Coopers Original Stout Review

[daveylad]

I have just started my 3rd batch of this.

1st batch 500g of brewing sugar 500g of DME
Bottled and primed with Tate and Lyle.

Opinion - very drinkable after 2 weeks in bottle. Good head retention. Very tasty!

2nd batch 500g of brewing sugar, 500g of DME and 200g of treacle.
Bottled and primed with Tate and Lyle.

Opinion- again very drinkable after 2 weeks in the bottle. For some reason the head retention isn't quite as good as my first brew (although the fermentation did stop a little short of my ideal sg) nice treacle taste but not sure it's a but overpowering.

3rd batch has just started fermenting. 500g of DME, 700g of brewing sugar (just tried to up the strength of the brew slightly. This should hopefully come out at about 5.2% ) and added a liquorice stick.

Opinion - I'll let you know in about 3 weeks :-)

 

[noddyman]

I have just started my 3rd batch of this.

My bottles have been under the stairs a week now. Is this long enough or do they need another few days?

 

[goldenone]

I personally leave mine under the stairs for a fortnight then transfer to the shed for at least a week (even longer is better) before sampling.

 

[noddyman]

I personally leave mine under the stairs for a fortnight then transfer to the shed for at least a week (even longer is better) before sampling.

I am going to follow your advice and leave them where they are for another week (under the stairs 20-22 degrees). After leaving my NOG in the bottles for 6 weeks now it tastes alot better then 2 weeks ago so i will happily sit on my hands for a bit before trying my Stout. :thumb:

 

[daveylad]

Yes the longer you leave it the better and smoother it should be. 3-4 weeks should be good. If you can leave a few bottles for a few months and it should of improved greatly

 

[twoshots]

After reading pages and pages of positive reviews I thought I had better get a Cooper's Stout on! I have to admit one of my main motivations was the possibility that it might taste good quite young. As a beginner home brewer I do not yet have a stock pile of well matured beer and so a quick to drink kit whilst the other FV is tied up with a Brewferm Triple seemed a good idea.

I made this adding to the wort 500g brown sugar and 500g unrefined sugar dissolved in hot water. Pitched the yeast dry at around 26 degrees one evening and it dropped down overnight and fermented out at 20-22 degrees.

After about 11 days in the FV I transfered to a pressure barrel and primed with 100g brewing sugar. OG was around 1040 (maybe 1042 but it seemed a little difficult to get a consistent reading). FG was 1008. So that pops out at around 4.2%.

Don't shoot me but I had a taster after about 1hr. Oooh I thought, that's not bad. So tonight I sit here typing this 12 days from pitching the yeast with a glass of black gold. The taste is very good, maybe a little thin. I didn't add DME or treacle which will be an interesting experiment for next time. Most importantly there will definitely be a next time... :drink:

 

[Boatbrewer]

Two weeks on and I had a couple of bottles at the weekend. Very nice indeed. I shall be brewing this again, maybe with a little treacle next time.

 

[noddyman]

Two weeks on and I had a couple of bottles at the weekend. Very nice indeed. I shall be brewing this again, maybe with a little treacle next time.

I too had a bottle of mine tonight after 2 weeks in the bottle (the beer not me!) and found the treacle quite strong. I am assuming it will calm down a bit over time? Good head retention too.

 

[noddyman]

Just had another bottle tonight. I need to be reassured that it will improve with age. The treacle taste is very strong so i hope this will calm a bit over time. Your comments are most welcome. :wha:

 

[Wilfy]

Just had another bottle tonight. I need to be reassured that it will improve with age. The treacle taste is very strong so i hope this will calm a bit over time. Your comments are most welcome. :wha:

Started drinking mine after it had been in the bottle 2 months. The treacle taste did mellow but you could make it out. I did use 2lb's of it though.

 

[goldenone]

Started this kit on Sunday afternoon using 1kg DME & 200g brewing sugar. Gave it a good thrashing (creating an excellent foam) then added the rehydrated yeast.....Now almost 48hours later there seems to no activity whatsoever

Nothing in the airlock to suggest any things going on either.

It could be that my under stairs cupboard is too cold but it's been fine over the past couple of months for my first 2 brews. I don't have an aquarium heater so that's not an option....

Do you guys have any advice to kick start it please as I was hoping for good things from this kit but am now starting to worry a bit that nothing seems to be going on :

 

[twoshots]

I threw on my second batch of this (I've gone for 1kg of soft brown sugar this time) on Sunday and until this morning it looked mostly mostly dormant. Then tonight coming in from work I noticed an inch+ of krausen. This is at a steady 20 deg sitting on the wood floor underneath the hot water heater/boiler. Don't despair yet once it gets going it ferments out pretty quickly.

 

[goldenone]

Cheers.

As it's the first brew I've done trying the rehydrating yeast I may have got that wrong. Last night I chucked in a packet of Muntons Premium Gold yeast and within minutes the airlock started bubbling away.

Let's hope it has rescued the brew :)

 

[gazkilla]

Brewed this last night with 1kg dextrose and 2 tins of black treacle. After pitching yeast it was starting off slow but now its going like the clappers ,I've got 22litres in the FV and i can see the foam touching the lid. Lovely smell when I walk in the room but the wife tends not to agree

 

[gingerhammer]

Just snatched a reduced to a £5er short date from wilkos.1kilo brewing sugar and a small tin of black treacle should do the job!Also picked up a tom caxton real ale kit that was battered for :drink:
£6,never tried one of those.

 

[goldenone]

I put one of these kits on 11 days ago with 1kg of DME & 200g brewing sugar brewed short to 21l. OG came in at 1.048 and did my first hydrometer test today and it's currently at 1.014.

As you do i had a sneaky taste from the trial jar and it does still have a slight homebrew twang which i'm sure will disappear a little as the kit conditions but had a nice overall taste. However after trying the sample I had a mouthful of coffee and following this I had the combined taste of the stout/coffee in my mouth which gave me a feeling that something could be missing from the brew to give it that extra flavour.

I think that this should be ready to bottle on Sunday (ish) but would it be too late in the process now to add anything such as a small amount of black treacle to to give it that little something extra?

 

[noddyman]

I think that this should be ready to bottle on Sunday (ish) but would it be too late in the process now to add anything such as a small amount of black treacle to to give it that little something extra?

You could always prime the bottles with a bit of treacle and give them a bit of a shake.

 

[goldenone]

I did a hydrometer check again this morning and it wasn't as low as i thought yesterday as its currently 1.018 so there is still a little work to do.
At that point I thought 'What the hell' and stuck in a bit of black treacle and gave it a stir to see if it sparks it back into life.

You never know it could turn out well :)

 

[gazkilla]

After 10 days I've taken the 1st reading which came out at 1011,OG was 1040 so could be looking at 4% abv.
Definitely taste the black treacle I put in :thumb:

 

[Boatbrewer]

Six weeks in the bottle now and it really is very good indeed. :