Coopers Wheat Beer Review

[Yeastmaster]

I've done this kit with BKE and felt it was refreshing but quite bland. It's more an American style wheat beer than eg a Bavarian one.

Next time I would dry hop it and/or get a liquid wheat beer yeast (or better still buy a brew uk wheat beer extract pack).

 

[Ben-Harrison]

Thinking of putting some hop pellets in towards the end.

What would people recommend ang how much? I have made 23l of this wheat beer.

Thanks

 

[clibit]

About 30 grams would be a good idea. Choice of hops is a personal taste thing. What kind of beers do you like? I reckon a NZ hop like Motueka would work well, it's a cross between Saaz and a NZ native hop and would give a real lift to a bland beer without turning it into an American grapefruit juice affair. I've found that Green Bullet is good for fry hopping too. And Nelson Sauvin. Or Wakatu.

 

[Ben-Harrison]

About 30 grams would be a good idea. Choice of hops is a personal taste thing. What kind of beers do you like? I reckon a NZ hop like Motueka would work well, it's a cross between Saaz and a NZ native hop and would give a real lift to a bland beer without turning it into an American grapefruit juice affair. I've found that Green Bullet is good for fry hopping too. And Nelson Sauvin. Or Wakatu.

Thanks for the advice, think ill go Motueka then, found bag of pellets 100g for £4.50 @ The Malt Miller.

When I did my first brew it which was a The Range IPA kit, instructions told me to put pellets in after 7 days then bottle up after 10 days. Would this be the correct way of doing it with the Wheat beer? .

I was planning on taking a SG reading tonight as it will have been 8 days in the FV so far. I have read you can add the pellets when transferring to a secondry FV, if this is ok how long would you leave it in the second FV before bottling this way?

sorry for all the questions

 

[clibit]

Yes adding pellets after 7 days and bottling after 10 is about right with a wheat beer. 3 days is enough for a dry hop, but you can leave it longer. Dry hopping is usually done for 3 to 7 days before bottling.

 

[Ben-Harrison]

Yes adding pellets after 7 days and bottling after 10 is about right with a wheat beer. 3 days is enough for a dry hop, but you can leave it longer. Dry hopping is usually done for 3 to 7 days before bottling.

Hi Clibit

I have gone for Hallertau Dry hop pellets, how am I best getting the pellets in? as no instructions came with pellets.

I have left the beer in the 1st FV for 12 days now and I will check the SG reading tonight. Should I Dry hop pellets in 1st FV or into 2nd FV, and if in 2nd FV how long 3-7 days?

Do I just drop pellets into FV or do I need to boil them in some water first to make sure their sanatised?

Thanks again
Ben

 

[clibit]

I don't bother with a second FV, I go from primary to bottles via a bottling bucket on bottling day.

And when I dry hop I just chuck hops in the primary (no need to sanitise hops) and then siphon into the bottling bucket with a small piece of sanitised muslin attached to the end of the siphon tube with an elastic band.

I think 4 or 5 days dry hop is ideal.

 

[Ben-Harrison]

I don't bother with a second FV, I go from primary to bottles via a bottling bucket on bottling day.

And when I dry hop I just chuck hops in the primary (no need to sanitise hops) and then siphon into the bottling bucket with a small piece of sanitised muslin attached to the end of the siphon tube with an elastic band.

I think 4 or 5 days dry hop is ideal.

Cheers, I will just pop the loose pellets into original FV then (30g) - I too use a 2nd FV to syphon into to then, batch prime & bottle up from as it has a bottle wand on it.

Thanks for your help again.

 

[clibit]

I want a bottle wand.

You can put the dry hops in a mesh bag obviously.

 

[Ben-Harrison]

I want a bottle wand.

You can put the dry hops in a mesh bag obviously.

I don't have any bags , I did my 1st brew with The Range kit and they supply drop hops and you just put them in the 1st FV after 7 days.

I will have to find something then :\

 

[clibit]

No just bung 'em in. But you'll need to filter them out somehow at bottling time. Bit of muslin or mesh or a pan scrub, sanitised and attached tightly to the end of the siphon. :thumb:

 

[Ben-Harrison]

Right so just checked SG and it's down from first SG of 1046 to last SG of 1012. So is this ready as kit instructions doest give estimate of final SG?

I'm going to dry hop for a further 3/4 days and bottle saturday. Dies these sound ok?

Ta

 

[clibit]

It does sound ok, as long as your SG has been steady at 1012 for 2 to 3 days?

 

[Ben-Harrison]

It does sound ok, as long as your SG has been steady at 1012 for 2 to 3 days?

So SG Went down to 1010 and stayed there for 4 days so bottled it last night (Sunday)

I did drink the flat 2 pints worth out of the bottom the FV No 2 and it tasted quite nice with the addition of the added hops.

I made a home made teabag for the hop pellets out of a pair of my wifes tights and string - yes I did sterilise it first. :party:

 

[griff]

Put this one on Christmas eve with 1kg enhancer and .5kg wheat spraymalt. SG 1045, really lively ferment and 7 days later gravity is 1010 so I guessing it's nearly done. I'll leave it a couple more days and bottle, I think I'll prime with 1tsp demerara sugar and hope for a big lively head and no bombs :p

Well this has been in the bottle a few weeks now and seems to have carbonated well. I used a mixture of capped, swing top and pet bottles. The pet bottles are really tight and the swing ones really pop, I think I got the priming just about right and it delivers the big ice cream cone head I was looking for. The head stays til the bottom of the glass and laces well down the glass.

Taste wise it hasn't got the big flavour of a European wheat beer but its pleasant nevertheless and I'm enjoying it. I think I will do this one again and try and spice it up with some lime and cloves as suggested by others :-)

 

[clibit]

I think if you want a European wheat beer flavour you need a European wheat beer yeast. There are various liquid yeasts but Safbrew WB-06 is good - dry yeast packet.

 

[Malkin71]

My first brew has done and I feel like this is the next stop.

This is what I will do, if I'm wrong feel free to correct me

500gms wheat malt
500gms light malt
1x White labs yeast (using a yeast starter)
Temp at 20 (yeast pack does say 21 but I'm sure 20 is ok?)
Coriander seeds
Orange peel
2 weeks in ferm

Bottled for 8 weeks ( 2 warm and 6 cold)

I could change the temp if people think it should be 21. Instructions do say 21-25.

 

[Geithals]

I like this brew and I like it better than the popular bottled wheat beer (eg from Germany) but of course it is behind good quality craft wheat beer in draught.
I used 1.6k kg of LWE plus 950gr of Lyles Golden Sirup, mixed in with the can ingredients. I dried hopped about 33gr of hops used for such (wheat brew) purposes and used table white sugar for conditioning, about 8gr per litre.
It's not as light as the Mexican and Blondes, but it's dispatched at the same speed. My preference with wheat beer is for that rich wheat malt taste in the middle of the mouthful and just enough conditioning to complement that.
I am brewing 3 more and 2 will be done using separate standard european wheat beer yeast, just to see if there's any substantial difference.

 

[DrewRev]

Hello all, good to read some mixed reviews of this kit, more good than bad by the looks of it.

I'm fairly new to brewing, but would like to brew up a honey wheat beer based on this kit. I've made coopers English Bitter before and it turned out pretty good, but I followed the kit instructions fully that time. Now I'm eager to start experimenting and putting my own touches in.

I'd like to create more of a Bavarian style wheat beer, with a subtle honey flavour. Having read through this post I've picked up several tips and tricks regarding wheat beer, and the recipe I've come up with is as follows;

1 x Coopers Brewmaster Wheat Beer Kit
300 - 500g Orange Blossom Honey
500g - Muntons Wheat Spraymalt
11.5g - WB06 Dried Wheat Beer Yeast

I'll likely brew it short to 20l and ferment at around 21 degrees Celsius.

However, as I said I'm very new to this and I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing, so if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears

Cheers!

 

[AndyTraill]

Hi Folks,

This is my first post...

Anyways this was my 3rd brew I messed up in a few different ways.

Including having to put my arm into the freshly yeasted wort. This happened because I put a tap on the fermenter which under the weight of water leaked. So to nip it up I had to hold the inside nut. :clap:

Good start.

One of my favorite beers is "the monk" so if I could make that it'd be perfect. Obviously this will never be the same but after drinking this too early, leaving it a bit then trying a lot of what I like about franziskaner is in there. Not the same much lighter but maybe easier to drink (more like a scented lager, which is kind of what I'd want to avoid).

I started on coopers european lager and in comparison the fermentation on this rocketed off. Once in the bottles it has cleared quickly too, the yeast has settled into a fairly hard crust at the bottom.

It's not something I'd be over keen to drink all the time but I do find that I'm a bit harsh on it. Tried too early plus probably messed up but it is a bit of a wheat beer "lite" to me at least. Maybe short brewing would pull it back a bit but the sort of banana flavour is there just a bit light for me.