HomebrewandBeer.com forum

Hi all,

I'm extremely new to brewing and have only just recently bottled my first batch of Coopers Larger.

While i'm waiting for that to settle I thought I'd get a ginger beer away and have come up with this question:

Can I use the coopers kit along with coopers brew enhancer number 2?

What is a good temp to keep this at?

Any help or advice will be appreciated, I've spent time reading these forums and possibly confusing myself ha!

Gday RUM57L

I've used the coopers kit a few times (against most advice offered on this forum) and found it to be a tasty (and very simple kit). I've not tried it with BE2, just using the recipe offered on the can (1kg raw sugar). Mine was kept at about 16c because it was always done in winter and that was the temp of the garage. Had another 3 bottles on Saturday and quite enjoyed it.
Give it a go, if it doesn't suit your taste then maybe try one of the recipes found on the forum building from scratch.

Planner

Gday RUM57L .
Welcome to the forum.Ginger beer can be made to suit your taste same as beer.So if you like say the sweet bundy type
then a kit will probably suit and is a good way to start as a learning curve.BE2 will only up the alc content if you combine it with the kit and some sugar.
Use the search on ths part of the forum and you will find g.b recipies of all kinds,but i would start simple and build on as you learn. Brad.

Cheers for the reply Fella's

I think after still being a tad confused i've come up with the following:

1kg Raw Sugar
500g Be2

Should be alright .. i hope

have a good weekend!

Ben

It depends why you're adding the BE2. Is it because of the word "enhancer"? I can't see it adding anything positive apart from a raised alcohol content. I don't think it will add much in the way of ginger beer-iness. Currently my favourite thing to do with this kit (after a heap more ginger, to personal taste) is to add some dark brown sugar to the raw sugar. I must stress dark brown sugar. Done it with normal brown sugar and the effect is not the same. About 250g in place of the BE2 is about what I'd aim for. Not my idea but it is one I've become a firm believer in.

Ahh ok thanks bum!

Was basically because I seen the box in coles and wondered about it and yea because it said Enhancer lol!

Interested in your dark brown sugar though, does that make it more sweeter?

Not noticeably. The kit already comes out kinda sweet and I wouldn't recommend trying to make it sweeter without trying it first. Sweeten it on future attempts with some lactose (you can get this from your LHBS) if it does some out less sweet than you are hoping - you can always backsweeten this batch on serving if it is a bit under what you are hoping for. The reason I like the dark brown sugar is that it seems to go some way to masking the artificial sweetener aftertaste (which is the reason some recommend these kits aren't used - others still just like a drier ginger beer). I have no idea what it is about dark sugar that does this but to my taste it does seem to help a lot.

If you do want to use the BE2 still it will not do anything detrimental to your GB but personally I'd say you'd see more benefit saving it for a beer kit.

Cheers Bum,

I think i'll stick to the original recipe and get some practice in then in future attempts hit the dark brown sugar.

I'll save the Be2 for the pale ale i'm going to run after the GB.

Ben

Ok well here's an update a few months on...

The recipe ended up being:

1 can coopers ginger beer
1kg of raw sugar
1kg of dark brown sugar
Zest of 5 limes
Juice of the limes

It ended up making around 21 litres i think from memory and I cant remember the gravity but back then i recorded it all in my log book, was around 8%

Was in primary for 3.5 weeks and bottled on the 24th march 2010.

After it sat for another 3 weeks I tasted it and it was very rough and very carbonated, LHBS said i should of used a champagne yeast .. maybe next time..

I had a taste after a month and it was quite carbonated, but not bad at all.. sweet but still enjoyable

Its now been in the bottles for 134 days and just keeps getting better, I have some locked away that i think i'll save for a few more months to let it mature right out.

If that sweetness is a bit much (which I suspect it may be at times?) try doing the same but knocking the dark brown back by at least half and making up your OG with raw sugar. I think you'll find that'll sort out the balance issues you're having at the moment.

Thanks for coming back and letting us know how it went. Great to hear you're becoming happy with it.

Thanks Bum,

I'll give that method a shot next, now that i have 2 fermenters i'll probally be looking at making another GB but perhaps also try a different can than the coopers one, can you reccomend any ?

I've only tried the Coopers myself. It is usually considered the better of the GB kits. Only heard terrible things about the Brigalow.

If you're after a different flavour you can change it up with more additions. I put cinnamon, cardamom and cloves in all of mine and have experimented with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, nutmeg, chilli and curry leaves among others. Oh, and always more fresh ginger.

Whoa!

curry? wow that'd be different hey!!

The lime leaves is a great idea and chilli.. well i grow my own so i should be throwing some in instead of drying them out all the time.

I guess expirementation is the key

have a good weekend!

Ben

I've used the Morgans one a few times and was quite happy with the results for a kit. Given their common ownership I'm not sure there would be too much difference between coopers and morgans anyway. Same tin.

Bum wrote: Only heard terrible things about the Brigalow.

+ 1 for that.. Tried it once and it tasted like 12L of water with a drop of ginger in it and as the kit is only made to 12L it was not only a more expensive option, but I decided that the kit was so bad that it was not worth adding anything to it in order to try and inprove it! And then of course I had to drink it!!

Hirns

hmm,

Sounds like you have to be creative to get anywhere with GB!

Bum - Did you crush the lime leaves or throw them in, or boil them?

I used dried leaves which I scrunched up a bit and included in the boil for my extras. Having said that, I used 8 leaves and didn't find the flavour anywhere in the beer so I'd say go hard with them or use fresh (fresh being the better option, IMO).

A lot of people quite like the Coopers kit when done plain and I can see why but if you trick it out you can add some really nice, complimentary flavours and also cover up the artificial sweetener flavour which many dislike from the straight kit.

Cheers Bum,

I think i'll give the lime leaves a shot next time around!

Be sure to let us know if you have more success than I did.

Apparently my Uncle who is visiting my parents has sampled one of these i had hidden up the back of the fridge for when i visit.. now he's placed an order for xmas.
If i follow the recipe / maturing peroid might be right around Australia day for him..

Guess he liked it