Cheap Coopers Pale Ale

[andyzed]

Gday all

Went to woolies at Bondi Junction today and CPA kits were $4. Grabbed a few of them so just thought i'd let you all know.

Cheers

[MOFO]

heheh! I just came on here to say that I managed to pick them up there today too! Never shop there, as I live in Pyrmont but was there shopping for dinner with friend... I got the last 3 there, $3.99 - ridiculous! They looked a bit damaged, but all just superficial. The best before dates are still 2009 - so no problems.

Now just wondering what I will do with them all - as still a month or so off before I am back into making the ales!

[lethaldog]

dont really do kits anymore but i have never seen them for that price here, they dont even sell anything but the standard range in safeways here and they dont even usually have many of them either and they are always around $10

[andyzed]

yeah i was waiting for the checkout chick to give me some bad news but they scanned ok so i ran out as if i'd burgaled the joint. if anyone has some info on the best way to brew them then i'd love to know.

[andyzed]

oh mofo, btw, sorry mate, i saw those damaged ones there and put them back. one real dirty one and a banged in one i think.

[MOFO]

Heheh, yeah - I looked at them for a while - but realised that they were obviously clearing them because they were damaged on the pallet. I assssed it and realised it was just a ding in the tin with no actual damage done - and the other one just had, what looks like, the remnants of another tin which must have spilled its contents... But - end result is 3 perfectly fine tins for use!

As for what to do with them. I made a really simple ale up with by last Coopers PA. It was just:

Coopers PA Kit
Blackrock Liquid Malt (Blonde)
200g Crystal Malt steeped for 20 mins
30g Cascade boiled for 30 mins

Came out lovely - in fact, had one on Sat night and it was lovely and clear and tasty. Next time around I might do the same, but put in some Amarillo with the Cascade used at secondary stage... I think that would result in a nice LCPA/JSGA type beer.

Has anyone ever used one of these kits to try and replicate a Coopers PA? It would seem you would just want to maybe take the kit and add simple powdered ingredients, as adding any additional malt I believe makes it into a darker beer (but a tastier one!)

BTW - stopped into the liquor store next door and got a couple of JS Golden Ales for dinner (wasnt at my house) and had them... decidedly average... I love this beer, and drink it all the time on tap...always fantastic... but out of the bottle last night it was like they had removed the amarillo hop or something, it just tasted bland.... I will try the second one tonight...

[andyzed]

thanks for the info mate, yeah i didn't think there was much wrong with them. i'll give your recipe a go. i'm still very new at this so i'll try and track down those ingredients.
Also, I live at kensington, do you know where there are any HBS round this area or in near you. It's not hard to get in near pyrmont from here. only one i have found near is a morgans one at botany.

cheers

[MOFO]

Recipe wise- you cant go wrong with that PA kit, some Malt and some hops. If I did it again I would go without the Crystal Malt, or at least probably put about 100g in not 200g. I would say I will put down the following shortly:

1 Coopers PA Kit
1.5kg LME
100g Crystal
10g Amarillo @ 60 mins
10g Amarillo @ 30 mins
10g Amarillo @ 5 mins
15g Cascade, Dry Hopped
SaleAle US-56/05

Right now, my garage is sitting @ 15 degrees, so I will be putting this down very shortly....

As for a Coopers PA clone, I have found most people agreeing with key ingredients, so I am running with rwh's recipe, except using the actual PA tin - so I will do:

1.7kg Coopers Pale Ale Kit
1kg LDME
85g Dry Wheat Malt
40g Crystal
6g POR Hops, added at 60, 20, 5.

I will probably just use the yeast that came with the tin.. never had an issue with it, and I believe it is the same as the stuff they use for CPA anyway.

On HB shops, for the Sydney Metro brewer....
I have nothing around my local area being full of apartments and suit-wearing types...but tell ya what, I meant to come on here and say to people that I found a great HB shop recently. Previously, I have been going to Brewcraft in Rozelle (probably the closest to me, geographically) but the selection in there I find limited and the guy isnt the most friendly. 2 weeks ago, I found a great place online and followed it up with a visit, its in Enmore/Marrickville - the guys were really friendly, helpful and the selection is great - they stock the whole range from Coopers, Brewcraft, ESB, Muntons, Morgans, Blackrock... as well as good range of malts, hops and yeasts too... so I would definitely give them a crack. Paul & Ross are the guys names... http://www.brewhaus.com.au. Also, I spent a bit with them and as a result I qualified to come along and see them do a partial mash demonstration, which I intend on going to. Precisely the sort of thing I was after in a HB shop.

[Heals]

Forgive my newbieness MOFO, but when you say "hops, added at 60, 20, 5" what exactly do you mean? Do you boil everything instead of just adding it to the fermenter with boiling water?

[Kevnlis]

He means you should put half of the LDME in a few litres of water and boil it for 60 minutes adding 6g of POR at the start of the boil and again after 40 minutes and again after 55 minutes which is when you should add the remainder of the LDME. Cool covered and add to cold water to top up. Pitch yeast starter when at temp.

[Heals]

What about the other ingredients though? When do you add those?

[Kevnlis]

Sorry I missed the grains listed. Steep those in the water before you add the LDME. About 60C for at least 60 min (90 would be best) then strain the grain from the water and bring to boil and follow the steps I mentioned earlier.

[Heals]

Okay thanks - one last thing though, I always hear of this LDME, meaning Light Dry Malt Extract and I'm always confused by that, dry says to me, powdered light malt, but extract says to me liquid malt. Which is it!?

PS: I'm assuming the kit itself is just added to the fermenter in the regular fashion...i.e. with a few litres of hot water.

[lethaldog]

They are both a malt extract being the fact that they have been extracted from malted barly, if they were not an extract then they would still be grain, so in conclusion liquid and dry malts are both extracts in different forms

[Heals]

So I'm assuming that LDME in fact means a bag of light malt in dry powdered form!

PPS: Oh and am I boiling all this with the lid on or off the pot?

Sorry, I've done a pretty good job of hijacking this thread! Apologies!

[lethaldog]

Yep thats right and i would recommend boiling with the lid off unless you want a very nasty sticky mess

[Heals]

So the actual coopers can't DOESN'T go into the boiling pot? Just the malt, hops and grain?

I've steeped the grain for almost 90 mins now and after that I'm going to raise to a boil and add in half the LDME and the first 6g of hops.

[mobydick]

I like to add the can of kit at the end of the boil, into the pot. Mainly because its easy to get the malt out of the can over the hot water, and using my hot stirrer.

[MOFO]

Heals, I add it at flameout (i.e. when I turn the stovetop off, and it stops boiling...) - add it at maybe 80 degrees or so, and stir it in.... that way it is less messy, and well mixed - as well as being the same temp. I woudlnt want to boil the kit... the hops and malt in the tin have already been prepared and not needing to be boiled. You just need hot water to turn it into a more vicous form.

[Kevnlis]

Heals, I add it at flameout (i.e. when I turn the stovetop off, and it stops boiling...) - add it at maybe 80 degrees or so, and stir it in.... that way it is less messy, and well mixed - as well as being the same temp. I woudlnt want to boil the kit... the hops and malt in the tin have already been prepared and not needing to be boiled. You just need hot water to turn it into a more vicous form.

I agree with this. Which is what I told you earlier anyway.