Question about body / flavor?

[kawi6rr]

Hello Everyone!!

I’ve brewed my first batch of beer using the Coopers kit it came with the lager brew. I was pleasantly surprised that it was quite easy and turned out better then I expected. However I do like beer and this brew was too lite for me and had a hint of cider smell to it. I found that the kit comes with what Coopers calls their brewing sugar. I prefer a tastier beer with more body. I ordered up their Like Dry Malt and will try their lager again using just that.

Coopers kits come with a little packet of yeast. My question is, if I use White Labs Liquid Lager Yeast will this enhance my beer or is it a waste of money? I’m not exactly sure what different types of yeast or better yeast will do to my brew? What I’m trying to do is make a tastier beer with what I have already.

Thanks!!

 

[Yooper]

I've never used that kit- but using sugar in brewing tends to cause a beer to beer drier, thinner, and sometimes cidery. So, using the kit with the dry extract instead of sugar is a great idea.

The yeast question is a good one, and the answer is "it depends". True lagers are fermented cold, so if you don't have a way to ferment it at 50 degrees, then it wouldn't work for you. A neutral ale yeast, though, may be just the ticket for this kit. What kind of yeast comes in the kit?

 

[ohiobrewtus]

What were your fermentation temperatures for this?

Liquid pitchable yeast isn't always better than dry yeast. It all depends on the style that you're brewing and whether or not there is a liquid specialty strain that is necessary to produce the kind of bber that you want like a Kölsch or a Wit, for example.

It sounds like there may have been a bit too much sugar in your first batch, which could very well have been the source of the 'cidery' taste. I think that you're on the right track to making a better beer by using DME rather than sugar in your next batch.

 

[zoebisch01]

If you haven't finished the beer already, that cidery flavor should mellow out over time if indeed (and I am in agreement with) that it's from the sugar.

Welcome!

 

[kawi6rr]

The Coopers Brewing Sugar is 90% dextrose and 10% maltodextrine so the cidery smell and flavor would make sense. This is what they send with the initial complete brewing kit that I purchased.

They recommend I use 1kg total of the DME if I’m only going to use that so that’s what I’m going with for the next batch. I’m not exactly sure what type of yeast that comes with each beer kit I’ll double check when I get home.

Here are some facts about the brewing sugars I can buy from Coopers.

Coopers Brewing Sugar: - A 90/10 blend of dextrose and maltodextrine. Maltodextrine is completely un-fermentable, so it adds body and head retention to beer. Coopers Brewing Sugar is a slight departure from using straight dextrose. A bit more body and head retention, so a noticeable improvement over using straight dextrose

Light Dry Malt Extract: - Dry malt extract is a sugar based on barley. It is fermentable, although not nearly as much as dextrose. So, it will add a bit
more alcohol, more body, and more malt (or "beer") flavor to your beer.

Brew Enhancer 1: - A 60/40 blend of dextrose and maltodextrine. A fuller
bodied beer with better head retention than either straight dextrose or
Coopers Brewing Sugar.

Brew Enhancer 2: - A blend of dextrose, maltodextrine and Coopers light dry
malt extract. So using this will increase alcohol, body, head retention, and
improve the malt flavor of your beer.

The Brew Enhancer 2 sounds like it’s got a good balance for a tasty beer. Unfortunately I can only brew so much at a time so it will take a while to get around to it.

 

[Yooper]

I'd go with the straight dry malt extract and skip any additives that have dextrose added. Maltodextrine can be purchased by itself, but I've never used it in beer anyway. The DME will give you what you need.

 

[kawi6rr]

Thanks!! I'll give it a try soon with the DME.