Coopers Brew Enhancer 1, 2 and 3, which one to use
What a brew enhancer is for
Every beer kit tells you to add a kilo of something fermentable, and the cheapest answer is plain sugar, which works perfectly well and gives you a thin beer. A brew enhancer is Coopers' answer to that. It's a blend of sugars where some of them ferment and some of them don't, so you get the alcohol you were after and you also get something left in the glass afterwards. There are three of them and the numbers on the tins are not a quality ladder, they're just different blends for different beers.
The two ingredients doing the work
Dextrose is the fermentable half. Coopers describe it as 100 per cent dextrose that ferments out completely and lifts the alcohol without changing the taste, which is exactly what you want it to do and exactly why it leaves a beer feeling empty when you use it on its own.
Maltodextrin is the other half and it's the interesting one, because the yeast can't ferment it at all. It goes into the fermenter and it comes out the other end untouched, sitting in the finished beer where you taste it as body and mouthfeel rather than as sweetness. Coopers say straight out that it's the maltodextrin doing the texture work in Enhancer 1. Light dry malt turns up in the other two, and that's the one bringing actual malt flavour with it rather than just weight.
Brew Enhancer 1
The only one Coopers publish a ratio for. It's 60 per cent dextrose and 40 per cent maltodextrin, so there's no malt in it at all, which is the whole point of it. You get body and mouthfeel out of it, and a head that stays put, without any malt flavour muddying up a beer that is meant to be clean. Coopers point it at the lighter styles. Lager and draught, and they name pilsner as well.
Brew Enhancer 2
Dextrose and maltodextrin again, with light dry malt in as well, and Coopers put it up as the one that suits a wide range of styles rather than any particular one. If you're brewing something with malt character in it and you don't want to think too hard about the fermentables, this is the safe tin, and it's the one most people end up buying twice.
Brew Enhancer 3
Same three ingredients as Enhancer 2, and Coopers aim this one at full-bodied beers where you want the malt character forward, so head retention and mouthfeel are what they lead on. A stout or a dark ale is the obvious use.
The honest bit about 2 and 3
Coopers list the same three ingredients for both tins and they don't publish the proportions, so anyone telling you Enhancer 3 is mostly malt with a splash of dextrose is guessing. What we can say is what Coopers say, which is that 2 is the general-purpose one and 3 is aimed at fuller beers. Pick by the beer you're brewing rather than by the number on the tin, and if you can't decide between them, 2 will not let you down.
When none of them is the answer
If you want a bigger beer and nothing else changed, plain dextrose on its own does that and does it cheaply. If you want more than an enhancer gives you, go past them to a liquid malt extract, which is a full tin of malt rather than a blend with malt in it, and the difference in the glass is obvious. The enhancers sit between those two. That middle ground is what makes them the tin most people reach for.
If you're standing there with a kit and no idea which tin goes with it, ask us when you're in the shop. It's a fair question and plenty of people who have brewed for years still ask it.
Shop related products
- Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 1kg. 60 per cent dextrose and 40 per cent maltodextrin, for lagers and draught beers.
- Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 1kg. The across-the-range one, with light dry malt in the blend.
- Coopers Brew Enhancer 3 1kg. Aimed at fuller beers where you want the malt forward.
- Coopers Dextrose 1kg. Straight fermentable sugar when the alcohol is all you're after.
- Coopers Light Dry Malt 500g. The malt on its own, if you'd rather build the blend yourself.
Did you know we keep a few fermentables in the shop that aren't listed online. Bulk dextrose in 3kg and 5kg, and the Brewblend range, which includes a brew improver, a malt plus booster, a stout booster, a German lager blend and an Irish stout blend. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.
The rest is in our homebrew collection, and Brewhilder will help you match a tin to what you're brewing.
More from the homebrew blog
- Coopers Light Dry Malt 500g, what it does in your beer
- How to brew your first beer at home
- How to carbonate your homebrew in bottles
I still read the back of the tin every single time, and I'd rather do that than guess.
Cheers,
Candeece
