kegging coopers kit 2nd brew

[rayhat]

OK bought the coopers kit Lager and three refills Fathers Day gift from the wife 2013. $200. First brew "Lager" Good. Nice carbonation little head retention which is what I like. Taste OK. Bottled with carbonating drops. Followed directions. Pleased with results. Not writing any letters about it. Second brew "Thomas Coopers Selection Wheat". went ok but has been fermenting at 80 degrees steady for 4-5 days. Thats how it goes. Whats done is done. Looks fine. 44OG to start, 07 for the last 3 days its going in a keg. One batch and I'm Kegging. (4 Cornys (2 Ball 2 Pin) a 20LB and a 5Lb with Co2 in both for $100. Dual cornelius gauges $50 I'm going to split in two . One for dispensing in keezer and one to pressurize and force carb if I choose. New O-rings, lube, hose, QC, relief valve, 2 poppets, co2 shutoffs w/backflow $110. $460 total with four beer kits. Month and a half, go figure.) I digress. I am thinking of crushing half of the amount of carbonation tabs for bottling, because it has been said less sugar when kegging, about half, topping off with co2 and letting sit at a cooler 72 degrees for a couple of weeks or until I actually get a freezer to convert. The 80 degrees I can not change the past but what about the carbonation. Bad Idea? Its going down that way unless someone has done the same with tragic results. By the way the Hydrometer reading tasted pretty good at day 3 and 4. These Cooper kits are short on fermentation and long on bottling. First post. Any thoughts.

 

[airdog_47]

sounds good? You work for Jimmy Jones? First thing you need to do is sit back and have a homebrew or two. Relax. You have co2, if carb pills don't work force carb the sh@t out of it.

 

[rayhat]

No work forJimmy Jones and I'm runnin out of first batch of bottled homebrew. Working on getting another fermenter only have the one. Gonna be a big gap between brews. Bummer

 

[rayhat]

Just force carbed my cooppers wheat kit that I kegged 8 weeks ago without any kind of priming sugar. Took me that long to get a keezer going. Gonna put up pics of my home made temp controler. Tasteing the brew tomorrow. Shoukd be about 30 hours under pressure.

 

[rayhat]

I think I over carbed it. Lot of foam that last a little while. De carbing over the next few days. Keezer and home made temp. controller work great. Now The Beer. It's a Coopers Wheat that did not really get a fare shake in its origin. It fermented at the high end of the temp range. 80 degrees. Had a nice Krausen head but was in the high heat range I think. It has a real nice color the fragrance is a little off and I think it still taste a little flat. And it's plenty carbed. It has what I think is that sour apple aftertaste that I've read about. But I do'nt know if I'm clutching at that because it's something I've read. The good thing is I believe from the Hydro readings I got it's about a 4.5 ABV. That makes up for a lot in my book. I do not prefer light beers. I'm going to pass it around and see what the response is. I have a Coopers Dark Ale in the keg that was brewed right and the last Coopers kit a Mexican Cervasa to be mixed. Then its a real cook and keg kit from Northern Brewers. A Dark Red. I think that will be the real test. So far the Coopers kits are a 1 for 1. One good and one questionable but I am to blame for the doubt. Sucks that it was the wheat beer I like them. So Growlers to be filled, beer to be drunk. kegs to clean and beer to brew.

 

[rayhat]

Half way through the keg and it seems to have de-carbed ok. Taste a little better too. Might be wishfull drinking. Working on a beer gun to fill my growlers now. Looking forward to the keg of Coopers Dark Ale. All in all I think I'm done with the Coopers kits. We'll see how the Dark Ale taste.

 

[rayhat]

Wheats gone and I'm not to sad to see it go. Just tapped the Dark Ale and it taste quite good. 8 weeks in bottle. Ran out of CO2 in my 20lb carb cylinder so I have to wait too force carb. But the bottles with the tablets taste really good. Hope it makes it till Christmas. Mixed up the Mexican Cervaza, last Coopers kit before I do the Northern Brewers Dark Ale. I do'nt have my hopes up for it. Not much krausen, but a nice big yeast cake. Fermenting on the low temp side. 67-68 genres. We'll see.

 

[rayhat]

Drank the brown. Tasted all right. All my coopers kind of tasted the same. Got the cervasa in the keg but I think its getting dumped. The bottles tasted lousy. I share the blame for the bad coopers kits. The Northern Brewers dry Irish stout taste pretty good. Kegged for paddys day. Just got 2 six gallon plastic bubblers fron Northern. Two for one. Looking for two more kits to brew now.