I am a massive fan of Coopers and have been drinking there beers for years
this year i got one of these kits and on my 5th brew at the moment.
I have got in to what we call 2 can brewing where we get 2 cans of the extracts there is a real nice Coopers Vintage recipe on there site 🙂
I saw they have a new version of this kit with a new design for the Fermenter.
PS as I live in the same state as Coopers so it is handy that they are local 🙂
Hi Craig. Still learning mate. Kegged my 1st batch of Youngs Lager, just waiting now to taste. My fermenter didn’t have a Carbon release, so bought one, fitted it. I have Geordie Larger Fermenting for 3 days now and its still no Bubbles. Got it in my airing cupboard. Any ideas mate.
Hi Craig,
Your videos are excellent, I’ve watched quite a few of them and no doubt will be looking at more soon – you’re a great teacher and a sound guy! I just started my first batch of home brew tonight. I got a Brewcraft Starter Brewery kit which is pretty similar to the Coopers one except you buy the bottles separately. The beer that comes with it is Munich Lager and it has the enhancer instead of plain dextrose – it smelled good so I have a good feeling about it.
Cheers,
Aidan in NZ
@CraigTube Thanks Craig. I’ll try leaving them a few more days and see if they warrant another drop. Perhaps the bitter taste I’m getting is due to the ale type yeast supplied with the kit. By the way have you ever tried the coopers canadian blond kit? I want to try that one next
@nellythebellyberg I get asked a lot about using the drops with 500ml bottles. If they’re plastic, I would try the second drop if they don’t improve in a few days. Remember that will add another week to conditioning, so decide if you just want to drink them now and do it different next time. That lager you made is actually supposed to be fermented like an ale, so 24 is fine. If it’s still cloudy, it’s still working, so give it some more time. Place the bottles in a wormer place if you can.
. . . and add another drop? What temp do you store your bottles at during priming? Also the beer was still a bit cloudy and had a bit of a bitter taste (nothing too bad – doubt contamination). Do you think this will improve with time? It was fermented at around 24 deg like the kit states, although I have since read that lager should be fermented at 10 deg since then. Any thoughts? Thanks man – keep up the good work
Hi Craig. Great vids! I recently brewed a batch of coopers lager, pretty much exactly like you have done in your videos. The bottles I used were 500ml, and I used one carbonation drop (because I was too much of a pussy to use two in case I had a series of explosions on my hands!!). That was a week ago and I have been keeping the bottles in my sitting room. I recently cracked one and it seemed a bit flat. Do you think one drop is enough for a 500ml bottle? If not do you think I could open them .
Make sure to pull the curtain down there for the newcomers, direct sunlight or florescent light will damage the beer and make it skunky. Maybe it should be mentioned on the vid as there is a window just by the fermenter =) That was the only thing i reacted on, great job Craig with these videos, it made me start brewing.
@rocknrolla81 It’s not worth pouring it back in. I usually drink it to see if everything went well. It’s flat, but it’s still good to monitor the taste.
hello craig! i have a question… when you do your hydrometer test towards the end of the process near the bottling stage what do you do with the beer in your hydrometer tube? Do you dump it back into the fermenter? Is it ok to open the top at that stage? I’am new to brewing and I wasn’t sure. Thanks for your time. -Jason
@supervascular You can check out my website. There is a cider recipe on there that will get you about 13%. All that you need is 100% apple juice, corn sugar, cider yeast and time.
hey craig i want to thank you and pei steeljan and wierdbeer and joe watch your alls videos have convinced me to give it a go as i t ype my kit is in transit i really appreciate the work put into the videos and how informative they are as watched you folks for my taste extract and partial will be all i need to enjoy the hobby any advice on keeping fermentation temp down in a hot climate like here in fla would be most welcome…….ty all once again and kudos
25 Responses to Easy Home Brewing with a Cooper’s Micro Brew Kit
philby1979
December 25th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
very good video mate, keep them up.
I am a massive fan of Coopers and have been drinking there beers for years
this year i got one of these kits and on my 5th brew at the moment.
I have got in to what we call 2 can brewing where we get 2 cans of the extracts there is a real nice Coopers Vintage recipe on there site 🙂
I saw they have a new version of this kit with a new design for the Fermenter.
PS as I live in the same state as Coopers so it is handy that they are local 🙂
Ste7559
December 25th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Hi Craig. Still learning mate. Kegged my 1st batch of Youngs Lager, just waiting now to taste. My fermenter didn’t have a Carbon release, so bought one, fitted it. I have Geordie Larger Fermenting for 3 days now and its still no Bubbles. Got it in my airing cupboard. Any ideas mate.
aidancurran1
December 25th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Hi Craig,
Your videos are excellent, I’ve watched quite a few of them and no doubt will be looking at more soon – you’re a great teacher and a sound guy! I just started my first batch of home brew tonight. I got a Brewcraft Starter Brewery kit which is pretty similar to the Coopers one except you buy the bottles separately. The beer that comes with it is Munich Lager and it has the enhancer instead of plain dextrose – it smelled good so I have a good feeling about it.
Cheers,
Aidan in NZ
CraigTube
December 25th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
@nellythebellyberg I’ve done it once. It was nice, if not a bit boring, but refreshing indeed.
nellythebellyberg
December 25th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
@CraigTube Thanks Craig. I’ll try leaving them a few more days and see if they warrant another drop. Perhaps the bitter taste I’m getting is due to the ale type yeast supplied with the kit. By the way have you ever tried the coopers canadian blond kit? I want to try that one next
CraigTube
December 25th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
@nellythebellyberg I get asked a lot about using the drops with 500ml bottles. If they’re plastic, I would try the second drop if they don’t improve in a few days. Remember that will add another week to conditioning, so decide if you just want to drink them now and do it different next time. That lager you made is actually supposed to be fermented like an ale, so 24 is fine. If it’s still cloudy, it’s still working, so give it some more time. Place the bottles in a wormer place if you can.
nellythebellyberg
December 25th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
. . . and add another drop? What temp do you store your bottles at during priming? Also the beer was still a bit cloudy and had a bit of a bitter taste (nothing too bad – doubt contamination). Do you think this will improve with time? It was fermented at around 24 deg like the kit states, although I have since read that lager should be fermented at 10 deg since then. Any thoughts? Thanks man – keep up the good work
nellythebellyberg
December 25th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Hi Craig. Great vids! I recently brewed a batch of coopers lager, pretty much exactly like you have done in your videos. The bottles I used were 500ml, and I used one carbonation drop (because I was too much of a pussy to use two in case I had a series of explosions on my hands!!). That was a week ago and I have been keeping the bottles in my sitting room. I recently cracked one and it seemed a bit flat. Do you think one drop is enough for a 500ml bottle? If not do you think I could open them .
homebrewgod
December 25th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Great vids mate. keep up the good work
everttaube97
December 25th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Make sure to pull the curtain down there for the newcomers, direct sunlight or florescent light will damage the beer and make it skunky. Maybe it should be mentioned on the vid as there is a window just by the fermenter =) That was the only thing i reacted on, great job Craig with these videos, it made me start brewing.
saintveil
December 25th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
How much yeast for the 5 gallons? Many videos are showing around 1oz per gallon…
CraigTube
December 25th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
@35moneyshot I would give it more time.
35moneyshot
December 25th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Hi craig. I just took my first FG reading this morning and it was 1013. Am i wrong thinking i should wait a few more days before bottling? Thanks.
CraigTube
December 25th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
@Ste7559 Sure, and much easier.
Ste7559
December 25th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
I have just started doing homebrew. I have a Keg instead of Bottles. Is the Keg as good as Bottles.
CraigTube
December 25th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
@gold3891 You will probably kill your yeast.
CraigTube
December 25th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
@rocknrolla81 It’s not worth pouring it back in. I usually drink it to see if everything went well. It’s flat, but it’s still good to monitor the taste.
gold3891
December 25th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
hi what would happen if i accidently didnt look at the tempreture gage before adding yeast and it was at 40 degrees????
gold3891
December 25th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
hi what would happen if i accidently didnt look at the tempreture gage before adding yeast and it was at 40 degrees????
rocknrolla81
December 25th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
hello craig! i have a question… when you do your hydrometer test towards the end of the process near the bottling stage what do you do with the beer in your hydrometer tube? Do you dump it back into the fermenter? Is it ok to open the top at that stage? I’am new to brewing and I wasn’t sure. Thanks for your time. -Jason
BAMBROSINC
December 25th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
@BAMBROSINC sorry, the home brew guru dot com no spaces.
BAMBROSINC
December 25th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
@supervascular You can check out my website. There is a cider recipe on there that will get you about 13%. All that you need is 100% apple juice, corn sugar, cider yeast and time.
bigbear34744
December 25th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
hey craig i want to thank you and pei steeljan and wierdbeer and joe watch your alls videos have convinced me to give it a go as i t ype my kit is in transit i really appreciate the work put into the videos and how informative they are as watched you folks for my taste extract and partial will be all i need to enjoy the hobby any advice on keeping fermentation temp down in a hot climate like here in fla would be most welcome…….ty all once again and kudos
CraigTube
December 25th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
@jhenager I have done it both ways and have not noticed any difference with that yeast.
jhenager
December 25th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
You should be rehydrating that yeast.