Coopers Kit's...your secrets?

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billy_awesome

billy_awesome

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Hey everyone, newbie here.

Just started brewing my 2nd batch of Coopers brew.

First batch was a Canadian Blond Ale (believed the coopers recipe and bottled after 8 days). Used the 1 kilo of dextrose I was advised to by my LHBS, and after being in bottles for 2-3 weeks it tastes rather cidery but I would say it tastes more like "wine-beer"

Now after doing some MAJOR research, and reading opinion after opinion I decided to experiment on just my second batch. I used Coopers Lager and decided to experiment by using 50% dextrose and 50% Dry malt extract. Only time will tell to how I like the beer, but this time I will leave in the fermenter for 3 weeks and bottles for another 3 weeks for appropriate aging.

I was wondering if anyone has any secrets to brewing their Coopers kit's for optimum beer tasting.

For the record, I enjoy Canadian Pilsner beer (Labatt Blue, Budweiser, etc). So any tips that can make my beer taste like those brews would be appreciated. THANKS!
 
I made their Mexican Lager once and it turned many heads as being a good beer. It was served best with a bit of lime. I will do it again this summer based upon requests for it again from my friends.

I used dry malt for the sugar and just followed the directions. Everything went super easy.
 
Still brewing my first batch (in primary since the 26th). My first batch I am going to bottle after 2 weeks.
I am planning a couple of partial boils (but not the extract!). I'll let you know how they come out! :)
 
Billy IMHO you didn't wait long enough for bottling or drinking, Coopers Canadian Blonde and Cerveza need longer in the bottle to kill the yeasty flavor. Racking will improve the brew slightly as will dry hopping (adding hops after a week) adding finings will help with this (see isinglass or gelatin).
You do good to add DME and reduce the Dextrose as Dex alone adds little body.
I have done the same on several CB and Mex Cevs on a ratio around 65% dex and the rest DME. Then a bottle life of 30 days or more. Coopers make great kits but the standard kits use a standard Ale yeast that takes a while to clean up. I used US-05 yeast in my last Cerveza and although it is only just mature now it tastes different, a little grassier but clean and nice. Shelf life will improve it more.

In summary
Pitch brew (consider US-05)
Brew around 20*c 68*f or lower if possible.
Either 12-14 days in primary (3 weeks is better) to let the yeast finish then consider dry hop OR
rack to secondary after 7 days and consider 15-25gms of dry hops such as cascade.
Bottle around 12-14 days the same use Dex as the bottle primer not cane sugar.
Put them in a dark place and forget them for at least 4-5 weeks or more.
If possible after 2 weeks at normal temp consider putting them in a real cool place like a cellar (apparently it helps).
 
You might like their Euro Lager. It turns into a pretty decent beer, but it needs like 12 weeks in the bottle. It's uber cheap to brew too if you're looking at an easy home brewed alternative to the big brews. It's pre-hopped and comes with yeast, so all you need to buy for ingrediants is another malt (DME extra light I recommend) and priming sugar.

Absolutely nothing intricate with this recipe, it's just a good beer.
 
Coopers kits are prehopped, some people feel that there is not enough flavor compared to a boil kit that has bittering and aroma hops. So after they are done with it in the primary they add the hops to the secondary and leave it for a few days. It makes your Coopers no boil beer more hoppier then it already is.
 
petep1980 said:
You might like their Euro Lager.


Absolutely nothing intricate with this recipe, it's just a good beer.
Click to expand...

+1 on this -- I did the previous "version" of this called Bavarian Lager before it was discontinued and it's a great beer.

I also still have a few bottles of a Canadian Blonde kit (made only with dextrose) from last May that is pretty good too.
 
Dry hopping is a method of taking 15-25gms (personal taste) of hops and throwing it into a wort that has almost finished its fermentation(eg day 5) and letting it sit for another week. The aroma and some slight extra flavor is imparted to the beer without much bitterness as you need heat to release bitterness from the hops. Your beer will smell better, have a much better and longer lasting head and have a slightly better taste, it helps hide that yeasty twang that occurs with bottles opened too early.

I still advocate a percentage of DME over just a kilo of Dex, it also helps with body and head retention and gives a slighly maltier taste.
 
20 years ago i made a coopers porter kit that i didnt boil . i think it was just 2 cans of porter dissolved in 1 gallon of boiled water. i brought that up to 6 gallons and rehydrated the coopers yeast and pitched and it turned out better than alot of other batches that i had boiled steeped hopped cooled etc.

so last month i went to my not so local hbs and got 2 cans of coopers stout. i dissolved 1 and 1/2 cans in 1/2 gallon of boiled water and brought that up to 4.5 gallons and rehydrated their yeast and pitched on 12/23/08

today i saw some floaties that i am not used to althoguh i think its hot break or hop protein so i theifed a little.

this batch tastes far far better than i anticipated and it was the simplest in a long time. I cant wait for this one. i bottle tommorrow and am praying that nothing goes wrong. although i cant imagine the taste could worsen after conditioning


my coopers secrets :

1) no sugar of any kind. just LME.

2) reconstitue with bottled spring water not tap

3) replace their yeast with fresh and rehydrate.

4) ferment for 2weeks primary at least

it really is that simple but its more like mixing than brewing.
:mug:



primary 1 : edworts apfelwein
primary 2 : edworts apfelwein
primary 3 : coopers stout
primary 4 : cream stout
primary 5 : edworts apfelwein
primary 7 : empty
primary 8 : empty

bottled1 : pale ale
bottled2 : XXpale ale
bottled3 : amber cascade ale
on deck : coopers dark ale, ahs porter, sam adams boston ale clone, always more apflewein
 
This is a great thread. My wife got me 8 cans of Cooper's for Christmas. I've done all-grains and partial mashes and extracts with steeping, but these are my first Cooper's.

I am kind of looking forward to just boiling up some water and mixing the stuff up. It's kind of fun, and I was done with the first batch in well under an hour, but I figure I can also do a mini-mash with them and spruce them up a bit, too if I'm in the mood. These should last me most of the year.
 
fluketamer said:
20 years ago i made a coopers porter kit that i didnt boil . i think it was just 2 cans of porter dissolved in 1 gallon of boiled water. i brought that up to 6 gallons and rehydrated the coopers yeast and pitched and it turned out better than alot of other batches that i had boiled steeped hopped cooled etc.

so last month i went to my not so local hbs and got 2 cans of coopers stout. i dissolved 1 and 1/2 cans in 1/2 gallon of boiled water and brought that up to 4.5 gallons and rehydrated their yeast and pitched on 12/23/08

today i saw some floaties that i am not used to althoguh i think its hot break or hop protein so i theifed a little.

this batch tastes far far better than i anticipated and it was the simplest in a long time. I cant wait for this one. i bottle tommorrow and am praying that nothing goes wrong. although i cant imagine the taste could worsen after conditioning


my coopers secrets :

1) no sugar of any kind. just LME.

2) reconstitue with bottled spring water not tap

3) replace their yeast with fresh and rehydrate.

4) ferment for 2weeks primary at least

it really is that simple but its more like mixing than brewing.
:mug:



primary 1 : edworts apfelwein
primary 2 : edworts apfelwein
primary 3 : coopers stout
primary 4 : cream stout
primary 5 : edworts apfelwein
primary 7 : empty
primary 8 : empty

bottled1 : pale ale
bottled2 : XXpale ale
bottled3 : amber cascade ale
on deck : coopers dark ale, ahs porter, sam adams boston ale clone, always more apflewein
Click to expand...

****
Coopers kits are pre-boiled and do not need to be boiled at all for a straight beer, just add 2 liters of boiling water to dissolve the extract, add your sugars (dex or dme) and add about 20 liters of cold water
I have made dozens of these kits by that method without a problem
 
Hello everyone, looks like there's a ton of good info here, which is great because the wife and I are 24 hrs into our first batch using the Coopers kit. We noticed no bubbles through the air lock by day 2, so I gave the fermenter a squeeze and gas escaped from around the lid. It was on tight, and not cross-threaded...just fits awkward. Anyone had the same problem with this kit? I think we have a good seal now, and I feel better about not ruining our first batch after reading the FAQs, just wondering if this is commom with the Coopers kit. Thanks,
-Paul
 
Best Coopers kit I've made was the Bitter. I've made two of the Coopers Bitters using the AHS brew add pack or whatever it is called (1lb DME + 1 lb corn sugar + .25lb something else). The big difference between the OK and the super fantastic one...

6 weeks in the primary for the super fantastic one vs 2-3 weeks in the primary for the OK one.
 
My experience with the Coopers fermenters is that they seal well, but you can Vaseline the o ring seal if there is an issue. Or use glad wrap and a rubber band with a pinhole works just as well.
 
I would avoid any petroleum product if possible. I would use a water-based lubricant or food-grade silicone or PAM over anything that is petroleum-based.
 

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