Hi,
Brand new here. I bought the full Coopers home kit for my first time just to make it as straightforward as possible. I followed the instructions to the letter and everything seems to be going fine. The first day I worried because I didn't see much action in the airlock, but I tightened everything up and it bubbled like crazy for a few days. I'll be bottling soon.
Anyway, I have a can of Coopers Dark Ale (hopped malt concentrate), and they recommend their own brewing sugar as the fermentable. But Papazian (Joy of Homebrewing, latest edition) writes, "You will always make a far superior brew by eliminating and substituting or minimizing the amount of any refined sugar." (page 18--In previous paragraph he says sugar is not recommended.) Perhaps I'm relying too much on this, but I'd like to use something other than sugar. So I'm looking for suggestions, and since I'm such a novice, the exact amount of whatever I should use to go with that can to make a 22 liter batch--and where I can get it. And should I just use their carbonation drops (which I would have to buy) or is their something cheaper or better I can put in the bottles? I know this story is told here a million times, but I need it laid out for me.
This thread was quite inspiring, but I wasn't able to get practical, specific advice from it for my specific case. I just want the best chance of not screwing up the beer. Also don't want the alcohol content to suffer.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/coopers-doesnt-mention-secondary-75563/
And if I can be allowed another question. My current batch has hovered around 20 degrees C in the warmest place in my cold house, but it does get as low as 62 F inside at night (I had blankets around the fermenter). Is there any temperature considerations for this ale?
Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm a big fan of beer--and of this site, too--and I'm lucky enough to live in an area that appreciates it (Jersey, not far from Philly). Sorry for such a long first post and so many questions.
Brand new here. I bought the full Coopers home kit for my first time just to make it as straightforward as possible. I followed the instructions to the letter and everything seems to be going fine. The first day I worried because I didn't see much action in the airlock, but I tightened everything up and it bubbled like crazy for a few days. I'll be bottling soon.
Anyway, I have a can of Coopers Dark Ale (hopped malt concentrate), and they recommend their own brewing sugar as the fermentable. But Papazian (Joy of Homebrewing, latest edition) writes, "You will always make a far superior brew by eliminating and substituting or minimizing the amount of any refined sugar." (page 18--In previous paragraph he says sugar is not recommended.) Perhaps I'm relying too much on this, but I'd like to use something other than sugar. So I'm looking for suggestions, and since I'm such a novice, the exact amount of whatever I should use to go with that can to make a 22 liter batch--and where I can get it. And should I just use their carbonation drops (which I would have to buy) or is their something cheaper or better I can put in the bottles? I know this story is told here a million times, but I need it laid out for me.
This thread was quite inspiring, but I wasn't able to get practical, specific advice from it for my specific case. I just want the best chance of not screwing up the beer. Also don't want the alcohol content to suffer.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/coopers-doesnt-mention-secondary-75563/
And if I can be allowed another question. My current batch has hovered around 20 degrees C in the warmest place in my cold house, but it does get as low as 62 F inside at night (I had blankets around the fermenter). Is there any temperature considerations for this ale?
Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm a big fan of beer--and of this site, too--and I'm lucky enough to live in an area that appreciates it (Jersey, not far from Philly). Sorry for such a long first post and so many questions.