#12 - Brewers Choice Traditional IPA [Extract]

Since my original coopers IPA in brew #3 had completely run out I decided it was time for another IPA. I so impressed with the process of making the Weissbier in brew #11 that I went with another Brewers Choice kit. When making kits you never have any experience of steeping grains (at least not initially) but this IPA had several types of grains to be steeped and a couple of types of hops. They were all contained in their own tea bag things but you could smell that "IPA smell" from one of the grain bags and I was really impressed with that. I didn't realise that certain types of grain could have such an affect on the taste.

Please excuse the apparent filth of the cooker but it was rusting before I moved in here. :P  I have the grains and hops steeping in a pot of boiled water which is sitting on a wooden board to keep in some of the heat. This steeping is done 3 times. The coopers malt extract is also heating up in the back along with a Alexander's Pale Kicker which I later dumped as it was old and smelt disgusting.

When bottling the brew I used dextrose for the fist time without a bottling bucket. If there is one method that makes the misery of bottling worse then this has to be it. It was an awful mess, when adding the dextrose to the beer, it foamed out of the bottles. When adding the dextrose first it then foamed meaning it took twice as long as it required waiting till the foam died down. I was also conservative with the amount I put in with slightly less than 1 teaspoon. I opened a bottle earlier in the week and it wasn't carbonated yet which has quelled my previous worry that the whole batch would start exploding. : /

I will update this as the picture changes.


Stats:
Started - 28.8.11
Racked - NA
Finished - 08.09.11
Bottled - 08.09.11
Code - 1012
Yeast Brand - B.C Yeast
Yeast Code -  DZB 6G
Y-Temp -  22.0
Beer/Product Type -   Brewers Choice Traditional IPA
Malt/Sugar Type - 1.5kG Coopers LME Amber
Volume -  23.0 L
OG - 1058 
FG -  1017
Proof  - 6.00 (Including 0.5% Priming)

#11 - Brewers Choice Bavarian Weissbier [Extract]

This brew was my 2nd attempt at making a beer that had that sweet distinctive Weissbier taste that I had hoped to emulate in brew #2. The key ingredient that was missing in that brew to create that taste was the correct type of yeast. This was not a problem with this kit. The Brewers Choice kits are also a bit more 'involved' than the traditional kit type as they have separate hops, grains, DME and an additional malt extract which you buy separately. 

I chose to buy an LME(wheat) for this brew as it was recommended as a means of getting the highest quality possible out of the kit. I also made my first yeast starter which I'm sure wasn't made correctly as I just used a bit of sugar and water to make it. I left it for 4 or 5 hours and it had grown quite a bit but I have no idea whether it was too much, too little and I wasn't bothered checking that website that tells you the correct amount of yeast to pitch into wort. Either way it was fine and it really does reinforce what I read on a forum recently, "its quite hard to screw up a batch of beer". I would tend to agree with this when kits are concerned. My tract record of venturing outside kit territory has been fraught with failure so far! :) 

The end result was very positive, it had 'the' taste that I was looking for and the first taste induces that "mmmm German beer" mental comment when you drink it.


Stats:
Started - 28.7.11
Racked -  28.8.11
Finished - 2.8.11
Bottled - 14.8.11
Code - 1011
Yeast Brand - Muntons Yeast
Yeast Code - NA
Y-Temp - 21.0
Beer/Product Type -   Brewers Choice Bavarian Weissbier 
Malt/Sugar Type - 1.5kG Coopers Wheat
Volume -  24.0 L
OG - 1055
FG -  1018
Proof  - 5.46 (Including 0.5% Priming)

#9 - St. Peters Ruby Red Ale [Kit]

I was informed about this kit after seeing a couple of videos making the kit and later tasting it. I was impressed by the little bit of extra hops that they supplied and it fed my urges to have more control over my batches. The kit also came highly recommended from several sources so I decided to give it a shot after seeing it stocked in my local home-brew store. 

This brew is quite slow to ferment and it really needs to be left in the primary fermenter for a full 2 weeks as it took nearly a week for the beer to get from a FG of 1018 down to 1016. I had a similar experience to that in the tasting video as I opened a bottle after 2 weeks and was very underwhelmed. I had high expectations yet the head retention was quite poor but the taste was still quite nice. 

This image is after opening a brew almost 2 months after bottling, I think I got a bad leaky bottle as there was very little hiss when I opened the bottle (Coopers Plastic bottles). The head disappeared relatively soon but the taste was quite nice. The colour is pretty much as you would expect. I'm hoping that by the time I have the next beer tasting it will have "sorted itself out". :) Overall a nice brew and I would recommend it. 

Stats:
Started - 10.7.11
Racked - NA
Finished - 20.7.11
Bottled - 21.7.11
Code - 1009
Yeast Brand - St. Peters Premium
Yeast Code - XHZB6G
Y-Temp - 26.0 
Beer/Product Type -  St Peters Ruby Red Ale
Malt/Sugar Type - Rye Malt Extract, Barley Malt Extract, Hops
Volume -  23.0L
OG - 1044
FG - 1016
Proof  - 4.25% (Including 0.5% for priming)

#6 - Coopers European Lager [Kit]

I tried this brew as I was looking to make some kind of light beer that didn't need the lime slice like brew#1 and wasn't as heavy as brews #3 or #5. I didn't like how mainstream it looked (I'm the type that judges a book by its cover) but I was willing to give it a chance. I made the brew at one of my beer tasting sessions with a load of friends. They were all curious to see the process so it made sense.

There was nothing out of the ordinary to report during the fermentation process of this beer.Although there was plenty to talk about from the bottling stage. I had previously primed all my bottles with 1 carbonation drop each while being aware that 1 drop is actually suited to 330ml bottles. For this batch I chopped a load of drops in half and put 1.5 drops into each bottle thinking it would be fine. It was fine.....kinda.... The beer was definitely over carbonated in the end which I didn't expect. I genuinely thought I was putting the perfect amount of sugar in and I had read in several places of others doing the same with positive results.

Instead I noticed that there had been "seepage" on some of the Grolsch bottles that I had stored the beer in. The pressure had obviously built up to such a degree that it had vented out through the swing top. I found this worrying and interesting at the same time. I did some searching around and found that it was indeed rare for Grolsch bottles to explode and this 'self venting' feature commonly noticed. I enjoy the 'POP' when opening a normal Grolsch bottle but opening the ones containing the lager was unbelievable. It was shocking how loud it was, it makes a room full of people go quiet!  :)  

I did let it age for much longer than I normally had done for previous beers.This was partly due to fear that a bottle would explode in my face if I disturbed it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the taste which was very refreshing and a little sweet which was a good thing. I don't know if I would bother brewing another Lager as I don't have any space or equipment to store it in cool temperatures for several weeks. I would probably make a pale ale instead. 

Stats:

Started - 4.6.11
Racked - NA
Finished - 11.6.11
Bottled - 12.6.11
Code - 1006
Yeast Brand - Coopers Lagar 
Yeast Code - 1011
Y-Temp - 20
Beer/Product Type -  Coopers European Lager
Malt/Sugar Type - 1.5kgCoopers Extract Light
Volume -  23L
OG - 1045
FG - 1013
Proof  - 4.8% (Including 0.5% for priming)

#5 - Muntons Premium Gold [Kit]

This was the most expensive kit that I had purchased to date but unlike any of the coopers kits, this one contains everything that you need in one box. There are two blank cans of hopped (LME) liquid malt extract in the box and a sachet of yeast. Its hard to tell if one of them is plain LME or not but the final flavour is so strong that it would lead me to believe that both are hopped. 

The recipe calls for more boiling water (3.5L) than I had normally being using (2L) for each kit. This increased the amount of time it took to cool the wort down to a point at which it was safe to pitch the yeast. I just put the fermenter into the sink with some ice water for an hour and that did the job, albeit slowly. 

I don't have any images of this brew after 1 week but it followed the same pattern as the IPA in brew #3. It tasted quite nice after 2 weeks and tasted fantastic after a month. I was very impressed with the kit although I did have higher expectations given the price. The flavour was much stronger than that of the IPA#3 which I wasn't expecting but was a welcome surprise all the same. 

Stats:

Started - 17.5.11
Racked - NA
Finished - 20.5.11
Bottled - 21.5.11
Code - 1005
Yeast Brand - Premium
Yeast Code - 15310W
Y-Temp - 24.5
Beer/Product Type -  Muntons Premium Gold 
Malt/Sugar Type - Dual Beer Can kit
Volume -  23L
OG - 1058
FG - 1020
Proof  - 5.6% (Including 0.5% for priming) 

#3 - Coopers IPA [Kit]

While getting into brewing I was simultaneously getting into craft beer. In fact it was during a few drinks in one of  my favourite pubs, Mulligans, where I decided to start brewing. Previous to this my only real taste of anything out of the ordinary was an occasional Erdinger, Paulaner or Hoegaarden.  I enjoyed these beers immensely of course but regarded them as a treat rather than something I would drink frequently. I was hoping to achieve an Erdinger-type taste with brew #2 and it was fine flavour-wise...Yet by the time it came to drinking it I had already been frequently drinking a massive range of hoppy beers while it was conditioning. I felt it tasted very bland (which I now unfortunately think of Erdinger now too) after experiencing the roller-coaster of flavour from the craft beers.

Getting to the point.... this was why I decided to brew an IPA which at the time and still is now, my favourite type of beer. Given that I was getting a bit snobby with my tastes I didn't want to settle for the "standard" coopers ale yeast and went for an apparently fancier 'Safale US-05'. I chose to use 1kg of dry malt extract which wasn't a bad decision but I feel that a future brew using 1.5kg of liquid malt extract would make a better brew with a higher alcohol content.

This is an image of the beer after 2 weeks in bottles. I was blown away by the taste and head retention after such a short period of time. This brew was one of the best kits of I made and one of the few I would make again repeatedly for a delicious session beer. I found that the hop flavour definitely faded over time. The last remaining bottles after a period of about 4/5 months seemed very lightly hopped when compared to the original taste I remember from the first month.

Stats:

Started - 13.5.11
Racked - NA
Finished - 16.5.11
Bottled - 16.5.11
Code - 1003
Yeast Brand - Safale US-05
Yeast Code - 022013IWB
Y-Temp - 24.5
Beer/Product Type -  Coopers Selection IPA
Malt/Sugar Type - Spraymalt Light 1kg
Volume -  24.0
OG - 1042
FG - 1016
Proof  - 4% (Including 0.5% for priming) 

#2 - Coopers Wheat Beer [Kit]

When I started with brewing I was extremely eager so I bought my 2nd brewing ingredients at the same time as buying the coopers kit. I got a couple of the lads over to give me a hand with this one as they were curious to see the process in action.

I was advised against using tap water by the local home brew store where I bought all the equipment as apparently the yeast doesn't like chlorine. I just buy 1 gallon containers of water in the local supermarket and it usually costs up to €5 for enough water to make up the 23L. 

After all the leaking (and straddling) issues with the previous batch I decided to pour boiling water on the seal around the lid. This softened up the rubber allowing it to be attached much tighter first time round. This took care of the problem for this brew but in subsequent brews it started leaking again despite this technique. I'm sure if I found some food safe lubricant it would do the trick but I have never seen it in any shops or home brew stores. 

This is an image of the brew after 1 week in the bottles, it is still very cloudy, has poor carbonation and non existent head as would be expected in this time frame. The only reason I opened it as I read good advice to drink your brew every week after it has been bottled to see how it is coming along and learn how it improves over time. This advice has proved very valuable so far. Its amazing how much difference a week can make!

Stats:

Started - 9.5.11
Racked - NA
Finished - 11.5.11
Bottled - 12.5.11
Code - 1002
Yeast Brand - Safebrew S-33
Yeast Code - 042011UVBE
Y-Temp - 23.5
Beer/Product Type -  Brewmaster Wheat Beer
Malt/Sugar Type - Malt Extract Wheat
Volume -  23.0
OG - 1057
FG - 1021
Proof  - 5.33 (Including 0.5% for priming) 

#1 - Coopers Mexican Cerveza [Kit]

This brew was my first foray into home brewing. It came with the older type of Coopers Beer Kit which has since been replaced with the newer, more simple design. I chose to go with this kit as it reduced the chances of forgetting something when starting your first brew and the instruction videos, both from Coopers and from Craig were a great start.

Coopers Home Brew Kit & Brew #2

Naturally being a complete beginner I simply followed the instructions and applied a lot of the tips from Craig's videos which document the process from start to finish very well. The only issue I had with the process was the difficulty of getting a good seal with the lid of the kit. For the first couple of days there was no bubbling from the airlock as the CO2 was being vented through the threads in the lid. With the help of SWMBO, who basically had to straddle the fermenter for grip,  I was able to tighten the lid! :)

Out of all my brews to date (13 at time of writing), this one was the only one to produce the Rhino Fart. I came home after work to find the apartment stinking of sulphur and rotten eggs. Being inexperienced, I immediately panicked thinking I had an infection! A quick search online revealed this to be a common occurrence and hence the name. This smell thankfully dissipated after a few days.

This is the image of the brew after 1 week of bottling. The lack of head, carbonation and clarity was expected but it didn't smell great. It still kinda smelt like sulphur and a bit like cider at the same time. It tasted a bit like cider too but these tastes and smells faded over time and it ended up being a great brew. I think the addition of light malt extract instead of the brew enhancer would improve this brew significantly.

I have an excel document which I use to keep track of all the brews so at the end of every post I will include this information about each brew. The names are all purposely small to save as much space as possible in the document.

Stats:

Started - 2.5.11

Racked - NA

Finished - 8.5.11

Bottled - 9.5.11 

Code - 1001

Yeast Brand - Coopers Standard 

Yeast Code - 21610W

Y-Temp - 26.0Deg

Beer/Product Type - International Mexican Cerveza 

Malt/Sugar Type - Brew Enhancer 2

Volume  - 25.0L

OG - 1040 

FG - 1012

Proof  - 4.25 (Including 0.5% Priming)