WOW how's that for a beer!!!

[FlyingSkull]

Yup. About 11 dollars for a twelve pack. And Blue ain't all that great.
I can get Newcastle, Becks, Guinness for the same price.

But I prefer to make my own.
Comes out at about 7 dollars per twelve.
Cooper (Aussie) is a great beer mix, BTW.

Mr Cygnus,
Can you recommend a kit for beer brewing beginners? I have all the wine making equipment and the wines all turn out great, but have heard the beer can be tough. Do you recommend the liquid yeasts?


Thanks.

[dg]

What do you guys think of Cooper's? A friend of mine taught down under for a semester and came back raving about it. I found the Sparkling Ale here and gave it a try, but it's $11 a six pack. Very tasty, but too pricey to have often.

[Tetsuo]

No Sam Adams Utopia now that is a beer

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/02/10/ultimate.beer/

http://cgi.ebay.com/Samuel-Adams-2002-Utopia-Utopias-UNOPENED-MMII-NIB!_W0QQitemZ360112519238QQcmdZViewItem

[Endrik]

beer used to cost about 50 cents and people from other side of the world used to move here because of that, now it's insane, a buck or a little bit more

[Super_shredder]

this is what i drink a polish beer called tyskie £20 for 24 in makro

ew........ quality over quantity for me . id rather have 12 cans of nice beer rather than 24 cans of piss

[gotwtt]

mate its £1.30 a bottle in tesco. i get it cheaper because makro is a whole sale outlet and at 5.6% it's hardly piss like Carling

[rjohnstone]

yeah i don't know ANYONE in australia who drinks Fosters, and its the only brewery left here thats 100% Aussie owned!

The tourists are probably the only ones drinking that shit.
Nasty tasting stuff.

[Cygnus X1]

Mr Cygnus,
Can you recommend a kit for beer brewing beginners? I have all the wine making equipment and the wines all turn out great, but have heard the beer can be tough. Do you recommend the liquid yeasts?


Thanks.

Not all that difficult, especially if you have wine making experience.

The simple way:
Buy a beer mix (Cooper is good, not out of this world, but on par with Samuel Adams). It comes complete. Sterilize everything. Bring about 2 quarts of fresh water to a boil (my tap is good, some may not like theirs, so they buy bottled distilled water). Add the beer mix. Let it boil down a bit (10 minutes or so-don't burn it). Put another qurt of cool water in the beer making vessel. Some people use a sanitary 5 gallon bucket and airlock. I use a cheap Mr. Beer 3 gallon bucket. Pour it in slowly to control foaming, then stir it vigorously.
Let it cool to 75 degrees F. Check the gravity with a hygrometer.
Pitch yeast-either dry (it comes with the mixes), or use a wet solution. I see no difference. They both work well.

Put in a dark cool place between 70 and 80 degrees. The yeast will "take off" in the first 30 hours or so. Then it will settle in and after four days, take another sample for specific gravity. Write down the reading. Sample taste to see if any spoilage occurred during the cooking/kegging process. You will know immediately through smell/taste if it's going ok. It isn't "beer" yet, but you'll know.

Take another sample in 24 hours and again check the gravity. If no change, then it's done.
And then comes the carbonation phase. Some people use expensive (but reliable) C02 systems.
I just let it carbonate naturally.

I do this part a little different than recommended.
I wash 30 bottles in the dishwasher with zero detergent.
Then I rinse each with one step sanitizer along with the caps. I sanitize a 3 gallon "racking" container-a Coleman that has a bottom spout. Then I pour in some of the beer,
add priming sugar and start bottling. Just like pouring a beer, pour at 45 degree angles to minimize foaming.
This method beats trying to put priming sugar (corn sugar) into the bottles individually. It is much more consistent, less messy.

Now store the bottles in a cool dark place for at least 7 days. You will see bubbles start to form at the top of the brew when carbonation commences. Try one, and if you taste corn sugar, then the carbonation isn't done yet.
You have to play this part by ear. Some beers require lagering to truly age correctly. I do this with my summer wheat beers. Very light and snappy tasting, medium ABV.
(5 percent).

All in all, it takes about an hour to make the beer, another hour to bottle it. The Mr. Beer mixes suck, but can be made drinkable with added ingredients. At least the Mr. Beer keg will give something to work with. I think Cooper offers a similar budget system.

[Cygnus X1]

What do you guys think of Cooper's? A friend of mine taught down under for a semester and came back raving about it. I found the Sparkling Ale here and gave it a try, but it's $11 a six pack. Very tasty, but too pricey to have often.

Yikes.
More like 8 dollars a 6 here.
Very good beer.

I have a very patient friend that makes abbey grade ales.
Takes 8 months! 10.5% ABV. Tastes great, and will knock you on your butt from just the surprise that something so smooth also has a kick.

[FlyingSkull]

Not all that difficult, especially if you have wine making experience.

The simple way:
Buy a beer mix (Cooper is good, not out of this world, but on par with Samuel Adams). It comes complete. Sterilize everything. Bring about 2 quarts of fresh water to a boil (my tap is good, some may not like theirs, so they buy bottled distilled water). Add the beer mix. Let it boil down a bit (10 minutes or so-don't burn it). Put another qurt of cool water in the beer making vessel. Some people use a sanitary 5 gallon bucket and airlock. I use a cheap Mr. Beer 3 gallon bucket. Pour it in slowly to control foaming, then stir it vigorously.
Let it cool to 75 degrees F. Check the gravity with a hygrometer.
Pitch yeast-either dry (it comes with the mixes), or use a wet solution. I see no difference. They both work well.

Put in a dark cool place between 70 and 80 degrees. The yeast will "take off" in the first 30 hours or so. Then it will settle in and after four days, take another sample for specific gravity. Write down the reading. Sample taste to see if any spoilage occurred during the cooking/kegging process. You will know immediately through smell/taste if it's going ok. It isn't "beer" yet, but you'll know.

Take another sample in 24 hours and again check the gravity. If no change, then it's done.
And then comes the carbonation phase. Some people use expensive (but reliable) C02 systems.
I just let it carbonate naturally.

I do this part a little different than recommended.
I wash 30 bottles in the dishwasher with zero detergent.
Then I rinse each with one step sanitizer along with the caps. I sanitize a 3 gallon "racking" container-a Coleman that has a bottom spout. Then I pour in some of the beer,
add priming sugar and start bottling. Just like pouring a beer, pour at 45 degree angles to minimize foaming.
This method beats trying to put priming sugar (corn sugar) into the bottles individually. It is much more consistent, less messy.

Now store the bottles in a cool dark place for at least 7 days. You will see bubbles start to form at the top of the brew when carbonation commences. Try one, and if you taste corn sugar, then the carbonation isn't done yet.
You have to play this part by ear. Some beers require lagering to truly age correctly. I do this with my summer wheat beers. Very light and snappy tasting, medium ABV.
(5 percent).

All in all, it takes about an hour to make the beer, another hour to bottle it. The Mr. Beer mixes suck, but can be made drinkable with added ingredients. At least the Mr. Beer keg will give something to work with. I think Cooper offers a similar budget system.

Thanks that is great info, I have a bunch of recipes from different sources but they were not as thorough as yours, I have to try this. Hopefully this year thanks again.

[VitaminG]

What do you guys think of Cooper's? A friend of mine taught down under for a semester and came back raving about it. I found the Sparkling Ale here and gave it a try, but it's $11 a six pack. Very tasty, but too pricey to have often.

I like Coopers. They do a nice dark ale.

[AussieTerry84]

Is Coopers Pale Ale the one you guys are talking about thats good? cause i bought it 2nite along with Melbourne Bitter to try

[dg]

They have quite a few varieties.

http://www.coopers.com.au/beer.php

The only one I've had is the Sparkling Ale, which is supposed to be their original recipe from way back. My friend liked all of them, and iirc he said the one in the green label was his favorite. I think that's the Pale Ale. I want to give that and the Dark a try if I can find 'em.

[AussieTerry84]

yeah the Pale Ale that im drinking now has a green label meh i dont think im big on apple/cider tasting beers now that i've had it (im still new to most beers ), i think atm im mostly a fan of pils if that doesn't make me sound like a n00b

[Super_shredder]

mate its £1.30 a bottle in tesco. i get it cheaper because makro is a whole sale outlet and at 5.6% it's hardly piss like Carling

ive tried it , not to my taste but il agree with you that carling is complete piss!