HomebrewandBeer.com forum

Hi guys,

I'm a first-time brewer & got a Coopers lager kit for my birthday. My daughter bought it for me & it contains, along with all the bottles & associated bits & pieces, a 1kg packet of brew enhancer & a 1kg packet of Dextrose. I know that they are both sugars, but the kit info seems to use just one packer of brew enhancer. Just how much dry engredients should I use? Obviously, the amount of sugar will affect the brewing process & maybe alcohol content?

Any suggestions please?

Yeah, more sugar means more alcohol. It means other things too depending on the fermentablity of the sugars used. In your case I'd just stick with the brew enhancer only for the first brew and use the dex for priming the bottles (you won't use all of it for this but it'll be good for many batches). The tin and the box of brew enhancer will make a beer of comparable strength to your standard commercial beers - if you want a stronger beer then bang in some or all of the dextrose but be warned that a basic rule of thumb for a beginner is that that more sugar you put in the more your inexperience will show (i.e. more prominent flaws). You wanna make a beer that might impress your mates? Brew it cool and slow (18-20C and about 2 weeks) and stick with the BE for now.

Best of luck with your first brew, Steve!

Welcome Steve

From the coopers website

Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 contains Dextrose and Maltodextrin while Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 contains
Dextrose, Light Dry Malt and Maltodextrin. They are intended to be used instead of white sugar or
dextrose.

however if you want a higher alc% brew you could add both.

If your kit is the new DIY beer kit the Brew Enhancer is probably their No.1 which as above is mostly dextrose with some maltodextrin. The maltodextrin will give more body and better head retention but will result in a slightly lower alc% than if you used the same quantity of just dextrose.

I'm not sure whats in the latest instructions from coopers but they used to recommend a fermentation temp of 26C. This is rubbish, if you can keep your temps down to something more like 20C you will have a much better tasting brew.

Also the coopers Brew Enhancer No 2 has some dried malt in it. I would recommend giving it a go when you get the ingredients for your next brew. The malt will result in a more flavoursome brew. You can also get just malt extract and it goes on.

Make sure you have a god read of the stickies at the top of the Making Beer forum http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=2 for lots more tips.

Cheers
Earle

Being relatively new at brewing myself, i can only agree with the previous replies, and repeat that you should ferment at 20 degrees, and if possible, store your bottles no higherthan say 25 degrees if possible.

Welcome to a great hobby, stick with it, and dont let it get too technical.

Cheers,
Chris

Agree with the not getting too technical, BUT, there could come a time where you MAY want to get slightly technical. I still stick with the addage keep it simple stupid!! That would still depend on your understanding as it gets easier all the time.
These guys will always be willing to help.
Cheers