I have been brewing and teaching about beer for many years, and I always remember fondly the first few batches of beer I made. Reading the instructions, rereading the instructions, calling the local homebrew shop and asking a question, and then reading the instructions again. Well, I finally got that first batch made and I thought it was probably the best homebrewed beer ever made. It was probably good, but not that good (my home brewing has certainly gotten better), but why ruin a good homebrew story!
A System For Homebrew Beginners
Times have changed though. When I opened my homebrew shop, I had the opportunity to try many different products, some good, and some not so good. At one of the homebrew supplier industry shows, probably back in 2005, I ran into Mark Henry. Mark was showing off the new Coopers home brewing system. I was immediately interested; at last a system that teaches a complete novice how to brew beer with minimal fuss. "Coopers Microbrewery Equipment Kit"
No Company "Lock-In"
Now, I know that there are many sites that have a homebrew how to's, but I am telling you, the Coopers system makes great beer and you won't outgrow it. I have seen many of my customers start off with this kit and move on to create award winning home brews. This was a huge concern of mine since the other players in the all-in-one homebrew how to camp lock you into their system and their ingredients. To hack a phrase from the foodtv guy, that is not good homebrew!
The fermenter is 6 gallons, which leaves enough head space to ferment a 5 gallon batch of home brew, and the plastic bottles are great to bring to parties. Beginners can leave their homebrew in the ferementer because it has a sediment reducer (that is the trub falls below the spigot), and more advanced brewers can transfer their beer to a secondary carboy if they would like. A stick-on thermometer is on the side of the fermenter, making it easy to monitor this critical aspect of home brewing.
DVD and Written Instructions
The Coopers Microbrewery also comes with a DVD and printed instructions. How often does a product have that. I know that I am tired of products that tell you to print the pdf file. My feeling is that if I bought it, the least the manufacturer could do is print the directions for me. Well the Coopers homebrew kit does just that and more. In fact, if you want to see the instructions before you buy: Coopers Microbrewery Instructions.
Still not convinced, check out the youtube video:
What Comes With The Coopers Microbrewery*
- 1 6 gallon fermenter, lid and rubber O ring. This fermenter is a patented design which is engineered to increase beer making success, and increase the ease of beer making.
- 1 tap, washer and sediment reducer
- 1 airlock and rubber grommet
- 1 "little bottler" bottling valve and tube
- 1 stick-on thermometer
- 1 Coopers Instructional Video, hosted by Aussie movie star Paul Mercurio (from the movie Strictly Ballroom)
- 1 instruction booklet
- 1 hydrometer (with instructions on use)
- 30 740ml plastic bottles and caps
- 1 all the ingredients necessary to make 5 gallons of beer including:
- 1 1.7kg can Coopers Lager Concentrate
- 1 pack Coopers Brewing sugar
- 1 Bag of Carbonation Drops
* Coopers may substitute or change the kit without notice, although I have never seen that happen.