Two cans in one brew

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Monday Jan 31, 2005 9:47 pm

A fair few people are adding two the same or two different cans to a brew instead of the one and adding dextrose/malt etc. I saw that Geoff was pretty impressed with his 2 can Malt shovel brews, could this be the way for future brews?

Evo · Post by **Evo** » Monday Jan 31, 2005 10:58 pm

Well I know Rooty Hill Ray (the godfather of homebrewing - or at least my godfather of homebrewing) used to make his namesake Rooty Hill Gold out of 1 1/2 cans of Coopers Canadian Blonde and Saflager. It was a bloody nice drop too.

I'd say it's worth a shot.

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Tuesday Feb 01, 2005 2:01 am

Live life on the edge

Gie it a go

Dogger

grabman · Post by **grabman** » Tuesday Feb 01, 2005 6:29 pm

remember though that the MaltShovel range is designed to be a can only brew! Just a can and 11.5l of water, oh and yeast. So if making 23l you will need two cans.

Post by **Oliver** » Tuesday Feb 01, 2005 7:14 pm

Grab is right about the Malt Shovel beers being designed to only produce 11.5 litres.

If you do mix two regular cans (i.e. those designed to be brewed with extra malt/glucose/sugar to 23 litres), just beware of using cans that are quite bitter.

I did this once with two cans of Cooper's Ale, and the result was almost overwhelming (of course, I still drank it).

Two cans of lager might be OK. And consider using a yeast that will ferment the malt well so the beer is not too rich. A Safale/Saflager or liquid yeast (bought or cultured from a Cooper's stubby) might be worth a try.

Cheers,

Oliver

bigmuzb · Post by **bigmuzb** » Thursday Feb 03, 2005 7:21 pm

Hey guys.

I just bottled a week ago a mix of two Cascade Dark ales.

With two yeasts I had a fountain out the top for about 36 hours.

Just tasted one after a week in bottles and it is terrible- so bitter that your eyes water!

It is still green though, so there may still be some hope. The afterstaste is good, but it really is unbelievably bitter..

It will get mixed with my not very good dry lager that was done here in 35 degree weather...

We have found that no matter how bad you make a brew, mix it with some opposites and it is pretty good!

Muz

gregb · Post by **gregb** » Thursday Feb 03, 2005 8:10 pm

Set it aside and let it mature for a couple of months, then see how it goes.

Cheers,

Greg.

sago · Post by **sago** » Friday Feb 04, 2005 10:11 am

I put down a doubler a couple of months before Christmas with a view to having the odd bottle over the holidays.
Called "The Black Enamel Camel" because thats what it looked like.
Can of 1992 vintage Coopers stout and a can of Coopers Lager with(I think) a Coopers brewing sugar (1Kg).Bunged the lot in with two lots of yeast packets.
Bubbled like anything but settled down eventually.
Think I bottled after 7 days.
Cracked a couple before Christmas with great trepidation but the taste was rather good.
Was a bit cautious as the alcohol % was 8.5 .
Intended to have one or two bottles on the 25th as the gathering was at my place and I didn't want to get too shitfaced early on.
Did have some help but by Boxing day there were none left.
We probably downed about 20 long necks.(3 serious drinkers) and managed to stay relatively coherent.
All in all a "different" taste but one I will do again.
Probably more suitable as a Winter drink.

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Friday Feb 04, 2005 10:16 am

Sago,

Better buy that one can of stout right quick if you have to let it sit 12 years before it is good to go

Glad it worked out for you

Dogger

sago · Post by **sago** » Friday Feb 04, 2005 10:36 am

Dogger,
Was just a tight arsed bastard reluctant to throw anything out.
The result was pleasing as my mind was set for failure.
Great frothy head ,black as the inside of a wolfs mouth at midnight and quirky to the taste.

sago · Post by **sago** » Friday Feb 25, 2005 2:32 pm

I will reply to my other self.
We were given some other ancient cans by our mate across the road.
A 97 Beermakers draught and a 96 Coopers bitter.
Put it down last night as a two can screamer after making sure they both smelt alright.
Both can contents were very dark as was the respective yeasts.Bunged both cans,both yeasts and a kilo of dextrose and she has started to go.
It's bloody muggy in Sydney at the moment so the temps are at 27 degrees even with the wet blanket.
If activity is low when I get home this arvo I will toss in another yeast just to be sure to be sure.
This is darker than "The BLack Enamel Camel" which turned out to be a bloody nice drop.
After much deliberation Craig and i have dubbed this one------
"Beyonce Bitter" as it is a gentler name than "Black Bitch" which was an earlier thought.
F.G. was 1062 so guess this not be a wussy beverage.

bigmuzb · Post by **bigmuzb** » Friday Feb 25, 2005 4:21 pm

Mine has now matured into a pretty good dark ale- maybe a bit too stout like for my palate, but bloody good, and ceratinly not undrinkable.

The bitterness is still there but it is no longer overpowering. HAd a couple of longies the other night and was pretty impressed. But my favourite old is the morgans made simply with dex and safale. Bloody excellent. Everyone likes it, and you don't tend to demolish 20 in a session. So it lasts well!

Beautiful creamy golden head, and a really nice dark body, with plenty of guts and complexities of taste- winner!

Muz

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Friday Feb 25, 2005 10:10 pm

I would like to take a moment to point out that the purpose of making beer for me anyway is to drink it not store it. Waiting two months to have a a glass seems like a bit much simply to say I used a double kit. I would prefer to be quaffing after two weeks. Unless you are taking on a project like The Mellenium. This summer I am going to make up a mead which will take about a year to mature, but I am expecting that.

Just me though.

Dogger

sago · Post by **sago** » Friday Feb 25, 2005 10:25 pm

We also have difficulty in waiting for beer to mature longer than a couple of months but the pale ale I'm drinking now is about 10 weeks old and is very palatable.
My thought is that the longer they remain maturing the better.
"Beyonce" is going off after a paranoic addition of some fresh yeast!!!!

bigmuzb · Post by **bigmuzb** » Saturday Feb 26, 2005 5:16 am

Yeah I am like that too Dogger, but if it saves turfing out a batch, then I will give it a chance!

Had a bunch last night- pretty good, a little too stoutlike for me though. Next time I will use an Old Ale and a Pale or belgian ale.. something not too butter.

Cheers
Muz

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Saturday Feb 26, 2005 9:03 am

Yes,

I understand but why would you intentionally brew a beer that you have to sit on?

Dogger

Franky · Post by **Franky** » Thursday Mar 03, 2005 7:23 pm

I found two cans of dodgy Wanders Lager on the bargain trolley at coles going for $2 each. Figuring each would be light on hoppiness, I threw both in a 23L batch with 500g of honey (free from my mother).

Bubbling away nicely and the colour is a rich brown. Never used Wanders, but what they hey, it was only $4 all up. I notice they add caramel, instead of just malted barley, which is probably why it's cheap.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Thursday Mar 03, 2005 10:14 pm

Drive on,

Can't miss at 4 bucks

Dogger

Antsvb · Post by **Antsvb** » Friday Mar 04, 2005 12:26 pm

Did a few wander's years ago when I first started brewing. Nothing wrong with them by memory.

gregb · Post by **gregb** » Friday Mar 04, 2005 5:56 pm

Nothing wrong with Wander, but at normal prices they didn't stack up against the Coopers. $2 each though, ... which Coles was that?

Greg