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New Labels & New Thomas Cooper Range


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Hello Coopers. smile

 

I've already purchased a couple of the new TC range & noticed that the yeast sachet is now adhered to the top of the brew can by what looks like a glue I've seen used in hot melt guns/machines.

 

I was just wondering if there was any chance the heat these glues are released at, might be harmful to the yeast inside the sachet once the sachet is affixed to this glue before it dries? unsure

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

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Hey Coopers,

I just want to share my personal experience about free stuff and reviews. Last week for my Xmas break up my boss wanted to do something special take us star employees out for lunch, we sneak down to this boutique pizza bar where you apparently pay for the 'experience' ($8 ginger beer) so we finish lunch all up order two pizzas and three ginger beers and 80 bucks later my boss asked so did you enjoy it, the obvious answer was yes it was delicious I loved it, the real answer is no one wanted to crush him and we could pick the recipe to pieces should we have chose to. In fact a lot more would have been said if I had to pay for it...

Cheers Chezza

 

P.s. If it's crap you will force me and a hundred other of Coopers fanatics into partial/ag

 

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Hey Brewers,

 

Apologies for the missing adjuncts to those lucky few Thomas Cooper Series reviewers. It seems to have been an ordering mishap on our end and we are really sorry that you couldn't get brewing straight away. We will have these adjuncts posted out to you first thing Monday morning (today is a national holiday for all posties).

 

Happy Brew Year!

 

Cheers

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Thanks Coopers, I figured it more than likely was an oversight, rather than a case of not delivering on what was expected.

 

I can imagine this time of year is particularly hectic, & these sort of things happen from time to time.

 

Many thanks, & Happy Brew Year to all.

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Hey Brewers' date='

 

Apologies for the missing adjuncts to those lucky few Thomas Cooper Series reviewers. It seems to have been an ordering mishap on our end and we are really sorry that you couldn't get brewing straight away. We will have these adjuncts posted out to you first thing Monday morning (today is a national holiday for all posties).

 

Happy Brew Year!

 

Cheers [/quote']

 

Thanks Coopers as I received the Hefe Wheat yesterday and also received email notification regarding the adjuncts shipping. Just a quick question, on the brew can it says the recommended adjuncts are 1kg Coopers Dry Wheat Malt and the Carb drops. However, I don't believe Coopers produces Dry Wheat Malt, is that correct?

 

Cheers

 

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Thanks Coopers as I received the Hefe Wheat yesterday and also received email notification regarding the adjuncts shipping. Just a quick question' date=' on the brew can it says the recommended adjuncts are 1kg Coopers Dry Wheat Malt and the Carb drops. However, I don't believe Coopers produces Dry Wheat Malt, is that correct?

 

Cheers

[/quote']

 

New Cooper's product incoming methinks whistling

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Hi guys.

 

Earlier today I fast carbed up a keg of the TC Bootmakers Pale Ale kit + 1.5kgs of LDM + US-05. My brew finished a little higher than the predicted 1.011 FG in IanH's Spreadsheet @ 23 litres, finishing at 1.014. If bottling, I admit I'd be a teensy bit concerned with that, but when kegging & artificially carbing, it's not a worry.

 

Plus it's a new kit, & expected fermentability levels may differ given ingredient changes to these kits against their predecessors. unsure

 

Just finished the first glass. Nice body, malt character, & a good glass lacing. Notable piney & citrus flavours. As I expected the aroma is a little subdued but can easily be added to by the brewer. wink

 

What I'm drinking atm is still a little 'young', & will only improve over the next 6 weeks or so. First impressions are good, & as I had hoped, the brewer can probably (if they wanted to) leave out any boil additions & simply dry hop for added aroma to what appears to be a nicely flavoured Pale Ale kit. cool

 

Also during the Christmas period I was kindly gifted one of the new Thomas Coopers 86 Days Pilsner kits & a kilo of LDM to brew. happy

 

So this afternoon it went into a fermenter with some extra LDM + Dextrose & W34/70 yeast. biggrin

 

TC Porter goes into a brew next weekend, then back to a few of my extract based brews as many of my current hop stockpile have almost been begging for use.

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi guys.

 

I currently have the New 86 Days Pilsner kit (that was kindly gifted to me) in the latter stages of primary fermentation. Simple recipe with no bells & whistles to gain a feel for the kit.

 

Thomas Coopers 86 Days Pilsner 1.7kg

Light Dry Malt Extract 1.25kgs

Dextrose 150gms

Re-hydrated W34/70 yeast + kit yeast

Brewed to 23 litres

Fermented @ 13°C

OG = approx. 1.045

Expected FG = approx. 1.010

 

I had planned to ferment it at 12°C but ended up leaving it @ 13°C as the kit yeast I used in conjunction with the W34/70 yeast is suggested to be fermented in the 13-15°C range, so I stayed within those bounds.

 

The brew has been fermenting for about 10 days now & SG is currently sitting at 1.013. I have just removed the FV from the brew fridge to do a diacetyl rest (as I'll be kegging the beer) & hopefully this will also help the yeast in cleaning up those last few points.

 

I'll leave it alone for a couple of days, then take another hydro sample. Provided SG has reduced further, I'll place the FV back in my brew fridge to crash chill for a few days before kegging. That's the plan anyway! wink

 

I'll update down the track.

 

Lusty.

 

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I just took a gravity sample of the 86 Days Pilsner I've had in diacetyl rest mode for the last 3 days, & as I'd hoped the SG continued to drop as well during that phase, now sitting at the expected FG of 1.010. happy

 

Hydro sample tasted good, with a nice (but not overpowering) spicy aspect to it, that I can only assume is coming from a hop such as Saaz.

 

Well it's now back in the brew fridge for a few days of cold conditioning. I have some finings I could use to help clear it further, but for this first brewing of the kit I'd like to try the beer on its merits without potentially stripping certain flavours from it, that is said can happen sometimes when using finings.

 

I'll likely keg it this coming Wednesday. wink

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

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Unfortunately I tipped my Bootmaker down the sink yesterday afternoon.

The krausen took forever to subside, which was followed by a thick yeast crust on the top.

When this finally dropped after some persuasion, it was followed by a a layer of clear liquid on the top of my brew.

It had a sour/bitter smell to it, & having had an infection in a recent brew I wasn't going to take any chances.

 

It could have been the yeast (I used the 2 packs that came with the can) it could have been the weather - it's been up past 30c outside a few days in the past couple of weeks; it could have been the swamp box, which though I kept at a pretty good temp range - 18 - 22c, or it could have been that regardless of a through clean between brews, some nasties managed to survive my cleaning regimen.

My last batch did much the same, & I ended up bottling about 2/3 of the batch, just to see if it was any good, but I didn't fancy my chances with two brews in a row doing this, so took the conservative option of tipping the brew.

 

Whatever the case, I can't really review a brew that I didn't complete & drink.

Having said that, I took an SG reading, which was around 1.008, did take a taste of the sample, which was more bitter than I expected, with a slight sour overtone - perhaps thanks to infection.

 

So I've washed & rinsed my FV twice, had it soaking in laundry soaker overnight, will now rinse it again, soak it for a few hours with diluted bleach, rinse, put some more laundry soaker in to wash off any bleach aroma & to help with cleaning my bottles, then another rinse, a thorough going over with no rinse sanitizer, & will dry it out, then another wash, rinse & sanitize before I do my next brew.

If I get another infection after that, I figure it's time to get a new FV.

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Hi guys,

 

The Preachers Hefe (that was so kindly sent to me from Coopers) is in the later stages of primary fermentation. I kept the recipe very simple and used my new Cool Brew bag to maintain the recommended temperature. The details are:

 

1.7kgs Coopers Preachers Hefe Kit

1.5kgs Coopers Wheat Extract

2 x 7gr Wheat Yeast

 

Made up to 23ltrs (half DS Water, half Tap water)

Fermented @ 21 degrees (approx.)

 

I followed the instructions on the label and pitched the yeast straight on top of the wort and had signs of fermentation with 8 hours, with a good size krausen (@ 10cm) within 24hours. Wonderful bread aromas with a slight sour note. Took a sample yesterday and it poured a pale gold almost white-ish colour with a nice lacey head. Taste was somewhere between an Erdinger Weiss and Hoegaarden without the citrus/spice.

 

So far, the new Preachers Hefe appears to be an absolute cracker of a kit for such minimal effort but I will post an update once the brew is bottled, carbed and tested.

 

Cheers

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Just trying the bootmaker, been in the FV for 28 hours and hasn't gone past light foam yet, doesn't seem like the yeast is alive to me.

Been at 21-25c the whole time.

Foam top is so thin and can see an inch of clarity around the edge of the brew, there's basically very very little activity.

Because it's a new product, I wanted to make this one straight out of the can (with 1kg raw sugar), so no other additions.

I can't even remember this ever happening to one of my brews in over 10 years.

I'd add more yeast, but because I want to keep it 'as from the can' I would need to know a proper substitute.

Not impressed right now.

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Maybe it's because you added a kg of raw sugar that it's not showing much, or it could be the yeast. 28 hours isn't a hell of a long time, and from what you've described, there is activity happening. If there's foam on it then the yeast are alive and doing something. That kit is intended to be brewed with 1.5kg light dry malt, why the raw sugar? unsure

 

I daresay it probably won't turn out as good fermenting it at that temperature with 1kg of raw sugar, as it would at 18-20C with the 1.5kg LDM...

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Thanks for the feedback Otto

 

I always use raw sugar, and often 1kg, sometimes I have LDM to use, sometimes a BE, but this is my typical simplistic brew that I've done 100's of.

 

Only distinct difference is no krau. It almost developed a thinnish crust at one point, but faded to a soapy froth. I usually have the swiss alps by now.

 

Can you recommend a yeast that could be similar for bootmaker? At worst, I'll have to fix the brew, and my $20 'out of the can' experiment will be wasted. :(

 

Unless this is the way it's meant to be? But that would take a very high tolerant yeast wouldn't it?

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It does sound pretty weird I must admit. There is a theory that the yeast in that tin is BRY-97, which has mixed reviews of success/failure among the forum here and other ones. Obviously Coopers are the only ones who truly know what yeast is in it though. You could throw some US-05 at it if you get concerned too much - but before doing that, take a hydrometer reading and see if it has dropped any. Also taste it, that'll let you know if it's all ok.

 

I did a few brews with sugar back in the day, they turned out absolutely crap, hence the aversion to mixing kits with that much sugar now (although I don't brew kits anymore). tongue Once I started using malt and got the ferment temps down the kit beers turned out much better. However, if they turn out well for your tastes then that's all that really matters. cool

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Ok thank you.

 

LDM is my favourite by far, but just a bit tricky for me, only see a supermarket every 6 weeks where I live. The BE's are good, but either way it's 7-10 times the cost of raw sugar. I do things as simple as possible and raw sugar gives body and head with only half the priming, cos I prefer a less carby beer.

 

We drink a lot of beer round these parts, I usually keep the recipe simple/consistent and put the money into extra hops and dry hopping for the flavour buzz.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

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Interesting, since raw sugar completely ferments out, having no effect on body or head retention. Proteins and unfermentable sugars in malt are what contribute to body and head development/retention. Your added hops are probably helping a bit with the head.

 

If cost is an issue you could always go down the all grain route, ingredients for it are the cheapest of any of the brewing methods. w00t

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You're right Otto, I'm not a scientist, if something works I go with it till it doesn't lol.

 

Maybe the secondary sugar helps the body and head because it's still present? I think I like raw sugar in my UK Bitters, and Irish Stouts, but in a Pale Ale maybe a different story?

 

Took your advice and forked out on 3xBE2 today at $7 a pop. Tried my local HB shop, only had 'superbrews' (dry malt, dextrose, corn sugar) at $11, no pure dry malt in stock, so BigW my only option. The BE2's are good value.

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Not a bad way of thinking really. lol

 

The secondary sugar wouldn't remain, it gets fermented by the yeast in the bottles and that's where your carbonation comes from.

 

Raw sugar I believe is used in commercial English Bitters, maybe not to the same percentage as a kg in a beer kit, but it is used. Or a variation of it like dememara sugar. Any of those things though, raw sugar, white sugar, dextrose; they all fully ferment out and tend to cause brews to become thinner and more watery, as opposed to using malt which results in a fuller body.

 

At the end of the day though you've gotta do what tastes good to you, but it doesn't hurt to experiment a bit. You might find something even better by doing so. cool

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Put on my Bootmaker pale ale today made to 23 litres with 1.5 Kg of Coopers dry malt and two packs of the yeast pitched on dry at 26 C. It then went straight in the temp controlled fridge set at 19 C.

 

My first impression was a wonderful hop aroma from the can as I was rinsing it out with hot water. I'm really looking forward to tasting this one.

 

I wonder what the hops used in it are?

 

Edit: Earlier I went down and tucked in my fermenter for the evening some 30 hours after pitching the yeast and there's a layer of froth formed while the airlock is gently blooping away. I also noticed my heater had turned on tonight, who'd of thunk it in January. pouty

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Day 4, still nothing more than a soapy foam on top. I thought it had recovered because a very thin ring of yeast was sticking to the sides, and consistent bubbling.

 

But obviously not, took an FG reading of 1007 (at best, more like 1006) at day 4, when the brew has been in the same state since inception. Has been smelling like gak since day 2 and now the taste test is even worse than the smell.

 

The yeast was dead for sure, this is the worst brew I have produced in about 8 years.

 

Alarm bells may need to start ringing at Coopers.

 

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Day 4' date=' still nothing more than a soapy foam on top. I thought it had recovered because a very thin ring of yeast was sticking to the sides, and consistent bubbling.

 

But obviously not, took an FG reading of 1007 (at best, more like 1006) at day 4, when the brew has been in the same state since inception. Has been smelling like gak since day 2 and now the taste test is even worse than the smell.

 

The yeast was dead for sure, this is the worst brew I have produced in about 8 years.

 

Alarm bells may need to start ringing at Coopers.

[/quote']

Something has fermented it down to 1007. Can you describe the taste?

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