, but with the malt concentration you have, you may be OK? It may very well be BETTER that you did this than follow exactly and add a ton of sugar to get 5 gallons.

Next time you can probably skip the sugar all together though...

On the other topic, you will make much better beer if you start to prctice patience as well. Once you take your hydro reading and it shows its 'finished' you should transfer to a secondary for 2 weeks to allow to clear. Then you should bottle and let sit 3 weeks. (These are general rules of thumb)

I know you are anxious to drink it, but it will be much better after this 1-2-3 (6 week) process than 6 days primary, then bottle, then drink in one week. I promise you that...

A little more FYI:

I ran 3.75lb. Extract (Cooper Can volume I believe) and 1lb. table sugar in a 2.9 Gallon batch (11L) and came up with an OG of 1.063. Depending on yeast attenuation (how well it ferments), this should get you around 6.1% ABV.

Based on that, it should definitely be a somewhat drinkable stout. The only thing up in the air is the hops bitterness. Like I discussed earlier, the can is pre-hopped and supposed to be used in 5 gallons with either sugar or unhopped extract. So, lets assume there was 1oz. of hops in there for 5 gallons. Well, now you just added 1oz. hops to 3 gallons. It will definitely be more bitter than Cooper's had planned when developing the kit.

Still drinkable? More than likely...

Thanks ALOT SilkkyBrew for tons of useful information!

Im not anxious at all to drink it, I try to do it right and i was just thinking that if I leave it too long before bottling it would suffer from that, but maybe the case aint so?

Got few questions still to bug you.


you should transfer to a secondary for 2 weeks to allow to clear.

So what do u mean by secondary here? Might be my lousy english but do you mean that I should "clear" the beer pouring it to different container and leave the stuff that emerges to the bottom on the first container down the drain?

But anyways I leave it alone for another 2 weeks before bottling, I trust you on this one!

Ideally, and what most people here follow, is use of a (for lack of better term) 3 vessel technique to fermentation/bottling.

You start primary fermentation in a bucket, large carboy, etc. and leave sit for 7-10 days or until complete (you know this by unchanging hydrometer readings for 2-3 days).

Then you siphon the beer off the yeast/trub cake in the primary. You put it into a "secondary"/"clearing" vessel. This can be another bucket if you choose, but its best for this to be a glass/plastic see-through carboy. You can then see how well it is clearing and how much more trub/yeast is settling out. This isn't mandatory (some people will skip it, especially for something like a cloudy hefeweizen), but will definitely improve the clarity and taste of your beer.

The third vessel is then your bottling vessel. You add your priming solution to the bucket and siphon the beer, once again, out of the secondary and into the clean bucket. Again, you leave behind the stuff/'trub' on bottom when doing so.

Then you can bottle and your beer will have MUCH less sediment than bottling straight from the primary, etc. It will also be aged an additional 2 weeks before it even hits bottles.

Simple truth is, even for the lightest beers you can't rush them along. They'll be ready/mature when they are ready. I can't think of a beer that would be ready to drink after 2-3 weeks (1 week primary, 1-2 week in bottles). I mean, it would be drinkable if carb'd OK, but definitely 'green' or 'young' tasting.

EDIT: If you choose to forego the secondary route, that's fine, but at least allow to sit in the primary for 10 days, maybe even 14 to clear as much as possible (and use a bottling bucket of course). 2 weeks in a primary is probably not long enough for any ill effects of sitting on the trub. However, it IS best to get it off the trub (and not take any chances) and into a secondary once primary fermentation is complete. Further, if you skip secondary, I'd wait at least 3-4 weeks in bottles before trying it. Allow it to age... (see what I mean about not rushing it along).

Ok im gonna do as you say. Do I transfer the beer from the first container with an hose (like the one im gonna transefer it to bottles), or should I just pour it carefully?

edit: the see-through- carboy wouldnt probably help much in this case as the stout is black put I think I get one just in case I get hooked with this new hobby of mine...

Yeah, the glass secondary (or plastic "better bottle") is best for secondary fermentation. Try to get a 5 gallon one, so there is not much headspace between the beer and lid/top. You can use a larger one, but some people would argue this is a risk to your beer as it is not fermenting in secondary and thus not pushing out CO2 (so there is a layer of oxygen in there that may infect the beer). It's unlikely that more headspace will hurt, but a 5 gallon size secondary is the standard. At $20 for a carboy, its well worth the investment...

And you transfer via siphon with a hose. Try to aerate the beer as little as possible (NO POURING!). An autosiphon with racking cane ($10) is one of the best investments any of us brewers makes... Remember, don't rack the 'stuff' on the bottom, leave that in the first bucket and dump it (generally speaking; you can reuse this yeast cake if you have another batch ready, but thats a-whole-nother discussion in itself).

Ok, makes sense. I have this kinda hose, is that what u mean?



Ive tried to be hygienic as possible.
So this is my plan now:
I leave the beer alone till friday, then I get the hydrometer-measures and quite likely it is done by then, so then ill transfer the beer to new container with the hose, and get rid of the stuff (trub?) on the first container.

Then I let the beer settle 2 weeks, and then I bottle it.

Sounds ok?

The hose you have looks like it will work, but i don't see the autosiphon option with it. You can still siphon without an autosiphon obviously, but just be careful (don't start the siphon with your mouth by sucking, etc.)...

Otherwise, I think your plan sounds good... Go for it!

Ummm how should I start the siphon, if not sucking? The books I read said only about this option, and I was thinking about the bacterias and ruining the beer but as I didnt find any other way to do it I thought that maybe im just paranoid

Buy an autosiphon?

But no, in all seriousness, I've read of other ways to start a siphon (never had to worry about it b/c I had the auto since day 1).

I think there is some way you can fill the cane with sanitized water (your one-step water or starsan solution or whatnot), holding your thumb over the one tip and slip it into the beer. It shoudn't spill into the wort if your thumb is over the other end (and wouldnt hurt it much anyway to be honest) preventing the necessary vent to air for it to move out of the tube. Then you remove the thumb and release the sani-water into the sink or a dish or something and this suction with automatically drag the beer with it... Once beer starts flowing you obviously can put it into your secondary or whatnot.

Do an advanced search for siphon (marking the "in titles only" box) and you should get a ton of results. Someone may be able to explain better what I just said or suggest another alternative.

Here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/search.php?searchid=220998

Many discussions on siphoning there.

That url didnt work but I found this one:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16181&highlight=siphon

I never heard of autosiphon but ill definetaly try to find myself one.. Thanks alot of all information and I will post results and questions here if occure.
You helped me alot with this!

Another question on this one. Did I understand it right that the second fermentation container should be air-tight, or with an waterlock like the first one as well? I think it should be just airtight letting no air come out?

Should I keep it on same place as it was (my closet, about 19-20 celcius) or colder?

Both of your carboys should always have airlocks on them.

Ahh ok, so the idea is to get rid of the yeast? Aint there a risk on bacterias keeping the beer on second container couple of weeks?

You will get rid of dead yeast (that have fallen to the bottom) and other trub (other proteins, hop particals, etc.) that has fallen out of suspension.

There will still be plenty of yeast in suspension though in the secondary and after bottling (otherwise your beer wouldn't carb)... Transfer to a secondary, airlock it (CO2 needs to be able to escape if it does ferment at all in secondary, but you dont want O2 getting in...), and bottle after 2 weeks of clearing...

As for bacteria taking hold of the beer in secondary, you definitely need to ensure you sanitize the secondary and any transfer tubing prior to transferring. If you do this, the risk of bacterial infection is very low... It's even less likely than bacteria infecting the primary b/c there is alcohol in the beer in the secondary and that alone will kill many bacterias...

Got another question. I now siphoned the beer to secondary, and everything looks OK. Ill let it be there 2 weeks, and then I bottle it. Should I then leave the bottles to room temperature for some time or should I transfer them to colder place (in this case my cellar). I read that the beer should be on room temperature after bottled like a week to get some carbon going on..? and after that move them to cold place.

At least one week at room temp. Then test one a week until they are done. When you find one that's done then best to test another to make sure it's a fluke. Then move to a colder place to condition or drink at will.
You'll find the last one is the best.

orfy said:

At least one week at room temp. Then test one a week until they are done. When you find one that's done then best to test another to make sure it's a fluke. Then move to a colder place to condition or drink at will.
You'll find the last one is the best.

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You may even want to test 3 or 4 of them to make sure it's not a fluke.

I've used them with 5 gal batches and the were very good....I'm thinking at 2 or 3 gals of water and it may be a little to strong...most call for 6 gals.

Sully_PA said:

I've used them with 5 gal batches and the were very good....I'm thinking at 2 or 3 gals of water and it may be a little to strong...most call for 6 gals.

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Used what?

jamesjoystick said:

Used what?

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I think he was referring to you using canned extract as your wort base. Most canned kits call for 23 litres of water to make the beer acording to its recipie. Have you read this on-line book yet? http://www.howtobrew.com/

Welcome to the making of great beer. You a fellow canuck?