Coopers Irish Stout recomendation.

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caplucky

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Well as I am still a new brewer, just having done my 10th batch so far. Not any full mash yet but some partials so far. My 2nd batch was a Coopers Irish Stout LME and following the instructions and my LHBS, I went with a can of Coopers dark LME and 6 cups of corn sugar, and a bit too much H2O coming out at about 6 gal in fermenter.
8 days fermenting then bottled, 3 weeks later I tasted one and wow, smooth and delicious with a beautiful head and with loads of "drinkability". Every one who has tried one can't get enough, even a few who don't like stouts or dark beers. The owner and some of the staff from the local brewery loved the stuff.
I highly recomend this for any beginner brewers since the ease of making and the great results, heck even some of the veteren brewers may want to try this one. I have always been a stout fan and this has to be one of my favorites, allthough I may be a little biased since I made it.:)
 
Well as I am still a new brewer, just having done my 10th batch so far. Not any full mash yet but some partials so far. My 2nd batch was a Coopers Irish Stout LME and following the instructions and my LHBS, I went with a can of Coopers dark LME and 6 cups of corn sugar, and a bit too much H2O coming out at about 6 gal in fermenter.
8 days fermenting then bottled, 3 weeks later I tasted one and wow, smooth and delicious with a beautiful head and with loads of "drinkability". Every one who has tried one can't get enough, even a few who don't like stouts or dark beers. The owner and some of the staff from the local brewery loved the stuff.
I highly recomend this for any beginner brewers since the ease of making and the great results, heck even some of the veteren brewers may want to try this one. I have always been a stout fan and this has to be one of my favorites, allthough I may be a little biased since I made it.:)
I've heard good things about the Coopers Irish Stout and the Coopers Original Stout also. I heard some Guinness drinkers rave about it. I have a can of the Original Stout waiting to go for my next batch - looking forward to trying it.
 
Hey Aidan,

I had a former neighbor when I lived in France who moved back home to NZ. I hope you are not getting too much of the bad weather that Australia is getting.

Anyhow, I took a Hydrometer reading today and a quick sample of the Irish Stout from Coopers (Brewmaster selection). I think it is going to be real good. It has the nice color and dryness of an Irish Stout. Very excited.

My bubbling in the airlock stopped at 4 days but the hydrometer reading is not right yet so it will stay in the primary for a minimum of 2 weeks.

Good luck with yours!
 
Hey Aidan,

I had a former neighbor when I lived in France who moved back home to NZ. I hope you are not getting too much of the bad weather that Australia is getting.

Anyhow, I took a Hydrometer reading today and a quick sample of the Irish Stout from Coopers (Brewmaster selection). I think it is going to be real good. It has the nice color and dryness of an Irish Stout. Very excited.

My bubbling in the airlock stopped at 4 days but the hydrometer reading is not right yet so it will stay in the primary for a minimum of 2 weeks.

Good luck with yours!

No, weather here in NZ is good at the moment. We did have a day of heavy rain about 2 weeks ago that was a remnant of the Aussie rains but thankfully that was the only little taste of it that we got.

Yeah I always drink my hydrometer samples too and they usually taste nice but I did a new batch of American Pale Ale last night and it tastes nasty - hope it's not an indication of the final product.
 
I am new to this game as well, this being my 4th batch.

I have a Coopers irish ready to fly this weekend but was advised that instead of corn sugars, i should use 2.2 lbs of Malts. Does this sound right and do i need to do anything extra to get that famous stout micro-bubble head? i made a RIS and the head was almost nonexistent and was a bit harsh for the first year in the bottle and, although patient, i dont want to wait until 2012 for this one.
 
I am new to this game as well, this being my 4th batch.

I have a Coopers irish ready to fly this weekend but was advised that instead of corn sugars, i should use 2.2 lbs of Malts. Does this sound right and do i need to do anything extra to get that famous stout micro-bubble head? i made a RIS and the head was almost nonexistent and was a bit harsh for the first year in the bottle and, although patient, i dont want to wait until 2012 for this one.

Yes that sounds right for dried malt extract. 2.2 lbs = 1kg.
If you are using Liquid malt extract, you may want to go abit more than 1kg - e.g 1.5kg, or add some sugar to the mix.

It can be brewed with 500g DME + 500g sugar (or even just a kilo of sugar) but more malt should make it richer, better boddied and better head.

I just brewed up my Coopers Stout last night, I used 1kg of DME plus 300g of dextrose. And coincidently my 4th batch too!
 
No. The can + dme is all you need. I added a little dextrose just to boost the alcohol a bit. You could always use regular sugar if you wanted. Dextrose is usually recommended over regular sugar as apparently you can get some cidery flavours from sugar, although I've read that that's not really an issue with most yeasts these days. In any case if it's just a small amount it shouldn't be an issue.

edit: just to clarify, dextrose and corn sugar are the same thing
 
Awesome! I am gonna give this a shot with the 1 kg of DME. Maybe a tad more for a bit of an ABV boost. Thanks again and i cant wait to try it
 
Awesome! I am gonna give this a shot with the 1 kg of DME. Maybe a tad more for a bit of an ABV boost. Thanks again and i cant wait to try it

1 can + 1kg DME (plus your priming sugar) made up to 23L will give you an avb of around 4.1%. If you make up to 5 US gal (19L) you get avb of 4.9%.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out. Mine's bubbling nicely at the moment.
 
Watch out for super massive krausen. I have 7 litres head room in my FV and it's all filled up in the last couple of hours! Not coming out the airlock yet, so still under control. You'll need plenty of head room or else maybe a blow off tube. Must be a stout thing.
 
Holy Crap! thats a bit scary. I have a 23 litre FV and was planning on doing 20 litres of liquid. if 3 litres head room isnt enough that sucker's gonna blow. goos thing i ferment on plastic!
 
I did this same kit, it is in its 3 wk. in my primary and I put can stout mix + i can dark malt extract,+ .75# dex. and it taste great and haven't even moved it to bottles yet still waiting for about another week or so.
 
Holy Crap! thats a bit scary. I have a 23 litre FV and was planning on doing 20 litres of liquid. if 3 litres head room isnt enough that sucker's gonna blow. goos thing i ferment on plastic!

she blew! 7 litres head room didn't even cut it, it's all coming out of the airlock. I don't have a blowoff tube and my airlock home is very small anyway, not suitable of blowoff. I'll just have to pull her off and see what happens.
 
Noooo! Medic! Seriously though, medic76 might have some answers, as his went fine. there may have been some miscalculation somewhere. Hope it shapes up for you. A beer is a terrible thing to waste.
 
Check out the picture it blowing out of the airlock:
http://beerandgarden.com/thar-she-blows/
To deal with this mess, I pulled out the airlock cleaned and sanitised it, cleaned off the mess off the lid and stuck the airlock back in. It’s still foaming out of the airlock a little bit but under control.
 
I made the Irish stout about 3 months ago, maybe. Its been in the bottles for over a month and it still isnt ready. Taste green still and not great carbination or head. Going to try it again but pissed off your drinking it 4 weeks later with suck a short ferment and I still cringe a little when I try mine. Good job by the way. That might be my next beer.
 
to aidan: just checked on the Coopers website and they say blowout at the airlock is not uncommon and not necessarily a bad thing. Below is what they say:
STEP 2: Brew
During the first stage of fermentation dark brews may foam up through the airlock. This is a sign that the yeast is working effectively. To avoid this, fill the fermenter to 20 litres then top up, to the level (as per the recipe being followed) with cool boiled water once the foaming has subsided.
 
i'm guessing that "once the foaming has subsided" means 3-5 days after you start the primary and the yeast has chilled out a bit. i will prolly just start low. the recipe calls for 23L but i think im sticking with 20. i like my stouts stout
 
to aidan: just checked on the Coopers website and they say blowout at the airlock is not uncommon and not necessarily a bad thing. Below is what they say:
STEP 2: Brew
During the first stage of fermentation dark brews may foam up through the airlock. This is a sign that the yeast is working effectively. To avoid this, fill the fermenter to 20 litres then top up, to the level (as per the recipe being followed) with cool boiled water once the foaming has subsided.
Yeah, I wasn't concerned about it, I had read about blowouts - kinda cool actually to experience my first one. I just cleaned up the mess and let it blow through the airlock. At this stage since everything is coming out there is nothing going in so not much risk of contamination. It's quietened down a bit now so I'll just clean up the airlock, sanitise it and put it back on. Not much liquid came out really because I did have a lot of headspace. But your's is going to be tight - get your blow off tube ready...
 
I bottled mine 3 weeks ago in swingtops and it is fantastic. Very dry - decent head, good taste. Since I had used 16 oz swingtops, I only used 1 of the coopers carb drops instead of 2 for the normal 22 oz. I checked some websites before and found one post that stated stouts should not be too carbonated and susbsequently, I think this fits that description well. I am happy with how it turned out!
 
I bottled mine 3 weeks ago in swingtops and it is fantastic. Very dry - decent head, good taste. Since I had used 16 oz swingtops, I only used 1 of the coopers carb drops instead of 2 for the normal 22 oz. I checked some websites before and found one post that stated stouts should not be too carbonated and susbsequently, I think this fits that description well. I am happy with how it turned out!
Cool! I'm looking forward to mine, it's almost 2 weeks in fermentor now. The SG samples tasted nice, can't wait for the finished product. I'll take your advise and go a bit lighter than normal on the priming. I usually do 3/4 cup sugar in 23L batch, so will go with 1/2 cup for this one.
 
i moved mine over to the secondary a few days ago and poured it over some cacao nibs, chicory and a vanilla bean. nothing too heavy but hopefully enough to leave a hint in the final product. it smelled better than any stout i have had! I had not heard that about carbonating stouts. only heard a few people say they carb stouts with DME, not sugar. Anyone else try this? Is it worth it?
 
I'm just bottling mine right now, I've primed with dextrose straight to primary - just waiting 20 mins for it settle in. I'm drinking a glass of it right now and it is amazingly drinkable even flat and warm and unconditioned. It is a mild, smooth, velvety, moreish stout already and it can only get better!
 
Aidan,

I don't recommend anyone take my advice on something that I know so little about, however, I wish you the best! I think more so that I found websites to justify me not having to cut a carbonation drop in half in order to add 1.5 drops per bottle.

All the best and I hope yours turns out super!
 
Amicus,

Your addition of chocolate, chicory, and vanilla sounds AWESOME. Did you soak your nibs in vodka prior to addition or just straight in?

Last week I tasted a Vanilla Java Porter which seems like it lines up with what you made and I had two and could have drank them all night. Absolutely brillant!
 
I put all three in a bowl with just enough vodka to cover them. Let sit for about an hour and poured the whole thing into the secondary first, then siphoned the primary on top. it smelled so good i thought i was imagining it. had my wife (who hates beer) smell it and she was more than impressed. 3oz of nibs, 1 oz of chicory, 1 big bean. presto. bottling it next week (week 3).
 
Bottled! man it smelled great and quite honestly, even though it was room temp and flat, it tasted damn fine as well!! Cant wait! But i will.
 
No, weather here in NZ is good at the moment. We did have a day of heavy rain about 2 weeks ago that was a remnant of the Aussie rains but thankfully that was the only little taste of it that we got.

Yeah I always drink my hydrometer samples too and they usually taste nice but I did a new batch of American Pale Ale last night and it tastes nasty - hope it's not an indication of the final product.

good to see another kiwi home brewer here !! go the hurricanes
 
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