Coopers DIY Beer Kit - First Try From The Very Start

[Smeato]

So I was in the local Supermarket and happened upon this. Now I'm sure you all know it. Thing is I've never seen it before around here so thought I'd do some googling.

Homebrew is something me and my pals been wanting to try for a while. There's a small group of us who are avid ale drinkers and members of CAMRA. Now currently I'm a student with exams coming up in the next few weeks. As such I've started procrastinating immensely and I'm very excited about giving this a go.

Now I know these DIY kits are pretty simple compared with the other things that I've seen 'beginners' brew on this forum. Basically I just want to ask if this is a good place to start and if there are any 'rookie' errors I should look out for while I follow the instructions in the box. Naturally, I assume you can make better beer for cheaper, but I'd rather start simple and have a nice wee booklet to hold my hand through my first attempt...

Hopefully this goes well and I stick around on here. Thanks!

 

[flars]

It is a good starter kit. Check out brew enhancer 2 for your next brew. Coopers recommends an 11 gram packet of premium yeast with BE 2 because of the extra DME included with it.

You can brew very good beers with a kit like this. The most important practices for good beer are sanitation, temperature control, and letting the yeast finish the fermentation. (Some brew instructions say the beer is finished in 5 days. The yeast determines when final gravity has been reached, not a calendar.)
1. Starsan is a great sanitizer.
2. Most ale yeasts are at their best between 18°C and 20°C.
3. After Final Gravity has been reached the yeast need a few more days to clean up off flavors.

CraigTube is also very informative.
Here's a link to another helpful site.
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=12

 

[unionrdr]

I've added 3lbs of plain light DME & hops to the Cooper's cans & they fermented fine with the little 7g yeast packets re-hydrated. But NB & Midwest both sell the 15g Cooper's yeast packets that are usually fresher & work even better.After FG is reached, I give ir 3-7 days to clean up any by-products of fermentation & settle out clear or slightly misty before bottling.

 

[Smeato]

Just thought I'd check in to let you know how I'm getting on. I ended up picking up the Coopers Wheat Beer starter set. I'm 3 days in (started brewing Saturday night GMT) and I can see visible fermentation which I assume means all is well so far!

In the instructions, It says to remove the krausen collar, which is a plastic part of the kit itself, "After three days or when the foam subsides". Well which one is it? It's day three but none of the foam has subsided. Should I leave it be? I'm anxious not to expose my brew to the outside world if I don't need too.

Cheers.

 

[flars]

Take the krausen collar off at about day 10 to 12 when you take your first hydrometer reading.

 

[unionrdr]

Or when the foam subsides. Two weeks is my usual for taking a hydrometer sample, unless it's settling out clear sooner.