Coopers Irish Stout

[Robrew]

So today I brewed the coopers Irish stout  , I used 1.5kg of dark LME and 200g of treacle. I learned that treacle is a VERY thick substance  , next time boil it.

This was also my first time using a white labs vial of WLP004 Irish Ale yeast. When I shook the yeast to 'wake them up' I didnt expect the vial when opened to overflow onto my hand  , so I got as much yeast in as possible, pitched at 23c, now down to 22c after 6 hours no Krausen just yet but it is still very early. Im hoping to wake up to a nice big foamer  . The OG was 1.044, I thought it would be slightly more but oh well, Im happy with how the brewday went and hopefully a nice stout in a few weeks.

[Ciderhead]

I spilt some the first time as well 
They do give better results but you really need a starter for liquid yeasts, keep and an eye on it over next 24 and either have a second vial to chuck in or a packet of dry.

[Robrew]

Ye I went a bit shop crazy on yeasts this week so I have danstar nottingham, US05, and the cooepers dry yeast, did you first one take off for you?

[Ciderhead]

I reckoned I lost about 20% down the sink :-( but as I was putting it into a starter it just took an extra day to get where I wanted.
What was the BB date on the vial?
BTW you don't need a stir plate for a starter.
Give it a day and look out for sign of life, then pitch one of your others. 05 would work, 04 would be better.
I always have dry back-ups and store them in the fridge and they last years

[Robrew]

The best before was 9th of May 2013 ye it fizzed up over the fermenter so I didnt really lose that much just what ever was left on my hand. I have been looking at starters online a fair bit. If im doing a big beer I definitely plan on doing a starter

[Ciderhead]

The best before was 9th of May 2013 ye it fizzed up over the fermenter so I didnt really lose that much just what ever was left on my hand. I have been looking at starters online a fair bit. If im doing a big beer I definitely plan on doing a starter

Very fresh yeast so good chance it will kick off.
Not just big beers you will have read that starters ensure a solid start to your fermentation and minimise potential off flavours
Should also remind everybody to sterilise around the lid of your vials before opening and pitching.

[Robrew]

Ye im gunna start doing starters in the future and also will look into washing and reusing yeast

[Ciderhead]

Ye im gunna start doing starters in the future and also will look into washing and reusing yeast

Absolutely and Tube has a great wiki on washing yeast
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/wiki/doku.php?id=washing_yeast
Some strains don't like to be over used. I read somewhere about 4-5 passes, Tube would probably disagree with me but hes's a tight arse    only joking Mr. T.
I don't do a lot of it myself but have some wlp830 sitting in the bottom of my fridge for a couple of months now and will have a go with it next month in time for summer.

[Robrew]

WLP004 is Guinness yeast. It's very smooth.

Ye I heard that its Guinness yeast. I will be very interested to see how it turns out and how different it will be to a pint of Guinness  .

[Robrew]

well I woke up today and there was a nice big Krausen going, so looks like we have lift off

[Ciderhead]

 

[LordEoin]

I will be very interested to see how it turns out and how different it will be to a pint of Guinness

Coopers say they designed t to be somewhere between guinness and murphy's.
I think it does just that.
Don't expect it to have a creamy guinness head though. It'll have a fast fading beige head regardless of fancy yeast.