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druid

druid

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Good day everyone...serious newbie.

OK..quick question preceded by a short ramble which should show where my head is at. I have read that can kits can be a bit lacking in taste as too much sugar is added. OK...my Coopers stout tin is 1.7 K. How do I work out how much water I would add to this one can that would bring my OG to around 1.080 ( if I am understanding how to read the hydrometer ) Im not worried about getting the 23L that the kit is supposed to make. I am assuming I would get around 1/2 the intended volume..but Im more interested in taste than volume. If Im all washed up...feel free to say so....I can handle it..:mrgreen:

Cheers in advance

Dave...aka

Druid
 
Hi

I believe that if you was to add less sugar and add extra dark dme or lme that should bring up your sg to 1080. Less sugar will give you a thicker beer as more sugar will make thinner beer but slightly higher abv.

Also I would knock the brew down to maybe 15 ltrs.


Or you could just do a 10 ltr brew with 1 can and 1 pack of dme

I hope this helps

Big D 2657
 
Hey there,

1.080, that's going some, you might want to look in to doing a RIS, russian imperial stout. There is a recipe on the coopers website.

Alternatively brew short, use say 1.5 kg dime and some sugar or golden syrup.

You might also need to change the yeast as not sure the coopers will take that level of alcohol. From 1.08 if that goes below 1.02 your up to 8% and if you get below 1.01 your upwards of 9%
 
Just had a look back at the Coopers stouts I've done, 1 Coopers Stout with 1kg of Brew Enhancer with either 454g of Treacle or Malt Extract have given me 23L at about 6.7%. I've got one to do and it'll 1kg BE, 454g Treacle, 1 large expresso and 2 tsp of coco powder.
 
druid said:
Good day everyone...serious newbie.

OK..quick question preceded by a short ramble which should show where my head is at. I have read that can kits can be a bit lacking in taste as too much sugar is added. OK...my Coopers stout tin is 1.7 K. How do I work out how much water I would add to this one can that would bring my OG to around 1.080 ( if I am understanding how to read the hydrometer ) Im not worried about getting the 23L that the kit is supposed to make. I am assuming I would get around 1/2 the intended volume..but Im more interested in taste than volume. If Im all washed up...feel free to say so....I can handle it..:mrgreen:

Cheers in advance

Dave...aka

Druid
Click to expand...

Dave put brewers friend into google click on recipe builder have some fun building your own recipes, use the extract tab for kits
 
If you brew as high as OG 1.080 you might find the kit yeast alone is not up to fermenting out as you would like, unless you are after a sweetish stout. You are better off buying a medium to high alcohol tolerance yeast and using that instead of the kit yeast.
Personally I think there's enough going on in a Coopers stout (both sorts) without needing to concentrate the flavours by brewing really short.
There's plenty of ideas of what to add in the two kit review threads
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17818
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17817
My recipe is to use kit can and yeast, 500g dark DME, 500g golden syrup, 100g dark muscavado sugar, 4 shots strong espresso coffee (from beans not instant) and brewed to 19 litres, OG about 1.048, FG around 1.011. Best served from a PB imo:thumb:
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I looked at the Brewers friend website (a bit above me at this point) I used to brew a bit 15 years ago, and my recipe was 2 cans of what ever kits malt was in the primary...one week later, transfer it to a glass secondary, two weeks later add a cup of brewers sugar and bottle it. Never had a hydrometer...thermometer or one of those bottling things that stop pouring when you lift them off the bottom of the bottle.( surprisingly, what I brewed was not bad...) I thought I would give it a try again but learn more of what I am doing. I know I am not ready for all grain or the like, but thought I would try to figure out brewing a decent beer from cans first and then try to branch out from there. I read about small batch brewing which lets you learn and only produce small amounts ( not a bad idea if its a bust ) so I figured there are enough fermentables in the kit can of malt to brew a decent beer ( not worried about volume ) Once I can start to brew a decent beer in small quantities, I will try to add on ingredients and techniques that expand my knowledge base....and need for a second fridge..:)



PS...1.08 is a bit high ( still need to figure out how to read/use this thing ) the hope is to have beer in the 5 - 5.5% range
 
Coopers stout kits produce a lovely brew IMO and I tend to brew them short with extra DME to about 5.5 to 6% abv. This is at the top of the flavour profile I think though, any stronger and it would be seriously imbalanced, it would need a lot more Oomph to go higher and not taste like alcofizz. Perhaps do it twocan and steep some chocolate and roasted barley to boost the flavour, or go balls deep and do the RIS recipe off the coopers website.
 
Well, if I read your post correctly....


this is as camp as it gets...lol


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DJC-ECU8IE[/ame]



( hope no one takes offense )
 

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