Coopers Original Stout Review

[noddyman]

On thing that leaves me a little bemused though is the addition of DME by the kilo. I don't really have a homebrew shop nearby just Wilco's. The cost of the kit at £14.00 plus a kilo of DME at £8.80 puts this kit in the premium category. :shock: Is it really THAT good? Time will tell :lol:

Regards
Mulled

I quite agree with your point re cost. Mine is standing me about £23 (beer kit, DME and treacle). But if i get 30 odd pints of nice tasting beer, i will be happy. 30 bottles of Hobgoblin from Aldi is £45! Let's hope we're all happy at bottle opening time. :pray:

 

[goldenone]

Has anyone got any experience of just brewing this kit as per the instructions with the can & 1kg of sugar only? If so how does it turn out? Will I need any other additions?

I'm only just about to start my 3rd brew and fancied doing this after seeing such good reviews but i'm not sure if i'm at the stage of tinkering with my brews too much yet :)

 

[noddyman]

To be honest with you golgenone, i like Hobgoblin and wanted to get something approaching the taste of it. After reading posts on here i thought i'd give it a go. All i did was to follow the instructions and added a tin of treacle and 1kg of DME (instead of sugar or enhancer). Mine is ready to bottle after 9 days in the FV. I will prime it with 90g of white sugar as advised on here and see what happens at drinking time. Good luck with yours.

 

[Mulled]

Has anyone got any experience of just brewing this kit as per the instructions with the can & 1kg of sugar only? If so how does it turn out? Will I need any other additions?

I have been wondering if i have ever read anything about this brew just being made with ordinary Tate & Lyle; nothing comes to mind. It is invariably DME that is added from memory. I am sure someone must have done this at some point but you may be looking at Rocking Horse Poo levels of frequency or perhaps as rare as a careful and considerate Audi driver :lol:

 

[flyan]

Left it a month in the bottles and tried one the other day. Christ on a bike! The best kit I've ever made. Making this one again and soon.

 

[noddyman]

Just this minute done a hydrometer test, came out at 0.0012 (OG was 0.0044). The taste is fantastic, the treacle is a winner to me already. I may bottle this weekend with Medium Spray Malt. How much though? :wha:

I really can't see the point in priming with spraymalt/DME or LME for that matter, sorry. It can't add much body or flavour in such small quantities. All you want is the CO2 condition at that stage. I went quite low for my one, around 60g white sugar. Stout is one drink I don't want too fizzy.

Bottled this last night and got about 38 pints. Went a bit mad with the white sugar and ended up putting 100g in! Had to drink a pint as i didn't have enough bottles and it is very treacley. Looking forward to December when i will try it again. :whistle:

 

[Wilfy]

Currently drinking the batch I made with 2lb of black treacle added. Very good.

 

[Boatbrewer]

I bottled this at the weekend. I made it a little short - I got 34 bottles and used a beer enhancer in place of the sugar.

It will be interesting to see how it turns out. Previously I have been brewing Black Pearl stout which is exellent but is now around £20 a go.

 

[Brewtus]

Has anyone got any experience of just brewing this kit as per the instructions with the can & 1kg of sugar only? If so how does it turn out? Will I need any other additions?

I have been wondering if i have ever read anything about this brew just being made with ordinary Tate & Lyle; nothing comes to mind. It is invariably DME that is added from memory. I am sure someone must have done this at some point but you may be looking at Rocking Horse Poo levels of frequency or perhaps as rare as a careful and considerate Audi driver :lol:

I made the mistake, for my first ever brew, of doing this one with 1kg Tate & Lyle. It is drinkable, but 'twang' doesn't even go far enough to describe the homebrew taste, I really would steer clear of it in favour of DME or LME. That said, the bottles which are now 3 months old have improved considerably, still nothing on a 1 week old 2 can kit though!

 

[Mulled]

I made the mistake, for my first ever brew, of doing this one with 1kg Tate & Lyle. It is drinkable, but 'twang' doesn't even go far enough to describe the homebrew taste

A really useful bit of information and a warning for those that are tempted along the Tate & Lyle path :nah:

Personally, after the horrors implicit in Mr Berry's beer recipes, i always look for an alternative to the white stuff.

Regards

 

[goldenone]

Sorry to keep banging on with questions about this kit but the more I read on this thread the more my opinions change.

It seems like a lot of people say that black treacle is a must for flavour so what do you think of:

500g Medium spray malt
500g brewers sugar
454g (or less - 200g?)black treacle

Does this seem an acceptable combination? Or am I way off the mark for brewing something tasty?

Thanks in advance :

 

[Brewtus]

Sorry to keep banging on with questions about this kit but the more I read on this thread the more my opinions change.

It seems like a lot of people say that black treacle is a must for flavour so what do you think of:

500g Medium spray malt
500g brewers sugar
454g (or less - 200g?)black treacle

Does this seem an acceptable combination? Or am I way off the mark for brewing something tasty?

Thanks in advance :

Definitely looks tasty enough to me

 

[noddyman]

Currently drinking the batch I made with 2lb of black treacle added. Very good.

2lb of treacle? Wow! Bet that's got a taste and a half. How long did you leave it untill tasting? I assume you bottled it. :clap:

 

[Wilfy]

Currently drinking the batch I made with 2lb of black treacle added. Very good.

2lb of treacle? Wow! Bet that's got a taste and a half. How long did you leave it untill tasting? I assume you bottled it. :clap:

You can taste the treacle but it's not overpowering. It has been in the bottles 8 weeks.

 

[goldenone]

Right guys....last question (honest).

I've now bought this kit plus 1kg dark spray malt so how much black treacle (if any) should I add to these ingredients?

 

[Brewtus]

Take a guess, make it up!

1lb would be enough but 2lb apparently isn't too much!

 

[noddyman]

Currently drinking the batch I made with 2lb of black treacle added. Very good.

2lb of treacle? Wow! Bet that's got a taste and a half. How long did you leave it untill tasting? I assume you bottled it. :clap:

You can taste the treacle but it's not overpowering. It has been in the bottles 8 weeks.

Mine's been in the bottles for 4 days! Should be good for testing in November then. :

 

[Doive]

I made the mistake, for my first ever brew, of doing this one with 1kg Tate & Lyle. It is drinkable, but 'twang' doesn't even go far enough to describe the homebrew taste, I really would steer clear of it in favour of DME or LME.

Agreed, I made my first kit with sugar, brewed out to 23 litres, then primed with sugar. Ended up with a fairly thin fizzy ale. Not undrinkable, but not something that makes me come back for another pint. Still have 12 litres of it to get shot of.

Second batch was brewed with DME, brewed short to 20 litres, then bottles primed with 4tsp of treacle per litre. Night and day difference. First few bottles were very treacle-y, to be expected, but now a few months on they are settling down nicely. Not gassy at all, but just enough to produce a nice head. Treacle still dominates the flavours, but it's rather pleasant. Had some stout drinking friends round, and they saw off 10 litres in one sitting, and asked when they could come back for the rest :drink:

 

[goldenone]

I made the mistake, for my first ever brew, of doing this one with 1kg Tate & Lyle. It is drinkable, but 'twang' doesn't even go far enough to describe the homebrew taste, I really would steer clear of it in favour of DME or LME.

Agreed, I made my first kit with sugar, brewed out to 23 litres, then primed with sugar. Ended up with a fairly thin fizzy ale. Not undrinkable, but not something that makes me come back for another pint. Still have 12 litres of it to get shot of.

Second batch was brewed with DME, brewed short to 20 litres, then bottles primed with 4tsp of treacle per litre. Night and day difference. First few bottles were very treacle-y, to be expected, but now a few months on they are settling down nicely. Not gassy at all, but just enough to produce a nice head. Treacle still dominates the flavours, but it's rather pleasant. Had some stout drinking friends round, and they saw off 10 litres in one sitting, and asked when they could come back for the rest :drink:

Thanks for that advice. I'm starting mine on Sunday so will brew to 20-21 litres with 1kg of DME & around half tin (220g ish) black treacle.

Looking forward to it already :drink:

 

[flyan]

I made the mistake, for my first ever brew, of doing this one with 1kg Tate & Lyle. It is drinkable, but 'twang' doesn't even go far enough to describe the homebrew taste, I really would steer clear of it in favour of DME or LME.

Agreed, I made my first kit with sugar, brewed out to 23 litres, then primed with sugar. Ended up with a fairly thin fizzy ale. Not undrinkable, but not something that makes me come back for another pint. Still have 12 litres of it to get shot of.

Second batch was brewed with DME, brewed short to 20 litres, then bottles primed with 4tsp of treacle per litre. Night and day difference. First few bottles were very treacle-y, to be expected, but now a few months on they are settling down nicely. Not gassy at all, but just enough to produce a nice head. Treacle still dominates the flavours, but it's rather pleasant. Had some stout drinking friends round, and they saw off 10 litres in one sitting, and asked when they could come back for the rest :drink:

Thanks for that advice. I'm starting mine on Sunday so will brew to 20-21 litres with 1kg of DME & around half tin (220g ish) black treacle.

Looking forward to it already :drink:

Pretty much how I made mine. I had a 454g tin of treacle but used about half, maybe two thirds. Threw a Cooper's Brew Enhancer 2 kit at it and it's come out amazing!

Good luck with your's fella :drink: