Coopers Original Stout Review

[BruinTuns]

Quick update on mine, hoping someone who has a few brews under his belt can advise.
I started it on 12/11 and bottled on the 24th so it's now had four weeks conditioning, two indoors, 2 in the cool shed.
I tried a few last night and, whilst it's not bad, it hasn't improved quite as much as I'd hoped.
Perhaps unwisely I also drank a bottle of Shepherd Neame double stout just for a comparison and to be honest I was disappointed. The Neame stout has more depth and flavour, altogether superior. Additionally my brew still has a bit of raw 'twang' to it, slight but discernable.
Does anyone know if four weeks conditioning is long enough? I don't mind waiting another month but I know a lot of lads have enjoyed this brew a lot younger than that.

 

[sloth]

Just got this on the go with 500g extra dark dme, 125g soft dark brown sugar, 375g golden granulated sugar and around 450g of honey, with a couple of generous teaspoon of cinnamon.
Og 1.048 brewed to 21 litres. Looking forward to this...

I only kegged this yesterday but thought I'd just test a few sips now, so I can compare it to the taste in the coming weeks/months. It's already fairly well carbonated, the coopers original yeast is impressive. A fg of 1.008 using the supplied formula puts this at 5.7%, I didn't quite add the recommended 140g of sugar to prime as it seemed a lot, so abv more likely to be 5.6%.
You can certainly taste that it's above 5-and-a-bit%, but I guess that will mellow with time. I don't get any honey flavour (which is a shame), and no cinnamon either. I'm not convinced cinnamon is a flavour I'd want in this kit anyway, certainly no more than a hint. What I could taste was very roasty and reminiscent of coffee, a little liquorice like, and with less smoothness and mouthfeel than I'd hoped. Maybe that's the result of only using 500g dme and the rest being sugar and honey; but had I used a full kilo of dme at full price, I might as well of bought a 'premium kit'.
I'll post again, once the magic of time to condition has passed on by, with a final verdict. I'm currently happy, but not overly thrilled and enthusiastic about this brews potential in this instance. Maybe if I'd got the kit and extra fermentables in a sale I'd have a different view right now, but I didn't. Ho hum...

Bruintuns, can't help you I'm afraid. Maybe it just needs more time, or you're more fussy than others who've enjoyed it after a few weeks. All of my ( Not very many) brews so far have been ok after a month, but much much nicer after 3.

 

[BruinTuns]

Cheers sloth I'll give it another month then see if it's improved. If it's still a bit 'thin' then next time I'll brew quite a bit shorter, maybe down to 19 litres or even 18.
I'm slightly surprised by your OG and abv. Both a bit higher than mine yet I added 50g more fermentables than you did with a kilo of BKE, 250g sugar and 250g Holland and Barrett malt extract.
I can only think that the H&B malt must be less fermentable than your honey and granulated sugar. Interesting..

 

[Jcdonnan]

Planning on doing this on Wednesday once I bottle my European lager, jus wondering if this was ok:
1 tin coopers stout
1kg dark dme
500g Demerara
Half tin black treacle
Brewed to 23l

I also have brewing sugar here, is it better to use that instead of the Demerara sugar?? Or even a beer enhancer? I have coopers beer enhsncer 1 and 2 here.

Cheers

 

[Toffee]

Sounds good. Only thing I would say is a full tin might be too much, from some who have done it. I used half a tin and then primed with normal sugar. Brew enhancer is just a mix of sugar and malt extract, think you have that covered.

 

[Jcdonnan]

Sounds good. Only thing I would say is a full tin might be too much, from some who have done it. I used half a tin and then primed with normal sugar. Brew enhancer is just a mix of sugar and malt extract, think you have that covered.

Just put it all in the fv, 1kg dark dme, just half the tin of treacle, went a bit overboard on the Demerara 400g! Got an OG of 1057!
Hope it turns out nice, smells great!
When it comes to bottling iv a load of coopers carbonation drops, are these ok? Have no secondary so can't batch prime at the minute. This is just my 3rd kit. If the drops are ok how many per 500ml bottle? I'm guessing just the 1?

 

[Toffee]

Yeah one will be fine. My stout is still warm conditioning in the bottle. Can't wait to taste it!

 

[sloth]

I only kegged this yesterday but thought I'd just test a few sips now, so I can compare it to the taste in the coming weeks/months. It's already fairly well carbonated, the coopers original yeast is impressive. A fg of 1.008 using the supplied formula puts this at 5.7%, I didn't quite add the recommended 140g of sugar to prime as it seemed a lot, so abv more likely to be 5.6%.
You can certainly taste that it's above 5-and-a-bit%, but I guess that will mellow with time. I don't get any honey flavour (which is a shame), and no cinnamon either. I'm not convinced cinnamon is a flavour I'd want in this kit anyway, certainly no more than a hint. What I could taste was very roasty and reminiscent of coffee, a little liquorice like, and with less smoothness and mouthfeel than I'd hoped. Maybe that's the result of only using 500g dme and the rest being sugar and honey; but had I used a full kilo of dme at full price, I might as well of bought a 'premium kit'.
I'll post again, once the magic of time to condition has passed on by, with a final verdict. I'm currently happy, but not overly thrilled and enthusiastic about this brews potential in this instance. Maybe if I'd got the kit and extra fermentables in a sale I'd have a different view right now, but I didn't. Ho hum...

Bruintuns, can't help you I'm afraid. Maybe it just needs more time, or you're more fussy than others who've enjoyed it after a few weeks. All of my ( Not very many) brews so far have been ok after a month, but much much nicer after 3.

after two and a half weeks cool conditioning it's getting better. Still not great, the alcoholic taste is very strong, more like you'd expect from 6 or 7% brews, and lacking any depth of flavour. I think a slight hint of coffee would be a very well matched additional flavour. It needs to get much better to live up to the hype, but it's still early days...
Also no head retention at all. Plenty carbonated, but the froth from pouring is gone after 5mins.
I'll post again in a month with a final verdict, could go either way at this point...

 

[BruinTuns]

@ sloth: "Still not great, the alcoholic taste is very strong, more like you'd expect from 6 or 7% brews, and lacking any depth of flavour. I think a slight hint of coffee would be a very well matched additional flavour. It needs to get much better to live up to the hype, but it's still early days...
Also no head retention at all. Plenty carbonated, but the froth from pouring is gone after 5mins."

Exactly like mine, I totally agree with every word of that description. Mine's been conditioning 6 weeks now, and I have to say that although it's quite drinkable it's also far from delicious and I'm not yet able to understand the hype for this kit.
So far it's ok but no more than that. I will be patient with it, maybe it's a slow improver...

 

[sloth]

Mmmmm, if this kit doesn't drastically improve with ageing I won't be doing it again, unless it's in a sale and I can't stretch the extra bit of cash for a two can kit!

 

[BruinTuns]

Someone - sorry, can't remember who & can't find the post - recommended doubling this up with a Wilko's stout to brew as a two can kit. Might give that a try as I have two more of the Cooper's which I bought in the Tesco sale on the (over?) enthusiastic recommendations.

 

[Robert_]

Someone - sorry, can't remember who & can't find the post - recommended doubling this up with a Wilko's stout to brew as a two can kit. Might give that a try as I have two more of the Cooper's which I bought in the Tesco sale on the (over?) enthusiastic recommendations.

The Coopers is far nicer than the Wilko IMO. I would keep them apart. Currently I have an 18l Wilko stout brewing to try and give it more body.

 

[TheSalad]

Coopers Stout is my second kit (Wherry being the first) and I have been very impressed by it. I made it exactly as per the instructions and I must say it has proved to be a lovely pint. I am getting through it quite quickly so have bought another kit from homebrewonline on their ebay site at £13.90 with free delivery, this being the best price I could find. Tesco's is well expensive at the mo at £19 and Wilkos currently at £14.

My only frustration is that I have poor head retention, could be down to using washing up liquid when cleaning bottles or because it's still a young beer, I read that head retention can improve as the beer ages in the bottle. Anyway, not complaining as still bloomin lovely. Here is my pic or my second brew.

 

[Smileyr8]

Someone - sorry, can't remember who & can't find the post - recommended doubling this up with a Wilko's stout to brew as a two can kit. Might give that a try as I have two more of the Cooper's which I bought in the Tesco sale on the (over?) enthusiastic recommendations.

I have done Cerberus Imperial Stout and very nice it is.

 

[proost]

Coopers Stout is my second kit (Wherry being the first) and I have been very impressed by it. I made it exactly as per the instructions and I must say it has proved to be a lovely pint. I am getting through it quite quickly so have bought another kit from homebrewonline on their ebay site at £13.90 with free delivery, this being the best price I could find. Tesco's is well expensive at the mo at £19 and Wilkos currently at £14.

My only frustration is that I have poor head retention, could be down to using washing up liquid when cleaning bottles or because it's still a young beer, I read that head retention can improve as the beer ages in the bottle. Anyway, not complaining as still bloomin lovely. Here is my pic or my second brew.

As to poor head retention, I boil 100g Crushed Wheat Malt for about 30 minutes in 1L of water and add to the FV. I always get a nice head.
I have done this kit loads of times, always comes out lovely.
☺

 

[DoctorMick]

I tried my coopers stout with chocolate and vanilla last night. :sick: Fingers crossed more time in the bottle will have a positive impact otherwise it's going down the sink. :cry:

 

[BruinTuns]

I tried my coopers stout with chocolate and vanilla last night. :sick: Fingers crossed more time in the bottle will have a positive impact otherwise it's going down the sink. :cry:

Oh dear.. How long has it had so far?

 

[DoctorMick]

Oh dear.. How long has it had so far?

Only a couple of weeks to be fair but it's got a distance to go before its drinkable. It's incredibly bitter at the minute, must have used too dark a chocolate...probably doesn't help that I don't like dark chocolate! :lol:

 

[Toffee]

Mine is pretty nice. It's been 4 weeks now. I had a sample after two, and it was rough around the edges. Tried one a few days ago and it was much improved. Very drinkable. I'm going to leave it for another week or two I think....if I can wait that long.

 

[BruinTuns]

DM, just my tuppenceworth but I really wouldn't 'sink' it (heh heh! See what I did?) for at least a few months. I've read too many posts where lads have done that only to find an overlooked bottle or two a year later at the back of the garage and discovered that time had somehow transformed it into the best beer they'd ever drank. At the very least I'd save a few bottles as a long term experiment. Hope it improves mate. Hope mine does too, come to that..


Toffee, I'm assuming that's 4 weeks conditioning, not since starting it?