Coopers Original Stout Review

[ClarenceBoddicker]

OG was 1035 on 11/4/14 which reading the forums seems a bit low.

Now trying a Coopers ginger beer OG 1022 so perhaps I'm doing something wrong at the start?

Not sure but isn't there meant to be sugar in the recipe? I think that would up the OG. I thought mine might've got lower more quickly, only 1018 after 7 days and it's been around 21 degrees.

Difficult to compare though as mine was made as an export style with 1.5 kg of liquid DME and 500g of brown candi sugar so it's OG was much higher.

 

[griff]

Forgive my ignorance being a newbie :wha:

I bought a starter kit that had 1.5kg of stout extract (is that the same as liquid DME?) and 1kg of coopers No1 brew enhancer. The instructions said that was all that was needed to make the beer. I mixed them per instructions and took a reading 1035. From reading posts I guess I could have added more sugar to improve the ABV. The kit did not state any target gravity for starting or finishing but did say approx 4.3% would be achieved. With my numbers I'm expecting around 3%?

Open to suggestions :-)

 

[proost]

Forgive my ignorance being a newbie :wha:

I bought a starter kit that had 1.5kg of stout extract (is that the same as liquid DME?) and 1kg of coopers No1 brew enhancer. The instructions said that was all that was needed to make the beer. I mixed them per instructions and took a reading 1035. From reading posts I guess I could have added more sugar to improve the ABV. The kit did not state any target gravity for starting or finishing but did say approx 4.3% would be achieved. With my numbers I'm expecting around 3%?

Open to suggestions :-)

Did you give it a jolly good stir before pitching the yeast?

:hmm:

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

I bought a starter kit that had 1.5kg of stout extract (is that the same as liquid DME?) and 1kg of coopers No1 brew enhancer.

I'm only new to this too and I always find it best to ask. The DME I used was liquid Dark Malt Extract from Brewferm which I added as well as the Stout Extract which is the main element of the kit. I did this trying to replicate one of the stout recipes on the Coopers website but giving it a Belgian 'Export' style twist with Dark Candi sugar and Belgian yeast too (all guesswork). I then brewed mine short to just 20 litres with all those fermentables so it should come out pretty strong.

As Proost said, the only other thing if you made it up to 23 litres (including the Stout Extract), did you give it a really vigorous stir for a couple of minutes before pitching yeast?

My first couple of brews had a lower OG than expected and I think that's where I went wrong.

 

[griff]

Did you give it a jolly good stir before pitching the yeast?

:hmm:

I thought I had but I will certainly make sure next time, thanks :thumb:

 

[proost]

I thought I had but I will certainly make sure next time, thanks :thumb:

I bought a silicone whisk from Wilkos and as I add everything to the FV, I give it a really good thrashing before I add the yeast. Only downside is you do get a lot of foam on top. Makes it slightly awkward to take a hydrometer reading. The first time I did this when I added the yeast, it just stayed on top of the foam. I then spent some time trying to push it down into the wort. As an experiment I also tried just leaving it there and to be honest there wasn't any difference. They both fermented out OK.

:

 

[griff]

Well, after a morning cycling and an afternoon gardening I caved in and had to try my brew. It's only been in the bottles 5 days but hey-ho.

Not much head but carbonation has occurred as the bottles were nice and tight. I had squeezed them to expel all the air before I put the lids on, a tip I got off tinterweb.

Taste is pretty dam good, a bit thin but I'm sure that will improve with age. clear all the way to the bottom of the glass with hardly a hint of sediment (there are signs in the bottle) most importantly it tastes like a stout should taste so I'm one happy guy :grin:

I shall be following the forum for tips for the next brew/s
:

Coopers Fiery Ginger Beer in FV

 

[jphil123]

as an experiment, I split this batch in two; one as-is and one with the addition of some coffee. Here is what I did:
- started brew on 05/05 with 1 kg of amber DME to 20l
- very violent fermentation, even blow-off tube couldn't quite handle the amount/ferocity of the krautzen
- transferred into 2 ten litre secondaries at 18/05
- Added 300ml of coffee made with La Esperanza (Panama) coffee beans brewed in a Chemex coffee maker to one.
- Bottled on 24/05 with 80g dextrose in total

The sample of the coffee stout version tasted amazing. Clear fresh taste of coffee in addition of stout. I used a Chemex on purpose, as it filters out most of the oils from the beans, and hopefully it does not interfere with the head of this brew. A Chemex also produces a great clear cup of coffee, especially when using specialty beans. It tasted so good, I have high hopes of this one. With hindsight, I should have done the entire batch.

 

[Goudie]

Just finished putting this together, used 500g of DME and 1 tin of Black Treacle. Also only filled it up to 21ltrs instead of 23ltrs. Now the wait begins oh and frantic bottle washing!!

 

[Orval62]

Just kegged my Coopers stout (+ 454g of treacle), at FG 1008, should give me an AVB of just over 5%. I've primed it with 115g of brewing sugar, a little less than on the Coppers instructions, hopefully this is enough in pressurising the keg. Looking forward to sampling this.

 

[stout les]

I dry hopped mine with Willamette finishing hops & it was fantastic:

 

[Orval62]

I've got another Coopers Stout kit waiting to be completed, so I will try another addition when I do that. Just hoping that I've put enough priming sugar in the keg, only time will tell.

 

[Orval62]

Just sampled the contents of my kegged stout (which is currently conditioning), to ensure there was pressure in the barrel, well I was pleasantly surprised. I've heard a lot about the Coopers stout and the good reviews which are very accurate. Its smooth and malty in taste, a bargain for the money. A very easy drinking stout, which would get you in trouble. Glad I purchased an additional kit. Well worth a punt.

 

[Hoppy_Jay]

Why don't you come and join the old faces over at 'the brewing forum' without any advertising, you need to pay no money just google.... Craftbrewing and it will be the top link 'craft brewing association', on their page go halfway down there will be a link for the forum click this and enjoy old informative friends

 

[Robert_]

I've just picked up mine from Tesco (£10 delivered to my local store!) and was planning to start it this weekend following "Ditch's Stout" instructions (1kg dark DME, 250g organic unrefined cane sugar, brewed to 20l) however this is going to yield a fairly pathetic ABV - so I considered using all 500g of the sugar, which would hopefully give me SG 1058 and around 5.7% if it drops to 1014. However, having read this thread, and got the idea of treacle into my head, I'm thinking of adding a tin of that too (454g I believe) - would this be too much? Gives me a projected SG of 1066 - so 6.8% finished product. Or if I brew to 23l SG 1057 and 5.6%.

Advice please! I don't want a watery stout.

 

[DoctorMick]

I've just picked up mine from Tesco (£10 delivered to my local store!) and was planning to start it this weekend following "Ditch's Stout" instructions (1kg dark DME, 250g organic unrefined cane sugar, brewed to 20l) however this is going to yield a fairly pathetic ABV - so I considered using all 500g of the sugar, which would hopefully give me SG 1058 and around 5.7% if it drops to 1014. However, having read this thread, and got the idea of treacle into my head, I'm thinking of adding a tin of that too (454g I believe) - would this be too much? Gives me a projected SG of 1066 - so 6.8% finished product. Or if I brew to 23l SG 1057 and 5.6%.

Advice please! I don't want a watery stout.

I can't answer your question, sorry, but how do you project the SG? I've seen a few posts where people have done it but I wouldn't know where to start. :hmm:

 

[proost]

I've just picked up mine from Tesco (£10 delivered to my local store!) and was planning to start it this weekend following "Ditch's Stout" instructions (1kg dark DME, 250g organic unrefined cane sugar, brewed to 20l) however this is going to yield a fairly pathetic ABV - so I considered using all 500g of the sugar, which would hopefully give me SG 1058 and around 5.7% if it drops to 1014. However, having read this thread, and got the idea of treacle into my head, I'm thinking of adding a tin of that too (454g I believe) - would this be too much? Gives me a projected SG of 1066 - so 6.8% finished product. Or if I brew to 23l SG 1057 and 5.6%.

Advice please! I don't want a watery stout.

I used:

I kit tin
1kg Extra Dark Spray Malt (mixed with boiling water to get rid of the lumps)
300g Crushed Crystal Malt
100g Crushed Wheat Malt (both steeped in a muslin bag in simmering water for 30 mins)
Gervin Yeast (just thought id try something different)
454g Black Treacle
Primed with 1x Coopers Carb Drop each 500ml bottle (they were left over from the original kit)
20L water
Fermented at 20c for 9 days
OG 1.055
FG 1.010
Makes it about 5.9%

This wasn't watery! Came out really nice, carbonation spot on.
If you don't want to faff about with the crystal, just use another 500g of spray malt, it will make it stronger though.

Good luck

 

[proost]

I can't answer your question, sorry, but how do you project the SG? I've seen a few posts where people have done it but I wouldn't know where to start. :hmm:

I just downloaded an ABV Calculator from the play store to my phone. Don't know how accurate it is but I'm not really bothered. If it tastes good, that's fine by me.

 

[Robert_]

I can't answer your question, sorry, but how do you project the SG? I've seen a few posts where people have done it but I wouldn't know where to start. :hmm:

http://www.simplehomebrew.co.uk/index.php register here, there's a calculator.

 

[Robert_]

I used:

I kit tin
1kg Extra Dark Spray Malt (mixed with boiling water to get rid of the lumps)
300g Crushed Crystal Malt
100g Crushed Wheat Malt (both steeped in a muslin bag in simmering water for 30 mins)
Gervin Yeast (just thought id try something different)
454g Black Treacle
Primed with 1x Coopers Carb Drop each 500ml bottle (they were left over from the original kit)
20L water
Fermented at 20c for 9 days
OG 1.055
FG 1.010
Makes it about 5.9%

This wasn't watery! Came out really nice, carbonation spot on.
If you don't want to faff about with the crystal, just use another 500g of spray malt, it will make it stronger though.

Good luck

Sounds lovely. So wouldn't you recommend my 1kg dark DME, tin of treacle and 500g organic cane sugar? You think drop the sugar and add another 500g DME?