Coopers, Canadian Blonde Review
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Well I finally got around to starting this kit today 21/05/2011, so here is what I added to the 1 can kit:
20L of ashbeck mineral water (which including the 1.25 Litres in the can, took it to around 4.6 Gal/21L)
1 Kg brewing sugar
1 pack yest which came with the kit, pitched at 25c
OG 1.050
Very light colour, had the sample from the trial jar to try and get an idea of what it may turn out like...obviously it was very sweet, but I get the feeling this will be quite a light refreshing (possibly boring) drink, I dont think it will very too in your face at all.
Will update as I go along with this one.
20L of ashbeck mineral water (which including the 1.25 Litres in the can, took it to around 4.6 Gal/21L)
1 Kg brewing sugar
1 pack yest which came with the kit, pitched at 25c
OG 1.050
Very light colour, had the sample from the trial jar to try and get an idea of what it may turn out like...obviously it was very sweet, but I get the feeling this will be quite a light refreshing (possibly boring) drink, I dont think it will very too in your face at all.
Will update as I go along with this one.
new brewer 2012
Active Member
I have got this mate and just got the Spraymalt extra light malt extract so going to try that instead of sugar..It's a 500g or 1.1lb so should be enough sugar? I guess I would need 1kl and not 1lb of light malt extract?
Good luck on your brew..Hope it all goes well
Good luck on your brew..Hope it all goes well
Well, bottled this tonight, it was very clear, hardly any sediment at the bottom of the FV, compared to other kits I have done.
FG came out at 1.010, so was very happy with that, didnt really try it other than a tiny bit from the trial jar, not much of a flavour, I suspect this will be a very light summer drink.
Will report back on this in about 1 month and see what it tastes like then. :
EDIT 04/07/12 -I have tried a couple of these the last few weeks, good fizz, good head retention, right the way down to the last bit, nice colour and sediment stays on the bottom of the botte.
Flavour wise, I still think its early days, its ok, but nothing special. It still has that 'young home brew taste' as I can detect the taste of the alcohol kver the taste of the beer, its getting better as time goes on.
If I were to make this again, I would not use brewing sugar, I would go with light sprraymalt instead. Once properly conditioned I can see this being a pretty run of the mill summer drink, nothing special, but nothing too terrible.
FG came out at 1.010, so was very happy with that, didnt really try it other than a tiny bit from the trial jar, not much of a flavour, I suspect this will be a very light summer drink.
Will report back on this in about 1 month and see what it tastes like then. :
EDIT 04/07/12 -I have tried a couple of these the last few weeks, good fizz, good head retention, right the way down to the last bit, nice colour and sediment stays on the bottom of the botte.
Flavour wise, I still think its early days, its ok, but nothing special. It still has that 'young home brew taste' as I can detect the taste of the alcohol kver the taste of the beer, its getting better as time goes on.
If I were to make this again, I would not use brewing sugar, I would go with light sprraymalt instead. Once properly conditioned I can see this being a pretty run of the mill summer drink, nothing special, but nothing too terrible.
new brewer 2012
Active Member
Just stared mine.OG was 1.045 so expecting it to be around 5%..BrewDan said:Well, bottled this tonight, it was very clear, hardly any sediment at the bottom of the FV, compared to other kits I have done.
FG came out at 1.010, so was very happy with that, didnt really try it other than a tiny bit from the trial jar, not much of a flavour, I suspect this will be a very light summer drink.
Will report back on this in about 1 month and see what it tastes like then. :
Enjoy yours :
Put this on over the half-term holidays whilst we were away, surprised to come back after a week and not only had it finished, but pretty much cleared too. OG 1040 / FG 1008, made up with Brew Enhancer and brewed short to 21L, bottled the lot with 0.5 tsp sugar per bottle.
Patience just got the better of me, I put a bottle in the fridge this morning and cracked it open this evening. Very impressed, plenty of gas already, much more flavour than the Mexican Cerveza I brewed previously. Taste not dissimilar to the Canadian blonde ales I tried whilst in Canada, and I guess this will only get better, but on first impressions this is a winner. :drink:
Patience just got the better of me, I put a bottle in the fridge this morning and cracked it open this evening. Very impressed, plenty of gas already, much more flavour than the Mexican Cerveza I brewed previously. Taste not dissimilar to the Canadian blonde ales I tried whilst in Canada, and I guess this will only get better, but on first impressions this is a winner. :drink:
TonyT40
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I put this in at 9pm las night. I used 1Kg muntons Brew Enhancer as the shop didn't have the coopers product that the kit recommends. Yeast was the one that came in the kit. Bucket was at about 28 degC when I added the yeast. Got up this morning, it has developed a 3 inch head and is going like mad!
Starting SG was 1042.
I'll let you know how it goes. :thumb:
Starting SG was 1042.
I'll let you know how it goes. :thumb:
charlie_mead_face
Regular.
i had the first 2 pints out of the batch i made with the brew enhancer and it had a bit of a stella twang to it 
im not a big fan and i think thats down to the enhancer
im not a big fan and i think thats down to the enhancerMuddydisco
Landlord.
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at least 7 days in fv is the golden rule :thumb:
Just about to bottle my second batch of this 1.037 OG and FG of 1.010 - around 4.12%, I brewed this at a constant 21/22 this time and left for 13 days. Looks very clear in the FV - just the standard can with the recommended brew enhancer 1.
This tasted fantastic last time I did it to these instructions, best one I've made in the coopers range and that includes cerveza, european lager, ozzie lager.
Well worth a shot if you are fancying it :thumb:
This tasted fantastic last time I did it to these instructions, best one I've made in the coopers range and that includes cerveza, european lager, ozzie lager.
Well worth a shot if you are fancying it :thumb:
TonyT40
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Hi SG down to 1008 after 10 days but not very clear. Would you leave it a bit longer? First time i have brewed a lager (only second kit ever) :pray: and I don't want the dreaded air to ruin it! Tastes pretty good! If I bottle it slightly cloudy will it clear in the bottle?
Thanks for your comments
Thanks for your comments
Tony that sounds great! When I say clear in the fv I don't mean clear as in see through just that it's a much improved look to how it first went in.
It bottled slightly cloudy and cleared to see through in the bottle in just 1-2 days so you're looking good!
Make sure you are happy that fermentation has finished with 2-3 consistent readings over the same amount of days.
This one tastes great!
It bottled slightly cloudy and cleared to see through in the bottle in just 1-2 days so you're looking good!
Make sure you are happy that fermentation has finished with 2-3 consistent readings over the same amount of days.
This one tastes great!
Just sitting watching the Olympics whilst enjoying a pint of my first home brew, a rather successful batch of Coopers Canadian Blonde and thought I would share my experiences.
Firstly i should explain that due to a lack of space and having a wife who was 8 months pregnant at the time my home brewing was banished to the garage. For this reason I built a fermentation fridge so was able to maintain a consistent temperature throughout the fermentation process.
So as this was my first brew I did loads of research on the Internet prior and decided to do a bit of experimentation.
So I did everything as per the instructions and it went perfectly
Then based on various forum advice I set the temp to below the recommended temp at 18 degrees and anxiously waited. Fermentation was a bit slow to start due to the lower temperature I guess but soon got underway. I then left it for two weeks, a week longer than recommended in the instructions but based on forum advice one again.
The fg was slightly higher than it should have been 1012 if I remember rightly but it registered this for several days so I decided to go for it and bottle half the brew.
Why half you ask? Well I had read about cold crashing improving the clarity and taste so decided to give that a try. More details in a mo.
My first experiment came about because coopers have changd the size of the bottles and they now recommend 1 carbonation drop for 500ml bottles. This slightly contradicts the instructions on the carbonation drops which I believe say 1 for 350ml and 2 for 750ml.
To try my theory out and also based on forum feedback I primed half the half bottles with 1 drop and half with 1.5 drops (they actually split quite easily with a big knife). I then left at room temperature.
Witt the remaining brew I crash cooled it to 3 degrees from 18, gradually over a couple of days initially and then kept it at 3 degrees for a week. I then bottled the rest half with 1 and half with 1.5 drops.
So results....
I had a few problems with carbonation which was due to too low temperature so brought it inside the house from the garage and that sorted that one out.
Both batches are now around 4 weeks old.
Firstly both batches taste very similar which you would expect. I would say the crash cooled ones are definitely clearer and crisper in appearance and taste. If you are able to do it then I would recommend it.
Now, carbonation. I must first say I am predominantly a larger drinker so generally drink carbonated beverages. The beer was also a larger so I would say it needs a bit of fizz!
With 1 drop the carbonation is somewhat lacking. It's there but very light. The ones with 1.5 are far better in my opinion.
So after all that if your using Coopers 500ml bottles I would recommend 1.5 carbonation drops and if you are able to crash cool if your brew. I am really pleased with my first brew, much better than I expected. I am currently brewing Coopers european larger at 13 degrees. Been going for 2 weeks so oing to crash it in the next few days and then bottle with 1.5 drops per bottle.
Hope this info is helpful. Happy Brewing!
:
Firstly i should explain that due to a lack of space and having a wife who was 8 months pregnant at the time my home brewing was banished to the garage. For this reason I built a fermentation fridge so was able to maintain a consistent temperature throughout the fermentation process.
So as this was my first brew I did loads of research on the Internet prior and decided to do a bit of experimentation.
So I did everything as per the instructions and it went perfectly
Then based on various forum advice I set the temp to below the recommended temp at 18 degrees and anxiously waited. Fermentation was a bit slow to start due to the lower temperature I guess but soon got underway. I then left it for two weeks, a week longer than recommended in the instructions but based on forum advice one again.
The fg was slightly higher than it should have been 1012 if I remember rightly but it registered this for several days so I decided to go for it and bottle half the brew.
Why half you ask? Well I had read about cold crashing improving the clarity and taste so decided to give that a try. More details in a mo.
My first experiment came about because coopers have changd the size of the bottles and they now recommend 1 carbonation drop for 500ml bottles. This slightly contradicts the instructions on the carbonation drops which I believe say 1 for 350ml and 2 for 750ml.
To try my theory out and also based on forum feedback I primed half the half bottles with 1 drop and half with 1.5 drops (they actually split quite easily with a big knife). I then left at room temperature.
Witt the remaining brew I crash cooled it to 3 degrees from 18, gradually over a couple of days initially and then kept it at 3 degrees for a week. I then bottled the rest half with 1 and half with 1.5 drops.
So results....
I had a few problems with carbonation which was due to too low temperature so brought it inside the house from the garage and that sorted that one out.
Both batches are now around 4 weeks old.
Firstly both batches taste very similar which you would expect. I would say the crash cooled ones are definitely clearer and crisper in appearance and taste. If you are able to do it then I would recommend it.
Now, carbonation. I must first say I am predominantly a larger drinker so generally drink carbonated beverages. The beer was also a larger so I would say it needs a bit of fizz!
With 1 drop the carbonation is somewhat lacking. It's there but very light. The ones with 1.5 are far better in my opinion.
So after all that if your using Coopers 500ml bottles I would recommend 1.5 carbonation drops and if you are able to crash cool if your brew. I am really pleased with my first brew, much better than I expected. I am currently brewing Coopers european larger at 13 degrees. Been going for 2 weeks so oing to crash it in the next few days and then bottle with 1.5 drops per bottle.
Hope this info is helpful. Happy Brewing!
:
Pearlfisher
Landlord.
Kegged this one a fortnight ago , took until now to be almost clear , tasting very good even at room temperature.
I added a 1.5kg can of Coopers Light Malt Extract to it for extra body.
I plan to transfer it to my Tap a Draft's this weekend ,so I can get some in the beer fridge.
I added a 1.5kg can of Coopers Light Malt Extract to it for extra body.
I plan to transfer it to my Tap a Draft's this weekend ,so I can get some in the beer fridge.
This is a photo I have just taken of my Canadian blonde, bottled 01/06/12 although it doesn't look like it in the photo, it's crystal clear with good carbonation and a nice head on it, taste wise, it's almost like water in my opinion, but would probably be lovely with a splash of lime.
Although a friend tried it and really enjoyed it, he is not a massive beer drinker though, more into his ciders. He said he loved it because the flavour wasn't overpowering.
If I were to make it again, I'd use spraymalt, not brewing sugar. I personally think it needs more flavour to it. For me it's the sort of thing that would probably get drunk very quickly once you have had a few and aren't really able to pick up on flavours as much. I will probably keep these back for a party and mix them with lime
