Coopers kit yeasts

mark68 · Post by **mark68** » Wednesday Mar 08, 2006 10:43 am

RE: coopers kit yeasts in this forum.I was reading the write up on a tin of coopers premium selection draught and found out that the special yeast that comes with the kit can ferment at 13 degrees all the way up to 35 degrees and even survive 40 degrees if it is exposed to these temperatures.

The Carbonator · Wednesday Mar 08, 2006 11:42 am

but what will it taste like at 35*C?:?

Wassa · Post by **Wassa** » Wednesday Mar 08, 2006 12:06 pm

The father in law brews beer all year round in temps up to 40 degrees (he lives on the mid north coast of NSW).

Admittedly he brews with white sugar and I am hard pressed to tell the difference from one of his brews to the next (as they all taste cidery and green).

What I have found is that I prefer my brews to be fermented over as long a period as possible and this means cool temperatures. I have found that lagers I have brewed at 20 aren't anywhere near as good as ones brewed at 14.

The other thong I have found is that Saflager and liquid yeasts produce far superior brews than the kit yeasts provided with most brews.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Wednesday Mar 08, 2006 5:40 pm

Mark,

This super yeast is nothing but an ale/lager mix. Whatever the temp you start at, one strain will take over. I don't recommend brewing at 40*C though. That sounds pretty unpleasant. Beats VB though.

mark68 · Post by **mark68** » Wednesday Mar 08, 2006 6:41 pm

One thingh good about it being so heat tolerant is that if you bought it from a supermarket it should survive the journey by truck to its destination and still be viable.I've had a few kit yeasts that were rooted before even starting,probably due to high temps. in transport.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Wednesday Mar 08, 2006 9:41 pm

Which is exactly the reason why you should proof your yeast prior to pitching. It's a very simple step if you are already rehydrating your yeast.

I try to avoid kit yeast anyway- it's too unreliable.

BeerFrenzy · Post by **BeerFrenzy** » Thursday Mar 09, 2006 7:27 am

Chris wrote: That sounds pretty unpleasant. Beats VB though.

I second that!

What is "proofing your yeast"?

Rubber.Piggy · Post by **Rubber.Piggy** » Thursday Mar 09, 2006 7:40 am

proofing, ie. growing, letting the yeast do it's stuff (a common term in baking).

I assume Chris is talking about making a starter and culturing a little to ensure yeast is viable.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Thursday Mar 09, 2006 9:36 am

Pretty much.

You rehydrate as per usual, and then add a little sugar/malt etc, and see if the yeast does what yeast does- ie. it goes a bit foamy.

It's better still if you use a bit of your wort to proof the yeast.

NickMoore · Post by **NickMoore** » Saturday Mar 25, 2006 11:50 pm

thought this was interesting from the cooper's site FAQ section:

"We don't recommend replacing all of the sugar with malt exract when using our home brew ale yeast."

so you can't do an all-malt with the yeast under the lid.

tcc · Post by **tcc** » Sunday Mar 26, 2006 2:27 pm

NickMoore wrote:thought this was interesting from the cooper's site FAQ section:

"We don't recommend replacing all of the sugar with malt exract when using our home brew ale yeast."

so you can't do an all-malt with the yeast under the lid.

that is a bit strange, maybe it is a flavour issue because I can't see why the yeast would benefit from having sucrose present in the wort?

Tipsy · Post by **Tipsy** » Sunday Mar 26, 2006 11:02 pm

NickMoore wrote:thought this was interesting from the cooper's site FAQ section:

"We don't recommend replacing all of the sugar with malt exract when using our home brew ale yeast."

so you can't do an all-malt with the yeast under the lid.

Just about to do the sparkling ale wich recomends 300g dextrose with other fermentables. Is this just to boost alc content or to give the yeast something easy to consume?

Rubber.Piggy · Post by **Rubber.Piggy** » Monday Mar 27, 2006 8:07 am

it's likely that the kit yeast has been optimised to deal with easily fermentable sugars. It just can't ferment so much malt extract.

NickMoore · Post by **NickMoore** » Monday Mar 27, 2006 9:16 am

or the packet under the lid isn't big enough (7g) to get through all that malt.

how big is the sachet under the sparkling ale tin? the instructions call for ...

"1.5kg Thomas Coopers Light Malt Extract, 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt".

maybe that's why people are often disappointed with the sparkling ale, saying it is heavier and maltier than the commercial variety. maybe the yeast they provide can't get through all that yeast.

Rubber.Piggy · Post by **Rubber.Piggy** » Tuesday Mar 28, 2006 8:30 am

NickMoore wrote:or the packet under the lid isn't big enough (7g) to get through all that malt.

Hmmm, I would have thought this unlikely only because the yeast multiplies and proably reaches a similar population reagardless of the starting population. Also, less yeast would take longer to get through it, but would still do it. Ie, if you have half the yeast cells then I would expect the yeast to take twice as long to digest.

On the other hand a yeast that is not good with complex sugars will take months to do something that yeast that is good with complex sugars will do in a day.

However, I could be completely off the mark, I'm a physiologist/engineer, not a microbiologist.

mark68 · Post by **mark68** » Saturday Apr 08, 2006 8:35 am

I've just brewed a coopers draught with 1.5 kilos of liquid malt and 200 grams of wheat malt,using the standard kit yeast times 2 and have gotten excellent attenuation.It started at 1050 and finished at 1012,giving me 5.4 percent alcohol.It seems that this yeast can ferment the malt sugars quite well.