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First time brew. Coopers stout any and all advice welcome


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Hi brewers

first time brewing beer/stout and my first post here.

I grabbed the coopers full kit and followed the instructions to the letter. Have had the fermentation tank in a dark corner wrapped in a doona to keep light out and a more consistent heat (I check morning and night and its been between 20 and 22) been in  for 6 days.

I have a very slight foam of just under one centimeter on the top and all seems to be doing what it should I feel. 

I am toying with the idea of when bottling to add one carb drop instead of 2 and  instead putting in a teaspoon of molasses. (yes/No good idea bad idea? don't mess with it for my first brew?)

Today I will be measuring for the first time the gravity and will be super careful to sterilize everything. looking forward to a few days in a row of doing this and hopefully will have a nice finished product for the tasting in December.

Hopefully happy brewing to all.

Cult Of One

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43 minutes ago, Cult Of One said:

Hi brewers

first time brewing beer/stout and my first post here.

I grabbed the coopers full kit and followed the instructions to the letter. Have had the fermentation tank in a dark corner wrapped in a doona to keep light out and a more consistent heat (I check morning and night and its been between 20 and 22) been in  for 6 days.

I have a very slight foam of just under one centimeter on the top and all seems to be doing what it should I feel. 

I am toying with the idea of when bottling to add one carb drop instead of 2 and  instead putting in a teaspoon of molasses. (yes/No good idea bad idea? don't mess with it for my first brew?)

Today I will be measuring for the first time the gravity and will be super careful to sterilize everything. looking forward to a few days in a row of doing this and hopefully will have a nice finished product for the tasting in December.

Hopefully happy brewing to all.

Cult Of One

HI @Cult Of One Welcome to the forum, as this is your first brew, I would suggest adding 2 carbonation drops as per instructions, you can of course substitute with white sugar (1tsp = 4.1gms)

It is recommended to take your first hydrometer reading at the very start of the brew before adding the yeast. I leave all of my brews in the fermenter for 14 days & you could take random readings at day 5-7 to check progress & again in 10-14 days & when you have 2 consecutive days of the same reading you are ready to bottle.

I have just realised your Heading says Stout so more info attached for you.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=coopers+diy+beer+brewing+instructions+for+stout&qpvt=coopers+diy+beer+brewing+instructions+for+Stout&FORM=IGRE

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=coopers+diy+beer+brewing+instructions+for+Stout&qpvt=coopers+diy+beer+brewing+instructions+for+Stout&FORM=VDRE

Your temperature range is Ok for most Ales, but you haven't stated what you are brewing a Lager or an Ale. Largers require a cooler temperature 11-15c whereas an Ale is best around 18-20c.

A lot depends on the yeast you are using but if you are using the supplied yeast I would stick to those temperatures.

If you look at Coopers Website & watch the videos you will find everything you need to know about brewing.

All the best with your first brew.

Cheers

Phil

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=coopers+diy+beer+brewing+instructions&qpvt=coopers+diy+beer+brewing+instructions&FORM=VDRE

Edited by Classic Brewing Co
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21 minutes ago, Cult Of One said:

Day 7 1015

 There is a light effervescence to it which makes the float go a little higher once in for 30 seconds. and I waited till the foam subsided from the insertion of the stout which I realized I didn't do yesterday possibly.   

Mate I wouldn't bother to take a reading everyday otherwise you will end up with no beer, in fact what you are supposed to do is pour some into the tube & chuck it out & then take a fresh sample, this way you avoid getting a false reading due to sediment & yeast from around the tap.

I would leave until day 11-12 before you take another as it would almost certainly fermented out by then, a couple more days to clear up & by about day 14 or so if you have 2 consecutive readings you are ready to bottle.

A few tips for you, Cheers.

https://draftmag.com/how-to-read-a-hydrometer

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Welcom to the forum COO 

 

between 20c and 22 is great.

yes, an additional 2 or 3 of days in the fv is always good. Personally, I bottled on day 8 for many years but usually 9 or 10 these days.

stick to adding sugar or the drops to the bottles.

stout often takes a day or two longer than many.

if you want to add molasses better to add to the fv at the start. Tried it,  can't recommend it.

 

we don't know what you have added to the fv, sugar  be 1  be2  be3?

Edited by Oldbloke
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@Oldbloke Thanks for the tip and the welcome.  I will keep it simple and use the drops for sure on that basis 

 

I just used BE2 as it came with the kit I brought (FV, Bottles etc). I wanted to go by the rules 100% did the whole thing step by step

 

Next plan is a lager I may just use sugar in that instead of the BE 

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26 minutes ago, Cult Of One said:

@Oldbloke Thanks for the tip and the welcome.  I will keep it simple and use the drops for sure on that basis 

 

I just used BE2 as it came with the kit I brought (FV, Bottles etc). I wanted to go by the rules 100% did the whole thing step by step

 

Next plan is a lager I may just use sugar in that instead of the BE 

Although i used sugar for years I always recommend BE3 (or Light Dried Malt Extract) for newbies in all their brews. It's a big improvement. (some LHPS) do a cheaper equivalent)

 

Dont know what style of beer you prefer but also suggest you do the following. 

 

Lager

Draught

Real ale and perhaps 

Pale ale.

All great typical beers. Your bound to like one of them. 

 

 

Don't drink too little. 😁

 

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29 minutes ago, Cult Of One said:

@Oldbloke Thanks for the tip and the welcome.  I will keep it simple and use the drops for sure on that basis 

 

I just used BE2 as it came with the kit I brought (FV, Bottles etc). I wanted to go by the rules 100% did the whole thing step by step

 

Next plan is a lager I may just use sugar in that instead of the BE 

@Cult Of One I would not recommend replacing the BE2 with sugar, you need the balance of Malt/Dextrose/Malted Barley & Malodextrin.

Sugar will produce a cidery/sweet sickly beer with no body. In fact, Coopers Stout usually calls for BE3, it is written on the back of the tin.

Look at the chart below & you will see the breakdown of the 3 different Brew Enhancers.

When I make a Coopers Stout, I use BE3 & also add a minimum of 500gm extra Light Dried Malt (LDM) it gives the beer more body & aids in the head retention.

If you make the Lager have a look at these videos, Cheers Phil.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=coopers+lager+recipe&qpvt=coopers+lager+recipe&FORM=VDRE

84C798AF-4690-4F56-B4EA-D9CD300743B2.thumb.png.dbc6a74720c2390e169dd9a72b313a71 (2).png

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2 minutes ago, Cult Of One said:

Anyone eve made a sour? my dear wife is a big fan of the "fruit sour" beers we have had in the USA

I am about to brew this; I have never made on but tried a few & some are not bad.

Others on here have made them, I am sure they will respond. Cheers.

 

KB05281 35L BZ Berliner Weisse Recipe Kit.pdf

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4 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I am about to brew this; I have never made on but tried a few & some are not bad.

Others on here have made them, I am sure they will respond. Cheers.

 

KB05281 35L BZ Berliner Weisse Recipe Kit.pdf 2.16 MB · 2 downloads

Thanks for that, I might put this on away for future use once I have played with a few basics. I do love the artwork that comes with the PDF. would make a great label for sure

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Just now, Cult Of One said:

Thanks for that, I might put this on away for future use once I have played with a few basics. I do love the artwork that comes with the PDF. would make a great label for sure

Many of the Keg Land Recipes have a removable label for these Tap Handles.

https://www.kegland.com.au/bishop-tap-handle-for-recipe-kits.html

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love it

I am at the bottling only stage at this point in time but in the past I have made a lot of homegrown things (50-100 kg of olives each tear, jams, preserves pickles, chili sauce and loads of Kraut etc) and always have made my own Labels for fun 

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4 hours ago, Cult Of One said:

love it

I am at the bottling only stage at this point in time but in the past I have made a lot of homegrown things (50-100 kg of olives each tear, jams, preserves pickles, chili sauce and loads of Kraut etc) and always have made my own Labels for fun 

Yeah, all good fun I have a Dehydrator mainly for Beef Jerky (one of my recipes attached) but I grow & dry Chillis, Tomatoes, sometimes nectarines etc, all good stuff.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Coopers Stout bottles  are about to have had 2 weeks in my black plastic stacker tubs in the dark but in my warm spare bedroom with westerly facing windows. Bottles are nice and tight so the secondary fermentation/carbonation (with coopers drops) seems to have gone as planned. 

2 weeks in the warm spare room seems right? Yeah?

I am planning to put them in a wardrobe to condition in a lower temp very stable environment for a while (4 weeksish) before refrigerating then  cracking one open to see if they needs longer

The lager I did has been bottled and is crystal clear (small sediment in bottom as expected) and is also in the tubs doing its thing. 

I must say I have really been enjoying the whole process. My 12 year old loves doing the gravity checks with me and plugging the numbers into my excel "brew sheet". Science nerds at my place and loving it. Its been so much fun that even if the product is awful I would want to keep doing it. If the product is good its a bonus.

Reading all the forums I must say thanks to all those who post their wins and the honesty of the flops (learning experiences). It really is a great community and so supportive. I am part of another online community for people who have the same medical condition as I do and its the same good mentality of help and solid advice from those whom have been there before.

Thanks to all. Cult Of One

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1 hour ago, Cult Of One said:

The Coopers Stout bottles  are about to have had 2 weeks in my black plastic stacker tubs in the dark but in my warm spare bedroom with westerly facing windows. Bottles are nice and tight so the secondary fermentation/carbonation (with coopers drops) seems to have gone as planned. 

2 weeks in the warm spare room seems right? Yeah?

I am planning to put them in a wardrobe to condition in a lower temp very stable environment for a while (4 weeksish) before refrigerating then  cracking one open to see if they needs longer

The lager I did has been bottled and is crystal clear (small sediment in bottom as expected) and is also in the tubs doing its thing. 

I must say I have really been enjoying the whole process. My 12 year old loves doing the gravity checks with me and plugging the numbers into my excel "brew sheet". Science nerds at my place and loving it. Its been so much fun that even if the product is awful I would want to keep doing it. If the product is good its a bonus.

Reading all the forums I must say thanks to all those who post their wins and the honesty of the flops (learning experiences). It really is a great community and so supportive. I am part of another online community for people who have the same medical condition as I do and its the same good mentality of help and solid advice from those whom have been there before.

Thanks to all. Cult Of One

It sounds like you are winning @Cult Of One you could try one after 14 days just for the experience, as you say if the bottles are nice & tight it should be drinkable.

Of course, 4 weeks of conditioning would be beneficial & make a lot of difference.

Don't go shaking the bottles though as you want the yeast/sediment to form a nice hard cake at the bottom of the bottle.

All the best.

Cheers

Phil

 

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