Canadian Blonde is my first.

I've read the Sticky regarding Extract Brews and also searched the forum for tips etc, I've heard the yeast is not so great that comes with the kit.

I have the kit and Brew Enhancer and Carb drops and no access to a brew shop to buy better yeast.
Are there any household items that I can add to my Blonde to make it as best as possible?

You'll always remember yout first blonde

Cheers

A broom and a dust pan.


Sorry...I couldn't resist.

Haha, Fantastic.

Just a quickie (also couldnt resist) I bought Beer Enhancer 2 instead of 1. will it be terrible?

I just made a Muntons Canadian blond . Actually made two versions of it . The yeast that comes with your kit is just fine no matter what some people say . Are there better ones ? Well that depends on what you like . If the beer tastes good then it is good .
Blonde has very little flavor at all . My suggestion is to add in some flavor hops and maybe dry hop .
I am drinking one now , my first one , with no hops . made it with 2.2 pounds of light DME and 1 pound corn sugar . this is a no boil kit so no hops in extract . Tastes very light . Not bad . nice gold color with a very white head that does not last long . Taste is too faint to describe but would be good summer time beer .

I have the same beer with dry hop fuggles 1/4 ounce in a gallon .
Another with 1 ounce hallertauer in 5 gallons .
will be posting reviews on them as soon as they carb up in about three weeks .
I did taste the beer before bottling it and it was quite good .
You can save money on that ABV booster and just use corn sugar if you want . But never use that 2.2 pounds of corn sugar extract kits call for . Use 2.2 pounds DME or at least half and half . sugar makes your beer thin and a blonde could come out as thin as rubbing alcohol with all that sugar in it . DME will give it a bit more malt flavor and some mouth feel ( thicker ) .

that is my opinion after brewing lots of extract kits , I like them . I am sure some others will have a different opinion .

I make up the Cooper's Canadian Blonde with a Munton's Beer Kit Enhancer (1kg 50/50 dextrose/dme), an extra 200gr of dextrose and the kit yeast. Made up to 23l it comes out at ~4.5% ABV and in my opinion tastes pretty good, plain but good.

I think the Cooper's Brew Enhancer 2 will be fine, it's similar (not exactly the same) to the Munton's Beer Kit Enhancer.

You should be okay with what you have. Since this is your first kit I'd suggest just using the provided ingredients. See what that tastes like and experiment in later batches.

Well time for a review of canadian with fuggles . 1/4 ounce in a gallon is not near enough . Very little flavor but then the beer has very little to begin with . So I would think that dry hopping should be done along with some stirring gently to get the flavor into the beer . I really do not see how it can disperse just by letting it sit in the bottom of the bucket and tasting it proves my point .
At least 3 ounces I think for a 5 gallons and stirring once in a while or make a tea of it and pour it in . just needs more hop flavor but a good blonde I guess.
Soon the review with the other hops .

I would suggest some DME to give this a bit of malt flavor also

Hi Marcus killion,

This is my first ever post !

I have only been brewing at home for a few months. I too have just barrelled a coopers Canadian blonde with the muntons beerkit enhancer with extra cup of sugar . This is the first time I have used a beerkit enhancer, the brew is very dark indeed is this normal?? And will it clear after a few weeks?

Hope you can help

Lee

Goldman;
I think it should not be dark . Perhaps it just looks that way in the fermenter . When it is done it will be a nice golden color . In the future you should try using some light DME for the 2.2 pounds of sugar because blonde has no flavor really . It is more of a summer time beer . Also that enhancer is just costing you money in my opinion any way . Use corn or table sugar . Enhancer is just DME and dextrose ( sugar ) 50/50 . If you use DME for the 2.2 pounds of sugar in a no boil kit then a pound of sugar for ABV boost will be okay . with enhance I think you are paying the same price for dme and sugar by the pound . 6 bucks for a pound of sugar is pricey.
another thing I think could be done is to use hopped malt for the 2.2 pounds of sugar . Would add in some flavor for sure or just dry hop that stuff for some flavor with your favorite hops .

MarcusKillion,

Interesting that you should say that about the price of the enhancer. My LHBS charges the same amount for the 1KG Beer Kit Enhancer as they do for the 500 gram bag of DME. Both the Enhancer and DME are Munton's products so it's like you are getting a little more than a pound of sugar for free. That is unless the DME in the enhancer is a lower quality than what gets bagged up as a stand alone product.

Goldman,

I make up the Cooper's Canadian Blonde pretty much the way you described. It looks pretty dark in the fermenter but for me it clears pretty nice to a gold/amber color. To me it looks a little darker than the commercial Canadian beers I drank before getting into homebrewing. It actually surprised me a little the first time I brewed it. What also surprised was that once it got a little age on it, it tasted better (to me anyway) than the commercial Canadian beers I used to drink.

Thanks guys, I am in the uk and the coopers Canadian blonde is only £10 in my local supermarket. And the muntons beerkit enhancer was only £4.50. , Brewing sugar is £2 for 1kg or £1 for 2kg normal castor sugar. Not sure how that compares to you guys over the pond

I have the coopers own brand enhancer 1 for my next brew ( coopers draft larger)

The blonde went I a pressure barrel, I find the brew always seem to be better in a barrel as opposed to bottles, any reason why?

DaNewf said:

MarcusKillion,

Interesting that you should say that about the price of the enhancer. My LHBS charges the same amount for the 1KG Beer Kit Enhancer as they do for the 500 gram bag of DME. Both the Enhancer and DME are Munton's products so it's like you are getting a little more than a pound of sugar for free. That is unless the DME in the enhancer is a lower quality than what gets bagged up as a stand alone product.

Goldman,

I make up the Cooper's Canadian Blonde pretty much the way you described. It looks pretty dark in the fermenter but for me it clears pretty nice to a gold/amber color. To me it looks a little darker than the commercial Canadian beers I drank before getting into homebrewing. It actually surprised me a little the first time I brewed it. What also surprised was that once it got a little age on it, it tasted better (to me anyway) than the commercial Canadian beers I used to drink.

Click to expand...

You may be right on the price . i just looked at some on ebay for that . I think I pay 15 bucks for 3 pounds of DME at LHBS. Sugar is cheap. not sure what .

pic of the muntons canadian blonde . It is a darker golden color unless you hold it up to the light then it is light golden .

Keep in mind that I used 2.2 pounds of light DME in this . It would be far lighter if I had used sugar . It would look more like the second pic