Brilliant, I cut my teeth on coopers one can kits with no temperature control and super hard water from the tap full of chlorine. I still do a keg filler kit now and again cheers 👍🍻
Interesting to revisit Ye Olde extract lager. This was my second ever brew. First was the Coopers Australian Pale Ale (not sure if you ever got that one). Cool to see that with your wealth of knowledge and expertise you were able to produce a decent drop. You've almost got me tempted to revisit the old kits. Cheers mate
It was definitely interesting to do again but as I mentioned in the video, the extra expense needed to get it to where it needs to be is probably not worth it if you already brew with grain.
Interesting. I've recently brewed an extract lager to my own recipe with the new Novalager yeast from Lallemand. Its a hybrid yeast with a temp range of 10-20c, that ferments very fast. Very impressive. I brewed at 15-16c for one week (fg was reached after 4 days), bottled at same temp for one week and moved them to the garage for a week and its a crisp clean lager, no doubt about it. Its be designed to produce no diacetyl, no dms, no sulphur etc so does not need extended lagering, plus it flocculates and falls out very well leaving a nice clear pint. Yesterday I bought 5 more sachets (£4.45 each, 11g) and I'm going to experiment with this very kit.
Yeah I've saw that Novalager yeast and really want to try it but that's quite the price per pack. Suppose you could build it up or keep some trub but that takes away from the best thing about dry yeast. Hopefully they'll start doing bigger packs with more of a discount
I quite often used both lme in dark beers and DME in light beers to great effect on the Robobrew. Trying to use the G40 as intended until I'm happy I can hit the numbers every time. Then make a huge Impy and go to town.
I'm here back again a year later, and rewatching because I got a couple of kits and thought could I use the RO Water and bang tube brings me to you mate. Excellent news and video. Cheers for being there.
Ha, my tentacles are all over TH-cam. I'd still use a good lager yeast if I was doing this again, mainly because I have a favourite but the kit one still works. The water definitely makes a difference too.
Goes to show that a "kit" by itself (even with the yeast that came with it) in the hands of a good brewer can yield good beer...great even. For kit brewers this is excellent news. For all-grain and partial mash brewers kits can be another tool in our tool-belts. One to be utilized whenever we want, for any reason we choose. Cheers!
It really surprised me that the tiny 7g un-named 'lager' kit yeast came out so well. Probably wouldn't have been so good pitching straight in at lager temps so definitely building it up at ale temps worked.
Yeah the half hour brewday with very little cleanup definitely has its plus points. There have been a few days in winter when it's cold, windy and pissing down with rain and my hands feel numb that I wonder why I bother doing this crap at all.
I find the lager kits tend to taste less home-brewy and are good for quickly building up some stock for summertime supping. I've got a Coopers Golden Crown Lager carbing at the mo. I used CML Helles yeast, so looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
Loving those CML yeasts, that Hell is yeast is ace. I'm fairly sure it's a repackaged version of 34/70 as it seems to behave the same way. Could be wrong of course, no-one really knows for sure. Love it though whatever it is. Next beer this weekend is a double batch of NZ Pilsner!
Great video. I love when brewers go back to where they started. The Coopers lager was my second kit, and Woodfordes Wherry was my first. I disliked the Wherry and hated the lager......it was like cat slash.....Lager must be the hardest to get right. I've just finished Little Rebel Cwtch 2 tin kit which was so simple to make and tasted bloody marvellous.
@@BigBananaBrewing Could I suggest the Tiny rebel Cwtch........It's a rather expensive kit but nothing needs to be added and as mentioned, to me, it takes like the real thing. I'd high recommend it if you like a Welsh Red Ale
An interesting experiment, my first ever was a coopers Canadian Lager.... which I didn't know what I was doing so ended up being a perfectly drinkable ale. Was probably about 6/7% too. 😜
Oh yeah, the Canadian Blonde. I've done that too, dryhopped it too with cascade and turned out great (from memory) although probably not to the quality these days
@@BigBananaBrewing before I watched this video I was looking at doing a "clone," of a certain macro lager, now I've watched this I'm 100% going to do it.
Fair play, started homebrewing at the start of lockdown, doing mainly kits, I have a coopers pilsner to start this week, I've tried a stove top grain kit, didn't turn out to well..
@@BigBananaBrewing still at it, was doing it in the attic, but wasn't working out to we'll, got meself a new shed 2 weeks ago🤣, getting it wired and I'll be back in business.
@@seamuscollins1 yesssss, new shed is perfect. I used to do it upstairs in our bathroom that wasn't fitted but we finally did it over the last few weeks and the beer stains on the floor and walls were hilarious 😂
Good video mate! I made a cheap kit lager over a year ago and it turned out great as well but like you said, it's just cheaper to do it all grain. Plus you get to decide your grain bill and whether or not you want to add a little vienna or Munich malt which I like to do in my all grain pilsner and lager
I think I add a bit of Vienna to pretty much every beer these days. Maybe use it too much even. Might let it run out and force myself to use other malts, some of the load of stuff I've bought and never used would be a start.
We hit 20c today here and its winter for us! I can't imagine that in the middle of summer, luckily my Irish forebears decided to skip town back in the 1800's!
Great experiment and video, I reverted to a kit not so long ago due to time for a proper brewday (Muntons Hazy IPA kit), I wasnt really sure about using RO water for it so used cheap supermarket mineral water. Did you make any salt additions for the kit or just use it as filtered? When I done a bit of google research, I couldnt find much about using RO for kits and salt additions. Cheers.
And I don't think there is anything wrong with kit yeast. Why would they put a shitty yeast in their product. In this case its maybe that there wasn't enough yeast. A good healthy starter is ideal. Cheers what an excellent video, really enjoyed it.😎👍
I think it's the unknown, there is nothing on the pack other than the word yeast so make you think that it could be anything. 7g though seems a bit stingy.
@@BigBananaBrewing yeah so if you were to do a one litre starter with that yeast. Anyway you did a great video and I'm not opposed to kit beers but all grain is my go to. Cheers Banana great video 😎👍
I have this same kit. I'm about to start my first brew switching the yeast for SafLager 34/70. The instructions on the Coopers tin says brew for approximately 10 days and test the SG reading until steady over two days. Then it says bottle and allow at least 14 days for the secondary fermentation. In your video you suggest bottling after 1 month. Is this one month brewing at approx 14 degrees? Also you suggest 3 months before the reward of tasting. Would you recommend this is done over 4 months for best results?
With lagers, I find that you can gradually raise the temperature (if you have temp control) from about halfway through ferment. Could be a week depending on the temp as colder = slower. At 14c it would probably be done in 2 weeks. With lagers I tend to leave for longer as any time at cold temps is lagering/conditioning in my book so the beer will taste better and be clearer. If you're bottling it then you can do when it's finished and let it condition in the bottles. I did a German Pils just before Christmas with 34/70 and it took 14 days to finish. Cold crashed it for another week before kegging (not strictly necessary but clears up really well).
@@BigBananaBrewing I have my SafLager 34/70 yeast. Would you ferment at 22 degrees C for 30 minutes then reduce to 13 degrees C and leave at 13c for 14 days? I keep finding mixed messages but your video seems to be the most informative on this
If you are pitching at 13c then use two packs. If you only have one then I would get it started at a higher temp for at least a few hours first or even overnight to get it going then lower the temp.
I did this one with SafLager w-34/70 . Most german beer brewer use this yeast. And i always make a yeast starter. I wounder if there is a sweet bock beer version available in a can. Bock Malt extract in a can.
34/70 is the best dry yeast in my book although it does seem to take an age to drop out and clear the beer. Small price to pay I suppose as that extra time also improves the flavour.
Brilliant, I cut my teeth on coopers one can kits with no temperature control and super hard water from the tap full of chlorine. I still do a keg filler kit now and again cheers 👍🍻
Hell yeah! That's the spirit!
I've always wanted to try making one of the coopers kits but never gotten drunk enough while ordering homebrew stuff to put one in th basket
It's fine but I can make much better with all grain. The 20 minute brewday compared to 6 hours on the other hand...
Interesting to revisit Ye Olde extract lager. This was my second ever brew. First was the Coopers Australian Pale Ale (not sure if you ever got that one). Cool to see that with your wealth of knowledge and expertise you were able to produce a decent drop. You've almost got me tempted to revisit the old kits. Cheers mate
It was definitely interesting to do again but as I mentioned in the video, the extra expense needed to get it to where it needs to be is probably not worth it if you already brew with grain.
The lightest color I have seen on an extract kit. They usually turn out quite dark. Looks delicious 🙂
Yeah, it's dark compared to grain but for a kit it's a decent colour
Interesting. I've recently brewed an extract lager to my own recipe with the new Novalager yeast from Lallemand. Its a hybrid yeast with a temp range of 10-20c, that ferments very fast. Very impressive. I brewed at 15-16c for one week (fg was reached after 4 days), bottled at same temp for one week and moved them to the garage for a week and its a crisp clean lager, no doubt about it. Its be designed to produce no diacetyl, no dms, no sulphur etc so does not need extended lagering, plus it flocculates and falls out very well leaving a nice clear pint. Yesterday I bought 5 more sachets (£4.45 each, 11g) and I'm going to experiment with this very kit.
Yeah I've saw that Novalager yeast and really want to try it but that's quite the price per pack. Suppose you could build it up or keep some trub but that takes away from the best thing about dry yeast. Hopefully they'll start doing bigger packs with more of a discount
I'm an extract brewer (just dont have the space to go all-grain, yet) and I've made some cracking beers and had good feedback from them too.
I quite often used both lme in dark beers and DME in light beers to great effect on the Robobrew. Trying to use the G40 as intended until I'm happy I can hit the numbers every time. Then make a huge Impy and go to town.
I'm here back again a year later, and rewatching because I got a couple of kits and thought could I use the RO Water and bang tube brings me to you mate. Excellent news and video. Cheers for being there.
Ha, my tentacles are all over TH-cam. I'd still use a good lager yeast if I was doing this again, mainly because I have a favourite but the kit one still works. The water definitely makes a difference too.
Goes to show that a "kit" by itself (even with the yeast that came with it) in the hands of a good brewer can yield good beer...great even. For kit brewers this is excellent news. For all-grain and partial mash brewers kits can be another tool in our tool-belts. One to be utilized whenever we want, for any reason we choose. Cheers!
It really surprised me that the tiny 7g un-named 'lager' kit yeast came out so well. Probably wouldn't have been so good pitching straight in at lager temps so definitely building it up at ale temps worked.
Such a good video, great honest review, and costing is always a differance, it's a time savour for sure, I may have a go with that one.....
Yeah the half hour brewday with very little cleanup definitely has its plus points. There have been a few days in winter when it's cold, windy and pissing down with rain and my hands feel numb that I wonder why I bother doing this crap at all.
Have to agree on that
I find the lager kits tend to taste less home-brewy and are good for quickly building up some stock for summertime supping. I've got a Coopers Golden Crown Lager carbing at the mo. I used CML Helles yeast, so looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
Loving those CML yeasts, that Hell is yeast is ace. I'm fairly sure it's a repackaged version of 34/70 as it seems to behave the same way. Could be wrong of course, no-one really knows for sure. Love it though whatever it is. Next beer this weekend is a double batch of NZ Pilsner!
Great video. I love when brewers go back to where they started. The Coopers lager was my second kit, and Woodfordes Wherry was my first. I disliked the Wherry and hated the lager......it was like cat slash.....Lager must be the hardest to get right.
I've just finished Little Rebel Cwtch 2 tin kit which was so simple to make and tasted bloody marvellous.
The secret seems to be to leave them for 4 months rather than 4 days like I used to do. Am definitely on the lookout for another kit to try.
@@BigBananaBrewing Could I suggest the Tiny rebel Cwtch........It's a rather expensive kit but nothing needs to be added and as mentioned, to me, it takes like the real thing. I'd high recommend it if you like a Welsh Red Ale
@@seanlester307 ooooh you weren't kidding about the price, just over 30 quid inc delivery ouch
An interesting experiment, my first ever was a coopers Canadian Lager.... which I didn't know what I was doing so ended up being a perfectly drinkable ale. Was probably about 6/7% too. 😜
Oh yeah, the Canadian Blonde. I've done that too, dryhopped it too with cascade and turned out great (from memory) although probably not to the quality these days
@@BigBananaBrewing before I watched this video I was looking at doing a "clone," of a certain macro lager, now I've watched this I'm 100% going to do it.
Carlsberg Special Brew! Yassssss
Fair play, started homebrewing at the start of lockdown, doing mainly kits, I have a coopers pilsner to start this week, I've tried a stove top grain kit, didn't turn out to well..
You still brewing Seamus or have you sacked it off? Considering the prices of beer in the shops I'll keep doing this for sure.
@@BigBananaBrewing still at it, was doing it in the attic, but wasn't working out to we'll, got meself a new shed 2 weeks ago🤣, getting it wired and I'll be back in business.
@@seamuscollins1 yesssss, new shed is perfect. I used to do it upstairs in our bathroom that wasn't fitted but we finally did it over the last few weeks and the beer stains on the floor and walls were hilarious 😂
Good video mate! I made a cheap kit lager over a year ago and it turned out great as well but like you said, it's just cheaper to do it all grain. Plus you get to decide your grain bill and whether or not you want to add a little vienna or Munich malt which I like to do in my all grain pilsner and lager
I think I add a bit of Vienna to pretty much every beer these days. Maybe use it too much even. Might let it run out and force myself to use other malts, some of the load of stuff I've bought and never used would be a start.
@@BigBananaBrewing Man I have so many ingredients I've purchased and have not used yet like speciality malts and random hops that were "on sale" 🤣
I need to do a lager! This weekend hopefully. Need to sort out my yeast :s
Get it on quick before you miss the 3 days of summer window
@@BigBananaBrewing summer? Must of missed it already. Been absolute dog 💩 this year
Anything over 20 is a win in my book
We hit 20c today here and its winter for us! I can't imagine that in the middle of summer, luckily my Irish forebears decided to skip town back in the 1800's!
👍👍
Great experiment and video, I reverted to a kit not so long ago due to time for a proper brewday (Muntons Hazy IPA kit), I wasnt really sure about using RO water for it so used cheap supermarket mineral water. Did you make any salt additions for the kit or just use it as filtered? When I done a bit of google research, I couldnt find much about using RO for kits and salt additions. Cheers.
No I didn't add any salts at all. The Pilsen water profile is very close to RO water anyway so figured it would work out. It was only 23 litres too.
And I don't think there is anything wrong with kit yeast. Why would they put a shitty yeast in their product. In this case its maybe that there wasn't enough yeast. A good healthy starter is ideal. Cheers what an excellent video, really enjoyed it.😎👍
I think it's the unknown, there is nothing on the pack other than the word yeast so make you think that it could be anything. 7g though seems a bit stingy.
@@BigBananaBrewing yeah so if you were to do a one litre starter with that yeast. Anyway you did a great video and I'm not opposed to kit beers but all grain is my go to. Cheers Banana great video 😎👍
For the little money, the Coopers carbonation drops are worth every penny to ensure perfect carbonation every time.
I used to use carb drops when I was bottling, definitely handy. Now I keg almost everything except imperial stouts so a bag would last years.
I have this same kit. I'm about to start my first brew switching the yeast for SafLager 34/70. The instructions on the Coopers tin says brew for approximately 10 days and test the SG reading until steady over two days. Then it says bottle and allow at least 14 days for the secondary fermentation.
In your video you suggest bottling after 1 month. Is this one month brewing at approx 14 degrees? Also you suggest 3 months before the reward of tasting. Would you recommend this is done over 4 months for best results?
With lagers, I find that you can gradually raise the temperature (if you have temp control) from about halfway through ferment. Could be a week depending on the temp as colder = slower. At 14c it would probably be done in 2 weeks. With lagers I tend to leave for longer as any time at cold temps is lagering/conditioning in my book so the beer will taste better and be clearer. If you're bottling it then you can do when it's finished and let it condition in the bottles. I did a German Pils just before Christmas with 34/70 and it took 14 days to finish. Cold crashed it for another week before kegging (not strictly necessary but clears up really well).
That's 14 days including the three at the end where it had already finished but I was just making sure it had. Technically fermented out in 11 days.
Thank you for this information. Really appreciate it. I'm now wondering if to use the malt you showed or a brew enhancer
@@BigBananaBrewing I have my SafLager 34/70 yeast. Would you ferment at 22 degrees C for 30 minutes then reduce to 13 degrees C and leave at 13c for 14 days? I keep finding mixed messages but your video seems to be the most informative on this
If you are pitching at 13c then use two packs. If you only have one then I would get it started at a higher temp for at least a few hours first or even overnight to get it going then lower the temp.
I did this one with SafLager w-34/70 . Most german beer brewer use this yeast. And i always make a yeast starter.
I wounder if there is a sweet bock beer version available in a can. Bock Malt extract in a can.
34/70 is the best dry yeast in my book although it does seem to take an age to drop out and clear the beer. Small price to pay I suppose as that extra time also improves the flavour.
Mine turned out darker.
I'm sure it gets darker with age in the can. Can't prove it but it's a hunch.
@@BigBananaBrewing I just checked and I added light malt extract in a liquid. Which was quite dark.