Coopers Original Stout Review

[sloth]

I am pretty new to all this, so if that's what it says...
:)

 

[SteveB67]

Right Guys, Advice needed.
As i posted earlier, i set this kit away on Wednesday evening with a SG 1.052, today less than 4 days later it is down to 1.010 is that right. I used the kit yeast and added i some re-activated yeast from some Coopers pale ale i had.
Does this sound about right?
Cheers
Steve

 

[Slid]

Sounds about right to me. Would leave it for another 10 days in contact with the yeast before bottling. 2 Weeks later this will be perfectly drinkable, but would improve further if left another month at least.

I'm guessing that won't happen, but of all the brews I've done, the Coopers Stout is good to go earliest.

Merry Christmas. :

 

[SteveB67]

Fantastic!! I will leave it alone until the 10th then bottle it, 2 weeks in the warm (24th) then into the beer fridge for a week. Then it's a Happy New Year

 

[BruinTuns]

Hi lads
I have one of these conditioning right now but as it was my first ever brew I didn't stray too far from the instructions. Made it up with 1kg Young's BKE, 225g H&B Malt Extract and 250g T&L granulated. Tasted at bottling it was nice if a bit raw and sweet, but definite promise. I worked out the abv to be fractionally under 5%.
I'm reading through this thread (curently up to p37) and looking for the optimum taste/abv/cost tweak. My 1st priority is to be drinking over 5% abv. After that, taste takes precedence, followed closely by cost effectiveness.
I'm ideally looking for 6% abv (ish), great taste, cost effective. In this thread I've read about adding '1.5kg Young's Extra Dark LME' which apparently produces a delicious pint, but that particular fermentable adds £9.50 to the total cost, so my plan is:
1 Coopers Stout
!kg Young's BKE
1 Tin Treacle
250g Demerara
250g Holland&Barrett Malt Extract(?)

I'd be happy to change this or up the amounts if anyone more experienced advizes me to do so.

 

[sloth]

Just ordered one of these with 500g extra dark dme and a kilo of bke. I'd like a chocolate or maybe coffee hint, and anywhere around 5-6.5% abv. Or maybe some decent vanilla paste made with sugar, extract and seeds. I'm not keen on the idea of treacle, not really to my taste, honey on the other hand...
So, (after reading through 30 pages of this thread!) what do folks suggest?

 

[BruinTuns]

Those ingredients are pretty much the same amount of fermentables as I added to mine so with an additional 0.5% abv from the priming sugar we should both get about 5.5%.
I've now got my second batch nearing the end of primary fermentation. In the absence of advice I eventually decided to go large with:
1 Can Cooper's Stout
1 450g tin black treacle
1kg BKE
250g dextrose
250g demerara
250g white sugar
Lord knows what it will turn out like but, assuming the yeast can cope, it'll certainly be potent :drunk:.
I'll leave this one a long time to condition. Going to be very interesting to compare the two batches..

EDIT:
Just took first FG reading and it's down to 1006 from an OG of 1058. Tastes slightly sweet at this stage, not unpleasant but not exactly delicious either, hopefully like many strong brews it will greatly improve with age.
Estimated abv after priming approximately 7.5% :drink:

 

[sloth]

Just ordered one of these with 500g extra dark dme and a kilo of bke. I'd like a chocolate or maybe coffee hint, and anywhere around 5-6.5% abv. Or maybe some decent vanilla paste made with sugar, extract and seeds. I'm not keen on the idea of treacle, not really to my taste, honey on the other hand...
So, (after reading through 30 pages of this thread!) what do folks suggest?

Seems like I forgot to add the bke to the order, whoops...
How does 500g extra dark dry malt extract, 500g sugar (some muscavado and unrefined cane, whatever's in the cupboard) and either a mug of coffee (in the fv, or after fermentation?) or a jar of honey sound?
I'm leaning towards the honey, perhaps with a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon. Anyone used it before?
Cheers

 

[Toffee]

After reading this thread, I decided to give this a go.
500g medium dry malt extract from wilco
500g brewing sugar
250g demerera sugar
Half a tin of black treacle (so around 220g)

Brewed short to 21l

OG was 1051. Hope it works out well.

 

[BruinTuns]

Sounds good to me mate :drink:
Let us know how it goes.

 

[Toffee]

will do fella. it went off like the proverbial rocket overnight, with a the "monkey brains" thick creamy foam. so it's off to a good start.

*edit* wow, it's still going. inches more in the few hours since I posted that. gonna hit the lid at this rate, and I have a lot of headspace in this FV (Coopers one with krausen collar)

 

[sloth]

Just got this on the go with 500g extra dark dme, 125g soft dark brown sugar, 375g golden granulated sugar and around 450g of honey, with a couple of generous teaspoon of cinnamon.
Og 1.048 brewed to 21 litres. Looking forward to this...

 

[willycoolj]

Made with 500g dark malt,250g soft dark brown sugar,1 tin treacle. Have bottled this, tried a bottle after one week found it very strong taste,will leave it a bit longer before next one :wha:

 

[sloth]

Only 12hrs since getting this on the go and foam has climbed 3 or 4 inches to push on the lid already! I'm impressed...

 

[sloth]

24hrs in now, at some point the foam has just crept into the airlock. And it's bubbling not every few seconds, but a few times every second! Smells luverly...

 

[Toffee]

aye, mine too. every time I go into my garage the aroma hits me. I admit, I am popping in there sometimes just for a sniff. can't wait to get this bottled and taste it!

 

[sloth]

One week in now. On day 5 airlock had slowed to a bubble every 3 mins or so, didn't hear any on day 6 so tested gravity: down to 1007 or 1008, bit hard to see clearly as even the meniscus on the hydrometer is so dark :) Down from an Og of 1048, this is pretty impressive, lowest I've had any kit go down to already. Trial jar tasted good too...
Might take another reading tonight, or tomorrow, then if it's not changed a day in the very cold shed before putting in the keg.
Impressed so far, even if with dme and postage etc this has cost about £25! Next up, Razorback ipa

 

[Toffee]

yeah, mine got down to 1008 from 1051 in only 5 days! that was thursday, have left it over the weekend and will bottle up tomorrow. agreed, the trial tasted really nice.

I got the kit from tesco, so around 11 quid, the brewing sugar and DME i got in wilkos sale, so well under £20 for me for this one.

 

[sloth]

Still at 1008, time to barrel :)

 

[Slid]

yeah, mine got down to 1008 from 1051 in only 5 days! that was thursday, have left it over the weekend and will bottle up tomorrow. agreed, the trial tasted really nice.

I got the kit from tesco, so around 11 quid, the brewing sugar and DME i got in wilkos sale, so well under £20 for me for this one.

Excellent Result all round :drink:

Enjoy!