Coopers Stout fermenting
Posted on: February 5, 2009
Fermentation of Coopers Stout!
I toyed with the idea of splitting the batch in two and adding extra stuff to one of them, but I’m lazy so its all in one FV with 1kg DSM, a teaspoon of yeast nutrient and I rehydrated the yeast for a good 20+mins before pitching, did some major aeration of the wort too. Pitched at 26 Deg C and took an OG reading of 1036.
For my first taste of DSM, Yummy stuff… Malted Milk Biscuits Mmmm, even the Coopers concentrated wort tasted pretty good straight out of the can š
Had a little taste, not bad for straight out of the FV… fingers crossed yet again for a few weeks time.
Coopers stout, doing it stuff, Dark spray malt used instead of sugar.
Probably good to leave for 10days in the FV but I’ll probably bottle once its reached a steady FG (will be bottling in plastic).
I made up the bottling stick pipe-tap tubes from (http://www.18000feet.com/how/bottle.htm did it with the drum tap) worked absolutely great.
Rehydrating yeast and pitching feels like ‘lighting the blue touch-paper on a firework’ only to see it go out but you’re never really sure so you stand well back!
5 Days in the FV and its settled down now, and enough clear surface area to plop in the hydrometer which looks to be sating about FG:1010 making for an (ABV): 3.41%. I presume this figure sounds right for 1KG of DSM instead of sugar?
Bottled this evening (Feb 08, 2009), primed the bottling bucket.
Got this lot at about 20 Deg C for the next week š
Drinking it… its bloody good š Well worth doing a kit and a great stating point for home brewing š Coopers stout with 1Kg Dark Spray malt: Bottled Sunday, so only in its third day of bottle conditioning.
Pleasantly surprised with the hiss as the crown cap came off, though it could do with a little more conditioning to increase the carbonation just a tad!
I’m getting Bonfire toffee, liquorice with the liquorice bringing a sweetness across the pallet after swallowing, subtle bitterness.
not at all bad, and it should get better with age, will brew again 
I might be silly and go for some Muscovado sugar and a few extra hops in the next one 
Next its time to compare the original to the home brew!!
Smells and tastes somewhat like Cough mixture, very dark, not really a burnt taste more of a caramel with slight liquorice.
Its obviously stronger at 6.3% and you can taste the alcohol which might be adding to the cough medicine taste and aroma.
I can’t actually say that I like it… maybe it doesn’t travel well!
The Home brew Coopers Stout:
Simple, smooth, nothing harsh, easy drinking… nothing like the Original stuff.
What a shame the original isn’t as pleasant as the Home Brew!
Conclusion:
I’m going to tip the Original as it reminds me of a nasty 10.2% Chilli beer I tried the other week at the Bradford Beer fest, that was worse… I’ll stick to Cough medicine when I have a cold! Unimpressed. I prefer looking at the photograph to drinking the beer.
I’d love to hear someone else do a comparison, give it an alternative perspective.
Probably Due To Network Congestion 
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