# Coopers Pale Ale Kit



## pugsbaker (8/8/06)

I picked up a couple of cooper's pale ale kits on special. I've done one before just following the instructions on the can but was trying to think of a way could make them different or better. 

does anyone have any ideas.


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## PostModern (8/8/06)

Welcome Pugs. You can do a lot to this kit. In itself, it is pretty bland and low in bitterness. Dress it up with malt, hops, different yeasts... it's a blank canvas.


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## razz (8/8/06)

You have done it now pugs. Joining this forum means you are in for a lifetime of fun and adventure in the never ending quest for the perfect drop !  
Good luck and don't forget to use the search tool.


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## DJR (8/8/06)

pugs said:


> I picked up a couple of cooper's pale ale kits on special. I've done one before just following the instructions on the can but was trying to think of a way could make them different or better.
> 
> does anyone have any ideas.



If you reculture some yeast from a bottle of cooper's (check out the grumpy's website or do a search on "stealing commercial" here) then it will be a nicer drop. THe kit doesn't really taste like real Cooper's PA but it's a good base to start with. Try putting in some pride of ringwood hops (about 10g boiled in some wort for 30 mins) to give it that real cooper's taste or use something else altogether (hallertau/saaz/tettnang/goldings/cascade) if you want to avoid it. Safale US56 yeast will give you a nice finish if you don't want to reculture anything. And steep a bit of cracked carapils and crystal grain together (100g carapils and maybe 50g crystal in a grain bag in a pot of 65C water for 45 mins) for a bit more depth, or just add some dry wheat malt extract.

Just some ideas, really just experiment while you have a lot of beer to play around with a few kits.


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## Fingerlickin_B (8/8/06)

Hey Pugs,

I assume from the fact you last made it according to the directions you are fairly new to this...if not, my apologies (I'm no ace by all means anyway).

Here is one that is sure to please your mates and super-easy to make up, no special equipment required and any HBS can sell you the hops. 

Take 2x cans Cooper's Australian Pale Ale. 

Pour all but about 1/4 of a can into the fermenter and set fermenter aside. 
Put the remaining goop into a fairly reasonable sized stock pot, add boiling water and bring back to boil. 
Add hops and honey at these stages:
8g Fuggles (boil for 30 mins)
8g Fuggles (boil for 10 mins)
1 tablespoon honey (boil 5 mins)

Pour the resultant mixture into your fermenter and top up to 21 litres at a temperature of around 18 degrees. 

Add both sachets of supplied yeast and ferment at 18-20 degrees for nine days before bottling/kegging. 

This is nothing special, but a whole lot better than what you'd get following the instructions...and if your mates get into it you'll be cleaned out in no time  

PZ.


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## Justin T (8/8/06)

Fingerlickin_B, is the honey flavour in that receipe strong or is it just a subtle hint? I was thinking of adding honey to a coopers kit myself and was unsure as how much to use :chug:


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## Fingerlickin_B (8/8/06)

Justin T said:


> Fingerlickin_B, is the honey flavour in that receipe strong or is it just a subtle hint?



Hey Justin, 

Just the slightest hint, a tablespoon is bugger-all really :beer: 

PZ.


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## mike_hillyer (8/8/06)

A simple tweak is to buy an enhancer with malt in it and compare it to the original. The extra malt will give you more fuller beer with a better head. 

I found the sparkling coopers kit disappointing but I haven't done the pale ale. I rate the cooper's draught, real ale and the old dark ale.


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## Fingerlickin_B (8/8/06)

keep it real said:


> A simple tweak is to buy an enhancer with malt in it and compare it to the original. The extra malt will give you more fuller beer with a better head.



There is dry malt extract in the Cooper's Brew Enhancer #2...which he has already used (the can tells you to)...

Still heaps of yucky sugar and corn shite in there, making for a pretty yucky beer  

PZ.


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## WillM (8/8/06)

I was fortunate enough to pick up a pale ale and a Bavarina on special at Coles as well

Here's what I will do.
Get a packet of dextrose and a packet of light dry malt (also from Coles) and some hops from your local home brew shop.

I'll be using
500g light fry malt
500g dextrose (1/2 a packet)
a good yeast - proably culture the coopers, but will use WLP005 if I am lazy
10g of hops. I have UK Northdown - but Pride of righwood would be my first choice.

Sanitize everything

Boil the kettle
Add the hops to a cup of boiling water & soak for 10 mins
Soak the Tin of goo in the sink in hot water

Bring the kettle back to boil
Pour it all in to the fermenter and disolve in the boiling water
Add the cold water to top up the fermenter
Pitch the yeast

Bob is your uncle.


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## mike_hillyer (8/8/06)

The Bavarian is reasonable. Years ago my old man made it with 800g of white sugar and put it in crown lager bottles and it was surprisingly drinkable cold out of the bottle.


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## Adamt (8/8/06)

Got a coopers pale can and real ale can on special the other day and I'm thinking of making a vintage'ish ale out of it.

1x Can of Pale
1x Can of Real
500gx Dry Wheat Extract
500gx Light Brown Sugar

500gx Medium Crystal Malt - Steeped

Not sure if I'll hop it anymore as its got 2 hopped extracts and might add another kilo of DME, making it 1.089OG instead of 1.071OG. 

I'll probably use an English Ale Yeast that can handle the alcohol.

Still forming what I'm exactly going to do but theres a lot you can do.


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## mike_hillyer (8/8/06)

Adamt looks great! Apparently the Vintage uses the Cooper's yeast. Mighty be an option to do a reculture on some Cooper's Sparkling. (and an opportunity to have a few kb's of Coopers  )


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## RobboMC (11/8/06)

For an easy drinking brew try 600 g of Brew Enhancer 2 and 600 g of Light Dry malt.

I've also made this kit with all liquid malt, both light and amber, but there's not enough bittering in the kit to balance the liquid malt. So I now add 25 g of Fuggles and /or 25 g of Goldings. Boil one 30-45 min and steep the other.

Alternatively, just add 25 g of aroma hops to the HOT fermenter when mixing the kit with the hot water, but the 30 min boiled hops adds flavour as well.

Personally I wouldn't go too hard with the POR hops, the taste can get a bit strong with even small additions. More british hops like Goldings go better with the bittering already in the kit which is allegedly Styrian Goldings ( from another thread )

Hey Fingelicken - I made a 'lawn mowing ale' last simmer with just 1.2 kg of Brew Enhancer 2, and the kit of course. Intended for quaffing after mowing the lawn. My beer fridge is right in the garage where I store the mower, so the first long neck doesn't even leave the garage, I drink it there.

Anyway, a few got left over from the summer, and I drank the last one in July, after 8 months in the bottle. It was great. Yes a thinnish beer, but very tasty, and after a decent time in the bottles turned into a really nice beer.

I have also sometimes added morgans caramalt which gives a slight caramel note to convert to a traditional english pale ale.


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## petesbrew (15/8/06)

I just mixed this one up on sunday with Brew Enhancer 2 and 25g of Nelson Sauvin.
Couldn't be bothered trying too much with this one, but let's see how it goes. OG was 1056.
Almost made the other half yock by getting her to smell the N.S out of the packet. Not a good move!


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## peas_and_corn (16/8/06)

I wouldn't go near the coopers brew enhancers- they don't have nearly enough malt in them to make the beer any good. At my LHBS he sells packs wich are like those enhancers, but have more malt in them (a great mix). Also, you could get one of those bags with malt and some grain in it- they make good beer at times.


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## blackbock (16/8/06)

petesbrew said:


> I just mixed this one up on sunday with Brew Enhancer 2 and 25g of Nelson Sauvin.
> Couldn't be bothered trying too much with this one, but let's see how it goes. OG was 1056.
> Almost made the other half yock by getting her to smell the N.S out of the packet. Not a good move!



25g?? I hope you like the flavour, 'cos if you boiled it, it's gonna be overwhelming!

:excl:


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## mike_hillyer (16/8/06)

Lawnmowing beer and it's a summer ale, I like it. 

I'm doing my light summer ale now but I can't go past my cooper's real ale, 1/2 kg of light powdered malt, 1/2 kg raw sugar, a couple good spoons of honey ( as apposed to a couple of bad spoons of honey) and a good splat of saaz cones.


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## petesbrew (17/8/06)

blackbock said:


> petesbrew said:
> 
> 
> > I just mixed this one up on sunday with Brew Enhancer 2 and 25g of Nelson Sauvin.
> ...



Yeah, the NS flavour's definitely there! :blink: I was a bit dubious in the HBS when the bloke sold it to me, but it tastes pretty good so far!  
By the way, I just dry hopped it.

Peas & Corn, yeah I know I should've bought a better kilo bag at the HBS while I was there. Oh well, Next time.


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## petesbrew (14/9/06)

cracked the first one last friday night. the N.S is intense!!! 6.8% on the richter scale, and it's a damn fine ale!


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## robbo5253 (14/9/06)

I am a huge Pale Ale fan and new to Home Brew,
Made a Pale Ale with a Tin Of Pale Ale, Tin of Light Malt and 1kg of Corn Syrup.
Pretty impressed with the end result and so are my mates, so a winner for me

Cheers

Robbo


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## DrewCarey82 (14/9/06)

You cant make a good beer from a kit.


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## DJR (14/9/06)

DrewCarey82 said:


> You cant make a good beer from a kit.



Drew, don't start mate  you were there one day too. You can make some good beer with a kit, it's just how you dress it up. But you can't polish a turd, and i think the CPA kits are just that - a very crap imitation of real CPA.


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## Samwise Gamgee (14/9/06)

DrewCarey82 said:


> You cant make a good beer from a kit.



:blink: :lol: 

hahaha good one! You've got to be shitting me! :lol:


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## chimera (14/9/06)

I disagree, you can definitely make a good brew from a kit, given some consideration to additions, and no doubt you can make a rather ordinary beer using AG as well.


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## DrewCarey82 (14/9/06)

Couldnt resist a stir fellas.

Enough of you guys will remember my passionate defending of the kit and bits style, against the evil Partial and Fullmash people.


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## chimera (14/9/06)

Tis water off a ducks back really! I love beer, love making it, love drinking it, not fussed who/when/how it was made, just the results!


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## DrewCarey82 (14/9/06)

Exactly mate and as long as your happy with the results thats the main thing.


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## Bobby (14/9/06)

that has to be one of the funniest things i have read here drew. hahaha


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## sluggerdog (14/9/06)

I personally didn't mind this kit and I have recommended a few mates to try this as their first kit, nice and simple to make, nothing too out there.

I did it with a coopers brew enhancer (going back a while now) and some cascade finishing hops.

The keg didn't last long.

Seems to be pretty popular too: http://www.hbkitreviews.com/view-id-17-coo...n-pale-ale.html


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## robbo5253 (21/5/07)

Fingerlickin_B said:


> Hey Pugs,
> 
> I assume from the fact you last made it according to the directions you are fairly new to this...if not, my apologies (I'm no ace by all means anyway).
> 
> ...



Sorry to drag up an old thread, but was thinking about doing this recipe and just wondering if anyone else has tried it?

Cheers and Beers

Robbo


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## Brooksy (21/5/07)

Ya got me looking 
From I've read indicates that Fuggles hops are for darker Pommy style beers (my interpretation anyway), so I'll be watch this thread now - purely for educational purposes of course. 

I've been experimenting with cascade, super alpha, saaz & super pride. If you've got'em, cascade would definitely give you a good result.

But I'm interested in a report on the fuggles


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## robbo5253 (21/5/07)

Brooksy said:


> Ya got me looking
> From I've read indicates that Fuggles hops are for darker Pommy style beers (my interpretation anyway), so I'll be watch this thread now - purely for educational purposes of course.
> 
> I've been experimenting with cascade, super alpha, saaz & super pride. If you've got'em, cascade would definitely give you a good result.
> ...



Havent bought any for this yet, so am open to suggestions!!


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## RobboMC (22/5/07)

Hi robbo,

The beauty of home brewing is that if you want to use Fuggles in your Pale Ale well you can. There are no rules.

I use a decent spoonful of Fuggles in my IPA, it makes for some astringency early on but mellows out after 3 to 4 months into great ale.
So if your using Fuggles, expect a longer than usual bottle aging. Having said that, I boiled 25 g into 2.25 kg of malt. Your two can will have some serious bitterness ( 21 IBU x 2 plus a few = about 45 IBU), and at close to 6% this will be a cracking beer very similar to proper IPA.

The Pale Ale is supposed to be hopped with Styrian Goldings, I haven't tatsed this in combo with Fuggles, but I've made UK Goldings in combo with Fuggles and it turns out really good. My pale ale with 50g cascade added to 1.5 kg malt came out marvellous. Cascade if you're conservative, Fuggles if you're game to experiment. 

Go for it, and let us know how it turns out, but allow at least 4 months bottle aging I reckon.


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## robbo5253 (22/5/07)

RobboMC said:


> Hi robbo,
> 
> The beauty of home brewing is that if you want to use Fuggles in your Pale Ale well you can. There are no rules.
> 
> ...



I am a kegger so will be be primary for a week or two and maybe into a cube for another week or two and then in the keg and drinking in the next week after, so am i best to go with the twocan or should i just go a can with a mix of dry malt and dextrose along with the hops.

Cheers and Beers

Robbo


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## Brooksy (22/5/07)

robbo5253 said:


> I am a kegger so will be be primary for a week or two and maybe into a cube for another week or two and then in the keg and drinking in the next week after, so am i best to go with the twocan or should i just go a can with a mix of dry malt and dextrose along with the hops.
> 
> Cheers and Beers
> 
> Robbo


Flip a coin mate. The choice is yours.

Toucanning is for lazy people. :lol: 

Hopping is a little more involved.

Use more dry malt than dex if you're gunna go that way.

When I next get some hops in I'll get some Fuggles specifically to try them in the CPA.

What I intend to do is:
1 can CPA
1kg Light dme
25gms Fuggle Hops

1. In a pot - boil upto 5 litres water, then remove from heat.
2. Add and dissolved L dme and bring back to boil
3. Add 5 gms hops
4. After 10 mins add further 5 gms hops
5. Another 5 mins 5gms & turn off heat immediately
6. Add kit to hot mix and stir in and dissolve
7. Cool in cold water bath and strain to fermanter.
8. Continue as usual.

20mins 5gms
10mins 5gms
05mins 5gms
00mins 5 gms + kit (flame out)

23 litres......


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## bconnery (22/5/07)

Brooksy said:


> Ya got me looking
> From I've read indicates that Fuggles hops are for darker Pommy style beers (my interpretation anyway), so I'll be watch this thread now - purely for educational purposes of course.
> 
> I've been experimenting with cascade, super alpha, saaz & super pride. If you've got'em, cascade would definitely give you a good result.
> ...



Fuggles are definitely not restricted in their use to darker English beers. 

They are a classic english ale hop yes but for all colour ranges. 

An english pale ale using the mentioned kit, some extra malt, fuggles hops and an english ale yeast, liquid or dry, would be most tasty.

And fuggles/goldings is a great combo!


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## Brooksy (22/5/07)

Yeah, it got me interested bconnery.

Can't find any CPA locally so I'll have to wait until I go to the bigsmoke.

RobboMC:
For a toucan, I think 45 IBU is a bit over the top. I would suggest maybe 33-40. Remember your AA utilization % goes down with an increase in OG.


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## 0M39A (22/5/07)

Brooksy said:


> Yeah, it got me interested bconnery.
> 
> Can't find any CPA locally so I'll have to wait until I go to the bigsmoke.
> 
> ...



but also keep in mind that the cans are already hopped, so its not like you are boiling the hops yourself.

if you want it to be a bit less bitter, boil the cans a bit, this will drive off some of the bitterness (But also any flavour/aroma hops that are in there, so you will have to add some in yourself, which in turn will up the bitterness again anyway, lol)


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## Brooksy (23/5/07)

0M39A said:


> but also keep in mind that the cans are already hopped, so its not like you are boiling the hops yourself.
> 
> if you want it to be a bit less bitter, boil the cans a bit, this will drive off some of the bitterness (But also any flavour/aroma hops that are in there, so you will have to add some in yourself, which in turn will up the bitterness again anyway, lol)


Ah, this brings up another interesting Topic. I'll post another thread posing this particular subject so as not to hijack this thread.

Here


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## simpletotoro (25/5/07)

hi ...welcome..
i love this kit ...heres a couple of things i've done with it...
INGREDIENTS: old number 7
Tin: Coopers Pale Ale (1.7kg)

Sugars: 750g Light Dried Malt*, 250g dextrose, 
250g corn syrup.

Hops: Brewcraft Willamette hops 18 g @10 mins
Brewcraft Willamette hops 6 g @ 5 mins
Morgans finishing hops Pride of Ringwood 
12 g @ boiling water at flame out

Yeast: safale 04 yeast 11.5g (20/c)#

old number 8 (supposed to be hoppy like LCPA...not like LCPA but still very drinkable beer IMO)

INGREDIENTS: Tin: Coopers Pale Ale (1.7kg)

Sugars: 450g Light Dried Malt*, 600g dextrose, 
250g corn syrup.

Hops: CASCADE HOPS 14G @10 mins
AMARILLO HOPS 10G @10 mins
CASCADE HOPS 14G @ FLAME OUT
 AMARILLO HOPS 10G @ FLAME OUT

SPECIALTY GRAINS.STEEPED FOR 25 MINS (CRYSTAL MALT 250G +CARAPILS 100G <FOR HEAD RETENTION >) 

Yeast: safale US 56 yeast 11.5g (18/c)#

old number 9 

INGREDIENTS: Tin: Coopers Pale Ale (1.7kg)

Sugars: 500g Light Dried Malt, 500g dextrose, 
.

Hops: CASCADE HOPS 10G @10 mins
Willamette HOPS 10G @10 mins
CASCADE HOPS 9G @ FLAME OUT
Willamette HOPS 3G @ FLAME OUT


Yeast: cooper pale ale yeast(18/c)#

okay but needed better yeast...


old number 14
INGREDIENTS: Tin: Coopers Pale Ale (1.7kg)

Sugars: 1000g Light Dried Malt*, 300g dextrose, 


Hops: CASCADE HOPS 18G @10 mins
AMARILLO HOPS 14G @10 mins
CASCADE HOPS 1G @ FLAME OUT
AMARILLO HOPS 10G @ FLAME OUT
Willamette hops 10g @ flame out

SPECIALTY GRAINS.STEEPED FOR 25 MINS CRYSTAL MALT 250G +CARAPILS 100G FOR HEAD RETENTION 

Yeast: safale US 56 yeast 11.5g (20/c)#
still botlle conditioning

i think you get the idea ...well of what i like anyway
try this hops guide ...thank bconnery for it it will help you heaps in hops selection for different types of beers
View attachment hopsguide.xls

cheers simpletotoro


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