Suggestions for experimenting with coopers stout

[chrig]

I have a coopers stout kit which is on its way to finishing fermenting soon but i'm considering splitting this in to a few variations if possible. i'd like to try as many different beers as possible and test the old taste buds.

This is my first beer kit so maybe i should just hope for it to work out without being too ambitious but...

It is brewed with 1kg brew enhancer to 23L.

I'm thinking I could bottle ~10L as it is and prime with sugar (after racking in to secondary), And then fill two demijohn's (glass or plastic pet) with the remainder.

The two stout variations which i keep finding seem to be the addition of treacle which i could use for priming in one and adding chocolate which i like the sound of for the other. Or maybe adding some hops, would this be dry hopping ?

so
a) good or bad idea?
and b) suggestions please for how i could play with the flavor a little in the 5Lbatches

 

[winelight]

I would say it's too late really to make any difference. The difference in priming sugar probably isn't detectable even if you use treacle. Worth a try with treacle though because if you use it as a fermentable in primary the taste can be a bit strong.

Chocolate also should have gone in at the beginning.

Dry hopping? Worth a try although again I would put it in just after the vigorous fermentation stage has finished (about 3 days) so it may be too late to make much difference?

 

[Kinleycat]

I added 500g of Dark Brown Sugar and 660g Black Treacle and it was absolutely beautiful!!
I've got another in the shed that i plan to do for autumn and i wil also add 250g of Extra Dark spray malt.
TBF whatever you put in it it'll be good as this is a superb kit. :thumb:

 

[chrig]

Well I think I will go with half primed with treacle and half without just the see if there is any difference, best get it racked :)

 

[chrig]

So today I bottled this in to 2L plastic bottles, umfortunatly as I have not been able to get any glass ones or a capper.,... and I have some mates comming in a few weeks so something to drink is nice.

I primed 6x 2L bottles and 1x 1L with 1tsp per litre.

The remainder is in two sterile demijohn's until I have some more plastic bottles. Which I may still prime with treacle, im not sure yet as I will need to rack it again to batch prime.

Its looking very clear in the syphon tube, and tasting rather good right out of the FV.

 

[winelight]

tasting rather good right out of the FV.

Great! It surprises me how much does taste good right out of the FV. The last one I tried like that was Young's Harvest Mild, a cheap kit (with enhancements), and it was excellent.

 

[Kinleycat]

tasting rather good right out of the FV.

Great! It surprises me how much does taste good right out of the FV. The last one I tried like that was Young's Harvest Mild, a cheap kit (with enhancements), and it was excellent.

Absolutely.
I'm a typical Yorkshireman, so I drink whatever goes in the tube, its too good to throw!!! :thumb:

 

[bottler]

Kc, i see what youve in bottles and kegs etc... wow are you supplying the british army with booze ??? :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

[chrig]

Obligatory pictures of the bottling, a couple of the kids gave me a hand either holding the siphon in the bucket or passing bottles to me. This was very helpful to begin with

I thought I had done some more pictures at the start of brewing, but apparently not.

SO just the bottling phase one from yesterday!

Half of the stout bottled, the rest in to two demijohns:

A single 1L bottle which my wife just gave away to my brother in law.....you'd think she didn't want me drinking or something! :lol:

And the first half i poured nice and flat:

I had a bit of a swig of this then put the tea out and put it on the side, then after finishing tea one of the helpful minions poured it down the sink thinking it was a glass of flat coke . Really gutted about that, i'll need to wait a few weeks now.

And the final stash, minus the 1G WOW in the cold :)

 

[chrig]

Bad news I think. Tastes pretty sour.

Not fully sure if or where I have gone wrong but could well be infected.

The stuff which was in bulk tasted foul and went down the sink last night. The bottled which I tasted also tastes nice at first but has a sour after taste.

What else could I expect from a first try.

 

[bottler]

Give it a bit longer and try the odd bottle and see if it improves :thumb: Oh, as i read your post again, i see its too late...down the drain

 

[chrig]

I may not have been clear enough, about 5L from one dj went down the drain as it smelt off when bottling. The other dj I bottled anyway, primed and marked so I can remember it.

I have 10L in cold after 1 week in the warm and maybe 6L still in the warm. I wanted to just chuck it all in a paddy but it can't do any harm and all the hard work is done.

I need a better sanitiser and cleaning / preperation routine, maybe a budget keg and another decent beer kit to restore the faith that this can work out well!

 

[bottler]

I may not have been clear enough, about 5L from one dj went down the drain as it smelt off when bottling. The other dj I bottled anyway, primed and marked so I can remember it.

I have 10L in cold after 1 week in the warm and maybe 6L still in the warm. I wanted to just chuck it all in a paddy but it can't do any harm and all the hard work is done.

I need a better sanitiser and cleaning / preperation routine, maybe a budget keg and another decent beer kit to restore the faith that this can work out well!

I just use cheap thin bleach from tesco, 2 litres for 29p and use it as described in the sticky in this forum. I fill the fv with water and 1/2 cup of the bleach,[ as per coopers instructions] give it a stir and leave the spoon in,and airlock if you use one, and leave for 30 minutes at least. Then rinse well with hot water. For my bottles i use a rectangular plastic container filled with 20 litres of cold water and 10 teaspoons of bleach mixed in, stick in about 12 bottles at a time ,shake some of the water in each bottle empty back in to container, then rinse with hot water twice, then stick them onto bottle tree to drain, repeat until all forty bottles are on the bottle tree to drain. There are many other ways, and quicker ways, but thats what i do and it works for me.