First Brew - Coopers Canadian Blonde

[philip5660]

Got my brewing fridge/heater ready and am about to order the gear for my first brew.
I am considering the above kit, is this a reasonable (easy) one for a first time brew. Has anyone got any tips for this particular one, I'm really afraid of making a mess!
Also if I just use the recommended amount of brewing sugar how strong might this be?

 

[keith1664]

I think all the kits are pretty much the same to make up and if you follow the instructions you'll have no problems. If anything I find them a bit too easy, I'd like to be a bit more involved in the process. As for the strength I dunno, does it not say in tyhe kit somewhere

 

[Aleman]

If you want something a bit more od a challenge but still 'kit simple' consider the Design A Brew Beer Kits from Hamstead Homebrew (aka Heart of England) . . . You choose you bases from the range . . . then 'grain packs' and finally hop packs. . . and make it up . . . very flexible

 

[Sussex Hopburner]

If you want something a bit more od a challenge but still 'kit simple' consider the Design A Brew Beer Kits from Hamstead Homebrew (aka Heart of England) . . . You choose you bases from the range . . . then 'grain packs' and finally hop packs. . . and make it up . . . very flexible

Hi

Been thinking about this for a while- just ordered a

DAB Base 4 - Medium/Dark
DAB Character Pack4 Crystal malt
DAB Hop Finishing Pack Fuggles
Design A Brew Yeast
Design a Brew Brewing guide and receipe sheet


This one is my Xmas brew so I'm hoping it will be a good one. - I'm hoping for a traditional, relatively hoppy beer.

Its great value, and could be the first step....

Cheers


D

 

[philip5660]

couldn't see anything about strength in the description - maybe it'll tell me on the instructions when i get it.
I hear what you're saying about thr design a brew - If I brew a couple of decent batches from kits I'll move on to something a little more challenging - :

 

[Cussword]

I've done the Canadian Blonde 4 times, it comes out between 5.5% & 5.9%
Great taste too :thumb:

 

[philip5660]

I've done the Canadian Blonde 4 times, it comes out between 5.5% & 5.9%
Great taste too :thumb:

wow, cool - that's very encouraging - sounds like the right kit to get me started :)

 

[Bjorn Toulouse]

I've done the Canadian Blonde 4 times, it comes out between 5.5% & 5.9%
Great taste too :thumb:

what did you add for sugar?

I made this up as per the recomendations on the tin using a kilo of brew enhancer #1
the OG was 1040. So I added 300g of tate and lyle.

The last kit I did was the mexican cervesa it started at 1040 but it refused to go below 1010
so I figured make it higher to start with.

Oh well i'll see what happens

 

[Duncs]

I've just started drinking my Canadian Blonde and I'm inpressed. Mine came out at about 4%. I was a little worried when I was bottling it as it smelt of beef stew :sick: but it's turned out a fine beer :drunk:

 

[philip5660]

cool i couldn't get a proper reading on the hydrometer because of the froth, had to make a best guess! - I need to get a sampling jar. So i'll just have to knock it back and see if it gets me drunk!

 

[Bjorn Toulouse]

well after 8 days intotal the last 4 days on the brew belt it has run its race and fermentation is compleate.
final gravity of 1011-2 ish and not budging started at 1043-4
time to bottle.
Adding extra sugar did not make much difference to the final content 4.7 ish

So how do you get these kits to make beer at the 5.0 --> 5.4 mark?