Coopers Original Lager, is it a good first brew kit
Most people asking this are really asking which kit will forgive a few mistakes while they work out what all the steps actually do, and on that measure a plain lager kit is a sensible place to start, because there's nothing in it hiding behind a big flavour and you'll taste exactly what you did.
What the kit is
Coopers Original Lager is a 1.7kg tin of hopped malt extract, and Coopers describe the beer it makes as pale golden, with a light malt character, a subtle hop aroma, a crisp clean taste and a refreshing finish, served chilled.
Read that as a brewing instruction rather than as a tasting note. A beer that light won't cover up an off flavour the way a stout or a big hoppy ale will, so if something goes sideways you'll know about it. What you get back for that is when it goes right it's very obviously right, and on a first batch that's worth a lot more than a clever recipe.
What you still have to buy
This is the bit that catches people, and it's the reason for the annoying second trip. The tin is hopped malt extract and you supply the fermentable sugar that goes in with it, which is either plain dextrose or one of the Coopers brew enhancers, and the tin tells you how much.
Dextrose is the cheaper one and it ferments right out, so it lifts the alcohol and leaves the body where it was. Brew Enhancer 2 carries light dry malt as well as dextrose, so it leaves a bit more body and a better head behind, and on a beer this light that shows up more than you'd think it would.
Beyond that you need a fermenter with a lid and an airlock, something to measure with, sanitiser, and something to put the finished beer in. Bring the tin to the counter and we'll go through the whole list with you, because working out on a Sunday afternoon that you've got nothing to bottle into is an annoying way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Where a first batch actually goes wrong
It's almost never the recipe, because the kit has already done that part for you. What spoils a first batch is cleanliness or temperature, and neither of them costs anything to get right.
The fermenter has to be properly clean before it's sanitised, in that order, because sanitiser won't do anything useful sitting on top of a film of old yeast, and an infected batch tastes sour no matter how good the kit was.
Temperature is the other one. Kit yeast is forgiving and it'll work away in a warm spot, and the warmer it sits the more fruity ester it throws, which on a beer this clean reads as wrong rather than as interesting. So the coolest steady corner you've got beats the laundry next to the hot water service, and if you can hold a fermenter properly cold then an S23 Saflager swapped in for the kit sachet does a better job again, between 9 and 15 degrees.
Then leave it shut
A hydrometer reading that hasn't moved in 2 days is what tells you fermentation has finished, and a week or two is the usual shape of it, though the hydrometer is the answer and the calendar is only ever a guide. Lifting the lid to have a look achieves nothing at all except giving something a way in.
If it really is your first one
Nobody starts out knowing any of this, and the people who make it look instant have simply done it more times than you have, so the only real trick is to change one thing per batch and you'll work out fairly quickly what did what. Ask us when you're in and we'll tell you what goes with the tin, and that part costs you nothing.
Shop related products
- Coopers Original Lager 1.7kg. The kit itself.
- Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 1kg. The blend most people put with a lager kit.
- Coopers Dextrose 1kg. The cheaper option, for a drier finish.
- S23 Saflager Lager Yeast 11.5g. Swap this in if you can ferment cold.
- Coopers European Lager 1.7kg. Where a lot of people go for their second one.
Did you know none of the brewing gear ever made it onto the website, so the 30 litre and 60 litre fermenter systems, the no rinse sanitiser, the hydrometer with its test jar, the bottle brushes and the cappers all live in the shop only. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.
The kits all sit in our Coopers collection and the wider range is in homebrew, and Brewhilder will help you pick your first one if you're going back and forth on it.
- How to brew your first beer at home
- How to brew a lager at home
- How to brew Coopers European Lager at home
I still think a first batch is mostly an experiment in patience, and the beer at the end of it is a bonus.
Cheers,
Candeece
