# Coopers_australian Pale Ale Looks Too Cloudy...



## SaintRoam (8/5/12)

Heys guys, New to the forum here as the title mentions. So I bought a coopers kit off a dude that told me possibly the worst way to brew beer (e.g told me I didnt need to clean or sanitise the bottles, only had to leave them bottled for a week etc..) Anyways lucky I got on here and did some research myself and SUPRISINGLY my first batch of Canadian Blonde came out pretty damn good!  Although since it was my first I drank it all way too fast (after the first 2weeks) So with my added knowledge I've embarked in my second batch after picking up another carboy kit set to filter into and decided to go with an Australian Pale Ale brew this time. Just have a few questions as it appears to be going all shades of wrong <_< Hope you can help!

1. When I first started this brew the cold snap hit, put the yeast in around the 28deg mark and has been sitting around 24-22 for the week which the airlock had a lot of activity for the first two days then stopped completly. I read that sometimes it happens but this should be okay right?

2. Also the guy I bought the second carboy off is a beer wizard and said he only fills up to below the handle. In doing this I realised that this isnt anywhere near the 23litre mark, more like im guessing 20 maybe. Will this kill the beer/taste as it might be such a high concentrate? Should I ditch it or keep going?

3. So the brew is on its 8th day of fementation and I took a test (discarding the first sample) and reading the second and notice that the beer is really cloudy, is this because of the high concentrate? Or is it as the name suggestions a "Pale" Ale? The Canadian Blonde was nice and clear. It seemed to taste okayish.

Sorry for the begineers info or If I have brought up old and repetitive issues but Im really starting to get into this hobby and I guess need a bit of reassurance. Everytime you google a subject the responses are always so mixed!  I can post some pics up tonight if it helps.

Thanks,

Luke.

P.s I just asked my Japanese fiance if the head was good. She did NOT appreciate the subject.


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## .DJ. (8/5/12)

1. When I first started this brew the cold snap hit, put the yeast in around the 28deg mark and has been sitting around 24-22 for the week which the airlock had a lot of activity for the first two days then stopped completly. I read that sometimes it happens but this should be okay right? 

24-22 is still a bit warm.. try for about 20 degrees. And dont rely on the airlock. Check your gravity to see if fermentation has finished.

2. Also the guy I bought the second carboy off is a beer wizard and said he only fills up to below the handle. In doing this I realised that this isnt anywhere near the 23litre mark, more like im guessing 20 maybe. Will this kill the beer/taste as it might be such a high concentrate? Should I ditch it or keep going?

it will have more flavour and slightly more alcohol. Try it, see if you like it... flavour isnt bad... 


3. So the brew is on its 8th day of fementation and I took a test (discarding the first sample) and reading the second and notice that the beer is really cloudy, is this because of the high concentrate? Or is it as the name suggestions a "Pale" Ale? The Canadian Blonde was nice and clear. It seemed to taste okayish.

its cloudy because the yeast is still in the wort/beer... leave fermentation for 2 weeks, 2 weeks in the bottle and it should clear up just fine.


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## SaintRoam (8/5/12)

.DJ. said:


> 1. When I first started this brew the cold snap hit, put the yeast in around the 28deg mark and has been sitting around 24-22 for the week which the airlock had a lot of activity for the first two days then stopped completly. I read that sometimes it happens but this should be okay right?
> 
> 24-22 is still a bit warm.. try for about 20 degrees. And dont rely on the airlock. Check your gravity to see if fermentation has finished.
> 
> ...




Thanks so much for the advice! Can wait to get stuck into making the 3rd brew, the cold weather just threw me a bit... Also I got a bench capper (and hand capper which I will NEVER use but looks cool) and noticed when I was capping a test screw top bottle it didnt really seem to seal properly? I had to twist the cap on tighter. For my first batch I just reused caps and twisted them on by hand, seemed to come out alright. Any problems with this?

Cheers


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## .DJ. (8/5/12)

Id use the bench capper and proper crown seal bottles if you can although Ive never had a problem re-cappnig twisties..


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## mwd (8/5/12)

To get clearer beer wait longer after it has finished and place in a cool place or better still the fridge and the yeast will drop out quicker.

Another fairly simple way to get clearer beer is to add gelatine finings Linky


I do not use screwtop bottles look out for Coopers lomgnecks they are great for homebrew use. I think plenty of people have had success using screw top bottles with a bench capper but not so easy with a hand capper.


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## homebrewkid (8/5/12)

i cap heaps of screwtop bottles and coopers longnecks screwtops are fine i think the caps you can buy at big W seem to be best suited for the screwtop bottles but ill check my stocks of caps when i get home.
i know its the darkest looking gold ones ive got ill check what brand they are, they are thicker than other brands.

cheers: HBK


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## SaintRoam (8/5/12)

Tropical_Brews said:


> To get clearer beer wait longer after it has finished and place in a cool place or better still the fridge and the yeast will drop out quicker.
> 
> Another fairly simple way to get clearer beer is to add gelatine finings Linky
> 
> ...




Oh cool, thanks dude for the tip! Might try the gellatine for my next batch. Pretty interested to see how this one ends up being cloudy & higher concentrate so I might leave it to ferment for 2 weeks as suggested, call it an expermental brew... The waiting is killing me though espicially since theres no airlock activity!! (it's just a sign to say hello still brewing in here for me I guess :lol: )


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## SaintRoam (8/5/12)

homebrewkid said:


> i cap heaps of screwtop bottles and coopers longnecks screwtops are fine i think the caps you can buy at big W seem to be best suited for the screwtop bottles but ill check my stocks of caps when i get home.
> i know its the darkest looking gold ones ive got ill check what brand they are, they are thicker than other brands.
> 
> cheers: HBK




Yeah pretty sure I got my caps from Big W, I think they were the bingalow or something range? Could be very wrong I'll check tonight. Would love to get the straight cap bottles but Ive just spent the last 4 days delabelling and washing 700 or so screw top tallies  

I'll stick with them for now until I go pro and buy my keg fridge.


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## Yob (8/5/12)

SaintRoam said:


> just spent the last 4 days delabelling and washing 700 or so screw top tallies



phaark... Make sure you put some gladwrap over the necks to stop dust gathering in them or you will have to do it all over again... Its going to take you a LONG time to fill that many..

Where did you get so many in one hit?


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## SaintRoam (8/5/12)

iamozziyob said:


> phaark... Make sure you put some gladwrap over the necks to stop dust gathering in them or you will have to do it all over again... Its going to take you a LONG time to fill that many..
> 
> Where did you get so many in one hit?




hah yup, all the bottles got the tops glad wrapped in the spare room and I dropped down on the weekend to pick up my vinator ready to sterilise these suckers! I was hoping to run two brews similtanously in the 2 kegs but I relised you need the 2nd one to filter into <_< Got the bottles from the guy selling the kit. He's upgraded to one of those keg fridges and had a whole van full of twisty tallies to get rid of and I only took half!. Since i only had stubbies from the first guy I bought off of I was keen to get rid of those small things and upgrade.


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## mattyra (8/5/12)

Upgrading seems to become a disease in this great hobby.

I went from bottling in the plastic things that come with a kit to stubbies and longnecks I have accumulated. Got over that fairly quick and got myself a cheap keg, gas bottle and a little picnic tap.

Now I have a full bar setup with a font hanging out of it with a couple of taps and am now looking at my first All-Grain batch. Each time I upgrade I think to myself surely I can't go any further!!

I never really worried about glad-wrapping the bottles (I had roughly 400) mainly because i rinse them out and sanitise them just before I am going to use them so it defeated the purpose really.


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## RobboMC (8/5/12)

Don't worry too much about cloudy beer, you've just started out.

Concern yuorself with flavour, getting the head to form and stay; and
cleanliness. There's nothing wrong with cloudy beer anyway.

Maybe in a year or two start thinking about methods to get clearer beer,
or do what I do and specialise in black beer, then your mates can't tell if it's cloudy or not!

Just keep brewing and it will all come in good time.


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## SaintRoam (8/5/12)

Mattyra said:


> Upgrading seems to become a disease in this great hobby.
> 
> I went from bottling in the plastic things that come with a kit to stubbies and longnecks I have accumulated. Got over that fairly quick and got myself a cheap keg, gas bottle and a little picnic tap.
> 
> ...



yeah cant wait to go keg. Just a beer baby though so I need to get the basics down pat before I even attempt that kind of upgrade! :lol:


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## mattyra (8/5/12)

SaintRoam said:


> yeah cant wait to go keg. Just a beer baby though so I need to get the basics down pat before I even attempt that kind of upgrade! :lol:



I actually find kegging so much easier as it is really just one big bottle. The only issue I had was explaining the expense to SWMBO as it is a fairly big expenditure for brewing beer (especially when I couldn't make a good beer then).


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## SaintRoam (8/5/12)

Mattyra said:


> I actually find kegging so much easier as it is really just one big bottle. The only issue I had was explaining the expense to SWMBO as it is a fairly big expenditure for brewing beer (especially when I couldn't make a good beer then).



EXACTLY thats the reason im sticking with carboys. Wedding in 2 months and im lucky i can even get the money to make alcohol since im saving for the D Day and cant afford to buy it  

Take note kids. Start this hobbie as soon as you can... hahah


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## SaintRoam (8/5/12)

Also any hot tips on Japanese beer recipes (ie Kirin, Asahi?) Keen to ditch these beer kits and let my wings fly! I'm looking for guides to brewing without kits as well. Dont really understand the proccess or terms involved.

Cheers!


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## SaintRoam (9/5/12)

Sorry to get sidetracked guys. Just picked up another Coopers Canadian Blonde as I prefer it over the Ales. Im still a beginner but want to add a little bit of 'kick" to this one, does anyone have any suggestions? I saw you can add honey to it but will this throw the sugar out of whack if im using carbo drops for the bottles? (creating bottle bombs) I dont really have my head around all the abbrievations or method yet so I would appreciate any and all idiots guide type advise. Thanks! O and im also using the b/e 2 with it.


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## manticle (9/5/12)

Beer is made from sugar (usually from malt and usually from barley malt), water, hops and yeast.

There are different types of sugars. Beer is traditionally made from malted barley, with the starches in the barley being converted to sugars and extracted into a liquid. The main sugar is maltose.

Yeast consumes sugars like maltose and produces ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide, among other things.

When you buy a kit or malt extract, the conversion and extraction has been previously done for you, with most/all the liquid being boiled off. Most if it's liquid malt like in the kit tin, all if it's powdered malt/dried malt extract/DME.

A kit tin has hops already added for bittering as malt on its own would be too sweet. Bitterness and sweetness complement and counteract each other somewhat.

If you want to brew without kits, google extract brewing, read the first few chapters of how to brew (free online or cheap from the book depository) and learn what happens during a boil with hops and during fermentation.

Honey will ferment out if you let it and not give bottle bombs but you need to make sure one has been eaten by the yeast before you add the next one. Bottle bombs come from incomplete fermentation (which will continue to ferment and release carbon dioxide) which has then been put inside a sealed vessel (eg the bottle). Gas pressure creates the bombs. Avoid incomplete fermentation and you will avoid bombs.


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