15 Jan

Easy Home Brewing with a Cooper’s Micro Brew Kit

Author: Staff  //  Category: Home Brewing Recipes

This is a great way to acquire the equipment you’ll need to make your first, and many batches of home made beer. Easy, satisfying, and inexpensive.

Tags: BEER, Brew, Brewing, coopers, Fermenter, fermenting, Home, homebrew, kit, Making, Micro

25 Comments »

  1. Graig’s vids got me brewing extract 2 years ago, after a few batches i went to whole-grain and last week applied for a commercial licence where i live in the caribbean.
    Thx for all Graig…..

    Btw. plz move that fermentor from under your electrical panel box. A good blow-out could short your whole house and maybe worse my friend. It scares every time i watch one of your vids.

    Comment by statianpirate — December 21, 2009 @ 5:57 pm

  2. Aw. Thanks for the concern. In 25 years of brewing, I’ve never had a blowout bad enough to reach that box. I always catch the blowouts before they get bad.

    Comment by CraigTube — December 21, 2009 @ 10:35 pm

  3. I thought you were suppose to keep the fermenter away from direct sunlight. I noticed you were going to ferment right next to a window. Is this just a myth ??

    Comment by culchie23 — December 22, 2009 @ 7:45 pm

  4. No, that is true. I covered it with a towel and kept the blinds shut.

    Comment by CraigTube — December 22, 2009 @ 9:33 pm

  5. I got my first coopers kit on mon. started it that night and it is fermenting like crazy. I have brewed before, but saw the coopers kit was on sale for 69$ u.s. I thought I would try it, so far so good.
    Craig, I was wondering if you use the muntons kits or just stick to coopers? why is coopers 6 gallons and muntons only 5? next batch I will try the coopers canadian with the Briess LME, you think that would be better than using dextrose? thank you.

    Comment by kwaidonjin — December 24, 2009 @ 12:00 am

  6. I think there tends to be some confusion when it comes to gallons. The standard is 5 Imperial gallons. Maybe the Muntons kit is measured that way. I’m not sure. I usually stick to Cooper’s just because I can buy them locally. I would like to try a Muntons just to see. the difference. Yes, cutting down on the dextrose and adding LME instead will give you a better beer. I don’t do it all the time because the DME is expensive. Also, try using two cans of malt extract. Yummy!

    Comment by CraigTube — December 24, 2009 @ 12:32 am

  7. Craig, i live in an apartment in the states. i have friends who homebrew from grains, but this is not practical for me so i think the kits would be ideal. i have 2 questions for you though. 1) when i brew with friends, we always have to activate the yeast before starting, you never do…you just cut and pitch then ferment. why is it not necessary for you to activate your yeast? i will post again for the second question, running out of character space

    Comment by WildBuffoon — December 29, 2009 @ 1:24 pm

  8. and #2). after boiling our wort, we have to shake the bejesus out of it to introduce as much oxygen into it as possible. in your videos, you always advocate as little air exposure as possible, again why is this step not needed with kits??

    Comment by WildBuffoon — December 29, 2009 @ 1:26 pm

  9. It is not necessary to activate the yeast. I know there are those who say you have to, but you don’t. I have never done it and my beer ferments out completely. The manufacturers of the kits will tell you, and a guy from Cooper’s told me, it is not necessary. It will activate in the wort. I made a batch last night and by morning there was airlock activity. My supplier told me once that he has seen more problems with customers activating their yeast than not. It just is not necessary.

    Comment by CraigTube — December 30, 2009 @ 1:53 am

  10. Now to be fair, there may be some yeasts that do require it, but if you’re using the yeast that came with the kit, you what the instructions say, pitch the yeast dry and cover.

    Comment by CraigTube — December 30, 2009 @ 1:54 am

  11. As for the oxygen, you want it in at the beginning, but not after the beer is fermented. I just stir a lot and when I add my cold water, I fill from about a foot above the wort, in order to pull some oxygen in there. The yeast will need that oxygen to survive. But when the beer is done, you don’t want to oxidate it further.

    Comment by CraigTube — December 30, 2009 @ 1:57 am

  12. First of all I Wanted to thank you for making this video. I want to try to start my own home brewing process soon.. I was wondering about one thing though. I really want to try different flavors ie. berry, or chocolate etc. I was wondering in what part of the process would I want to add these flavors in and do you know how to do such a thing. Just add juice or extract or whatever. thank you for your time

    Comment by fatmikegoyankees — December 30, 2009 @ 5:38 am

  13. I would add them during the preparation of your wort. Frozen fruit is great for this. Boil it in some water and let it cool. Chocolate, how about some baker’s chocolate. Melt it in a double boiler and add it to the wort. That’s my best guess.

    Comment by CraigTube — December 31, 2009 @ 3:51 am

  14. Hey Craig I had a few questions for you. Yesterday I bottled my first batch of beer. It was the lager that comes with the kit. It was still pretty cloudy and I was wondering if that’s normal and will it settle down over the next 14 days? I just hope it’s not infected!

    Comment by TBlazer08 — January 1, 2010 @ 4:16 pm

  15. Also, I had cleaned and sanitized the fermentor with 1/2 cup of bleach like the manual says and I had rinsed it thouroghly but it still has the scent of beer to it. I was wondering if that’s normal or will it ruin my next batch of beer. Does yours have a smell to it after cleaned and sanitized?  Thanks

    Comment by TBlazer08 — January 1, 2010 @ 4:17 pm

  16. No, it’s fine. It will clear up in no time.

    Comment by CraigTube — January 2, 2010 @ 2:28 am

  17. Yes it does. As long as you’re only brewing beer in it, it’s fine.

    Comment by CraigTube — January 2, 2010 @ 2:29 am

  18. Thanks!! You the man!

    Comment by TBlazer08 — January 2, 2010 @ 10:22 am

  19. Excellent videos!!

    I purchased the Coopers kit, today tried my first bottle, two weeks after bottling. The brew has a cider smell and taste to it..am I digging into this batch too early, or was a mistake made during the process causing this result?

    Comment by Lostandfoundrecords — January 3, 2010 @ 5:40 pm

  20. Hi there Craig, I am an absolute newbie, I have watched a few of your Videos, (thanks).

    When you sanitize the kit for the first time do you need to put the “Plastic Tap”, sediment reducer, airlock and grommet in the fermenter?

    I have only put the mixing spoon and little bottler and the airlock and rubber grommet in the fermenter.

    regards

    Comment by tufnel1970 — January 3, 2010 @ 8:17 pm

  21. Home brew can have a slightly fruity taste. Other than that, I don’t know what could be wrong.

    Comment by CraigTube — January 3, 2010 @ 10:45 pm

  22. Craig, I am also a newbie but have been doing a lot of researching on brewing.

    How come you do not boil all the wort? Most of the videos show people boiling the whole batch, then cooling it before placing it into the fermenter. Will that give you more of a lighter beer rather than darker?

    Also, when is the right time to add honey to the brew? What about spices and different flavours?

    Comment by MrR00NiE — January 6, 2010 @ 9:05 pm

  23. Most cans of malt extract have been pre boiled. You don’t have to boil them. You just need water hot enough to desolve it all. I have a video on using honey. I think it’s called “Easy home brewing with honey”. Other spices or herbs can be added but you would have to boil them in. You’ll want a NEW sanitized pantihoze or cheese cloth to make a sack for the herbs. What herbs? I don’t know.

    Comment by CraigTube — January 6, 2010 @ 11:04 pm

  24. Hi Craig,
    I was just wondering at which store you bought the Coopers brewing kit, can how much did it cost?

    Thanks

    Comment by digitalfxcube — January 10, 2010 @ 10:08 pm

  25. *and

    Comment by digitalfxcube — January 10, 2010 @ 10:09 pm

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