Best kit beer?

[JoshT3]

Just wondering what everyones favorite beer from the coopers can range are? I'm only brewing my first batch, the lager that came with the kit, but wanna try out as many as I can, any recommendations?

[Muddy Waters]

I'd be leaning towards Pale Ale as a great all rounder. With various hop additions it can produce some great beers.

 

The English Bitter is also a top notch beer with or without additions to the base recipe - I avoided this one for a while as I didn't think it was "my kind of beer".

 

What kind of commercial beers do you like - with that info we can steer you in the right direction.

 

Other than that just work your way through the kits. It only gets better [biggrin]

[Kearnage]

I'm with Muddy - start at one end of the shelf of kits, and work your way to the end! I've avoided the Mexican Cerveza and Canadian blonde as they aren't really my favourite styles, but even then you can mess with them to suit.

 

Dan

 

[Squishy]

My favorite is by far the Canadian Blonde Followed by Pale Ale. I throw in a Cervaeza on occaision just to mix it up[biggrin]

[The Brew Master]

Josh,

 

Welcome to the world of Brewing, I prefer Pale & Sparkling Ale, I also brew a mean Stout. The Mexican Cerveza is a great summer beer.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[GeorgeB]

Not in any way trying to "polish the apple", but I haven't met a Coopers kit I haven't liked, either straight from the recipe or modifying it. That said, my favorites so far have been the Pale Ale, the Heritage Lager, and the Pilsner. Right now I'm drinking the "Unreal Ale" recipe version of the Real Ale kit, and it's a winner! The Original Series Draught kit is a great base for experimentation IMHO. The only kit I haven't had luck with has been the Mexican Cervesa. First one was infected [my fault], second one I couldn't get it to ferment out low enough. Never figured that one out. The only ones I haven't brewed are the Canadian Blonde [next up], the English Bitter, and the Dark Ale. Looking forward to them!! [biggrin]

[JoshT3]

Thanks for all the replies. I like LCPA a lot so might try out the pale ale coopers kit next and maybe modify a bit. Also like corona so will eventually try something similar to that. Got another question if anyone can answer, my lager has been fermenting for about 5 days and I tested the FG, but the beer was very fizzy and had a lot of froth when I poured it into the tube thing and wasnt really able to test it properly. Is this normal? Or does that mean its just not done?

[PB2]

Discussion thread on LCPA

 

Yes, normal and probably still fermenting.

 

You can de-gas the sample by tossing it between two glasses 20 times or so - this will produce more foam but also drive the CO2 out of solution - pour it into the hydro tube and measure the SG once the foam has subsided [biggrin]

[JoshT3]

Thanks Paul, worked well. Raised temp from about 18 to 22 so hopefully that finishes up the fermentation nicely. Measured the SG and it was at about 1014 so still got a little while to go. Had a taste as well and wasn't amazing but what I've heard from others is that the lager gets better over time so I'll be keen to try in a few weeks [biggrin]

[Slurtis Staggersalot]

my fave is the real ale kit from the original series I use 1kg of dex and 500g of LDM it's simple and works out nice. That being said i still have more kits to brew and taste, I think I'll start concentrating on stouts soon winter is coming up here in Canada.

[Andris]

For some sentimental reasons, Coopers Heritage Lager (brewed by recipe on can) here - no matter how hard I tried to ruin it - starting with wrong temps to ferment it, poking and proding it each other day, it turned out fantastic!

[Greg]

I tried an English bitter at 8 weeks in the bottle, and i feel in love. Very tasty and smooth. Would probably be better with some more late additions of Kent Goldings hops, but still a great drop on its own. (made to the recommended recipe)

[RoyG]

Hi all, Pale ale is the house brew here but have tried all the kits and think they are all good. Sparkling ale is definatly worth a go. Waiting on a dark ale to age before sampling. Give em all a go i reckon.

[THIRSTY MATT]

In my opinion,

the pale ale and original lager are the best all round and most versatile.

the english bitter, aussie bitter and mexican are by far the best example of their style! ( the most like the real thing!)

..... although euro lager is pretty good too!

cheers

matt

[brianc6]

yeah have brewed a few only so far as i am only just beginning but now matter how hard i try i cant get a european lager to work it always tastes horrid :(

[Muddy Waters]

How long do you age the Euro lager Brian? It really does need at least 3 months for it to turn from liquid crap to liquid gold.

[EdwardN]

I'm currently working my way through the international series, I've experimented and talked to some seasoned experts and all signs point towards the ideal that the origional series is decent, but nothing special, the international series however are good kits. my second brew ever was a pale ale and I couldnt keep my friends away from it. Also made a cerveca for a mexican party and blew the sunbreros of some hombres. A fellow brewer made the english bitter and I was very impressed. I'm currently playing with the european lager and canadian blonde, not ready to drink yet but the european lager smelt and tasted so good when I bottled it I went straight out and bought another. Really, you should go do some research and don't experiment or deviate from set recepies untill you really know what your doing.

happy brewing![rightful]