homebrew tastetest

I have gone through every coopers homebrew flavour at coles and can confirm that the pale ale is the best by far. Stout isnt bad either.
And at only $20 for 20 litres (including dextrose) is fantastic value for the budget conscious pisshead.

Actually I havent tried the canadian blonde flavour yet. But assuning that's as fruity as canadians Pale Ale is the best

I'm also a homegrown connoisseuir, but dont want to offend the policeman with talk of my illegal seed breeding genius.

I have to agree with you, the Pale Ale is the best. I add a little malt and some hops to mine.
Comes up very nice.

So tell me did you guys buy a boxed kit, or the various pieces separately. I bought a book today in which the author claimed that using yeast provided in these kits and the use of sugar will produce pretty ordinary beer.

Definitely don't use sugar, dextrose/brew enhancer is best. The yeast is alright, but you can get better, more specific types of yeast if you want. I just use the yeast on the can unless I am trying to make something extra special. A nice easy one that I do is as follows.

Coopers Pale Ale
Coopers Brew enhancer 2
1x Cascade Hop.

It's that easy. the hops make a huge difference. I do others that are trial and error and add malts and other extracts, but this one has
proven a good beer every time and easy to do.

I brew mine at around 18 degrees c. I have a fridge for the purpose with a thermostatic on/off switch connected to the power.
When it is all brewed I drop the temp to around 6 Celsius for a few days, this is cold filtering.

If you brew it hot, as many people do to speed up the process, it gets that bad home brew flavour. Keep it cool, allow it to fully
brew out and once bottled allow it to mature and you will have a nice beer that people will not believe is home brew.

Ive never used hops, I better look into it. And ive been using brew enhancer 1, because the can doesnt say which to use and 1 is cheaper.
Does it ferment within a week at 18 degrees?


Butch I had the coopers brewkit, which I left at home in WA.
I now have a plastic jerrycan I bought at bunnings. With a tap at the bottom. And the airlock and grommet in the lid at the top.
Works fine. You dont need anything else. When the airlock stops bubbling its fermented.

If I didnt already have the airlock, Idve left one of the lids off and put a wet cloth over it. And after a week look inside to make sure its stopped bubbling before bottling.

It takes a little bit longer, not heaps more, but is well worth it. Many people only brew in winter as it is easier to control the lower temps.

The Hops come in a sealed foil packet and look like a big tea bag. You just pop it into a cup of boiling water and leave for 5-10 mins and then just add the whole lot (bag and water) to your brew before putting the lid on. Makes a huge difference to flavour and for the minimal cost well worth it. I don't think you can get them at the supermarket. I get mine from the local home brew shop.

I've been a bit lazy lately and haven't done any for some months now. I might have to put some down this week.
The thought has got my juices flowing. Have been doing some spirits though.

I did a couple of brews in a 20l Jerry can (blue ones for water) to see if it would work. It worked a treat. Don't put the lid on
just cover spout with a few layers of glad wrap and use a rubber band to hold it on. As the gasses build up they will be forced
out under the rubber band. No need for a water air lock. I do the same think on my round drums. Plastic over the top and
use the o ring out of the lid as the rubber band to hold it in place. I have done it this way for a few years now and have
never had a problem.

Gladwrap is a good idea.
What was the outlay for spirits? And could you have made it yourself ?

So what do I need to get started? If say I did the one you mentioned DBT.

Apocalypse prettysoon wrote:Gladwrap is a good idea.
What was the outlay for spirits? And could you have made it yourself ?

The still's are pretty pricey. I think around $600 for a setup with all the gear. Mine was given
to me as a gift many years ago. A mate of mine did make one up using an old beer keg. Worked perfectly.
Probably wouldn't be that hard if you did a little research on set up and were handy with some tools (soldering/cutting/welding).
Otherwise a bit of trial and error.

If you can find one a second hand that is probably the way to go. As with many things people lash out, buy all the gear and after a
short time stick it in the shed as they can't be bothered. My local brew shop quite often has second hand ones for sale in near new condition.

Bulldog wrote:So what do I need to get started? If say I did the one you mentioned DBT.

I'm just about to head into town so will get some prices while I am there so the guesstimate is fairly close.

Bulldog wrote:So what do I need to get started? If say I did the one you mentioned DBT.

Can of Coopers Pale Ale - $13.66
Coopers brewenhancer 2 - $5.88
1 pack cascade hops - $4.00

Grand total of $23.54 for 2.5 cartons of beer. A very simple and nice starter beer. If you don't like hops just leave them out. Mind you there are lots of different hops for different beers. Cascade is an American hop which I like in a Pale Ale. The variations of ingredients you can try are only limited by your imagination and what you like. It's all about experimenting and enjoying what you have created.

woolworths had a full coopers start up kit for $95

My local homebrew shop does them for $100. I think his comes with better stuff as he makes it up for you and throws in a copy
of Brewing Crafts, all you need do is supply your own water for your first batch. A fantastic book on all sorts of brewing, well worth getting a copy. That is how I started up, I bought from the home brew shop and he made the kit up for me. I would advise also getting a proper bottle capper. They are about $55. The one in the supermarket kit is one you hit with a hammer, not a best idea with glass bottles, and slow.

Regardless of where you buy your kit from if you get a proper hand caper you are up for a start up price of $150 (ingredients for a beer included)

I prefer to buy from the home brew shop and support him. If I need advice, ideas or help with something I need only stop in or phone him, Woolworths won't/can't do that for you, you are on your own. So by using the home brew shop you also get a free beer making adviser/assistant/trouble shooter and years of experience thrown in with your purchase. This can save a lot of time when trying new things and heartache if something isn't going right.

Did you price the spirits distillery?
And what kind of output do you get from one?

I
dont bother with glass bottles, since it doesnt last long enough to
bother. I use soft drink bottles. Quick and easy.Maybe not so nice as
glass but saves alot of time.

I also use a drop of chlorine
dioxide per bottle filled with water as steriliser. Really easy. Its a
concentrated form of peroxide you can buy online.I bought it for my
plants. Its the stuff in rainwater that makes them grow so much better
when it rains compared to when you use tap water.

Alright got a coopers kit $87.95. According to the instructions it contains every thing necessary to make the first brew. Time for some reading.

Well here goes, i used to brew my own , so here is a tip. When it says bottle for 14 days its for a reason. I did ay first, then drank it. Next time i thought 13 days would be ok too,eventually getting into it, after 3 or 4 days. Made me crook i could feel it brewing in my gut had to get rid of the kit. So dont attack it to early

Bulldog wrote:Alright got a coopers kit $87.95. According to the instructions it contains every thing necessary to make the first brew. Time for some reading.

Mate the main thing is to make sure everything is properly sterilised. They probably had some powder in the kit you purchased. Try and keep the
temp low, say around 20. I do mine around 18 degrees. It tastes a whole lot better fermented at cooler temps. Like anything, after you have done a few it is easy. Once you have bottled them be patient. I take it you probably have large plastic bottles. Try doing 6 stubbies as well and try 1 each week or 2 so you can appreciate how it is changing and how it does improve with age. You only need do this the once so you understand the taste differences. The problem when you first start is the waiting. I run a couple of fermenters at a time, make them all up together rather than sterilising and cleaning up twice. Click on the image below for 2 pages I scanned out of the book I referred to in my earlier post. I highly recommend this book as a must have for brewing beer, spirits and wine, Brewing Crafts by Mike Rodgers-Wilson.

I ended up putting down 2 Pale Ales this evening. Have a Coopers Sparkling Ale and a Kilkenny to do after I bottle them.

Too much work! BUY beer you tight ass bastards.

Apocalypse prettysoon wrote:Did you price the spirits distillery?
And what kind of output do you get from one?

I did price one for you and now can't remember if he said $650 or $750. It was one of those prices give or take $100, I'm leaning toward $750 though.

What he tells people is budget for $1000. After you buy the still you need/will want to buy 2 fermenting drums, flavours, yeast, sterelising solution, bottles(demi johns), spirit hydrometer, carbon and some parts to make a filter. You would probably have some of the stuff anyway.

I personally don't think it would take $1000, but he is the man selling them and seeing what people end up spending.

Out of a 25L wash you can get around 5L of spirit above 90% (generally 93%). this 5L will make up around 15L at 38%. This is all give or take a litre or so, depends how well your wash has fermented and a few other things. They say that it has a flow of 1.2l per hour. I will attach pic of the brochure I collected for you.

I only use mine for making essential oils and distilled water for my aromatherapy of course, I am just aware that the above can occur from idle chit chat I have had with others.

alexisio wrote:Too much work! BUY beer you tight ass bastards.

Hey it's not just about the money. Some of my better beers taste a lot better than that
mass produced shit sold to us as beer. Made nearly purely of sugar with just the littlest
amount of malt they can get away with to give it the semblance of having taste. After
you drink decent home brew or other beer our local beers don't taste real good at all, an
almost chemical flavour to them. You get used to it again pretty quickly though. Coopers
beers are nice but a bit pricey for what they are.

ye VB tastes like beer cordial to me

In a shtf scenario a still could be the equivalent of a modern day Mc Donalds. If you can make grog, tobacco(or other smoke )or something to bet on you will be rich.

Might be time to stack sugar and yeast

Alright alright, a man can't get a word in edgewise. I put the first brew down last night, running at 20degrees this morning. Mrs is already complaining about my taking over the bathroom. Big question. When I lifted the lid there's what i assume is yeast sitting on top the brew in an almost perfect oblong looks for all the world like a sponge ! any thoughts anyone?

You are right, that would be the yeast doing its thing. Don't think I have ever noticed it in an oblong shape. It should eventually cover the whole top of your brew in a thick foamy substance. This is normal.