Coopers Kit question

Hey guys by first brew is in the bottles waiting a couple of weeks to open them up and drink them. I have the Coopers kit and got online to try to order more of their pre made mash. To get the mash, bottles, caps, sugar, & carbonation tablets would be over $100 to get it shipped to me! That is what I paid for the whole kit! Do yall know of anywhere here in the states (I live in Texas, near Houston) where I can buy the stuff locally? Am I going to have to make my own mash now or can I use other types of the pre made stuff. I don't think I'm quite to where I want to try different flavor combinations just yet, I just want to brew some beers. Thanks for any help.

Thanks very much for the reply but I am very new at this. LHBS??

Austin home brew store is where I have been buying from. Also, there are several places in H town.

Good deal I think I am going to buy from that makebeer.net thanks for the link, then next time I'm in Houston I will swing by a store.

Another quick question. On the makebeer.net site you can order the brewing refill kit and get the beer kit, light malt extract, and carbonation drops. When I did my first brew I used brewing sugar (came with original Coopers kit) but do I use the light malt extract the same way I used the brewing sugar? Am I going to have to get another package of the brewing sugar to add?

Thanks for all the help so far guys.

agengo02 said:

Thanks very much for the reply but I am very new at this. LHBS??

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LHBS = Local Home Brew Store

agengo02 said:

Good deal I think I am going to buy from that makebeer.net thanks for the link, then next time I'm in Houston I will swing by a store.

Another quick question. On the makebeer.net site you can order the brewing refill kit and get the beer kit, light malt extract, and carbonation drops. When I did my first brew I used brewing sugar (came with original Coopers kit) but do I use the light malt extract the same way I used the brewing sugar? Am I going to have to get another package of the brewing sugar to add?

Thanks for all the help so far guys.

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Yeah,the light malt extract adds a bit more color,body,flavor,etc. It's really un-hopped DME (Dry Malt Extract),& is basically a fermentable. Some still add 250-300g of dextrose for a bit more alcohol than you get with the DME.
The "brewers sugar" is what they gave me as well,it's 80% dextrose (corn sugar),& 20% maltodextrine. The later is supposed to give a better head. You can buy that separately at the LHBS. Others even use the DME with the can kit,& use high malt glucose. It's a thick syrup that is mostly fermentable like the dextrose. But has a lil malt. It's about the same as brewer's sugar,imo.

If you are buying online, don't waste your time with a coopers kit. You will have much better results with a extract kit made from one of the vendors on the website.

Northern Brewer
Austin Home Brew Store, this might be your best bet seeing your from Texas
Midwest Supplies

I'm a new Cooper brewer also. Got my first batch started yesterday.

Look on Amazon for "Coopers Brew kit". You can get the whole brew kit, minus the bottles, for $25-$30 with FREE SHIPPING (yay!) For bottles I've been saving some personally and asking around and have easily been able to gather enough for another batch. I plan to get it started as soon as first batch is out of primary.

The LHBS is also a great idea. I've not been able to visit any myself yet to see what selection/price they may offer.

Have fun!!

BryanJ said:

If you are buying online, don't waste your time with a coopers kit. You will have much better results with a extract kit made from one of the vendors on the website.

Northern Brewer
Austin Home Brew Store, this might be your best bet seeing your from Texas
Midwest Supplies

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I agree! Coopers is pretty much junk. For that much money, you could get several "real" beer kits and make some excellent stuff! I'm not sure what's in Houston but I know Austin Home Brew is awesome and they have flat rate shipping of $7.99 or free shipping over $100 and currently have 20 kits at $20! Check out austinhomebrew.com for info.

The $20 kits look great! Get the dry yeast option for $1.59. The priming sugar for carbonation is included. I like this one: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_452_638&products_id=12895 If you can boil water, you can make these kits. Even the bag for the grain is included, and it'll make a great product.

The only local homebrew store I know of in Houston is De Falco's, they generally will have anything you need: equipment, ingredients, kits, etc. It's on the south side of town, a little south of Reliant stadium. I normally get there by taking 610 around to Stella Link and then going north a few blocks. De Falco's is on the right.

Don't buy a kit, they have a whole binder full of recipes that they will put together for you. I'm guessing any one of those will be better than a kit, and fresher too.

TTB-J said:

Don't buy a kit, they have a whole binder full of recipes that they will put together for you. I'm guessing any one of those will be better than a kit, and fresher too.

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Depends on what you mean by "a kit". The kits at austin home brew, northern brewer, etc, are made up when you order. They just call it "a kit" so it's got the typed up instruction sheet and the set ingredients. They don't crush the grain until you order it, and don't use canned extract. I would stay away from Coopers, or any kit that comes with canned extract (usually, it's imported and old), or precrushed grain unless super fresh. Brewer's Best kits are pretty good, but if they've sat in the store for a couple of months then they are stale and "canned" tasting.

Freshness is important!

Yeah, I know that kit can mean made to order stuff from NB and AHB and the like, I should have been more clear. To me, a kit implies that it was put together a while ago, packed up and stuck on a shelf. You have to get your stuff fresh, like any other type of cooking or food preparation. Sure, you can eat canned veggies, but the difference in taste between those and the fresh ones is night and day.