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First Brew


GMan10

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Hi All,

Making my first brew, standard Coopers DIY kit,  Coopers Larger Brew Can and Enhancer 1. Been looking around forum and already discovered great tips. warm wort to help with ease of adding, use hot water to mix enhancer and wort. Anyway, getting there.

First question. Day 3, remove Krausen Kollar. Brew has been steady temp, closer to 20-21 than intended 21-22. Not very frothy - is it working?

Appreciate any feedback

PS SHould I really use one glucose tab and one lump of normal white sugar for better result when i first bottle? 

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@GMan10 the first thing you need to do is turn off auto-correct and spell lager as it should be spelled. LOL
Your temps are fine. It won't necessarily be frothy. Leave the lid closed.
Has the wort changed to a cloudy colour over the past few days? This is normal and suggests the yeast is doing it's magic.
If you are worried about progress take a specific gravity (SG) reading. Draw out a small sample and drop your hydrometer in it. I hope you took a reading on day 1. A lower number on the hydrometer than on day1 will suggest there's activity.

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As for the priming sugar in your bottles, I use one Coopers carbonation drop plus one CSR sugar cube in my beers and that's the way I like it. I will point out I only use 750ml PET bottles. You'd need to ask others if using more sugar than the recommended two carb drops is a safe option ie. bottle bombs. I'm not sure if CSR cubes will fit in the neck of a glass bottle anyway.

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Thanks Muzzy, I note you are an active participant and I really appreciate the spell check and advice 🙂

yes it's cloudy, I suspect all fine. It's pretty stupid proof, I just thought there would be a big more bubble and froth. It's fine I'm sure. Yes did take reading and will check when i remove Kollar (that's how they spell it) today.

I'm using PET too and I saw your sugar advice and thought I'd ask. I'm easy, think I'll try your way and see. Coopers Dark Ale next - using reactivated Coopers Pale Ale Yeast. Wish me luck.

 

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BTW, Just purchased some Star San and Sodium percorbonate for clean up. First brew  said just rinse equipment, I hope that's ok? I think the cleaning has always been my biggest worry going into the home brew venture (and keeping the temp correct), however I'm in now....

I work from home, my precious is behind me, can't wait to taste but a bit off yet.

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@GMan10 Hahaha. The spell check thing is a bit of a running gag that I can't let go of.
Two carb drops works fine and it's quite drinkable but a friend of mine gave me some feedback and suggested my beers were a bit flat, so I upped the priming sugar and found that extra bit of carbonation was more to my liking also. 
The Dark Ale is awesome. You're certainly getting adventurous early by using reactivated yeast.
A rinse first up is fine as the new equipment should be clean already. Sodium perc and Starsan are ideal for the future.

One more thing and you'll read this probably more than once on here: The Coopers Original Series Lager is accompanied with an ale yeast, not a lager yeast. So the beer you end up making won't taste much like a lager but more like an ale. So don't think you've made a bad lager when you taste it. What you've probably made is a fairly good ale.

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Just now, MUZZY said:

@GMan10 Hahaha. The spell check thing is a bit of a running gag that I can't let go of.
Two carb drops works fine and it's quite drinkable but a friend of mine gave me some feedback and suggested my beers were a bit flat, so I upped the priming sugar and found that extra bit of carbonation was more to my liking also. 
The Dark Ale is awesome. You're certainly getting adventurous early by using reactivated yeast.
A rinse first up is fine as the new equipment should be clean already. Sodium perc and Starsan are ideal for the future.

One more thing and you'll read this probably more than once on here: The Coopers Original Series Lager is accompanied with an ale yeast, not a lager yeast. So the beer you end up making won't taste much like a lager but more like an ale. So don't think you've made a bad lager when you taste it. What you've probably made is a fairly good ale.

Geez Muzzy, everyone is having a crack at your patience today.

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12 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

@GMan10 Hahaha. The spell check thing is a bit of a running gag that I can't let go of.
Two carb drops works fine and it's quite drinkable but a friend of mine gave me some feedback and suggested my beers were a bit flat, so I upped the priming sugar and found that extra bit of carbonation was more to my liking also. 
The Dark Ale is awesome. You're certainly getting adventurous early by using reactivated yeast.
A rinse first up is fine as the new equipment should be clean already. Sodium perc and Starsan are ideal for the future.

One more thing and you'll read this probably more than once on here: The Coopers Original Series Lager is accompanied with an ale yeast, not a lager yeast. So the beer you end up making won't taste much like a lager but more like an ale. So don't think you've made a bad lager when you taste it. What you've probably made is a fairly good ale.

Thanks, really appreciated. I'm trying not to be a spanner and ask too much too soon. Yeah I read about the lager / ale thing too - that's ok, I'm not a beer drinker but not a connoisseur. The reactivated yeast thing doesn't sound hard....and I LOVE dark Ale. Should I try a little easier Dark Ale recipe first?  Any special tips using reactivated yeast (or traps). Thanks for the heads up, really appreciate any advice.

 

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17 minutes ago, GMan10 said:

Thanks, really appreciated. I'm trying not to be a spanner and ask too much too soon. Yeah I read about the lager / ale thing too - that's ok, I'm not a beer drinker but not a connoisseur. The reactivated yeast thing doesn't sound hard....and I LOVE dark Ale. Should I try a little easier Dark Ale recipe first?  Any special tips using reactivated yeast (or traps). Thanks for the heads up, really appreciate any advice.

 

I'm not saying don't use reactivated yeast but the Dark Ale tin yeast is fine. The Dark Ale tin with BE3 is very good. I've also made it with 1.5kg liquid light malt extract and also 1,5kg dark malt extract. They're all good with it.
Personally, I like to make all the tins without extra hops the first time and with their original yeast to see what they're like. Then I experiment with changes in subsequent brews to see what I prefer.

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37 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

I'm not saying don't use reactivated yeast but the Dark Ale tin yeast is fine. The Dark Ale tin with BE3 is very good. I've also made it with 1.5kg liquid light malt extract and also 1,5kg dark malt extract. They're all good with it.
Personally, I like to make all the tins without extra hops the first time and with their original yeast to see what they're like. Then I experiment with changes in subsequent brews to see what I prefer.

I didn't realise the dark ale tin came with yeast, thought i read recipe and it said supply your own. Yes I'll def do first batch with theirs.

 

59 minutes ago, GMan10 said:

Thanks, really appreciated. I'm trying not to be a spanner and ask too much too soon. Yeah I read about the lager / ale thing too - that's ok, I'm not a beer drinker but not a connoisseur. The reactivated yeast thing doesn't sound hard....and I LOVE dark Ale. Should I try a little easier Dark Ale recipe first?  Any special tips using reactivated yeast (or traps). Thanks for the heads up, really appreciate any advice.

 

 

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40 minutes ago, GMan10 said:

I didn't realise the Dark Ale came with yeast. I was reading recipes and it says to provide??

All the cooper tins comes with yeast supplied. Some recipes on the coopers page call for a different type of yeast, so specify it. Like the Abbey Blond. If you made it with the supplied yeast, you'd get a summer ale. Same ingredients with Belgian yeasts make a belgian beer.

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To muzzy and lab at in particular, thanks for the tips, beer bottled after 6 days in fermenter, FG was 1013 or thereabouts. Just squeezed 30 bottles out. Looks good, smelt and tasted ok. Off for supplies for a coopers dark ale next, will use normal yeast first b4 I try reactivating some 🙂 everything cleaned and air dried in sodium per carb, have starsan for use before bottling.

two quick questions. Is it ok just to spray fermenter, taps, lid and spoon with star san solution before fermenting? Any tips for dark ale? I used one carb drop and one sugar tube in first brew, use again for dark ale?

thanks again for the support of a newbie. My adventure begins....

 

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2 hours ago, GMan10 said:

two quick questions. Is it ok just to spray fermenter, taps, lid and spoon with star san solution before fermenting? Any tips for dark ale? I used one carb drop and one sugar tube in first brew, use again for dark ale?

Yes to starsan, as long as it's diluted to the recommended concentrations. As it's a no rinse sanitiser it is not advisable to use on metals as it can cause corrosion.
I would use the sugar cube and carb drop combo for the dark ale but only if I was drinking it within the next few months. A lot people like to age their darker beers for longer periods. If that's the case just 2 carb drops will be plenty. Even one carb drop might be enough if aging for an extended period. The beer continues to slowly carbonate over time.
The amount of priming sugar used is a bit of a personal thing. I like fizz. Others don't think a dark beer should be as fizzy as a lighter beer.

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On 9/26/2020 at 11:43 AM, GMan10 said:

two quick questions. Is it ok just to spray fermenter, taps, lid and spoon with star san solution before fermenting

Hi GM10 - Starsan/Stellarsan/Phosphoric acid sanitiser is fine on stainless steel.  Like Muzzy says, not so sure on other metals like aluminium and brass.

It will be perfectly fine on plastic fermenter taps, lid and spoon.  

I make up a litre every brew day.  Half into a 500ml spray bottle (which you can keep any left-over for next time).  I usually drop small items like taps, can openers, etc into the other 500ml to soak for a bit.  You do not have to actually soak them, because these are contact sanitisers, but soaking means every nook and cranny gets touched.  You may not cover all points with just spraying alone.  The spray bottle gets used on big items like lids and the fermenter itself.

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On 9/26/2020 at 2:06 PM, MUZZY said:

Yes to starsan, as long as it's diluted to the recommended concentrations. As it's a no rinse sanitiser it is not advisable to use on metals as it can cause corrosion.
I would use the sugar cube and carb drop combo for the dark ale but only if I was drinking it within the next few months. A lot people like to age their darker beers for longer periods. If that's the case just 2 carb drops will be plenty. Even one carb drop might be enough if aging for an extended period. The beer continues to slowly carbonate over time.
The amount of priming sugar used is a bit of a personal thing. I like fizz. Others don't think a dark beer should be as fizzy as a lighter beer.

thanks again!!

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