Coopers Toucan

So on Sunday I started a toucan brew, using a can of Coopers APA and Coopers Lager. I'm still endeavouring to make a lager-ish style session beer, and after making a Woodfordes Sundew with LME (It was still a bit much to session) I decided to give this a try. A few people on here had recommended the APA kit as a starter for a custom style brew. Both kits have fairly low IBU as far as I'm aware so I'm excited to see how it pans out.
A couple of strange things have happened however(every brew I've done has had massive differences so far! 😂)

1. I'm 4 days in and the brew is almost finished (1.040-1.011 in 23l). I pitched both packets of yeast(14g) and I'm brewing at 18DegC...
2. I've had no airlock activity whatsoever..

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

Jackxm said:

So on Sunday I started a toucan brew, using a can of Coopers APA and Coopers Lager. I'm still endeavouring to make a lager-ish style session beer, and after making a Woodfordes Sundew with LME (It was still a bit much to session) I decided to give this a try. A few people on here had recommended the APA kit as a starter for a custom style brew. Both kits have fairly low IBU as far as I'm aware so I'm excited to see how it pans out.
A couple of strange things have happened however(every brew I've done has had massive differences so far! 😂)

1. I'm 4 days in and the brew is almost finished (1.040-1.011 in 23l). I pitched both packets of yeast(14g) and I'm brewing at 18DegC...
2. I've had no airlock activity whatsoever..

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

Click to expand...

Your lid is likely to be leaking if your airlock hasn't moved and yet the fermentation has nearly finished.
You might squeeze another point or two out of your brew if you raise the temperature a little, say 20*C, it shouldn't do any harm imo.
And your measured OG looks a bit down, compared to calculated using Brewers Friend which suggests 1.043, and which I find compares well with what I do. If so, you have done better than you thought. :thumb:
The AuPA kit responds well to a dry hop. Its my go-to kit and I am currently working through three at present, with either Cascade, Styrian Goldings or EKG. If you want a lager-ish beer you could try Saaz or Hallertau.

I currently have a Coopers toucan Stout on the bench and it seems to have brewed out in 5 days......Im going to let it sit all the same and wait till I hit the 14 day mark and bottle them up.

Jackxm said:

So on Sunday I started a toucan brew, using a can of Coopers APA and Coopers Lager. I'm still endeavouring to make a lager-ish style session beer, and after making a Woodfordes Sundew with LME (It was still a bit much to session) I decided to give this a try. A few people on here had recommended the APA kit as a starter for a custom style brew. Both kits have fairly low IBU as far as I'm aware so I'm excited to see how it pans out.
A couple of strange things have happened however(every brew I've done has had massive differences so far! 😂)

1. I'm 4 days in and the brew is almost finished (1.040-1.011 in 23l). I pitched both packets of yeast(14g) and I'm brewing at 18DegC...
2. I've had no airlock activity whatsoever..

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

Click to expand...

The Coopers yeast ferments out very quickly indeed and drops clear (flocculates well) too. This is because Coopers is a commercial brewery that relies on rapid product turn-around.

If you gradually raise the temps over the two week period home brewers tend to use for the fermentation, you will get very good attenuation as well. That is, you get good alcohol production and a low final gravity.

When I use the Coopers yeast now, it does tend to be two 7g packs and - Oh Boy - does it kick out fast.

I would also endorse the suggestion of adding some more hops, if you have any to hand. A dry hop or a hop tea will give this beer a definite lift.

Thanks for the replies. As always terrym your insight is much obliged! Indeed, perhaps having only brewed with the woodfordes yeast this is somewhat of a surprise. If the fermentation is finished in the next day I'll probably leave it for 10 in total before bottling.

Also, discovered the leak is coming from the small black rubber bung around the airlock. And both of my FV lids have this issue.

Jackxm said:

Thanks for the replies. As always terrym your insight is much obliged! Indeed, perhaps having only brewed with the woodfordes yeast this is somewhat of a surprise. If the fermentation is finished in the next day I'll probably leave it for 10 in total before bottling.

Also, discovered the leak is coming from the small black rubber bung around the airlock. And both of my FV lids have this issue.

Click to expand...

Coopers kits come with a variety of yeasts, see post 18 in here noting that this is now slightly out of date for their new range.
https://club.coopers.com.au/coopers-forum/topic/7290/.
They all perform differently, e.g the Irish Stout yeast and the Original Stout yeasts are different and I have found they ferment out at very different rates (the Original much quicker). The Euro lager comes with a lager yeast but Coopers recommend it's fermented out at ale temperatures unless you increase the yeast quantity for lower temps, the Au Lager comes with an ale yeast, and the AuPA comes with a mix of lager and ale yeasts.
However as others have said they all do their job, and personally I see no reason to change them for reasons of reliability, as is the case for other kit yeasts.
Finally I recommend that you leave your brew in the FV for at least 2 weeks which will allow the yeast to finish it's job, and will mean it's clear or nearly clear which reduces the yeast load going forward into your bottles, but with enough yeast left to carbonate.

I shall do just that!
I'm now planning on dry hopping this with Saaz after doing some reading and from your recommendation. What would the best way to go about this be? Could a hop tea still work?
Seeing differing ideas and opinions. I have a homebrew shop nearby I can buy from, which means I can add the hops and add them before the brew is finished.

Jackxm said:

I shall do just that!
I'm now planning on dry hopping this with Saaz after doing some reading and from your recommendation. What would the best way to go about this be? Could a hop tea still work?
Seeing differing ideas and opinions. I have a homebrew shop nearby I can buy from, which means I can add the hops and add them before the brew is finished.

Click to expand...

This might help for dry hopping.
A Newbies Guide to Dry Hopping Your Beer - The HomeBrew Forum
What I do now for dry hopping is to chuck the hops in and use a small homebrew nylon sock over the end of the siphon (that's at the FV end) at packaging.
I would not dry hop until the primary has properly finished. If it were me I would add the hops at day ten and package at day 15 or 16.
Hop teas are OK, and are supposed to suck more flavour out of the hops. What I have done is to make up a tea using water at about 80*C let it cool and then chuck liquid and hops into the brew.
The quantity of hops to use in a dry hop or tea is really down to hops used and personal taste. If you are using Saaz and fyi I used 40g of Saaz in a Coopers Euro Lager recently (never used Saaz before) and it turned out OK.