Coopers Headbanging Stout ????

[Muddydisco]

On a different forum I was advised that this brew might not work.

Yeah they might say that, but this forum has the mad scientist way of thinking, Trust me it works :thumb:
Pm me your address you can have one of the very few bottles of the original thats over 9 months old now.

 

[aneray]

Apologies for the long delay in answering MD and all, but over the last couple of weeks I have been collecting nearly new 6 x 3 wooden doors and frames from a local housing association a few miles up the road. The madness in my thinking was the frames for firewood and the doors for a 15 x 9 brewing shed, second home, sanctuary etc etc. Why they want to replace coal shed doors with UPVC makes me wonder. Maybe thats why we pay taxes !!!.


Anyway, thanks for the offer MD, it was a very kind gesture but after bottling, tasting, bottling tasting this evening I don't think making this brew was a waste of time. Bloody hell its good. I did leave it quite a while before bottling but it is clear as a bell, if you know what I mean. The taste has mellowed, but my god what a kick !!!. I will be leaving this one until the family come down for the wedding of the year in October !!.

Cheers Neil

P.S. If any fellow brewers are thinking of making this brew the only advice I can give is, make it, you definately won't be dissapointed.

 

[AdrianTrace]

Definitely considering it. I'm currently drinking the keg of tweaked cooper's stout and it's good. I can just imagine the 2can+ version :drink:

p.s. I've been waiting to hear how this turned out :thumb:

 

[aneray]

Go for it Adrian, it really is a good brew. Muddydisco said that this forum had the mad scientist way of thinking and I am now thinking he is right. Now that I have brewed a stout at nearly 10% I want to experiment once again, maybe go for the 15% mark. Is this possible, I really don't know, what do you think MD. Would I have to go for a three can brew with spraymalt or am I taking it a little too far.

Cheers Neil

 

[Muddydisco]

:hmm: Can't see why not but then it's getting expensive with 3 cans and alot of sugar and spray malt!
Ever read how brewdog made Tactical Nuke Penguin :hmm: Stronger beer but less of it?

 

[aneray]

Thanks for the reply MD. I was thinking about the expense but sod it, if I buy a kit every other week along with the spraymalt I wouldn't really ( or SWMBO ) miss the money. This really is once again down to novelty so I think I better start saving the pennies.

Where would I find the read that you mentioned, it sounds very very interesting.

Cheers Neil

 

[aneray]

Have just read about the penguin brew on there website. I think I might buy a couple of cases !!!!. :hmm: :hmm:

Cheers Neil

 

[aneray]

Getting back to the Coopers Headbanger Mark II, would a Nottingham or S-O4 yeast ferment up to 15%. If not what yeasty should I be looking at.

Cheers Neil

(just had a bottle of the original headbanger for quality control purposes,its so nice :drink: :thumb:

 

[Muddydisco]

No Nottingham struggled with my 11% imperial stout. You need to find something more nastie. I'd chuck a post in the yeast section and get some more help on that one it's out of my leauge

 

[aneray]

Cheers MD

 

[Beer Belly]

what about wine yeast? http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/catalog/detailV2_8.asp?itemid=GER20185739&catid=GER20204674

 

[tubby_shaw]

You could try THIS :thumb:

 

[aneray]

Thanks to all for the replies.

It seems that making a 15% brew is not as straight forward as I had thought after reading the links provided. A little more reading before I attempt this one.

Cheers Neil

 

[Bribie]

Hey aneray, it looks like there are parallel research efforts going on here at different ends of the planet . I regularly make a Coopers two can headbanger here in Queensland to the following recipe:

2 Cans Coopers
1kg Light Spray Malt
1kg Dextrose (glucose)

Nottingham yeast

30g of any decent hop pellets just chucked into the FV after four days (Styrian Goldings, EKG, Progress, anything). At 22 degrees the Notto ferments it out surprisingly quickly, around 10 days, then I let it settle for a few more days (don't bother with secondary or cold crash). I bottle straight out of primary and the stuff is actually very drinkable after only a couple of weeks. The use of the coffee sounds interesting.

I entered a bottle in the Australian National Brewing championships as a Russian Imperial Stout and it came 6th in a field of 16 in the strong stouts and nobody twigged that it was a kit brew :whistle: However it's a dangerous brew about as strong as Headbanger 9% lagers so it's easy to drink the equivalent of five or six pints of bitter in less than an hour without realising the damage potential.
Because Coopers cans are only around five quid sterling over here, twocans, referred to as 'toucans' are very popular. Another really nice one is 2x Coopers Lager and half a kilo of dextrose and a nice lager yeast. :drink:
Cheers
Michael

 

[aneray]

Hi there Bribie, its great to hear from a fellow brewer who has liking for the strong dark stuff.

The only difference in our recipes was that I used dark spray malt. Its a great brew, very easy drinking and so very tasty. The recipe came from fellow forum member Muddydisco, who really seems to know his stuff :thumb: .

The two can lager recipe sounds very interesting :hmm: . Whats the end result like and what sort of abv is it. Its just a shame that the price for a kit is about twelve pounds over here in the uk, if they were the same as yours I would be doing some serious brewing :drink: .

Cheers Neil

Edit: Our brews were not virtually the same, you used hops and I used coffee .
The addition of hops sound good though

 

[Bribie]

Hi Neil
Yes stouts are popular with home brewers in Australia, and most of the major breweries do a strong Foreign Export Stout around 6 or 7% ABV which date back to Victorian colonial days. With the toucan stout I find that the light spray malt stops the flavour getting too toasty.

The toucan Coopers Lager turns out a tad sweet unless you use a good attenuating yeast like Nottingham. To me it tastes not unlike the initial flavour you get with Skol Superlager but without the alcohol 'heat' that goes up the back of the nose. Man I've got to get off this headbanging stuff Edit: the ABV of the lager toucan would be around 5.2 - ish depending on how well the yeast attenuates.

With the cost of the Coopers, I expect it's the shipping that kills it. However I reckon their stout is the best in the range.

cheers
Michael

 

[aneray]

Hi Michael

Your right, the Coopers Stout is a great brew. I have just finished my second pint and after a few weeks maturation the taste has changed once again. You now get a lingering soft coffee taste with quite a mellow sweetness.

You mentioned that the 'toucan' lager brew ends up with an abv of 5.2%, is that right.

I am thinking that I should leave my 15% brew until another time and experiment with the stout, lager and real ale kits for the forreseeable future. There seems so much you can do with these kits.

All the best from the Artic !!

Cheers Neil

 

[Muddydisco]

Welcome back Bribie. Long time no see :thumb: