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Hi all,

Something occurred to me the other day and I thought I would see what other people think about it.

It concerns the brew that comes with the Coopers HB kit- a lager. Given that lagers prefer low temperatures, and the novice is not likely to know this, then it stands to reason that the finished product of brew number 1 is likely to be fruity and have that lower-than-standard home brew taste.

This might potentially cause some people to throw in the towel after their first brew.

I am wondering why they dont include an ale instead of a lager in the kit. An ale is more likely to produce a better result first time, given that it likes temps in the low 20's...which is around room temperature...which is more likely to be the temp that a first brew is fermented at.

What do other people think?

From what I've heard BF...the yeast that is provided with that particular kit is an Ale yeast which is why they suggest the higher recommended brewing temps....the main reason for this I assume is first timers wont have any way of managing lager brewing temps.

Aaahhhh...so brewing temp is totally related to the yeast type, not wort type....

Yes- the Coopers kit I bought a few months ago came with an ale yeast.

So really, what they are doing is supplying a brew that will ferment nicely rather than supplying a true lager.

BeerFrenzy wrote:Aaahhhh...so brewing temp is totally related to the yeast type, not wort type....

Yes- the Coopers kit I bought a few months ago came with an ale yeast.

So really, what they are doing is supplying a brew that will ferment nicely rather than supplying a true lager.

Spot on BF...got it one...makes brewing for the first time that much easier!

BeerFrenzy wrote:Given that lagers prefer low temperatures, and the novice is not likely to know this, then it stands to reason that the finished product of brew number 1 is likely to be fruity and have that lower-than-standard home brew taste.

This might potentially cause some people to throw in the towel after their first brew.

I am wondering why they dont include an ale instead of a lager in the kit.

BF, I think that Coopers would argue, rightly or wrongly, that the lager is the best choice to include in their kits, as people who want another style of beer can always progress to that, whereas if they included, say, a Sparkling Ale then people who only liked the Australian "lager" style of beer (and let's face it, there are heaps of them) would be put off and not come back for seconds.

On the issue of the Coopers "Lager", it's true that this comes with an ale yeast (their Pilsner does come with a lager yeast, though) and this means the resulting beer will be fruitier and less crisp than a beer made with a lager yeast.

Cheers,

Oliver

This is how i got hooked, i thought it was a great starting brew, simple and tasted better than commercial beer. I do use Coopers Lager now as a favorite regular but now play around with it and is pretty safe.
Big Al

Big Al wrote:This is how i got hooked, i thought it was a great starting brew, simple and tasted better than commercial beer.

I have to agree there Big Al, the first brew I made with the contents of the Big W kit has now been in the bottle for 2 months and it is delicious. Since then I've moved on to LME etc etc so I can only see subsequent brews tasting even better.

I had a bit of an epiphany last night actually. My wife and I were at the local bowling club playing darts, and I looked at a blokes schooner of New and thought.."that looks yukky and cheap". Hehe...I'm officially a home brew snob!