Coopers Draught Review

[Kinleycat]

Started this brew (my first) between Christmas and the new year.
I made about every error that can be made.
Too much water, not enough sugar (golden syrup), pitched the yeast a bit cool.........
Anyhoo it was in the barrel for a week and then into bottles with probably not enough priming sugar (1tsp per litre.)
The pet bottles are nice and firm after a week and its (mainly) crystal clear.
One of the bottles was only partly filled so I poured it yesterday
It was surprisingly very nice, a good sshhhh on opening, decent head, nice fizz, quite crisp, not particularly home brewy in taste.
It's got another week in the warm, then it'll be time for some cooler temps for another two weeks and I'm sure it will be most palatable. :drink:

The moral in the story (for novice brewers such as myself) is that no matter what problems you encounter, if you stick with it it'll turn out ok in the end, and probably that you learn more from screwing up than you do from getting things right.
KC :thumb:

 

[Kinleycat]

Finally given into temptation and cracked this open.
Despite all my errors as listed above, and the fact i planned to leave it at least another week or two - it's not bad at all.
I'm sure it will improve a little if given time but I can't see that happening. :drink:
Ok it's not a world beater, but it's quite fizzy, it tastes like beer, it doesn't smell funny and to be totally honest.....................I'm quite proud of it.
Everything I've made since should knock spots off it, but like you're first "old banger" of a car it will hold a special place in my heart despite its flaws. :
KC :thumb:

 

[dollop]

I brewed this in December using a Youngs Lager yeast and i cannot praise it highly enough. It was quick to brew and quick to clear. Had a good flavour for a brew that was still young. Will defo brew again in the winter when heat is a problem.

 

[Brewing Boilerman]

I put this on yesterday using 1kg DME and 350g ish of brewing sugar. I post my results when its ready.

 

[antsalt]

I have just put this on the go this week, signs are looking good!!

 

[Bernie]

After a long time I found the old Boots plastic beer keg that has followed my around the world. I tested it with the Coopers Draught made up with 1 kg of table sugar. The clarity and head retention are excellent and I think it would have been very good with some form of extract as the extra fermentable as the flavour's a bit thin. It's still quite drinkable but grrrrr!

 

[BrendanH]

This is the kit that was shipped with my brew kit and I'm finally getting around to brewing. I'm brewing it standard (Except that I am using Nottingham Ale Yeast instead of the shipped yeast (which ended up being added to my ginger beer.)) .

 

[AndyO]

Brewed this at the beginning of January with 500g light DME and 500g of brewing sugar.
OG 1040, FG 1007.
Bottled after 7 days in the FV and primed with 1 tsp of table sugar per 500ml
After 8 weeks it is well carbonated with a good head, very tasty like a stronger flavoured Coopers Lager.
I think I should have brewed this as per the recommendations as it was my first draught kit so I could make comparisons with mods.
Maybe next time.

 

[Brewed_Force]

I have just made this kit using a 1.5kg bag of light LME, on the recommendation of my LHBS, with no extra fermentables. I was looking for something to serve to my lager drinking visitors over xmas and decided that an IPA would be too hoppy.
Unfortunately I forgot to take the OG (doh!) but tested it last night after 2 weeks in the FV and got a reading of 1016. I will check again this evening then start bottling. I think it finished fermenting after 1 week.
The trial jar contents tasted OK, not a lot of flavour but I reckon when its carbonated and chilled it will be a nice refreshing pint. The colour surprised me, I expected a lager yellow but it has an orange hue. I would overall describe it as a light ale.
I will report back when I try one in a couple of weeks.

 

[Brewed_Force]

Update.
Bottled last night. Batch primed with 150g white granulated sugar.
It's still a bit orangey in colour (or do we say 'amber' in these circles) and slightly cloudy, but I'm hoping it will settle down when I put it in the cold garage in a couple of weeks.
This brew was a spur of the moment choice from my LHBS, so not sure what the final result will be! I tasted the remnants from the bottling bucket and it was OK, nothing special. I reckon serving it chilled will improve the flavour (fingers crossed!)
Now I'm starting to think about my next brew.....

 

[Spapro]

Update.
Bottled last night. Batch primed with 150g white granulated sugar.
It's still a bit orangey in colour (or do we say 'amber' in these circles) and slightly cloudy, but I'm hoping it will settle down when I put it in the cold garage in a couple of weeks.
This brew was a spur of the moment choice from my LHBS, so not sure what the final result will be! I tasted the remnants from the bottling bucket and it was OK, nothing special. I reckon serving it chilled will improve the flavour (fingers crossed!)
Now I'm starting to think about my next brew.....

Will be interested to hear how your Coopers Draught develops after being in the bottle for a bit. I picked this kit up with Beer Enhancer 1 in the tesco sales (I had a £10 off £50 spend voucher so bought 4 coopers kits while cheap).

Please let us know how it develops as may put mine on just after Christmas.

 

[Brewed_Force]

Will be interested to hear how your Coopers Draught develops after being in the bottle for a bit. I picked this kit up with Beer Enhancer 1 in the tesco sales (I had a £10 off £50 spend voucher so bought 4 coopers kits while cheap).

Please let us know how it develops as may put mine on just after Christmas.

Well, it's been in the garage for a couple of weeks now. I tried one the other night and must say I'm very pleased with myself! It's a very tasty stout and the sweetness from the lactose is starting to come through. Imagine Guinness with a lot more flavour and a bit sweeter. Not really a session beer, more something to savour (I find 2 pints is my limit, after that I want something blander!).
I would say go for it after Christmas, seems a bullet-proof brew. Would deffo recommend adding dark spray malt and muscovado sugar.

 

[Spapro]

Well, it's been in the garage for a couple of weeks now. I tried one the other night and must say I'm very pleased with myself! It's a very tasty stout and the sweetness from the lactose is starting to come through. Imagine Guinness with a lot more flavour and a bit sweeter. Not really a session beer, more something to savour (I find 2 pints is my limit, after that I want something blander!).
I would say go for it after Christmas, seems a bullet-proof brew. Would deffo recommend adding dark spray malt and muscovado sugar.

Think you may have posted a review for your Stout against the Draught review thread ?

Anyway, hoping my Coopers Draught doesn't turn out like stout when I get round to this kit :lol:

 

[Brewed_Force]

Think you may have posted a review for your Stout against the Draught review thread ?

Anyway, hoping my Coopers Draught doesn't turn out like stout when I get round to this kit :lol:

OOPS!
All this beer has fuddled my brain!

 

[Brewed_Force]

Think you may have posted a review for your Stout against the Draught review thread ?

Anyway, hoping my Coopers Draught doesn't turn out like stout when I get round to this kit :lol:

OK, here's the Coopers Draught update....
It has been bottle conditioning in the centrally heated kitchen for 14 days.
I used a couple of light green Carlsberg Export 330ml bottles so I could check the progress and it has cleared nicely. Not much sediment.
Tonight it's going into the cold attic along with the empty xmas decorations boxes. I put the small Carlsberg bottles into the fridge and will probably crack one tonight as part of my quality control procedure...:whistle:
Not sure what to expect, it's quite exciting!

 

[Brewed_Force]

OK, here's the Coopers Draught update....
It has been bottle conditioning in the centrally heated kitchen for 14 days.
I used a couple of light green Carlsberg Export 330ml bottles so I could check the progress and it has cleared nicely. Not much sediment.
Tonight it's going into the cold attic along with the empty xmas decorations boxes. I put the small Carlsberg bottles into the fridge and will probably crack one tonight as part of my quality control procedure...:whistle:
Not sure what to expect, it's quite exciting!

Update:
Tried my sample bottle, from the fridge.
Very good carbonation, nice and clear. Taste not at all bad as it has only been in the bottle for 14 days, very slight homebrew taste which I'm sure will clear with time. This could pass for a lager, although its a bit darker, with an orange hue. I've labelled it 'light ale' as that seems to sum it up.
My lager drinking visitors over xmas might just go for this!
Now the big dilemma - what to brew next......

 

[wheazy_joe]

This was my first brew attempt and like the original poster I probably made a right few mistakes along the way. I was far too eager to get it bottled, could only contain myself long enough to give it six days in the FV at about 23degrees.

Bottled it with 1.5 carb drop per 500ml bottle.

I've now got just one bottle left in the fridge out of the 42 (I think).

Like the original post, mines looks like beer and tastes like beer, however I have to say the kits I've done since have been better, especially the Coopers European Lager.

All in all, considering this was my first attempt, I'm reasonably happy with how this one turned out, but probably won't be making it again.

 

[Aarondapastyman]

Just ordered this from tescos, planning to brew with 1kg coopers BE1 and 500g coopers DLME. Anyone done this and got any feedback?

My first brew is currently bottle conditioning and tastes awfully home brewy, so gonna do this mostly to instruction just in case...

 

[Lesinge]

I bought this with three other kits in the sale Tesco just had. Reading the feedback I thought I would give it a bit of a boost so I steeped 400g of Carapils and 100g of Carmalt for 30 minutes then boiled the "wort". Added 18g mix of Wai iti and Summer leaf hops at 15min and then the same again at 5mins. Added this to the kit plus 1kg of Youngs Enhancer and filled with cool water to 23l. Didn't change the yeast as Coopers yeast is pretty good for these kits. I will probably dry hop as well but I will see in a week or so.

 

[Slid]

I bought this with three other kits in the sale Tesco just had. Reading the feedback I thought I would give it a bit of a boost so I steeped 400g of Carapils and 100g of Carmalt for 30 minutes then boiled the "wort". Added 18g mix of Wai iti and Summer leaf hops at 15min and then the same again at 5mins. Added this to the kit plus 1kg of Youngs Enhancer and filled with cool water to 23l. Didn't change the yeast as Coopers yeast is pretty good for these kits. I will probably dry hop as well but I will see in a week or so.

I've ended up with a few of these from Tesco Sales. Doing it as a kit brew I remember doing 2 cans together with Belle Saison yeast and some cane sugar to 25L. That was OK for sure.

Others include re-using the Belgian Ale yeast provided with the Brewferm Xmas Ale kit together with a Brew Enhancer (same sale). One I did a bit short and one with a few litres of runnings from a generously sparged AG beer.

It's a great kit to play with, for sure. You can't mess up its essential quality, since it just a cheap can of extract with some bittering, to save you trouble on the front end. Great buy in the sale!

The most recent ones, I may add to a regular beer to bunce it out, or experiment again with Parti-gyle.