coopers lager/morgans amber malt

lliw · Post by **lliw** » Friday Apr 07, 2006 3:52 pm

Gday, Im pretty new to brewing, ive only done one brew before.

I got a free can of coopers lager (big w version) and a mate gave me a 1.5 kg can of morgans amber malt. He said use the two togeather and use the malt instead of any sugar. (and the coopers yeast)

Is this right?

What will it taste like?

Thanks.

Aussie Claret · Post by **Aussie Claret** » Friday Apr 07, 2006 3:58 pm

Quite sweet, add a few hops to help bitter the beer, you'll need to boil some of the amber malt with about 20g of hops for 15-20 minutes then add a further 10g for the last minute of the boil for aroma.

Should then turn out quite a nice ale, the yeast with the kit is an ale yeast even though it came with a lager kit. keep the temp around 20c and you'll have a very nice amber ale style beer. I'd suggest hallertau, cascade, hersbrucker, tettanger hops. (some of my favourites)

Cheers
AC

lliw · Post by **lliw** » Friday Apr 07, 2006 4:12 pm

Thanks for the quick reply and helpfull info mate.

How much malt should I boil with the hops? 1/3 can?

Dose it matter if i leave the malt exposed to air?

How much water should I add?

Dose it matter if i boil this stuff up then leave it for a hour or so in the pan before brewing?

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Saturday Apr 08, 2006 11:05 am

Just boil all the malt and the can at once.

Aussie Claret · Post by **Aussie Claret** » Monday Apr 10, 2006 2:13 pm

hi,
Boil the can of amber malt with a couple of litres of water and the hops, don't boil the Coopers lager as it doesn't need to be boiled, it's already pasturised and boiling it will actually drive of some of the iso bitter hops they use.
A 20min boil should be sufficient and i'd add upto 20g of hops.
AC

Mackers · Post by **Mackers** » Monday Apr 10, 2006 2:21 pm

lliw

I think you'll find that the Coopers kit yeast will have trouble fermenting out an all malt beer. You'd be better off either getting a Safale yeast, or using about 500gm of the amber malt and 500gm of sugar or dextrose. If it doesn't ferment out you'll end up with a rather thick, sweet beer.

lliw · Post by **lliw** » Saturday Apr 15, 2006 8:44 pm

Righto man, how much is this yeast?$$

Aussie Claret · Post by **Aussie Claret** » Sunday Apr 16, 2006 8:21 am

Mackers
Actually the kit yeast would have no problem fermenting the kit and 1.5kgs of malt, in the Thomas Coopers range that is specifically what they instruct you to add to their kits. Why do you suggest using Safale S04 and imply that this will have no problems whereas the kit yeast would have a problem fermenting out? Rubbish!

If you were concerned you could always build up a starter to ensure you have sufficient viable yeast cells. But not necessary.

The coopers kit yeasts are pretty good and robust, if you did decide to use an alternative (simply for flavour reasons or style) you could use Safale S04 or Saflager W34/70 (which I prefer over S23), if you use the lager yeast you need to cold ferment and you WILL need to either pitch 2 sachets of yeast or make a starter, due to fermentation temperature you need a high viable cell count

LLIW - simply stick with the easiest option, I'm guessing you're new to the game, use the kit yeast.

AC

The Carbonator · Post by **The Carbonator** » Sunday Apr 16, 2006 8:30 am

well said AC

The Carbonator · Post by **The Carbonator** » Sunday Apr 16, 2006 8:42 am

When you do want to experiment with yeast, its about $4 for a satchet of Safale. I found that safale didnt really make enough difference to my brew to make it worthwile.

I would suggest getting a liquid yeast. They are about $15. So when you buy these, you should put in a 2L bottle with 150g malt and 1.5L water. Let ferment. Then, about 3 days later, bottle into 6 stubbies - which are then used for 6 brews. Keep em in the fridge.

Then, you can use one of those stubbies in a 2L bottle with some malt, and do it all again.
So, it works out very cheap, and makes a huge difference to your brew.

Im using California Ale this brew, but i am loving all three of the Belgians that ive used.

But, you should do a few more brews first.
As AC said, keep it simple (for now)

When you feel like experimenting, buy some liquid yeast.

PS. you do need some bittering hops with that brew. It will be too sweet.

Mackers · Post by **Mackers** » Sunday Apr 16, 2006 9:47 am

I stick by my assertion that the yeast in the normal Coopers kits won't ferment out fully. LLIW wrote that he/she had the original lager kit. Laurie Strachan in "Home Brewing in Australia" writes: "...the dried yeasts that come with most can kits...tend to quit on the job when faced with a wort of high malt levels. This is why your all-malt beer may end up altogether too thick and treacly on the tongue, and far from the refreshing drink you intended it to be".

The Heritage series is completely different and has a far superior yeast. The Safale yeast is also far superior and will ferment out an all malt beer.