# Dr Smurto's Golden Ale



## scooza (9/8/11)

hi all,
have read a lot about this being one of the best beers around. looking at stepping up from plain old k&k.
can someone give me a how to in regards to putting this kit together (how long and/or what to boil, especially the addition of hops is it 15g at each stage? & when )

KIT VERSION
1 can Thomas Coopers Sparkling Ale
1 can Coopers Wheat Malt
250g Caramalt (or other light crystal)
15g Amarillo @ 15, 5 and dry hop.
Yeast - US05

any help greatly appreciated.
scooza

is this for 23l?


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## kiwisteveo (9/8/11)

scooza said:


> hi all,
> have read a lot about this being one of the best beers around. looking at stepping up from plain old k&k.
> can someone give me a how to in regards to putting this kit together (how long and/or what to boil, especially the addition of hops is it 15g at each stage? & when )
> 
> ...



just done extract version about 2 hours ago(3rd time so love it)
download ianns spreadsheet(lastest version) somewhere here and you'll be off and running just don't drink too much whilst brewing as starting to make little mistake's on my dark lager i'm brewing atm so be getter back to it and pour myself another.


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## waggastew (9/8/11)

Straight from the horses (Dr Smurto's) mouth:

'I personally find JSGA a tad watery which is why i set out to brew something like it but more to my taste so my golden ale in its various guises (Kit, extract, AG) has more flavour than the commercial version. It started out life as a kit beer so i can very easily give you the kit recipe.

1 can Thomas Coopers Sparkling Ale
1 can Coopers Wheat Malt
250g Caramalt (or other light crystal)
15g Amarillo @ 15 and 5 (dry hop optional but not required)
Yeast - US05

How you go about this depends on your pot size but my standard procedure back in the kit brewing days was to use a 6 pack esky to steep the grain in. If you use 2 parts boiling water to 1 part tap water you should get water with a temp of between 65-70C which is great for steeping grain in. Mix ~1L of this temp water with the crushed caramalt (or other crystal malt) and let steep for up to an hour. Drain through a colander and pout the grain back in the esky with another 1L of 65-70C water. Stir and drain straight away.

I used a large stockpot for brewing in back then, i think its 16L so i would then add the 2L of liquor from steeping the grain and top up with another 6L of boiling water. Add the can of coopers wheat malt and bring to the boil. Add 15g of amarillo and boil for 10 mins. Add another 15g of amarillo and boil for a further 5 mins. Turn off the heat. Add the can of sparkling ale and mix thoroughly. Cool this pot down, i found it was easiest to sit it in a sink of cold water. Strain into fermenter and top up to 20L (not 23L). Once the temp is below 22C add the yeast. Try to keep the temp between 18-20C ideally, up to 22C is OK. Leave it in the fermenter for at least 7 days if racking, 14 days if not. I dont dry hop anymore as i find the aroma is good without it.'


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## scooza (9/8/11)

thanks for the replies so far guys. new to this but makes sense.
cheers


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## Jeff Margrie (9/8/11)

scooza said:


> hi all,
> have read a lot about this being one of the best beers around. looking at stepping up from plain old k&k.
> can someone give me a how to in regards to putting this kit together (how long and/or what to boil, especially the addition of hops is it 15g at each stage? & when )
> 
> any help





scooza said:


> greatly appreciated.
> scooza
> 
> is this for 23l?




Lost count how many times I made this one. When making this I used a 19 litre Big W stock pot. Very easy to make & drink. I don't rack to a secondary any more, just dry hop in the primary using 2 tea balls. I ferment at 18C in my fermenting fridge. Also I have changed the yeast & hop quantities a few times. Used kit yeast & others but US05 is best for this one and leave the hops as is.

Here's my method.

Steep the grains (Crystal Malt) in 2 litres water @ 65 to 70C for 30 minutes. Then strain & rinse the grains (sparge) with 2 litres of water @ 65 to 70C. Make the Hop Boil volume to 12 litres using water, Thomas Coopers Wheat Malt Extract 1.5kg and the liquid from the strained & rinsed grains to the hop boil. Simmer gently for 30 minutes. At 15 Minutes to go in the boil Add 15g of Amarillo & When there is 5 Minutes to go in the boil Add 15g of Amarillo. Cool the resulting wort, by sitting the pot in the sink filled with cold water & ice. Heat Thomas Cooper's Premium Selection Sparkling Ale can in hot water, then open & empty into fermenter with approx. 2 to 3 litres of hot/warm water. Stir and dissolve. Then Strain the cooled wort into fermenter. Top up to 23 litre mark with cold water & ice (if needed), stir well & pitch yeast when around 22C. Dry Hop around approx day 6. Or when fermentation has slowed and Krausen is very low and starting to clear.

Keg & bottle as usual.

Done. Yum. :chug: 





Cheers WoolBrew  :icon_cheers:


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## drsmurto (9/8/11)

I'd recommend only topping up to 20L, giving you an OG of 1.048 (approx) and a final abv of ~4.7%

If you top up to 23L the OG drops to 1.042 and you'll end up with a beer with a final abv of ~4.1%

Your call but i think the extra body in the higher OG gives a better balanced beer.


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## scooza (10/8/11)

cheers for the help guys. will definetly be giving this a go (understand the hop additions now)


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## Swanstar (16/10/11)

Cheers Lads,

Putting this one down today


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## DU99 (16/10/11)

Can recommend this highly..even made a batch of stubbies for my son in law.. :drinks:


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## Swanstar (16/10/11)

Smells Gr8,
Thinking I might dry hop after the Krausen has dropped as I only had a 10 litre hop boil,
what do you think??


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## RobboMC (8/12/11)

I've just made this for the first time and I must say it's an excellent recipe, makes a truly great beer even in kit form.
Even the bottling dregs tasted wonderful so I knew it would be awesome when properly conditioned. 

For the record I did this, so it's really a bit of a kit/extract hybrid:

VOLUME 31.5 litres; abv 4.8%

1 can Coopers Sparkling Ale
1 can Coopers Wheat malt
1 kg Light Dry Malt
0.5kg Pale grain mini-mash
0.5kg Crystal grain mini-mash
50g Amarillo Hops ( 25g @ 15min, 25g @ 5 min )

so now I've gone to the AG section and downloaded the original recipe.

My question is: why does the kit version start with a Sparkling Ale kit?
sure it makes a nice brew and is not overly bittered so allows the Amarillo to shine through,
but the original recipe has a Pilsener base; and the revision has a pale malt base.

Has anyone tried this with a Pilsener or maybe Heritage Lager or Draught kit
as a source of bittered pale malt; then add your own Munich and Caramalt grains?


Having asked that question, the Sparkling Ale recipe is just too easy and the results are damn good.


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