first attempt coopers pale and lager

hi guys ,
about to try my hand at a brew for the first time , have spent a few weeks reading up , and have had a couple of chats with my local homebrew shop
i have two kits from coopers a pale ale (really liked this ale when in oz ) and a lager (for general consumption at bbq) have been told instead of adding sugar i can add half light malt and half brew sugar (i have dextrose monohydrate(glucose)
also wondering if i used full malt replacment in the pale ale would the flavour be swamped .
i proboly wont malt the lager as this is just for a birthday bbq and no one will be tasting the brew more like guzzling it
cheers
carl

Your brews will be much better if you use malt instead of sugar. There are a few recipes out there (trippels for example) that call for the use of sugars, but even then they are used sparingly, and are only used because it is appropriate to the style. Use of malt instead of sugar in your beers will result in a tastier, fuller bodied beer!!!

ditch the sugar...only use it for bottle priming. replace with dry malt extract.

You probably also want to think about picking up some additional yeast (you can get some safale dry yeast pretty cheap)

I wouldn't rely on the 7grams of dry yeast that has been under the lid of the can for who knows how long. Poor/not enough yeast and a lot of refined sugar in your beer could lead to some funky flavors.

cheers guys
how much extra yeast would be a safe bet , and what type would be a good replacement ?

For the ale, I'd recommend one (11.5g) packet Safale S-05. For the lager, it depends; if you plan to ferment it cool (eg 50*) and cold-condition (40*) then use two packets Saflager. If not, use one packet Safale S-05.

was planning on fermenting both at 21c have got immersion heaters and its pretty cold here at the mo so shouldnt get above that
i have just bought some youngs dried brew yeast for another side project (gonna try and make a carrot , apple and ginger brew at cider strengh and a liquer strength ) would this be a good enough quailty , 11.5 grams seems like a lot of yeast when the kit only comes with 7 grams , still i assume when the 7 grams has fed and multiplied you end up with plenty
cheers guys
carl

I think you will be ok with the Young's yeast. The problem with the kit yeast is that all the cells might not be healthy since it could be very old and/or was stored at a high temp. Couple that with only having 7 grams and you could be asking for trouble. I tend to use liquid yeast, but I think dry yeast users will tell you to use at least one 11.5 gram pack of dry yeast per 5-6 gallons.

Less healthy yeast means the yeast have to work harder, which could cause some off flavors. It could also increase your lag time which could increase the chance of an infection.

Happy Brewing, let us know how it turns out!

Yes any chance to eliminate sugar will make a much better brew. Good luck and enjoy it man, before long you will be a brewin' fool!

mmm from what your saying i think ill add 7 grams of the youngs to the coopers yeast and start to in some liquid to see how she goes
my only worry was that the youngs might not be as good as the cooper and change the flavour of the beers
cheers

carlos said:

mmm from what your saying i think ill add 7 grams of the youngs to the coopers yeast and start to in some liquid to see how she goes
my only worry was that the youngs might not be as good as the cooper and change the flavour of the beers
cheers

Click to expand...

I've also noticed that Coopers has some different recipes for their kits on their site:
http://coopers.com.au/homebrew/makeBeer.php

If you want a very lite summer beer, simply add 1-2 cups of dextrose instead of 6 cups (1kg) to the Coopers lager kit. You''l get about a 3% alc. beer.

True, less sugar the better the beer. 1kg of dextrose in these kits makes it taste almost like cider.

20-21C works good for the Coopers dry yeast for fermentation, higher temperatures makes the beer fruity/funky tasting. I use Nottingham yeast whenever I can. Cleaner taste.

I've done about 6 batches of Coopers and am ready for the Canadian Blonde kit in a few days for a simple summer beer.

Cheers.
Tony.

Just for he record I have never had problems with the yeast that came with the Coopers kits - only problem I has was human error. One batch I fermented in the summer and it reached temps over 75 degrees - the beer turned out tasting fine - but holy moley - talk about hangovers hehehehe

I have also used the 11g packs of nottingham yeast instead of the one in the kit to spice it up - i fnd the nottinghams works really good - cheers