Coopers DIY Kit

[HopHeadGrady]

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.

Mine was ok, much less fiddling than drilling a bucket and adding gaskets etc.
Some advice to the OP would be to test it with water first and when adding your racking cane, dont push up too hard or you will pop the spout out and have beer flowing everywhere! "ALMOST" happened to me. I saw it slide up a couple mm and I crapped myself.... Haha.

 

[ADL]

If I put some lubricant on the rubber part of detachable spigot do you htink it would form a better seal? I know some people do this with their Kegs

 

[HopHeadGrady]

If I put some lubricant on the rubber part of detachable spigot do you htink it would form a better seal? I know some people do this with their Kegs

I just fixed a drippy spigot last week by applying vaseline to the tap seal. I had to rack to another vessel, take the tap part out and coat that. It was a different tap than the Coopers, very cheap, but works. Coopers DIY Tap isn't bad at all I find. I have 3 other fermenting buckets where I drilled a 1" hole and I needed to work at getting them to seal 100%.

 

[rwithtf]

So I just bottled my brew this morning have them sitting in the box in my room right now. But, I tried my beer and it tastes a little skunked. This is very possible seeing how I wasn't thinking and for the first 2 weeks there was nothing covering the fermenter so light could have gotten in. But, it also tastes almost fruity. So, it's not a horrible thing(Atleast Idon't think so.) But, to the question actually now, Do you believe that this is fully skunked or just needs some time in the bottles?


EDIT: Just ordered the Coopers English Bitter stuff, gonna follow Unionrdr's recipe on there. Can't wait.

 

[flushdrew42]

i'd believe based upon what i've read here, is the taste you are experiencing is just a "young" beer. give it a few weeks (some say 2, some say 3) to bottle condition.

RDWHAHB or, if unavailable, RDWHACB

 

[unionrdr]

1st of all,don't always blindly use a 1" hole saw to make the spigot mounting hole. I use my dremel,a sharpie,& the threaded end of the spigot. I hold the threaded end where I want it about an inch or so from the bottom,draw a circle with the sharpie,then use the dremel with the cylinder shaped router bit to cut the hole just big enough for the lug end of the spigot to be lightly forced through. Easier to get it seal;ed that way. No hole saws for me.
Did you mean the Buckeye Burton Ale recipe? That's two cooper's cans,3lb bag of DME,& 3oz of hops,4-7g ale yeast packets (cooper's). 10.5lbs of malt R-R-R!

 

[rwithtf]

Thanks Drew. And Union I was talking about the "Suped Up" coopers with the two row. I believe you used the Australian Bitter, but I'm going with the English.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

1st of all,don't always blindly use a 1" hole saw to make the spigot mounting hole.

Yeah I guess I should have stated that I actually take my time with this. :cross: I have a 1" core bit that is designed specifically for plastic and it makes a nice pretty hole that the tap can screw into. As far as where it goes, thats easy. And the result is a perfect fit. My problems stem from the spigot itself, not the hole that was bored. One time I was just over tightening and the gasket wasn't sealing right, less is more sometimes.

The latest fermenter I made was perfect.

 

[LargeLagers]

Bottled tonight. Woohoo! 16 days. Should I only go as far as where the tap stops supplying the beer or do I tip the fermenter a bit to finish the next bottle? Afraid that might disturb the crud near the bottom.

 

[RM-MN]

I tip the fermenter to get it all. If a little trub gets in the bottle it will settle to the bottom anyway and I just pour that one more carefully to keep it out of the glass.

 

[unionrdr]

Thanks Drew. And Union I was talking about the "Suped Up" coopers with the two row. I believe you used the Australian Bitter, but I'm going with the English.

**I used the English bitter as well. You can see the ingredients I used in my avatar. Also see recipe for it.

Yeah I guess I should have stated that I actually take my time with this. :cross: I have a 1" core bit that is designed specifically for plastic and it makes a nice pretty hole that the tap can screw into. As far as where it goes, thats easy. And the result is a perfect fit. My problems stem from the spigot itself, not the hole that was bored. One time I was just over tightening and the gasket wasn't sealing right, less is more sometimes.
**I found that is 100% true some time back,as I have a few different spigots in use. Under-tighten,it leaks. Over-tighten,it squishes the seals out of place & leaks. The spigot shoud be snug,but not tight.
The latest fermenter I made was perfect.

So I just bottled my brew this morning have them sitting in the box in my room right now. But, I tried my beer and it tastes a little skunked. This is very possible seeing how I wasn't thinking and for the first 2 weeks there was nothing covering the fermenter so light could have gotten in. But, it also tastes almost fruity. So, it's not a horrible thing(Atleast Idon't think so.) But, to the question actually now, Do you believe that this is fully skunked or just needs some time in the bottles?
**Not covering the fermenter when out in a sunlit room can def skunk it. But the fruity ester comes from the ale yeast. Higher temp,more esters. The cooper's ale yeast produces a nondescript fruity flavor on the back. A little of that is good in something like an IPA. Gives the citrus flavors more natural flavor,imo.

EDIT: Just ordered the Coopers English Bitter stuff, gonna follow Unionrdr's recipe on there. Can't wait.

 

[llevt]

I'll share my experience with the Coopers kits. I bought 2 of the Australian bitter kits awhile back when they were on sale at make.beer.net. Brewed them up pretty much per the recipe adding 2 lbs of extra fermentables, half sugar half light DME. I made them as five gallon batches using cooper yeast in one and US-05 on the other.

The beers had an unpleasant tartness when young...2-3 weeks in the bottle but...after 4 weeks at room temp and several weeks of lagering in the fridge the tartness went away and they became pretty decent beers. They do need a little bit of hop additions for aroma though. The longer they aged the better they tasted.

So don't be disappointed if your beer is not great after a couple of weeks.

 

[unionrdr]

I use cooper's cans as a base in my recipes. See my recipes for how I use them. That'd be easier than trying to explain all the ways I've used them. Def getting better ales out of them now. One of them got the full 3 thumbs up from Gary at Home Brewer TV last year. Beating out a commercial brew felt bloody good.

 

[ADL]

I just fixed a drippy spigot last week by applying vaseline to the tap seal. I had to rack to another vessel, take the tap part out and coat that. It was a different tap than the Coopers, very cheap, but works. Coopers DIY Tap isn't bad at all I find. I have 3 other fermenting buckets where I drilled a 1" hole and I needed to work at getting them to seal 100%.

After emailing coopers about the tap they sent me a replacement the next day. I tested it out and it works MUCH better than the other one. I even tried yanking it in different directions to test it and not a drop leaked so it must have been a faulty tap.

 

[unionrdr]

That seems to happen frequently with the new DIY tap design. My old micro brew FV from them has the big screw in one. No problems with it. But they do have pretty good customer service,I dare say.

 

[rwithtf]

I'll share my experience with the Coopers kits. I bought 2 of the Australian bitter kits awhile back when they were on sale at make.beer.net. Brewed them up pretty much per the recipe adding 2 lbs of extra fermentables, half sugar half light DME. I made them as five gallon batches using cooper yeast in one and US-05 on the other.

The beers had an unpleasant tartness when young...2-3 weeks in the bottle but...after 4 weeks at room temp and several weeks of lagering in the fridge the tartness went away and they became pretty decent beers. They do need a little bit of hop additions for aroma though. The longer they aged the better they tasted.

So don't be disappointed if your beer is not great after a couple of weeks.

I was just going to post here that my beer has been in bottles for a little over a week now and still have an apple-y taste to them. But, this has put my nerves at rest....for now. I just wanna have a nice homebrew to drink already though!
But, I'm receiving my whirlfloc tablets tomorrow and am going to start brewing my English Bitter. I was going to start it the other day, but I figured I should wait for the tablets. But, for future experience, are they necessary?

 

[RM-MN]

Whirlfloc isn't necessary but they could be nice. If your pot is too small they control the foaming but you can control that by turning down the heat a bit. It's just that the foam builds up rapidly and if you aren't watching really closely it will spill over before you can react.

The apple flavor will disappear over time as the yeast consume the acetaldehyde that they produced during the ferment and it will disappear fairly quickly. Give it another week and try again.

 

[rwithtf]

Okay, because I just wanna start brewing this beer and am waiting for the whirlfloc to come in the mail. Just saw it's not going to be here for atleast another week though ha.

 

[unionrdr]

Don't worry about the whirlflock. It isn't really needed in an all extract brew. Except when adding plain wheat DME. Boy,did that stuff foam up like grain wort. And getting the wort chilled down in 20 minutes or less,you'll get little or no chill haze at fridge time.

 

[HopSong]

I use Whirlfloc when I have it.. but...

My real go to is a CLEAN spray bottle with plain water in it. The foaming gets bad when the foam builds up so much the heat can't escape. It's protein foam.. like at the ocean at certain times of the year. Spray the foam in the FV as much as needed to control it. Works like a charm.... you just have to stay on top of it for a few minutes.

 

[rwithtf]

Cool. So I'm going to start brewing tomorrow morning then without the whirlfloc. I'm using the 2-row grain though. But, it also just snowed here finally which is good for cooling. I'll let everyone know how it goes!

 

[TW1Kell]

I tried my first brew using a Coopers' kit, and I'm now at day 7 in bottles, waiting for my new kit and Irish Stout Package (tomorrow delivery if their lil map is correct). I had zero problems with my tap, but being an ol' farmhand, I twisted the seal as I inserted it, knowing that always cuts down on rubber damage on seals. I didn't lube because I was afraid of contaminants. I plan on brewing off both the starter Lager kit and the Irish, and I'll let ya'all know how things go. I'm pretty sure that the 1st toss will be gone in time to re-use the bottles. Interesting thing...Coopers' is out of bottles, but they've discounted the kits...maybe it's worth it to buy kits for bottles? hahaha! That way, you have more in the pipeline..haha anyway, I'm going to check for alternatives to purchase bottles, even tho I eventually want to have about 4 of the kits to run my pipeline. I drink about 2 cases of "bought beer" per week, and then I have a Bro who drinks as much or more than I...we down a bit of beer, especially after it gets into Spring and warmer. My Wifey is always amazed that we're never drunk..I just tell her that you "rent beer, not own it. It's pis...passed thru before you can get a buzz off of it." She just rolls her eyes.

 

[unionrdr]

We drink about a case & a half between us per week of store beer. Maybe a case or less of ours. More ABV,more gravity,more flavor means we drink less of it. With vodka,of course. We def like our vodka.
I was thinking of making a milk stout with the cooper's stout can myself. Left Hand Brewing's milk stout was really good.

 

[rwithtf]

So, I brewed the English Bitter and the foam in the main fermenter has gone down now. My OG was about 1.030 does that sound right to anybody? I didn't use the Whirlfloc and strangely I didn't have a hot break on this batch. I hope that's okay...I waited and waited, nothing happened and just came to a nice rolling boil.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

It is a bit low, but did you correct your gravity for your temp? You could have been a few points higher than what it showed. 1030 is little light even for an Ordinary English Bitter. You are looking for an OG 1035 with an FG 1008. Again you could be very close to this if your hydrometer reading was taken at a higher temp.

 

[unionrdr]

My English bitter was 1.030 @ 24C,corrected to 1.029. And that's with a lot of mixing & 1kg of light DME. FG was 1.009. Came out with great flavor,but the priming calculation of 1.3 volumes was def too low for me.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Yeah, that wouldn't do it for me either. My Muntons Yorkshire Bitter was 1046 and finished at 1010 and its amazing. I did a partial mash with it as well and used a 1KG of DME and Gelena Hops. Came out amazing. I highly recommend this kit!

 

[unionrdr]

I'm thinking of adding more DME next time,& some Kent Golding hops. I was given the kit & brewed it straight up to see what it's like 1st. I'll also up the volumes of co2 to 1.8 & see how well that goes.
**Make that 500g for the cooper's plain light DME,oops. So doubling that to 1kg & an ounce of KG is said to give a Fuller's ESB clone.