Coopers dark ale....

Is a bloody SUPERB pint!!

In other news, the muntons old English was bottled tonight, i cant say i was that impressed with the taste straight out of the fermenter, so im hoping it clears up into a nice pint (im sure it will) but them 2 can kits seem to take an age to clear!! unlike the coopers stout done ditch styleeeeeeeeeee! fermented out in 3 days and drinkable straight out of the secondary... it too is SUPERB!! I think ill bottle it this weekend!

coopers kits cannot really be beat, there VERY hard to get wrong, will stand a bit of messing and ferment out to a good pint in an AMAZINGLY short period of time!!

coopers, we love you!!

Cheers

B..

Well, im in the bad books!!

The brewing is going well although due to a holiday and then being skint I haven't done one for a while!

Anyhow I finally got to put one in on Friday night, and showed a mate of mine how easy it is to do a kit brew as he was thinking of having a go himself! coopers dark, made with 500g of dark spraymalt and 700g of dextrose all mixed together gave me a nice SG of 1048.

Anyhow, 48 hours after the brewday i came downstairs to find this......


It seems I have had my first coopers explosion!! LOL. anyhow im in trouble as the wife had just put that tablecloth on the table the day i brewed....

ill be sure to tell you the outcome anyway, it smells SUPERB already!!

cheers!!

B..

Bloody Wherry...

The wherry i feel is a disaster, its been the bottle 3 weeks and still showing no sign of clearing :( reading between the lines on some homebrew forums it seems this is a common problem, needless to say i wont be wherrying again!!

in other news, the coopers IPA is a cracking drink, cleared in under a week and im drinking it as i type this, its bloomin SUPERB, to say it tasted shite straight out of the fermenter too I didn't hold much hope for it, but cleared and primed its VERY moreish!!

Next up a little experiment as a precursor to a bigger experiment.... My biggest critic (my dad) was complaining that i don't do a strong beer...... well that is over, as im going to do a youngs harvest Yorkshire bitter kit with 1kilo of enhancer and 1 kilo of sugar.... that should be strong enough!!

cheers

B..

Next up...

I finally bottled my wherry a few days ago, as an experiment I used a half teaspoon of sugar as opposed to the usual quarter. im just experimenting to see the affect on the head and what its like with a little more fizz in it, ill be sure to let you know the results as soon as its ready!!

This has sadly left me with an empty fermenter and nothing to put in it, leading to a few days of shall I shan't I ETC ETC.. after the disaster I had midweek breaking both my thermometer AND my hydrometer and the need to replace them AND buy a kit and enhancer busting my budget of around £20 i had to take drastic action...

I had a look on the website of "the thrifty shopper" for inspiration on my next kit, and to my surprise the coopers free enhancer offer is STILL on!! woohoo!! this meant i could replace my broken instruments with what i saved on not buying enhancer. So I opted for a coopers IPA new instruments, some bottle tops and the free enhancer add to that the P+P and the whole lot was a smidge over £21!! WINNER!! the fact the delivery is next day too makes it double win!!

So if you reading this thrifty shopper, thanks!! I will be back again for more!!

Cheers

B..

Turbo cider...

I have finally had chance to start my TC, been meaning to have a go for flipping ages!!

it really is the simplest stuff in the world, my recipe:-

5L tesco pressed apple juice, 250 gram of sugar, cup of tea (2 bags) and some high alcohol wine yeast

warm a litre of the juice up on the stove and dissolve the sugar within, add to a sanitised demijohn along with the tea and top up with the remaining juice, stir it well and chuck the a teaspoon of yeast on the top, stir again fit airlock. SIMPLES!!

I had a starting gravity of 1058 so it should produce something around 7.5%!!

WIN!!

B..

well folks.

Its good news, the coopers lager hadn't stuck and has come down to a final gravity of 1.004 giving me a lager that is around 4% ABV. WIN!!

ill most likely bottle this tomorrow, with about a teaspoon of sugar in each bottle for priming!!

I cant wait to try this one, although i cant wait to get my woodefordes wherry on next either!!

B..

Yet more success from a kit!!

Well today i finally decided to try my John bull best bitter, and its superb!! not as strong as the youngs Yorkshire bitter, but plenty of body and strong enough to be a decent pint it was well worth the £9 in tescos for the kit. as usual i have used a kilo of kit enhancer and it has produced a nice golden bitter.

im afraid its not all good news though, my coopers aussie lager has stuck in fermentation :( all i need it to do is drop 0.08 point on the hydrometer and it will be ready, im currently stuck on 1.016 so i think a good rousing of the yeast off the bottom tomorrow might help things on a bit, ill keep you all posted on this!!

anyhow, happy brewing!!

Cheers. B..

Homebrew... what do i need to start??

EVERYONE who has sampled my first brew so far has been impressed enough to want to have a go themselves. how many of them actually do remains to be seen, but the question they all ask me what they need to get going!

Well a big bucket (5 gallon), a long spoon, and a kettle is all that you really need to do a kit brew. but a thermometer and a hydrometer are bloody useful tools too! i have a smaller 2 gallon food grade bucket too that can make life a bit easyer, but ultimately this is it equipment wise!!

as for the method, I mix my fermentables (spray malt or kit enhancer) in the 2 gallon bucket with 2 kettles full of boiling water. I prep the kit can by standing it in a pan of boiling water from the kettle while i do all the other jobs and then tip this in the fermenter with a kettle full of boiling water to swill the can out then i mix this up in the fermenter REALLY vigorously and add the pre mixed fermentables. i then thrash it some more to get a good foamy head on top then top up to 23litres using the small bucket!! take the temp and a hydrometer reading and if its below 30degrees i sprinkle in the yeast and stir again, thats it!! couldnt be simpler!!

B..

Welcome to my new blog folks!!

HI im bungle, im am a neewbie homebrewer from north manchester currently on my third kit brew.

so far i have successfully brewed a youngs yorkshire bitter kit, im conditioning a john bull bitter kit and am fermenting a coopers aussie lager kit!

ill share some pics and other interesting nuggets of info as i get them on here, but for now i suggest you go meet jim at jims beer kits..... the forum is awesome and so far has taught me loads!! cheers chaps!!

B..