# Coopers Real Ale



## Pourmeanother (25/3/11)

Hi guys 

Had a few bits and peices laying around so in they went .

Coopers Real Ale Kit , BE2 , LDM 500g ,22 ltrs and US-05 yeast . SG 1.042

Bubbled away for a week and a half .

3 days @ 1.012 . All good but it has a 1 1/2 - 2 inch foamy layer on top would this be usuall with adding the extra malt ? 

Should this be bottled now or left till the layer of foamy stuff has gone ?

Cheers Todd


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## kelbygreen (25/3/11)

layer of foam is krausen which means the yeast are still active. wait till the foam drops and take another SG


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## Pourmeanother (25/3/11)

Thanks Kelby 

Do you think the SG will drop after sitting at 1.012 for three days ?


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## Pennywise (25/3/11)

I don't think it'll drop much (if at all) below 1012, no harm in leaving it for a few more days though. I leave mine all the time for 2 weeks before even thinking about checking them


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## kelbygreen (25/3/11)

i find it strange that there is signs of krausen but without knowing the yeast and temp then its hard to say. how thick is the foamy stuff? dont poke at it but does it look thick or just bits here and there.

Edit: sorry skipped the us05 lol


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## Pourmeanother (25/3/11)

I havent pulled the lid so havent poked it , looks to be fairly thick covers the whole surface (lid of fermenter is clear and can see through condenstion with a small torch) 

Temps been around 18 deg right through . Last couple of days maybe down to 16 deg . 

Warming up a Lager for a diacetyl rest , will warm back to 18 with that .


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## Pourmeanother (25/3/11)

Im in no rush to bottle , Im happy to sit and see what happens .


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## Pennywise (25/3/11)

At the low temp the krausen will take a bit longer to come down. A bit surprised though that it's still as bit as it is, I reckon warm it up a bit, say, 19-20 for a couple of days then if you have the means, crash chill it for another few to help it clear


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## kelbygreen (25/3/11)

yeah seems strange but as said leave it a few more days. Your roughly at expected gravity but thats more a guide then a sure thing. You dont want bottle bombs lol


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## Pourmeanother (25/3/11)

No worries , warming now . 

I can chill , How low should I take it down to ?


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## kelbygreen (25/3/11)

close as 0 as it can go. I set mine to 0.3c if you can use isinglass or gelatin it will reduce the time a bit. I been finding lately its been hard to get clear beer, But I guess coz I keg the beer it doesnt have time to settle why I want a filter. 

If your bottling just crush chill for a few days and if you can gelatin it even better but I never had to much trouble when bottling.


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## Yob (25/3/11)

irish moss is another clearing agent (natural) if you are like-minded in keeping your beers as free of animal product as I am.. 

I have vegan friends who can enjoy my beers...

and personally I would prefer cloudy beer to any % of ground up animal in my beer.. 

personal preferance only of course

:icon_cheers:


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## kelbygreen (25/3/11)

isnt irish moss, whirfloc? and used as a kettle fining? I am talking about reducing yeast and other trub from the beer once fermentation is finished. I do use whirfloc or kopperfloc for kettle fining


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## Brewman_ (25/3/11)

Hi Pourmeanother,

I have had exactly the same thing happen. I was brewing an extract beer, also with US-05. And It's happened more than once to me.

It looks like when you get that infection on top of your beer and it is a slick oily looking Krausen. I was just about to tip the whole lot out but it smelt and tasted OK, so I continued the brew to completion and it was OK. It has nothing to do with not reaching final gravity. For some reason - maybe someone can tell us why, as the Krausen forms and bubbles but the bubbles just don't burst and fall back down, it remains thick and oily looking. But the beer beneath is fine.

Anyway, your brew - if it smells and tastes OK, will be fine, and I found it will drop to a certain piont. Bye the way, finished beer has no issue, in fact got reasonable score in NSW state comp 2010, with no significant flaws identified.

Fear_n_Loath


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## manticle (25/3/11)

I've had persistent krausen after FG with many a beer. If you are worried, rack the beer, let it settle a few days then go through normal conditioning/bottling/kegging process.

Alternatively leave alone and allow to dissipate.

It's not unusual with some yeasts and I've had it occur with US05.


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## petesbrew (2/4/11)

Using up a real ale kit I've had lying around, and was thinking of going English Bitter style. This one's planned for tomorrow night.

1.7kg Coopers Real Ale
1kg LDME
200g Crystal (steep)
20g Fuggles @ 60min
15g EK Goldings @ 15min
15g EK Goldings @ 0min
10g EK Goldings dry hop @ 7 days
10g Target dry hop @ 7 days
London Ale III yeast


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## kelbygreen (2/4/11)

sounds ok petesbrew but whats the IBU on that? not to sure of AA% of the hops or IBU on the kit, but usually a 60min addition is not needed when using a kit just do flavour and aroma additions. I have not tried a 60min addition when using kits usually stuck to 20mins and under


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## Shifter (3/4/11)

I get an IBU of 44.3 with a 60 min boil and 40.4 with a 20 min boil. The kit alone gives IBU 30.4.

AA% Fuggles @ 4.5
AA% Goldings @ 5.0
AA% Target @ 11.0

Boil is in 8 ltrs of water at 1040 with about 750 g of LME

Might have to give this a try.


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## petesbrew (3/4/11)

Sorry, had a few different batches of fuggles & EKG in the fridge, with different IBU's.
Here's the updated recipe 
1.7kg Coopers Real Ale
1kg LDME
260g Crystal (steep)
20g Fuggles 6.1% @ 60min
15g EK Goldings 5.1% @ 15min
15g EK Goldings 5.1% @ 0min
10g EK Goldings dry hop @ 7 days
10g Target dry hop @ 7 days
London Ale III yeast

Target ibu's - it's still in the fridge, so dunno.

Still have to run this one through the KnK recipe calculator, but I added the 60min addition to give this one a bit of hop bitterness (not just Isohop bitterness).
20g isn't too much.

Boiling up now, with 45min to go. Damn it smells great.

Cheers guys. Will let you know how it turns out.


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## jivesucka (4/4/11)

i am the crazy one here that likes to add unusual things to my brews. am currently doing a real ale with 2kg dex, some malt i boiled up from the raw grains (don't ask me how much because i don't know) 15g magnum hops and prepare yourself; a whopping 850g of honey. i can imagine that one will be bubbling away for well over a week, possibly a fortnight.


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## going down a hill (4/4/11)

jivesucka said:


> i am the crazy one here that likes to add unusual things to my brews. am currently doing a real ale with 2kg dex, some malt i boiled up from the raw grains (don't ask me how much because i don't know) 15g magnum hops and prepare yourself; a whopping 850g of honey. i can imagine that one will be bubbling away for well over a week, possibly a fortnight.


I don't know what to say about the grains because I have only steeped a couple of times, but I would back off on the dex. From what I have read it will add a thinness to your beer. Sounds a bit gross to me.


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## petesbrew (4/4/11)

Yeah settle down with the dex, Jivesucka. 
What's the gravity on that monster?


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## petesbrew (4/4/11)

Pitched the yeast tonight but it smelled a bit weird. I had an extra culture of a different yeast which I started up as well. Glad I did!

Parsons Green Bitter
1.7kg Coopers Real Ale
1kg LDME
260g Crystal (steep)
20g Fuggles 6.1% @ 60min
15g EK Goldings 5.1% @ 15min
15g EK Goldings 5.1% @ 0min
10g EK Goldings dry hop @ 7 days
10g Target dry hop @ 7 days
Timothy Taylor Landlord Ale yeast

OG=1040


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## petesbrew (5/4/11)

Checked it out this morning and there was a nice thick krausen.
A great start to the morning!


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## RobboMC (6/4/11)

jivesucka said:


> i am the crazy one here that likes to add unusual things to my brews. am currently doing a real ale with 2kg dex, some malt i boiled up from the raw grains (don't ask me how much because i don't know)



I hope you don't mean boiled as in really BOILED. Grains do not respond well to boiling. Apart from all the books, I know first hand as a mate who went AG walked away from a heating brew and it boiled momentarily. He bottled anyway, and I had to be very polite and drink one or two, but it was mouthwash!

Grains should onkly be held at around 70-75 deg C, do not boil!

Nothing wrong with adding waht you want to a brew, it's your creation. You really should at least write down what's in your brews, what if it turns out magnificanet and you can't reproduce it?


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## Bribie G (6/4/11)

The OP was using up leftovers, which is fine.
Personally, though, I always found the Real Ale not to be a good candidate for fiddling with, although perfectly good on its own with a box of BE2. Even when I had already started full mash brewing, I got in a Real ale and BE2 to show my buddy how to do a kit brew and the results were quite passable, with an 18 degree fermentation, gelatine, polyclar and cold crash for a week in a cube. 

If doing kits n bits I would always go for (and still occasionally do so, for example the partial Cerveza I did for Xmas) - use a lighter kit such as Cerveza or Canadian - less flavours to fight against.

Edit: if you are getting heavily into modding the kits but still not able to make the leap to AG, I'd recommend switching the base to 2kg of LDME instead (watch out for chill haze but) and then you are really doing your own stuff.


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## petesbrew (11/4/11)

WTF?

Went to dry hop mine yesterday and found a trail of ants crawling up the fermenter, and round the thread of the lid (coopers fermenter).
First time that's happened. And yep, the lid wasn't tight enough.
I opened it up, picked all the ants out of the lid (didn't see any floating in the beer, but there's a lot of hop crap on top), dry hopped with 10g Goldings & Target and closed it up tight.

Important thing is it still tastes like beer. And the name has changed to Ant Farm Ale.


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## petesbrew (27/4/11)

petesbrew said:


> WTF?
> 
> Went to dry hop mine yesterday and found a trail of ants crawling up the fermenter, and round the thread of the lid (coopers fermenter).
> First time that's happened. And yep, the lid wasn't tight enough.
> ...


Tasted it over the weekend. Turned out great. Not fantastic, but great. Finally something worth drinking after a bad start to the brewing year!


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (27/4/11)

petesbrew said:


> <snip> ...after a bad start to the brewing year!



You too? First 2 beers of the year with poor (nonexistant) temp control were rubbish hangover causing beers.

Put down a pale on Monday, temps are cool down there. Krausen formed but airlock not bubbling, so I'm happy as. Yeast is slowly eating, rather than going crazy and giving me nasty fusels.

Goomba


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## slapbass351 (10/5/11)

jivesucka said:


> i am the crazy one here that likes to add unusual things to my brews. am currently doing a real ale with 2kg dex, some malt i boiled up from the raw grains (don't ask me how much because i don't know) 15g magnum hops and prepare yourself; a whopping 850g of honey. i can imagine that one will be bubbling away for well over a week, possibly a fortnight.


How is the brew going? Should be interesting jive.


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## slapbass351 (16/5/11)

How did it go?


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