Coopers DIY Kit

[HopSong]

Well somebody with the same kit had 1.014
This is the topic I saw and unless I'm reading this wrong, It seems like he's saying his OG was 1.040

That might well have been me. 40 is actually a pretty good OG for what's in the "lager" kit. There are not a ton of fermentables there. 14 was my FG. It is a pretty light abv.. which is ok by me. Next time I do that kit I'm going to add more DME and some additional hops.

 

[LargeLagers]

Hello all,

New to the forum but found a lot of help already in this thread. Just got a Coopers kit for xmas and mixed first batch today (12/28). Very excited.

Couple of quick questions if anyone can help.

A) Noticed a decent amount of settling at bottom of fermenter in the 4 hours or so since I mixed. Normal?

B) Does the amount of light the room you keep the fermenter in have an effect? Kind of assuming less light is better but now the process of moving this beast is making me nervous.

I think this place will be very useful to me as I start getting courageous in my brewing. Thanks!

 

[bottlebomber]

Hello all,

New to the forum but found a lot of help already in this thread. Just got a Coopers kit for xmas and mixed first batch today (12/28). Very excited.

Couple of quick questions if anyone can help.

A) Noticed a decent amount of settling at bottom of fermenter in the 4 hours or so since I mixed. Normal?

B) Does the amount of light the room you keep the fermenter in have an effect? Kind of assuming less light is better but now the process of moving this beast is making me nervous.

I think this place will be very useful to me as I start getting courageous in my brewing. Thanks!

Welcome to the forum Lagers. The stuff that is at the bottom of your fermenter is what we call trub. It can take many different appearances, might look flaky or grainy, or just like mud.

As far as the light situation, no you don't want that. It isn't going to ruin your beer, but can result in a condition we call "lightstruck" or "skunked". Basically the light causes a reaction with the hop compounds and create a skunky flavor. Interestingly this flaw has become a hallmark of many beers that are sold in green bottles, which don't protect the beer from light as well, Heineken probably the best example.

EDIT:as far as a solution to the light thing, you don't need to move it. Just drape a sheet or towels over it and it will be fine.

 

[LargeLagers]

Welcome to the forum Lagers. The stuff that is at the bottom of your fermenter is what we call trub. It can take many different appearances, might look flaky or grainy, or just like mud.

As far as the light situation, no you don't want that. It isn't going to ruin your beer, but can result in a condition we call "lightstruck" or "skunked". Basically the light causes a reaction with the hop compounds and create a skunky flavor. Interestingly this flaw has become a hallmark of many beers that are sold in green bottles, which don't protect the beer from light as well, Heineken probably the best example.

EDIT:as far as a solution to the light thing, you don't need to move it. Just drape a sheet or towels over it and it will be fine.

Much appreciated. I'll let you guys know how batch #1 turns out.

PS - Homebrewing or not, I'm all too familiar with skunked beers over the years . Definitely do not want that.

 

[jmprdood]

Welcome and congrats on the first brew - lots of us started with the Cooper's kits - it's a gateway to whatever you want it to be as a hobby.

Cheers!

 

[Dejavu614]

Hello everyone,
I am very new here and very new to brewing. I, same as LagerLager's post I too have just recieved a coopers kit for x-mas. I am wondering if I should boil the kits original ingredients that came in the box. I have spoken to an "all grain" brewer and he recommends to biol the DME and dextrose. Is this ok?, and how long should I boil it for?
Also is it ok to spray Star San in my bucket and then just dump the sanitizer with a little bit left in there ?. Orshould I dry it off with papper towel?. Will the towels contaminate it ?
Thanks

 

[ronclark]

Hello everyone,
I am very new here and very new to brewing. I, same as LagerLager's post I too have just recieved a coopers kit for x-mas. I am wondering if I should boil the kits original ingredients that came in the box. I have spoken to an "all grain" brewer and he recommends to biol the DME and dextrose. Is this ok?, and how long should I boil it for?
Also is it ok to spray Star San in my bucket and then just dump the sanitizer with a little bit left in there ?. Orshould I dry it off with papper towel?. Will the towels contaminate it ?
Thanks

Do not boil the actual hopped extract at all. The Coopers kits do not require boiling and can actually be adversely affected if you do that.

As for the Star San, read the directions for the appropriate ratio to mix with water. If I am correct, it should be in contact with everything the beer will touch for at least three minutes.

Also, the Coopers company states that you do not need to sanitize their fermenters when they are new. I didn't and had no infection. Simply rinse and dry. Once you brew in it, be sure to clean and sanitize thoroughly.

 

[jmprdood]

You can boil them if you wish, but if you're not making a hop addition it really isn't necessary. If you boil I wouldn't go for more than a few minutes. You'll be fine doing as they do in the instructional video.

On the Star San - spray away and make sure you get 100% contact. You should drain the excess, but don't wipe anything. The foam is fine - just turns to yeast food.

Welcome to the hobby. Happy New Year! Now get to brewing

 

[Dejavu614]

I just did up my very first batch today. Everything went well (as far as I can tell). My first reading was 1.036 OG, i guess that is very close to what they say it is supposed to be. I am doing the Lager DME that came with the kit for this first run. I just checked the temp and it is at 70degreesF about 22C . Is that temp ok?, I have it wrapped in a blanket, also to keep the light out.

 

[GASoline71]

I'm new here... and the first beer I ever brewed was a Coopers Wheat Beer. It was included in the "Starters brewing kit" I bought at a local brewing supply store in my area.

I probably won't brew it again... but... for my first beer it was pretty cool to have a beer actually come out tasting pretty good! At least it is drinkable and I only have a few bottles left.

Gary

 

[HoosierInFL]

Brewed my first batch a couple weeks ago. I used the Lager kit that came with it. All went well. My only complaint is that the tap leaks quite a bit and it took me a long time to get it situated so that it would stop leaking (common complaint on Amazon). It also caused a mess when bottling.

The foam from the fermentation dissipated after just 3 days, so that was quick. I bottled after a week in the fermentor. I sampled a bottle a week later to see how it was going and it already tastes very good.

I'm taking baby steps with this hobby, so for my next brew I will try the Cooper's Draught kit and I will add some finishing hops to it to see how that changes things.

It's so awesome to be drinking good beer that I brewed myself!

 

[SMtnBrewery]

Brewed my first batch a couple weeks ago. I used the Lager kit that came with it. All went well. My only complaint is that the tap leaks quite a bit and it took me a long time to get it situated so that it would stop leaking (common complaint on Amazon). It also caused a mess when bottling.

The foam from the fermentation dissipated after just 3 days, so that was quick. I bottled after a week in the fermentor. I sampled a bottle a week later to see how it was going and it already tastes very good.

I'm taking baby steps with this hobby, so for my next brew I will try the Cooper's Draught kit and I will add some finishing hops to it to see how that changes things.

It's so awesome to be drinking good beer that I brewed myself!

I started off with the exact same kit and I had the same problem with the leaky tap. I messed with it for about 20 minutes and finally gave up but I was able to get a replacement sent at no charge.

Congrats on the first brew. I still have a week to go on the bottle conditioning but I've been tempted to crack one open!

 

[HoosierInFL]

I started off with the exact same kit and I had the same problem with the leaky tap. I messed with it for about 20 minutes and finally gave up but I was able to get a replacement sent at no charge.

Congrats on the first brew. I still have a week to go on the bottle conditioning but I've been tempted to crack one open!

Yeah, I need to contact them about it.

I opened a bottle after one week just to check on it. I did't want to wait weeks just to find out the beer is bad. It is already very drinkable, and will be awesome in a few weeks.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

I am on day 5 of the coopers DIY kit and all the yeast has yet to fall from the top of the brew. Its def getting thin tho.. the thick foam is gone. Its light brown... Is this normal? Its in a 16 C room. I pitched it with Coopers Ale Yeast from the kit.

 

[pabloj13]

Sounds perfect to me.

 

[ronclark]

I am on day 5 of the coopers DIY kit and all the yeast has yet to fall from the top of the brew. Its def getting thin tho.. the thick foam is gone. Its light brown... Is this normal? Its in a 16 C room. I pitched it with Coopers Ale Yeast from the kit.

You should be fine. Give it about two weeks to ferment, regardless of the 4-10 day bit they feed you. I've had a couple go past 14 days before the fermentation was complete. It's no big deal.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Awesome, thanks for the re assurance guys. I find myself running down to the cold room every 5 hrs or so.... lol

 

[WhiteEagle1]

I got the Coopers DIY kit for Xmas as well. Did alot of reading on here before I brewed my first batch.....glad I did! Lots of good pointers! On day 7 of fermentation. I knew I wasn't going to be able to sit around and wait for the beer to be done So I ordered a Deluxe Starter Kit off Northernbrewer.com (which arrived in 3 days!) and brewed my second batch, American Pale Ale, last night. My next mission is to drink as much beer as possible to stock up on bottles!

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Awesome. Yeah I have 3 batches on the go now too. I am going to do another tomorrow. That will make close to 100L of beer in various stages of fermentation . Not sure what I am going to do with it all but a 2 tap keg is going in soon too. I will keg 2 and bottle 2 and keep 4 fermenters rolling. I have lots of thirsty friends. My next batch will be the smugglers ale from Muntons with some extra goodies put in. yeah I have been sucking back bottles of Golden Pheasant cause I like the 500ML bottles.... lol Great excuse to drink more beer...

 

[Dejavu614]

My 1st batch of Coopers lager has been fermenting for about a week now. It started off the 1st two day's fermenting really good, alot of bubbles and foam on the surface. But now their is none anymore and seems like its not doing anything. I am a little concerned about that is not fermenting anymore. I have been having trouble keeping the Temps warm enough. At one point one day it got done to about 18 degrees C, is that going to be a problem. If someone could please help

 

[LTownLiquorPig]

My 1st batch of Coopers lager has been fermenting for about a week now. It started off the 1st two day's fermenting really good, alot of bubbles and foam on the surface. But now their is none anymore and seems like its not doing anything. I am a little concerned about that is not fermenting anymore. I have been having trouble keeping the Temps warm enough. At one point one day it got done to about 18 degrees C, is that going to be a problem. If someone could please help

I'm a noob know nothing, but I brewed the cheapest kit I could find, and used the yeast it came with. Fermented along nicely at 58*-62*, so I'd imagine you Cooper's kit is fermenting nicely, maybe almost done? I let mine sit the full 3 weeks many on here subscribe to, and when I bottled it I called it drinkable, even flat and room temperature.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

My 1st batch of Coopers lager has been fermenting for about a week now. It started off the 1st two day's fermenting really good, alot of bubbles and foam on the surface. But now their is none anymore and seems like its not doing anything. I am a little concerned about that is not fermenting anymore. I have been having trouble keeping the Temps warm enough. At one point one day it got done to about 18 degrees C, is that going to be a problem. If someone could please help

The only way to tell for sure what is going on with your beer is to take a hydrometer reading.
If the temperature of the beer is several degrees warmer that the ambient temperature, (that is assuming you have been keeping the the area stable) then fermentation is continuing.

Patience.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

18C is perfect for the coopers ALE yeast. It likes to be cooler. Remember your brew will be slightly warmer 2-5C because of the fermentation process. Thats what I have mine set at. So 18+2->5 degrees in ther fermenter = your target. They are talking about wort temp, not room temp. The stick on thermometer reads more of the room temp. And although its subsided, the Lager (really a pale Ale) has gone from 1022 to 1012 in 3 days here. Its still working, just break out the hydrometer. Remember to santize it. I never let it touch the spout of the fermenter, but I am clean freak.

By the sounds of it, you are making perfect beer.


Just tested my Coopers Euro Lager Mash Extract recipe. After only 7 days in primary at 12C it came in at 1011. Started at 1044. Its crystal clear already, nice big bubbles on the side, decent head for where it is. Tastes fantastic for the stage it is in. I can really taste the Hallertauer hops. I posted this recipe here. I can't wait to taste this in 12 weeks. By far the best beer out of my three batches I have on the go right now.

Next up is a new recipe using the Muntons Premium Gold Smugglers Ale.

 

[unionrdr]

Sorry I lost track of this thread. But to give some details on the OS lager I got & brewed as my 1st,here goes.
I got the OS lager can,1kg cooper's brewing sugar (80% dextrose,20% maltodextrin),& the cooper's ale yeast (dry). OG was 1.048,FG 1.012. Brew temps were between 19C-22C,most of the time @ 20C. I've since found that 18C is a good temp for cooper's ale yeast,which does produce some rather pleasant nondescript fruity esters.
After 3-4 weeks in the supplied PET bottles (primed with 2 carb drops each),it was pretty good for a light pale ale. A little malty,but not overwelmingly so. Def needs some English style hops.
If you go to my profile,you'll find a list of recipes that all use cooper's cans as a base. Just to give y'all an idea of what can be done with the cooper's pre-hopped cans.
I have the cooper's micro brew fermenter myself. The spigot screws on with a seal,which is def better than the new style. Check out my bottling video in my profile for how I changed the bottling wand to use a bottling bucket,besides bulk priming & bottling. I came up with a set up that allows one to sit down with little or no over the shoulder reaching or a lot of bending. Def makes bottling day more enjoyable.
The temps for the cooper's ale yeast are 62F-72F,according to Midwest. I've found 67-70F to be quite good in this regard,as I have little in the way of temp control yet. I had the cooper's OS lager done & ready to bottle in 12 days the 1st time. But batches with added DME & hops have taken up to 4 weeks to hit FG,including 3-7 days to clean up & settle out more before bottling.
You can typically expect 62-66 12oz bottles from 23L,or 6 gallons. My record is 67.5 bottles with their English bitter. That one is great with pit bbq,even as a base for mop sauce. I also found that pouring the chilled wort & top off water through a fine mesh strainer aerates it pretty good too. Just stir for 5 minutes straight to more fully mix the wort & top off water before testing & pitching.

 

[venquessa]

Thanks to this thread for pointing me to CraigTube. Well worth watching a load of his brewing videos. I think I like his style.

He also explained some things about the US home brew market seemingly being much more involved, because beer is so cheap in the US, the only reason to home brew is as a hobby and to experiment and perfect.

In the UK (and Ireland) beer isn't cheap, Dublin being the worst offender where a pint of lager in a basic pub is 4-5 euro and in a night club you can pay up to double that.

I buy 12 x 440ml cans of lager for £10 (about $17), sometimes it's on offer at £8.99, but recently it has gone up (post xmas offers) to £11.49!

Premier lager like Becks, Satzenbru, Cafferys, Bass, Smithwicks etc. Usually don't even bother with 12 packs and cost about £1.50 a tin!

To buy 5 gallons of lager/beer therefore is roughly, £45 or $70. A kit + sugar + whatever usually comes in at about £15-£20. So a lot cheaper and I'm hoping (when I improve my techniques) more tasty!

How much is beer in the US our of interest?

 

[unionrdr]

BMC's are the cheapest,craft brews being more expensive. BMC's run about $4-$5 per six. A 6'r of dog fish head 90min IPA cost me some $13-$14. A 6'r of left hand brewing's milk stout was $10.49. Some craft beers go for some $16 per six pack. It also depends a little on where you buy it. In places that carry craft beers where people don't buy them too much are cheaper by a little bit. But go to a store where a lot of upper class types live,& the price goes up.
The prices around here are basically $9.49-$16.99 per six of 12oz bottles.

 

[ADL]

This is a very helpful thread for those of us just starting out with coopers kits. I just started my first batch in a coopers kit. Very easy, and hopefully will have decent results (I'm not expecting much given its a kit with no additions). I made the Heritage Lager kit with recommended ingredients and Coopers yeast, If its better than discount brands of beer then I'll be very pleased. And you say the Irish Stout kit is good? this gets me excited, I have an Irish Stout kit for my next batch where I'll try adding some specialty grains and hops and use White Labs Irish Ale Liquid yeast and hopefully have a nice stout by St Patties day!

I love the design of the fermenter, its actually the main reason why I bought the Coopers kit in the first place. My only gripe is that the tap leaks a lot.. I've just emailed them and will hopefully get a replacement tap though. Is this a very common problem? will the replacement have the same problems?

 

[unionrdr]

I've been reading how several folks on here with the new DIY FV have to fiddle with that push in tap to get it to stop leaking. Some have just gotten them to replace the spigot. I got the cooper's micro brew fermenter last January,as that was it at the time. I also have the BB ale pale as well. The micro brew FV has the screw on spigot with the black hose seal. No problems there.
And it seems the Cooper's Irish stout is quite popular among stout lovers. Since I just tried & liked the Left Hand Brewing's milk stout last evening,I'm thinking of using that one to brew a milk stout. Gotta research milk stouts now. See what y'all are doin to me?! :cross:

 

[Taypo]

Let me know what you do with that Milk Stout, Union. Ours turned out great but didnt have quite the sweetness that we were expecting. Damn lactose is settling in the bottles for some reason.

 

[unionrdr]

Well,I'm thinking the lactose should go in at the end of the boil. Maybe some maltodextrin to give it that resudual sweetness/mouth feel? The Left Hand Brewing one tasted like cold brewed coffee may've been added as well. I def gotta research how much of what to add.