Coopers Craft DIY Beer Kit - $50 at BCF

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heineken016 on 25/01/2015 - 21:58 bcf.com.au (435 clicks)
Last edited 25/01/2015 - 21:59

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Happy Straya Day Eve!

What could be more patriotic than buying on clearance a cheap skate method of making sub-par beer? And forcing your mates to drink it when they come around!

More seriously, this does actually seem like a good kit. I bought one Friday, and am cautiously optimistic about using this with the free tap king dispenser I picked up the other day.

Makes around one slab rather than the 20l of most other home brew kits. I figure it is a good gateway home brewing kit.

Brew cans are around $16.

~$70 at the Coopers web store. Seems to be good availability.

Also the BCF image is wrong, this is actually the 'Craft DIY Beer' kit not the bigger one.

Related Stores

BCF - Boating, Camping, Fishing

• 

  rambutann on 25/01/2015 - 22:05

  "brews 8.5L of beer"

  Wat, they brew like 22ish litres..

  • 

    NosDan on 25/01/2015 - 22:10

    yea coopers kits make 22L, around 2.5 cartons per brew. description is obviously wrong

    actually seems to be this http://store.coopers.com.au/coopers-diy-beer-craft-kit.html

    not sure its really worth the price

    • 

      videoman on 25/01/2015 - 22:18

      +1

      Yeah I wouldn't bother buying a kit that only has a 15 litre fermenter, pay a bit more and get a 25 litre kit.

      • 

        NosDan on 25/01/2015 - 22:25

        +3

        pay a bit more and get a 25 litre kit.

        imo pay a little more and get a 60L fermenter. its the same amount of work for twice the beer.

      • 

        heineken016 on 25/01/2015 - 22:44

        @nosdan:
        normally around 90 bucks for the big one (100 at Coopers store), so its almost double.
        I figure most of the work cleaning and bottling, both increase proportionally with volume.

        I am no expert so potentially not the best judge, but slab-sized batches of the fancy 'craft' kits they have on the coopers site, sounds about right

      • 

        Aids on 25/01/2015 - 22:44

        Twice the amount of bottles to clean too :(

      • 

        NosDan on 25/01/2015 - 23:12

        +1

        @heineken016:

        normally around 90 bucks for the big one (100 at Coopers store),

        under $60 at gaganis in adelaide last i knew. look around in other citys im sure you will find them reasonably priced.

        I figure most of the work cleaning and bottling, both increase proportionally with volume.

        kegs :) also in case you dont already, quickly rinse your bottles each time you empty them makes the cleaning a lot easier. for me i just found the bottling not that hard. either way its less setting up/getting everything out and clean etc etc to only do it once per 5 cartons than for 2 lots of 2.5? in my experience its not really any harder to do a double batch specially when you consider the output. also gives you much more beer to store away to mature. if you have never put a batch away for a year or longer do yourself a flavour and try it.

        slab-sized batches of the fancy 'craft' kits they have on the coopers site, sounds about right

        you can still make a 1/2 batch even in a larger fermenter. no need to waste all that money on a 1/2 size one imo

      • 

        altomic on 25/01/2015 - 23:14

        +2

        @Aids: Twice the amount of bottles to drink too :)

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 26/01/2015 - 06:49

        +1

        @heineken016:

        unless of course you use bigger bottles! Then the cleaning time halves

      • 

        heineken016 on 26/01/2015 - 13:28

        @nosdan:
        fair enough all round mate, appreciate the tips. I'm planning on putting this into tap king kegs after I give it a trial run.

        I haven't put any away before (I've never brewed ha!) but I enjoyed your pun :)

    • 

      jv on 25/01/2015 - 22:19

      -1

      not sure its really worth the price

      Too right… It's not even the Blu-ray version !!!

• 

  Mobe1969 on 25/01/2015 - 22:16

  +2

  Hah hah plus one hundred for the write up!

• 

  Vortex99 on 25/01/2015 - 22:18

  +2

  Heineken is promoting Coopers DIY beer? :)

  • 

    jv on 25/01/2015 - 22:20

    I wonder if you can get DIY VB ?

    • 

      altomic on 25/01/2015 - 23:15

      +2

      I wonder if you can get DIY VB ?

      bubbling?

• 

  Aids on 25/01/2015 - 22:46

  I reckon its OK if you're not sure if brewing is for you. You could always get a bigger fermenter later on.

• 

  AstroPhysic on 25/01/2015 - 22:55

  The description in the post has sold me. Thanks!

• 

  WatchNerd on 25/01/2015 - 23:39

  +2

  Hi Op, you have obviously not done home brew properly if you think it's a sub-par beer.
  As nosdan said, leave it bottled for a year or longer & it gets a lot better.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 26/01/2015 - 06:57

    A year???

  • 

    SBOB on 26/01/2015 - 08:04

    -2

    And you obviously haven't done home brew properly if you think kit/cans is 'proper' ;)

    All grain isn't much more effort and at least you're actually 'making' beer

    • 

      WatchNerd on 26/01/2015 - 11:25

      +2

      And you obviously haven't done home brew properly if you think buying your grains from a shop is proper, I grow mine in my garden & only water them with imported water from the Swiss Alps.

      • 

        NosDan on 26/01/2015 - 12:11

        +1

        supabrudda 5 hours 9 min ago new
        A year???

        at least a year yes. anything up to 5 years i think is ok for properly brewed/bottle fermented beer, at least thats been my personal experience tho i dont have a proper cellar so maybe even longer if you cellar them properly.

        if you want an idea of the difference to go a few bottlo's and have a look at there coopers sparkling ale cartons, check the "use after" date and find one thats 6 to 12 months past it, usually the cartons at the bottom of the stack in the walk in fridges. my local used to have a lot of aged cartons because the staff are obviously to lazy to do stock rotation to a little effort to dig down to the bottom gets you a lovely aged carton :) i only mention sparkling because its not a big seller compared to others so more likely to find an aged one. :)

        edit: this does NOT work with all beer, only bottle fermented stuff like coopers. most other beers go off within months and are undrinkable by about the 6 month stage

      • 

        SBOB on 26/01/2015 - 12:53

        @nosdan:
        edit: this does NOT work with all beer, only bottle fermented stuff like coopers. most other beers go off within months and are undrinkable by about the 6 month stage

        nor does it work for very hoppy beers as you will lose the flavour well before the year mark

      • 

        SBOB on 26/01/2015 - 12:53

        edit: this does NOT work with all beer, only bottle fermented stuff like coopers. most other beers go off within months and are undrinkable by about the 6 month stage

        you have me there.. my water is far from that pure

        though you have to admit an all grain homebrew tastes far better than a K&K version

  • 

    heineken016 on 26/01/2015 - 13:29

    relax, that part was obviously a little tongue in cheek

• 

  subydooby on 26/01/2015 - 00:09

  What was BCF even doing stocking a home brew kit (let alone a kraft beer kit), I know camping and beer go together but picking up a tent and a home brew kit in the same store… Then again it is Australia Day.

• 

  Rifraf on 26/01/2015 - 02:47

  +1

  Actually using a regular size kit for this fermenter, you'd end up with a higher alcohol beer.
  The regular sized Cooper malt kit offers up around 4.5% alcohol from my fading memory.
  Knocking that down to 15 litres boosts the Alc %.

  A tip to further improve your brew (IMHO) is to ignore the instructions and instead of adding a kg of sugar, your brew will be much improved by adding an additional kg (or more) of malt for better "mouth" - basically a thicker beer is one way of describing it.
  It doesn't have to be another Coopers (or other brand) kit as you can buy malt from your local health shop and even some supermarkets stock it.
  When I worked in Glebe NSW a few years ago, I used to get it from the bulk food shop there cheaper than the supermarket.
  Added sugar tends to "thin" the beer to its detriment (again IMHO).
  This tip works best (IMHO) with ales, stouts and drafts. I'd stick with the standard recipe for largers.
  The only sugar I used to add when home brewing was a teaspoon to the bottles to add some fizz (secondary fermentation I think its called)
  I just used to recycle 2 litre coke bottles. You could/can buy new seals and/or tops from your local brew shop.
  Hope this helps.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 26/01/2015 - 07:03

    +1

    The 15l is more for the taste then the alc,
    Idf you want more alc, just add in more dextrose.

    The small Coopers kegs are for their Mr Beer range (its a US subsiduary)