Coopers DIY Beer Brew Kits - 23L Kit $99 (Was $119) & 8.5l Craft Kit $59 (Was $69) Plus Free Shipping Direct from Coopers

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DIY Beer Coopers

• 

  ufoninja on 04/08/2020 - 17:45

  8.5 L kit could be good for apartment in a bag brewing. Mash 1kg ish of grain in a large stockpot.

  But then again it’s just food safe plastic I’ve fermented in the $4 10L water Containers.

  • 

    paulcad44 on 04/08/2020 - 20:30

    me too as long as its sanitised and food safe can brew in anything.

• 

  mskeggs on 04/08/2020 - 17:52

  +1

  These are good starters, and would be a good gift.
  Bear in mind a brew takes about 1-2 hours to set up, then another hour or so a fortnight later to bottle. There is no time saving with the smaller kit, so I recommend the larger.
  I’m on a bit of a brew hiatus with the good value craft beers these days, but these kits can produce very good results with the addition of a couple of extra ingredients like extra malt instead of sugar and some finishing hops.

  If not for a gift, I recommend gumtree/fb market place where you can pick up everything you need secondhand for peanuts.

  • 

    Jazza2400 on 04/08/2020 - 18:23

    +1

    Be careful with 2nd hand stuff - twice I've encountered wort that is out of date… sometimes not worth the hassle. The kits are nice with everything you need to get started (instead finding out a valve was missing etc).

    • 

      mskeggs on 04/08/2020 - 20:34

      An older can is fine, I’ve brewed with a can 5 years out of date, the malt was much darker than fresh, and tasted it, but was fine to make a darker beer. If the can is still sealed it cannot be harmful.
      The yeast sachets will eventually die. I have used years old examples of these too by growing them for a day or so in a sugar solution to make sure there was plenty of the desired yeast for the wort, to cut down on the risk a wild yeast might take over. I often use yeast sediment from a past good brew in any case.
      Brewing is pretty forgiving, as the Belgian monks continue to prove, so it is fine if you want to experiment a bit.

    • 

      BewareOfThe Dog on 04/08/2020 - 21:27

      people use scourers to clean , which gives bacteria a place to hide.

  • 

    BewareOfThe Dog on 04/08/2020 - 21:28

    -1

    Goto a homebrew shop, and compare what they have to offer.

• 

  Qbagger on 04/08/2020 - 18:28

  As a newbie to home brewing, do I honestly have any chance of brewing a passable juicy/hoppy NEIPA with the craft kit (assuming I load up with a mountain of fresh hops)?

  • 

    jollster101 on 04/08/2020 - 18:31

    +2

    Absolutely you do. Watch this by someone well regarded in the homebrew circles who made just that with a Coopers kit.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldHdYdT7hto

    Then have a look at the Community Forums on the Coopers site at the Recipes section.

  • 

    HeyThereJim on 04/08/2020 - 19:16

    +2

    You do but in my opinion it depends on how fastidious you are. I'm not as optimistic as the other poster and think most newbies will make fairly average beers the first few times around. With beer at home you need to nail two very important aspects: sanitising and temperature control during fermentation. The sanitisation and cleaning is an obvious one as any nasties that end up in the beer will more than likely give you undrinkable plonk but temperature control is just as important. Wrong temps during fermentation or even large fluctuations can give you off flavours at best or an unfermented beer at worst. More often than not when new homebrewers are still trying to get their heads around these two aspects the beers they make aren't too flash especially with kits. My first few attempts were basically paint stripper or fizzy garbage juice.

    The fact you're talking about loading up a kit beer with fresh hops means you probably already have an idea of what needs to be done. If you have the spare change and are willing to sink the time into a few more efforts if the first one goes bad then I would definitely recommend giving homebrewing a try but would seriously suggest on reading up on a few forums what a beginner needs to look out for in order to really hit the ground running so you don't waste your time and money.

    • 

      jollster101 on 04/08/2020 - 19:28

      +3

      Very true Jim. I took that for granted given I have been brewing for a while (using Fresh Wort Kits and recently extracts). I myself have a ferment fridge and heat belt and maintain temperature via an STC-1000 that I made (naturally checked by an electrician before use).

      If one can manage to maintain constant temps and control your sanitation then you have a very good chance of brewing decent beer.

    • 

      chickentaste on 04/08/2020 - 19:53

      +1

      Exactly this. Unless you have a reliable way of keeping your beer at a constant low temperature you're going to be disappointed.

      Likewise, unless you can keep everything clean and sanitary you're not going to brew drinkable beer.

      The former needs a brewing fridge or similar, the latter needs a bucket of sodium percarbonate powder and some starsan.

      • 

        Qbagger on 04/08/2020 - 20:19

        Thank you all for your feedback - much appreciated!

      • 

        paulcad44 on 04/08/2020 - 20:26

        nah use different yeast like Kveik for Qld and temps above 25c. Great for summer brewing

        https://hoppydaysbrewingsupplies.com.au/product/lalbrew-voss…

        can also be dried in the oven on less than 30c and then frozen for pitching on next brew. no need to re-hydrate either.

        • 

          jollster101 on 04/08/2020 - 20:54

          @paulcad44: Kveik is like the maverick of yeast. Loves the higher temps, if you are doing an ale you can look at fermenting at around 35-37C, lagers around 25c.

          The other good thing about this yeast and these temps is that fermentation is done in around 3-4 days.

          I haven't brewed with this yeast yet but I have a sachet in the fridge and one of the next two brews I do will be using this so looking forward to seeing it in action.

          • 

            paulcad44 on 04/08/2020 - 20:57

            @jollster101: i have used it all year apart from when i want to make a weisbier. its great stuff.

            • 

              jollster101 on 04/08/2020 - 20:59

              @paulcad44: Re-harvested or new sachet each time?

              • 

                paulcad44 on 04/08/2020 - 21:02

                @jollster101: re harvested, it so easy, no need to make a starter it just flys through the wort.

                keep the temps above 22 though as otherwise it stalls

                • 

                  jollster101 on 04/08/2020 - 21:13

                  @paulcad44: I read that it needs to be toasty to keep moving. What are you using fermenter wise and how do you re-harvest based on what you use?

                  • 

                    paulcad44 on 04/08/2020 - 21:20

                    @jollster101: i rotate between a plastic 10l water container from bunnings and SS conical fermenter depending how much beer i need.

                    i put the trub onto a sanitised baking sheet put in oven for 4 hours on low, crumble into a plastic bag and freeze.

                    I label the yeast by beer style so im not reusing yeast from a stout in a pale ale etc..

                    when i repitch i do this based on the size of the batch im doing 8.5l batches at the moment so about 5ml of kveik, less is better.

                    Theres a good channel on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb3HYxTpCaVDeulH1mZGW1Q

                    can even use it in a woolworths 99% apple juice 2l bottle to make turbo cider. just be careful about bottling cider as it will continue to ferment without killing the yeast off.

                    • 

                      jollster101 on 04/08/2020 - 21:36

                      @paulcad44: Thanks….interesting info. The wife likes the idea of turbo cider :)

      • 

        mskeggs on 04/08/2020 - 20:39

        I reckon making a good neipa on the first try would be tough. I certainly found it took a lot of brews before I could consistently make beer come out the way I hoped.
        But a bit like baking or cooking, it is pretty achievable to get good results at the beginning, and you get better as you go along.

      • 

        perfectlydark on 05/08/2020 - 13:46

        rather than keep my temperatures low i just learnt to lower my expectations :)

    • 

      BewareOfThe Dog on 04/08/2020 - 21:33

      What people don't realise is there are different grade yeast, and malt/sugar/grains. James squire and tooheys are made by the same people, but js uses better grade ingredients. Hence why it tastes better.
      Heck tooheys used to have preservatives.

  • 

    JamesLucas on 04/08/2020 - 21:31

    Easily. I just did my second brew since buying a kit couple months back. Came out delicious. I forget now what the guy in the shop gave but recall it was Morgans IPA with a separate liquidy brew enhancer for stronger alc%.
    I mixed all that up and left it 10days in fermenter, longer than needed but does no harm, added the dry hops and then bottled 5 days after that. Waited a week and started drinking them. Getting better each day.
    Personally, I don't do any measurements with the hydrometer. I over sterilise everything, let it dry ,add ingredients, wait a day or two for air lock to bubble, wait 3-5 days after air lock stops bubbling then bottle.
    Now, is it worth all the effort? Its fun to learn how to do it but I'm more likely to buy from the shop than do this on a regular basis.
    Edit- I'm down in Tassie so brew getting too hot is not an issue. I sit the fermenter on a folded towel on the floor and wrap it in another two towels for warmth. Keeps it around 22c.

• 

  Fred on 04/08/2020 - 19:01

  omg this is tempting, I miss making scratch milk stouts, maybe forward it to the wife.

• 

  BewareOfThe Dog on 04/08/2020 - 21:26

  +1

  Lesson number 1 . Don't use sugar
  Lesson number 2. Use malt as an additive.
  Lesson number 3. Dispose of original tin, and buy better grades of beer from a local home brew shop.
  Lesson number 4. Save your glass bottles, and buy a bench capper (when was the last time you saw beer in a plastic bottle at the bottleshop?)
  Lesson number 5. It will be ordinary after 2-3 weeks. Wait 2 months, it will be far better.

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  cv05 on 22/08/2020 - 11:07

  Whoops didn't notice that it came with a craft kit.