Zephyr light any good?

[Franham]

Just trying out my first brew and decided to try out the zephyr light due to looking like a good option for a beginner.

How did you guys like this one? The recipe says it's an ale, i'm more of a lager guy but i've heard that it's comparative to cascade light, which is what i tend to drink commercially these days.

[iBooz2]

@Franham I have not done this recipe but looking at it the ABV is in the ball park.  I don't mind the Cascade Light when I am the designated driver on a night out so might look at a Cascade clone myself at some stage.

Point to note is that all Coopers kit cans are bittered with Pride of Ringwood hops so you may detect some differences there.  I recommend brewing it exactly to the recipe the very first time.  Keep tasting notes when it comes time to drink them.  While you are waiting on the bottles to carb up get the next brew underway but with this one try say a dry hop of whatever hop Cascade Light uses.  You can do this easily toward the end of fermentation and it does make a big difference and step in the right direction of becoming a much better brewer.  Do your changes one ingredient or process at a time.

Someone with the knowledge of what hops Cascade light has in it will come along by the time you get to your second brew.  Good luck with your beers.

EDIT: I think they used EKG hops but not sure.

Edited August 13, 2021 by iBooz2

[Franham]

50 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

@Franham I have not done this recipe but looking at it the ABV is in the ball park.  I don't mind the Cascade Light when I am the designated driver on a night out so might look at a Cascade clone myself at some stage.

Point to note is that all Coopers kit cans are bittered with Pride of Ringwood hops so you may detect some differences there.  I recommend brewing it exactly to the recipe the very first time.  Keep tasting notes when it comes time to drink them.  While you are waiting on the bottles to carb up get the next brew underway but with this one try say a dry hop of whatever hop Cascade Light uses.  You can do this easily toward the end of fermentation and it does make a big difference and step in the right direction of becoming a much better brewer.  Do your changes one ingredient or process at a time.

Someone with the knowledge of what hops Cascade light has in it will come along by the time you get to your second brew.  Good luck with your beers.

EDIT: I think they used EKG hops but not sure.

Cheers for your response. When you say near the end of fermentation to add additional hops, is that say after a week of the beer being in the fermenter? Interesting if so.

Also I guess the cascade hops that are sold by Cooper's isn't the hops I would be adding If I was after a cascade light taste? Seems too easy lol. Also would this increase the abv?

[iBooz2]

Dry hopping is usually done near the end of fermentation say on day 3 or 4 from pitching the yeast for ales when the brew is approaching the final gravity.  With lager yeasts it may be day 5 or 7 depending on the yeast used and what the SG of the brew is at.  It's pretty simple to dry hop.  Just get a clean chux type cloth straight out of the packet and tie them up to contain them along with a little weight like a sanitised SS teaspoon to keep the hops below the surface and in contact with your beer.  That way you can easily remove them later and you do not end up with any hop matter floating around in your beer.

Cascade light gets its name from the brewery not the hops. 

Also Cascade Light is a lager so you would need to use a lager yeast as the one that comes with the draught can is actually a Coopers Ale Yeast.  So to get a lager out of the draught can you need use say W-34/70 lager yeast and NOT the kit can supplied yeast.  You will also need to ferment the lager yeast much cooler 12 - 15 C but we are drifting away from the original Zephyr Light Ale recipe here.

[Franham]

1 hour ago, iBooz2 said:

Dry hopping is usually done near the end of fermentation say on day 3 or 4 from pitching the yeast for ales when the brew is approaching the final gravity.  With lager yeasts it may be day 5 or 7 depending on the yeast used and what the SG of the brew is at.  It's pretty simple to dry hop.  Just get a clean chux type cloth straight out of the packet and tie them up to contain them along with a little weight like a sanitised SS teaspoon to keep the hops below the surface and in contact with your beer.  That way you can easily remove them later and you do not end up with any hop matter floating around in your beer.

Cascade light gets its name from the brewery not the hops. 

Also Cascade Light is a lager so you would need to use a lager yeast as the one that comes with the draught can is actually a Coopers Ale Yeast.  So to get a lager out of the draught can you need use say W-34/70 lager yeast and NOT the kit can supplied yeast.  You will also need to ferment the lager yeast much cooler 12 - 15 C but we are drifting away from the original Zephyr Light Ale recipe here.

Thanks for the great explanation. Continuing to pick people's brains here, but any advice on what hops to use for dry hopping? Any personal favourites or ones that might be favourable to a lager drinker or to make the zephyr light a bit more interesting?

[Franham]

Just now, Franham said:

Thanks for the great explanation. Continuing to pick people's brains here, but any advice on what hops to use for dry hopping? Any personal favourites or ones that might be favourable to a lager drinker or to make the zephyr light a bit more interesting?

Whilst also not increasing the ABV?

[RDT2]

3 hours ago, iBooz2 said:

@Franham I have not done this recipe but looking at it the ABV is in the ball park.  I don't mind the Cascade Light when I am the designated driver on a night out so might look at a Cascade clone myself at some stage.

Point to note is that all Coopers kit cans are bittered with Pride of Ringwood hops so you may detect some differences there.  I recommend brewing it exactly to the recipe the very first time.  Keep tasting notes when it comes time to drink them.  While you are waiting on the bottles to carb up get the next brew underway but with this one try say a dry hop of whatever hop Cascade Light uses.  You can do this easily toward the end of fermentation and it does make a big difference and step in the right direction of becoming a much better brewer.  Do your changes one ingredient or process at a time.

Someone with the knowledge of what hops Cascade light has in it will come along by the time you get to your second brew.  Good luck with your beers.

EDIT: I think they used EKG hops but not sure.

HOPS
Pride of Ringwood, Hallertuaer and Hersbrucker

MALTS
Crystal & Pale Malt 
 

This is what untapped said about Cascade Light

[Pickles Jones]

Go with the Draught as discussed yesterday,  you can then make adjustment to the ABV in the next brew by adjusting the amount of dextrose and adjuncts should you choose. It is easy to tie yourself in knots after a while, all the information becomes overwhelming.  As previously mentioned by  IBOOZ2  "I recommend brewing it exactly to the recipe the very first time."  Stick to this then move on from there.

[Tone boy]

5 hours ago, Franham said:

Also I guess the cascade hops that are sold by Cooper's isn't the hops I would be adding If I was after a cascade light taste? Seems too easy lol. Also would this increase the abv?

Dry hopping won’t increase ABV