My first brew, help - Coopers Wheat beer

[herminatorr7]

Hi!

I have decided to brew my own brew and I will start with Coopers Wheat Beer. Because I live in a small flat, with other family members, I have decided that I will use only one half of the can and make only 11,5 L of beer. I know that this is a waste of money but I'm really afraid that especially the smell from fermentation will bother other family members.

I ask you if you can just check if I am planning to do everything right, because I truly don't want to fail. At first I will boil watter to 65 degrees and put 150 grams of dextrose and 250 grams of DME in it. Then I will add one half of Coopers can and mix my batch for next 10 minutes. After that I will put everything into fermentor and add one half of yeast that come with the kit. Do I have to dehydrate the yeast first?
When the fermentation finish, I will bottle my beer in 750 mL bottles. In each bottle I will add one Coopers carbonation drop and leave everything for few weeks.

Is there anything wrong in that procedure?
Thanks a lot!

Cheers

 

[rodwha]

The volume won't effect the smell. Making only half won't cut the smell in half. You may as well make it all or none.

Rehydrating yeast is a good thing. I'm not familiar with Cooper's yeast, but it certainly cannot hurt.

I'm not sure 1 carb drop is enough for a 750 ml bottle.I'd guess 2 might be slightly overcarbed, which is probably right about where you'd want to be with a wheat beer.

Boiling is certainly not 65*C. Just follow the directions until it gets to fermentation and conditioning in which I'd just give it 3 weeks for each plus 3-7 days in the fridge prior to opening.

Have you watched any videos or read up on this?

 

[MattyIce]

Agreed with above! Don't bother halving your recipe. Make the whole thing. A couple batches ago, I brewed in a small closet. The smell was mild and dissipated after having the door open for a few minutes.

 

[CliftIndy]

My fermenters live in my closet and I've never had any bad experiences with smell that weren't easily fixed. Use an air freshener and leave the door cracked or just keep your fermenter out of the way and use a blow off tube in a growler as opposed to a standard air lock, perhaps.
I'd say an air freshener would be sufficient if it's a big concern.

 

[unionrdr]

I agree with making the whole 23L batch. The smell will be the same, as in not much at all. Just boil the water, then take it off the heat to mix everything in. Never boil pre-hopped extract, as it'll turn flavor & aroma additions designed into it into bittering. Not to mention, darkening due to maillard reactions. And the 740mL Cooper's pet bottles (25.16oz) use two of their carb drops. So using two per 750mL would be right.