Newbie Question

Dec 01, 2005 7 Replies
C

I've brewed just one batch successfully, it was a brewhouse wort-in-a-bag type kit and came out very good, in fact it exceeded my expectations. I started a second brewhouse kit and that is coming along nicely.



I've started a third coopers IPA kit, (it was on sale at less than half the price of the brewhouse) and 36 hrs after pitching the yeast, I still see no activity. both the brewhouses kits were fermenting aggressively by this time.



The expiry date on the coopers IPA was 1/26/06 - just 2 months away (hence the reason for the clearance price I guess).



for brewing the coopers kit I pretty much followed the instructions on

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020413075309659#choosing



However, I now read conflicting ways of brewing these kits - some say follow manufacturer instructions, others say toss the instructions and follow alternate instructions such as those in the link above.



What are the chances that the yeast that came with the coopers kit will still be good ? is there anything I can do to start it fermenting ? Will it harm it / do any good to pitch some fresh yeast into it at this time ? ...or should I just wait a little longer ? ...or should I ditch it and chalk it up to experience...(If it seems to good a deal to be true, then it usually is)



Any advice welcome, Thanks, Craig (Ajax, ON)


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C

no, coopers ipa kit (the one I'm having a problem with)

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A

Patience.

Avery

Brew on brother! SW US desert

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C

Hey ! I'm seeing fermenting activity, after about 55hrs. Seems you were right, Patience was the ingredient I was missing.

I'm learning !

thanks.

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H

I've made quite many beers from Cooper's kits, and all of them have started bubbling after approximately 12 hours. So maybe the yeast in the kit was in bad shape since it was rather old.

Anyways the instructions in Cooper's kits are OK as long as you remember to do two things that aren't mentioned: aerate the wort and rehydrate the yeast. These are two very important basic things missing from many many many beer kits' instructions. Sad but true...

Boiling the wort in these kits isn't necessary, and it won't improve the taste one bit (it might even make it worse), you're just doing unnecessary extra work.

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C

thanks for the advice, I'll be sure to follow that for the next kit and see where it takes me.

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P

Coopers yeasts are amongst the most reliable being quick start, temperature tolerant, & vigorous. I am told (but have not been able to prove it) that there is a sacrifice of final beer quality that results. Many times I have pitched in a Cooprs yeast when the upmarket kit supplied yeast failed to start, always with the quickstart result expected. I now advise: always pitch with two yeast samples, preferably the same yeast but from different batches & act quickly if you do not see fermentation start within 12 hours, always assuming that the start temperature is 18 Deg C minimum. Pete

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