Recent content by Smeato

I'd take a look at the coopers website! Particularly this section that focuses on recipes: http://www.coopers.com.au/#/diy-beer/beer-recipes/ale/ It's all extract stuff with a few added additions like hops and special grains. I've been slowly working my way through them since I started and...

I'll keep you guys posted. Hopefully something good comes from this.

The thing that screams infection (to me) is that I put the hops in more or less as soon as the krausen dropped. Visible activity was incredibly low at that point, with only the standard yeast floaters and a few bubbles here or there. Two weeks passed and then all those white bubbles popped up...

Ah well, I'll just wait it out. It's a shame really, just had a try there and it's actually really good. It's an attempt at a double IPA, but it was coming out far too malty. Now the malty-ness has been replaced with a crisp bitter hop kick and a slow sour after taste. It's brilliant but at...

Thank you for the info! So pretty much wait for the gravity to settle (both from the yeast AND the bacteria) and then bottle, rather than bottling early and risking a bottle bomb? But I've to bear in mind that it will likely drop much more slowly due to the bacteria so might need to wait. Have I...

The beer isn't ready to bottle unfortunately, not reached FG yet so I need to leave it anyway. Will I still get bottle bombs if I bottle it late?

Disaster! Looks like my hop sack has introduced a bug. Any idea what this is and what I can do with it? I'm in a mind to just leave it and see where it ends up. is this a valid option and does anyone have any idea what will happen to it? Not sure how great the pictures are, but...

So, I haven't brewed in a while and noticed that the stock from my first two batches was running low. *gasp* It ended up with - 2 extract tins of John Bull IPA - 500g of Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 - some crystal malt (100g steeped in 1L overnight) - 25g of progress hops boiled for...

+5 Gal IPA :) 1420

I wouldn't worry too much, similarly I brewed an extract kit a month ago and had an OG of 1.028 instead of 1.049. I added all the correct ingredients and so assumed I'd just failed at mixing it properly. After it fermented, it came out great, tastes absolutely fine, doesn't taste like it has a...

Congrats man, I'm about to bottle my second batch. All I can say is patience is the key. My first brew was a Coopers Wheat Beer kit and it tasted pretty awful when I tasted it a week in. By week 2 it was all right, definitely beer but tasted a little strange and chemically and was pretty flat...

I'm currently at a cross roads. My current batch has spent two weeks in primary, with a stable gravity since about day 6. I don't intend to put in secondary and think I'll bottle this in the next few days. I intended to do it this morning but to my shock found I had no bottles on hand. So now...

There's nothing in the standard brewing process that could account for that much loss in volume. It must have came from somewhere (like a curious flat mate).

From Scotland here and shandies are a bit of a bit strange. Older generations definitely drink them, preferring a Lager Shandy to a Cider when it's particularly warm and they need something refreshing. Us young ones have them occasionally. For example, if I'm the designated driver I'll have a...

My first brew I had a Coopers starter kit. It has a huge big warning on it telling you to pitch the yeast AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IN CASE THE WORT GETS CONTAMINATED. Needless to say pitching at 40C murdered my yeasties (1.040 to 1.022 after two weeks) and what alcohol was in it tasted like paint...