New to Brew

[Oldbloke]

11 hours ago, jennyss said:

Dear @MUZZY and @DavidM,

Yes I am an old girl; making beer for saving money reasons. It is quite funny to realise that home-brewing can range from penny-pinching to bottomless money draining pit! I have been making jams, marmalades and pickles over the last few years; and I enjoy the challenge of balancing ingredients and heat and bottling. 

I made my first brew straight from the Coopers recipe that came with the box; and I watched several youtube videos before I found this forum. 

Hi Jenny,

Many here get into grain mashing and many other techniques to make great beer.

Personally I don't do that. I like simple. 

Coopers make a heap of different styles of beers, enough to keep most drinkers very happy.  And all the work is done in Adelaide for your convenience.  Just a few very simple changes can make a big differance (improvement) for little work or cost.

Instead of adding sugar or dextrose try adding coopers #3 enhancer or better still dried malt ( light or dark) . Cost per stubbie still only about 40 cents. Or you could try various essence.  For example I've added chocolate essence to stout. Coffee too. 

Check out the recipe pages, some like above, very easy  some more complicated.

And aging helps heaps, you can drink it in 2 or 4 weeks but IMO best to store 3 months before drinking.  The more stock you have the better that way it age's.

 

Edited January 27, 2022 by oldbloke

[jennyss]

Hello @oldbloke, Thanks for your info.  My father has been brewing Coopers Lager, Pale Ale and Stout for thirty years; and our family originally come from South Australia, so I do have a bit of loyalty towards Coopers. I think I will go by the instructions for a couple more brews before getting adventurous. But I'm  thinking I should leave the brew in the FV for a few days after the FG is reached. The beer was cloudy when we bottled it last Sunday, but it has already cleared up with a bit of sediment and wispy floaties near the bottom of the bottle. No explosions so far! 

[Cee]

On 1/27/2022 at 5:51 AM, MUZZY said:

I recently used Pacifica hops in a Cerveza and it worked well.

Two reasons for using Pacifica:

1. It's what I had at home.

2. They have a citrus flavour profile that I figured could substitute for a lemon wedge in the bottle.

Hm yeah I was thinking Galaxy or something citrussy. Pacifica looks interesting for this one. I think of a refreshing easy-to-drink summer brew with this beer. I absolutely want to use it as a Middy (Aztec Gold) but Hop That Thang for more flavour (The Aztec on its own was not enough but I reckon the right hops may help)

 

On 1/27/2022 at 8:49 AM, DavidM said:

I used Galaxy in that brew.

No reason, with so many to pick from I'm still learning.

Fruity for the Wife and drier for Me..

Aye this is exactly why I was leaning towards Galaxy

As for still learning - yep me too. I've only really played around with fruity hops so one of my upcoming projects will be to try out some of the more earthy, spiced, pine, foresty (etc) types. 

[Cee]

5 hours ago, jennyss said:

Hello @oldbloke, Thanks for your info.  My father has been brewing Coopers Lager, Pale Ale and Stout for thirty years; and our family originally come from South Australia, so I do have a bit of loyalty towards Coopers. I think I will go by the instructions for a couple more brews before getting adventurous. But I'm  thinking I should leave the brew in the FV for a few days after the FG is reached. The beer was cloudy when we bottled it last Sunday, but it has already cleared up with a bit of sediment and wispy floaties near the bottom of the bottle. No explosions so far! 

G'day @jennyss

Welcome to the forums!

Ah you got here through the road of jams and pickles  It's that same satisfaction and fun, I think, of turning out a product for a pittance of what the big businesses charge, and finding you actually enjoy it more than the store-bought alternatives. Win-Win-Win.  It's a cool skill to have too, if this stuff interests you.

 

It is do-able to bottle once FG has been reached.

Many folks here tend to leave it longer for a clearer beer. Mine are always at least a few days after FG (depending on the weather - if it's too hot then I bottle it to beat the heat - I don't have temperature technology yet)

 

[Oldbloke]

7 hours ago, jennyss said:

Hello @oldbloke, Thanks for your info.  My father has been brewing Coopers Lager, Pale Ale and Stout for thirty years; and our family originally come from South Australia, so I do have a bit of loyalty towards Coopers. I think I will go by the instructions for a couple more brews before getting adventurous. But I'm  thinking I should leave the brew in the FV for a few days after the FG is reached. The beer was cloudy when we bottled it last Sunday, but it has already cleared up with a bit of sediment and wispy floaties near the bottom of the bottle. No explosions so far! 

Yeh, generally it's pretty safe to bottle on day 7 to day 10. I bottled day 7 for yonks, but tend to let it go a bit longer these days. Coopers make plenty of versions to try.

 

Have fun.