Big W has the Thomas Cooper's series kits on sale. Others available for this price:
Thomas Cooper's Family Secret Amber Ale 1.7kg - https://www.bigw.com.au/product/thomas-cooper-s-family-secre…
Thomas Cooper's Brew A IPA 1.7kg - https://www.bigw.com.au/product/thomas-cooper-s-brew-a-ipa-1…
Happy brewing!
Swear they used to be about $16 RRP?? Getting damn expensive to home brew now
I only ever liked the Coopers Pale Ale. If all the conditions were right, it was a very tasty brew. Had mixed experiences with the other cans..
Yeah, $27 for a kit is ridiculous when you can get fresh wort for $50-60.
And a slab of something like Lorry Boys 2 for $70 ..then 25% cashback.
Use the yeast from an actual Coopers Pale Ale.
Have you tried this before? I've actually just recultured yeast from a few bottles and am keen to know if it makes a big difference or not (Vs US-05, not kit yeast).
Yes…makes it so much more like the orignal pale ale. Great with other ales as well. Mixed results with the yeast strength from a bottle. When you get a good sample, it goes like a rocket..Nothing wrong with US-05 yeast. But coopers yeast for sure with these brews.
Never brewed before. How many litres of beer can be brewed with this 1.7kg kit? How does carbonation work?
The kit is intended to be brewed to 23L, but I find I get a better beer if my final volume is 21-22L.
You also need to add an extra kilo or so of adjuncts (additional sugars). I usually suggest brew enhancer 2 if you're just starting out: https://www.bigw.com.au/product/coopers-brew-enhancer-2-1kg/….
Carbonation will be done following fermentation. You'll add a little extra sugar to your bottles alongside the beer.
The yeast will ferment this, producing CO2, and since the bottle is sealed, the gas will dissolve into the beer.
Thanks. Will definitely try.
About 20litres.
Normally carbonating is done with a 1kg of sugar at start and a little in each bottle.
You need to augment this with sugar, dextrose, another can, malt or another adjunct to produce a 23l ferment. Carbonation would vary depending on bottling or kegs, if bottling you can try the carbonation drops or just dropping in a bit of another fermentable.
Honestly bottling sucks. If you wanna try home brewing just go straight to kegging or you will probably be put off by all the cleaning and the shitty results.
You will also need a way to control fermentation temps if you want great beer. Either a free fridge with a temp controller if you are in a hot climate or a heater if you are in a cold area. I have never needed a heater where I live but use a fridge to maintain a stable ferment temperature where I live.
You need to keep the yeast happy and wild temp fluctuations will have the little fellas taking a dump in your beer, throwing nasty flavours.
It's a deep rabbit hole but it's rewarding. Not really gonna save money if I'm honest. I went from kit and kilo, to fresh wort kit to all grain. All grain you can make some cheap, honestly amazing craft beer but you need to invest in the equipment to make it. I'm probably close to breaking even some time soon.
You need to do some research.
I agree bottling sucks. But kegging is so prohibitively expensive I'd probably only suggest it once someone is sure they want to continue brewing.
Thanks for sharing.
This didn't hit any of my triggers such as "homebrew"
Which do you recommend out of the two you shared?
Which malt/dextrose do you use?
That's weird - The one tag I used was "home brew". Maybe the space is an issue?
I can't recall using any of those kits recently, but these days I generally use them as a base in a bigger recipe: https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipes/
Choose a style you like and go from there.
Grabbed a can of the Bootmaker to use with a partial mash. Usually use the Aus Pale Ale. This one looks to have more bittering hops, so might have to adjust a few things :)
Thomas Cooper's Family Secret Amber Ale 1.7kg
Bitterness: 500 IBU
!!!
Maybe if you drink it out of the can 🤣
Username checks out. I've brewed this a couple of times, left the majority bottled for a year and it was awesome.