Coopers "Lager" kit modding

choochoobacca · Jan 12, 2014

Hello All,

My awesome wife got me a Coopers DIY Brew kit for Christmas, which includes a Coopers "Lager" kit in the set. This is my first time brewing ( with the exception of some Mr Beer kits a few years ago). I was hoping to modify the kit a little bit to produce a better beer, and was hoping for some advice from you fine folks.

I purchased some hops (1oz Cascade, 1oz Citra) and my initial thought was to use half for flavoring and half for dry hopping. Does this seem rational? I've seen this video here:
[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Py6IJd2sfM[/ame]
but I'm not sure if that is the right way to go technique wise.

Here's the ingredients:
Cooper's Australian Lager kit 3.75lbs:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D6KP14/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Coopers Brew enhancer 1:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002WEYPDU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

The aforementioned hops

I understand that this kit does not contain lager yeast, so fermentation should be happening in the 63-67F range.

I've read some suggestions to replace some or all of the enhancer with light DME, or replace the yeast with different type, but again not to sure which way to go. What would you folks do if you were given these ingredients and had a smallish budget to add (about $15 American)?

Any suggestions are welcome and thanks for taking the time to read. Cheers!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app

badlee · Jan 12, 2014

Know what?
I would brew with what you have for two reasons.
1) you will have a brew to compare with later on when you do pimp the kit.
2) you dont risk hurting your awsome wife's feelings.
Make a hop tea with half of the Citra and dry hop with what is left.

Sent from my GT-I8552B using Home Brew mobile app

flars · Jan 12, 2014

A lot of brewers replace the brew enhancer with DME to add body. The DME also boosts the ABV which the brew enhancer is designed to do. The enhancer is mostly corn sugar which will thin the body of the beer.

I personally would not change the hop flavor or bitterness of your first brew with Coopers. This is a major change to the intended recipe. Tweak the next one after you taste the original.

flars · Jan 12, 2014

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/how-good-can-i-make-muntons-connoisseurs-stout-452487/
More information, but with Muntons as the brand name.

unionrdr · Jan 12, 2014

OK,I got this OS Lager kit with my Cooper's Microbrew set when I started. Use the brew enhancer. It used to be called brewing sugar when I got mine. It makes a golden pale ale with a slight amber blush. I def thought even then that it definitely needed some flavor hops at least. The flavor is just a light pale ale flavor. not bad at all. But make a tea with half of each hop for 15-20 minutes in the amount of water you're going to mix the can into at flame out. Seems to me I used 2 to 2.5 gallons on that first one.
Just boil the water,then add half of each hop,bagged or loose. Loose will actually give a bit more edge to the flavor,imo.
Then after the 15-20 minute tea boil,remove from heat & add the Cooper's can,stiring thoroughly to incorporate. Rinse can with some wort & stir that in to get it all. Cover & steep for a few minutes while you get the ice bath ready. This works really well if you chill a couple gallons of water in the fridge a day or two before brew day. When the wort chills down to 75F or so,pour it through a fine mesh strainer into the fermenter. This will aerate it & get the excess gunk out. Then pour in the chilled top off water to recipe volume-23L or 6.072 USG. This will give a pitch temp of about 65F. Cooper's yeast gets sluggish below 64F. Stir really rough for 3-7 minutes to mix wort & top off. I like to rehydrate the yeast,since it's only 7g of ale yeast. This will get it going about equal to a pack of US-05,from an experiment we did. Here's a pic of the final product I took back then. My wife really liked it as is,but I like some flavor hops.
http://[URL=http://s563.photobucket.com/user/unionrdr/media/PA1_zpsa8362465.jpg.html]

[/URL]