Coopers Pale Ale What I have done/what would you have done?

[symon]

Just after some opinions regarding a Coopers Pale Ale I have just made up. What if anything might you guys have done differently? Or maybe what can I expect? Started with the basic kit then added the BE2 and an extra 320 gr of dextrose and will bulk prime with the other 180 gr of dextrose Just started brewing again after a ten year break but mind you all i ever used to do was
k&k so looking to expand a little
many thanks
Symon

[warra48]

Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy your time here.

Your question is very general, and in the absence of detailed specifics, I suggest you read through a couple of the stickies on this forum first.
Go to:
Making Beer
and then these two Topics
-Simple things that make HB better
-Basic brewing instructions.

If you still have specific questions, ask again.

[Wassa]

I'd add hops, lots of hops in additions of 30 mins, 15, mins, 5 mins, fkame out and dry hopping. Preferably Cascade, Amarillo or Chinookk and at 15 ngm per time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[billybushcook]

I love Coopers Pale Ale + BE2 done as a K&K even with kit yeast up to 24 deg.
Even though I do AG's each fortnight, I still do a K&K CPA most other weeks.

The only things I do different these days is use a Safale S-04 yeast @ 18 deg, (although no significant difference in results from the Coopers kit yeast)
Have recently been steeping some Hops in freshly boiled water & adding to fermenter (Morgan's finishing hops) I prefer "Pride of Ringwood" or "Cascade"

Just my preference,

Cheers, Mick.

[symon]

Thanks all for your replies certainly has given me food for thought
Symon

[Bum]

I once made a CPA K&B that was alleged to be a Mountain Goat PA clone (got the recipe from here, actually). From memory it went something like:

Goo
1kg LDME
100g crystal malt
100g dex
30g Amarillo @ 10 minutes

Weirdest beer I ever made. It had two distinct (and disparate) flavours - a harsh bitterness followed by something slightly muddy. It also sat in the bottle strangely - if you didn't decant the whole bottle into a jug or roll the bottle, Cooper's style, the first glass out of the bottle would be cloyingly sweet and the second would be pretty awful (but in no way sweet). Made this at the start of April and only now is it smoothing out into something drinkable. Would never do again.

[Anna]

I'd add hops, lots of hops in additions of 30 mins, 15, mins, 5 mins, fkame out and dry hopping. Preferably Cascade, Amarillo or Chinookk and at 15 ngm per time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've got a CPA on at the moment, K&K with BE2, 250 gm steeped Crystal added and kit yeast. It's been going for 4 days and nearly finished fermenting, but I would like to add some hops as you suggest. Is it too late to "dry hop"? What type and how much? Anna

[svyturys]

Anna, I've dry hopped two days before bottling. This gives plenty of hop aroma to the brew. From my notes I've found that Glacier hops 12g, steeped for 15 minutes in boiled water then cooled to 20C gave great results.
This was thrown onto a Coopers Pale Ale kit, BE2 with a Saaz dry hop at brew time.
From my notes it seems that I have also used Galaxy hops with a good result.
Cheers

[Anna]

Anna, I've dry hopped two days before bottling. This gives plenty of hop aroma to the brew. From my notes I've found that Glacier hops 12g, steeped for 15 minutes in boiled water then cooled to 20C gave great results.
This was thrown onto a Coopers Pale Ale kit, BE2 with a Saaz dry hop at brew time.
From my notes it seems that I have also used Galaxy hops with a good result.
Cheers

Thanks for that. Looks like I've just happened upon this thread at the right time for my CPA. Seeing as I didn't add any hops at brew time, would dry hopping 12g of Glacier be enough for aroma ?

[svyturys]

would dry hopping 12g of Glacier be enough for aroma ?

Depends. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to use 20g or 25g. The 12g came about from the the amount I had in the packet, all that was left. It worked. Now I have found a supplier that packs hop pellets to your requirements at the LHBS. I order the exact amount that the recipe requires which is great...no half used bags of hops floating around the fridge.

Cheers

[Anna]

Hmmm..... think I might drop by the HBS this afternoon and get some. They don't have any Glacier, Crystal or Amarillo, so I'm thinking maybe Goldings or Cluster for the Pale Ale and (seeing as how you say you can dry hop up to 2 days before bottling), maybe some Cascade or Fuggles for the Coopers Draught which is still in primary for the 3rd week and which I will bottle this weekend? How does that sound? Any better suggestions? Am I on the right track thinking the lower alpha acid hops would give aroma without too much bitterness (which is what I want)? Anna

[billybushcook]

Am I on the right track thinking the lower alpha acid hops would give aroma without too much bitterness (which is what I want)? Anna

Without boiling them, you will not get any bitterness, It's all about aroma when dry hopping or steeping.

Cluster & Cascade have given me good results, but I still like PoR (& now have one growing in the vege patch), Primarily used as a bittering hop when added to the boil but it is a nice mellow flavour hop when used in the right amount, 12-15g for dry hopping I think.

I'm keen to try Amarillo or Fuggles too!

Cheers, Mick.

[Throsby]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but thought I'd just ask what else I could do with this.

Digging around and found the following ingredients in the back of the brew-room:

Coopers Australian Pale Ale
Brew Enhancer 2

Figured I'd throw it down for a quick K&K brew. No idea how long they have been sitting (probably 6mths I reckon) so grabbed from US-05 from Craftbrewer.com.

I was actually emailing Ross for some Hersbrucker Hallertau plugs for the next brew I'm planning. Seeing as he sent me 6 plugs and I could sacrifice one or two plugs on this K&K.

Will they suit this quaffer? Or should I just leave it simple?


Best bet with plugs is to just chuck them in to the fermenter? Or to steep them? Or to boil them?

Thanks lads.

[Anna]

Without boiling them, you will not get any bitterness, It's all about aroma when dry hopping or steeping.
.

Aha! That clears the question up nicely for me thanks Mick. I think I will try the POR now, as from what I've read it's used in VB and I quite like the aroma from that (I was concerned it would be too bitter). Anna

[Anna]

Me again! Well, I did the dry hopping thing on the weekend - added Clusters teabag (steeped for 10 mins) to a Coopers Pale Ale which stopped fermenting about a week ago but is still in primary, and a Goldings teabag to a Coopers Draught, steeped and added just before pitching the yeast (according to the instructions on the teabag). But I read someone's post yesterday which commented that his steeped hops "smelled good". Mine didn't smell at all. Should they have?

Anna Baby steps......

[warra48]

The teabags are convenient, but not really up to quality as far as hops go, in my experience.
I never managed to get an aroma from them in my kit and extract days.

The difficulty is we don't know how fresh they are, and their storage is often sub-optimal, so you can't be guaranteed the outcome you look for.
They are also expensive for the amount of hops you get. Compare the price for a 12 gr hop teabag to say 90 or 100 gr from the following suppliers.

A better idea is to buy hops from a quality HB shop such as Grain & Grape (Melbourne), Marks Home Brew (Newcastle), or from Ross' online store CraftBrewer.
You are guaranteed to get fresh hops, properly stored, and carefully packaged, and with appropriate AA% information.

I buy mine from either CraftBrewer or Marks Home Brew in lots of a minimum of 90 gr, and up to 500 gr of my favourite hops. I store them in my freezer, in airtight ziplock pouches, inside another tightly closed decor container. They stay fresh that way for yonks. I'm still using hops I bought 18 months ago.

I just dry hopped a Best Bitter this morning with 10 gr of Styrian Goldings pellets, and a 14 gr plug of EKG. Smelled great, and everytime I walk past the fermenter I can smell the brew. Lovely.

[Anna]

Well, there's my answer! Guess I wasted my money on those teatags. I'll get the real deal for next time.
Thanks again. Anna

[billybushcook]

Well, there's my answer! Guess I wasted my money on those teatags. I'll get the real deal for next time.
Thanks again. Anna

May have just been an old batch Anna,
The Morgans ones I have used all went well, plenty of aroma, packed in foil & kept in a fridge.

But now I'm doing "All grain" beers as well, I have a stock of flowers which I'm using in my kit beers too.

Mick.