# First Coopers Pale Ale Brew Help



## mattyg8 (3/6/14)

Hi I previously tried a Coopers Draught kit and don't think I left it to ferment long enough as it didn't even seem like much alcohol %...yes was first brew and was impatient and forgot to do proper gravity readings lol 

I keg my beer and would like to bump up the abv

I would like to try out a Australian Pale Ale

going by the Coopers site the ingredients are:

Australian Pale Ale Coopers Kit
Brew Enhancer 2 1kg = 50% dextrose, 25% maltodextrin, 25% light dry malt

What ingredients should I add to try get it up to 5-6%

thanks


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## gsouth82 (3/6/14)

Chuck in another 1kg of light dry malt. That will bump it up however you'll end up with a very malty and not so hoppy beer.
I'd recommend boiling 2L of water with 200g of the light dry malt, add 25g of hops for 5 minutes then dump everything into the ferment and top up to 23L.
What hops? anything like galaxy, cascade, Amarillo, mosaic or citra.


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## mattyg8 (3/6/14)

Ive never done hops before so id have to check it out


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## eungaibitter1 (3/6/14)

You could forget about the brew enhancer and just use light dry malt. I've used that tin before with 1kg light dry malt and as above, a 20 minute boil with 20gm Amarillo pellet. It rounded out to about 5% and was a good drop from memory.


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## gsouth82 (3/6/14)

Its really easy to add hops and you'll be stoked with the improvement to your beer. 
I think if you made the beer with the pale tin, BE2 and light DME, you'd be fairly underwhelmed by the results. 
The pale ale tin already has a little bit of bitterness in it so adding some flavour/aroma hops using the method would help your beer a lot.


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## LiquidGold (3/6/14)

Adding hops is definately worth it. One thing to note when doing a boil for your hops is that you can also use it to dissolve your tin after flamout and before transferring to the fermenter. Or dissolve everything in the fermenter but remember to have cold water on hand to counteract the temp from the boil (unless you chill it in an ice bath). I've only recently managed to get my pitching temp spot on as soon as topping up to required volume and it feels great when it works out perfect so a bit of trial and error usually helps.


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## gsouth82 (3/6/14)

LiquidGold said:


> Adding hops is definately worth it. One thing to note when doing a boil for your hops is that you can also use it to dissolve your tin after flamout and before transferring to the fermenter. Or dissolve everything in the fermenter but remember to have cold water on hand to counteract the temp from the boil (unless you chill it in an ice bath). I've only recently managed to get my pitching temp spot on as soon as topping up to required volume and it feels great when it works out perfect so a bit of trial and error usually helps.


That's why I suggested a 2L boil. I've found that 2L hot to 18L from the tap (I usually do 20L batches for kegging) works a treat. gets me around the 20C mark.


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## mattyg8 (3/6/14)

Thanks for the info I got a mate who does a bit more advance brewing then just tins so Ill maybe get a hand from him

So I should get
a pale ale tin
Brew Enhancer 2 1kg = 50% dextrose, 25% maltodextrin, 25% light dry malt
1kg of light dry malt
25g of hops for 5 minutes


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## LiquidGold (3/6/14)

gsouth said:


> That's why I suggested a 2L boil. I've found that 2L hot to 18L from the tap (I usually do 20L batches for kegging) works a treat. gets me around the 20C mark.


Yeah true. I was aiming for 23 Litres at around 18 degrees with probably more of a 3 or 4 litres boil so yeah there's always a few variables and I found it's good to have more cold water than you might need, just in case. Having said that a 2L boil and tap water sounds like it'd work fine and is nice and simple.


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## gsouth82 (3/6/14)

LiquidGold said:


> Having said that a 2L boil and tap water sounds like it'd work fine and is nice and simple.


And if i'm being super lazy, my kettle holds 1.7L...


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## gsouth82 (3/6/14)

mattyg8 said:


> Thanks for the info I got a mate who does a bit more advance brewing then just tins so Ill maybe get a hand from him


Great idea Matty.
And while we're on the topic, that recipe is pretty much my standard keg filler (minus the BE2).
I use a pale tin, 1kg of light DME and 20-25g of flavour/aroma hops. Usually comes out at 4.7% when made to 20L.
Its quick, easy and delicious!


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## mattyg8 (3/6/14)

gsouth said:


> Great idea Matty.
> And while we're on the topic, that recipe is pretty much my standard keg filler (minus the BE2).
> I use a pale tin, 1kg of light DME and 20-25g of flavour/aroma hops. Usually comes out at 4.7% when made to 20L.
> Its quick, easy and delicious!


Would adding BE2 Do much to the recipe? other wise I already have some dextrose and maltodextrin which I could just add 500gm and 250gm like BE2


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## gsouth82 (3/6/14)

mattyg8 said:


> Would adding BE2 Do much to the recipe? other wise I already have some dextrose and maltodextrin which I could just add 500gm and 250gm like BE2


Personally I think your better off with more malt than sugars so I'd use the BE2 because it at least has a bit of malt in it. That's if your still after the higher alcohol. If not, I'd drop it altogether. The first thing I did when beginning my brewing journey was swap brew enhancers for malt extract. 
According to IanH's spreedsheet, the extra 250g of light DME in the BE2 will give you an extra .5%. Made to 23L and bottled your looking around 5.6%.


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## mattyg8 (3/6/14)

gsouth said:


> Personally I think your better off with more malt than sugars so I'd use the BE2 because it at least has a bit of malt in it. That's if your still after the higher alcohol. If not, I'd drop it altogether. The first thing I did when beginning my brewing journey was swap brew enhancers for malt extract.
> According to IanH's spreedsheet, the extra 250g of light DME in the BE2 will give you an extra .5%. Made to 23L and bottled your looking around 5.6%.


I will play around with the figures as I plan to keg so would it be best to drop to 20L-21L and drop it


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## menoetes (3/6/14)

+1 to Malt over sugars like Gsouth says.

You could add half of the BE2 (500g) with the 1kg of Dry Malt if you were after a higher % of Alcohol and/or increase the volume ei. 23lts of beer instead of 20lts But speaking generally; a lot of that dry thin taste that sets homebrew below pub beer comes from using sugars instead of straight malt and no hops (we'll get to steeping small amounts of fresh grains for bigger 'fresh grain taste' later).


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## mattyg8 (3/6/14)

menoetes said:


> +1 to Malt over sugars like Gsouth says.
> 
> You could add half of the BE2 (500g) with the 1kg of Dry Malt if you were after a higher % of Alcohol and/or increase the volume ei. 23lts of beer instead of 20lts But speaking generally; a lot of that dry thin taste that sets homebrew below pub beer comes from using sugars instead of straight malt and no hops (we'll get to steeping small amounts of fresh grains for bigger 'fresh grain taste' later).


Yeh Its a learning curve but thanks for the input


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## Amber_Man (3/6/14)

You are probably confused as hell now mate. Have a look at this video, it's not the greatest lesson you will get, but it will help you visulise the advise you are getting from everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7iqgerF748


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## mattyg8 (3/6/14)

Amber_Man said:


> You are probably confused as hell now mate. Have a look at this video, it's not the greatest lesson you will get, but it will help you visulise the advise you are getting from everyone.



Hey that was a great help


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## Amber_Man (3/6/14)

There is just one thing I would do different to the video and that is rehydrate your yeast. It is a simple process and doesn't take long. Always use a good quality yeast, try to avoid using the one that comes with the can if possible.

The other thing to remember is there are no rules when it comes to beer flavour, don't be afraid to experiment with different hops etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL92Bd4kfbQ


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## mattyg8 (4/6/14)

Which yeast and hops would be good with this


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## Trickymac (4/6/14)

us o5 yeast
hops amarillo or cascade would be nice


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## mattyg8 (4/6/14)

Ok I've got the ingredients for the Following Recipe:

Coopers Pale Ale Kit
US05 Yeast 
Amarillo Hops 25g
Light Dry Malt 1.25kg
Dextrose 500g
Maltodextrin 250g

at 21L its bout 6% 

So with the hops I want to place the light dry malt in a saucepan will 2 litres of boiling water? then add the hops for 20 mins on a rolling boil? Then add to the fermenter with other ingredients?


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## gsouth82 (4/6/14)

When you boil hops, you want to have the boil liquid at a gravity of around 1.040. This is the optimal gravity for extracting all the goodness from the hops.
1.040 roughly equals 100g of dry malt extract per litre. If your doing a 2L boil then run with around 200g.
If you look at the below chart, you'll see a general hop utilisation guide. A 20 minute boil is pretty much all flavour, no aroma.
I'd be more inclined to do a 10 or 15 minute boil to get some flavour and aroma in there.


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## mattyg8 (4/6/14)

thanks for that so much to learn lol


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## Bellfield Brewer (4/6/14)

just make it up to 19litres, add extra 500gr malt


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## mattyg8 (4/6/14)

Bellfield brewer said:


> just make it up to 19litres, add extra 500gr malt


Making it to 19L and filling a 19L keg would mean filling most of the junk at the bottom yeh?


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## gsouth82 (4/6/14)

I usually do a 20L batch to fill a keg. By the time I've taken a couple of samples I only leave around a pot worth in the fermenter. I have to tip the fermenter up to get the last bit out but I cold crash everything so the yeast cake/trub/hops are nice a compacted and don't move.


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## mattyg8 (4/6/14)

thats the plan


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## mattyg8 (4/6/14)

I got the yeast and it's in 15g bag do I use the lot? Last time I used the coopers yeast and it was only 7g


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## gsouth82 (5/6/14)

yeah definitely use the lot.
The more malt and sugars you have the more yeast you need.
If you were to do a pitch rate calculation (the amount of yeast you need to chuck in) you'll find that the 7g that comes with the tins isn't enough. In saying that, 7g will work but not pitching enough yeast means less than ideal conditions for the yeast which can result in off flavours or stuck fermentations.


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## mattyg8 (5/6/14)

cheers mate hopefully I can put down this brew on saty


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## gsouth82 (5/6/14)

Good luck!
Let us know how you go with it.


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## mattyg8 (8/6/14)

Just Finished putting this beer down following the video on the first page...I got an OG of 1.064 so leaving it for 2 weeks should get me a nice strong beer 

Is 18degs a good temp to ferment at


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## gsouth82 (10/6/14)

Yep 18 is a good temperature. That's what I ferment at.


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## mattyg8 (19/6/14)

took a reading on monday and it was at 1.028 so it had been a week since the brew was done, so I plan on checking it on sunday...usually I keg my beer and end up with a few litres left over, this time I plan on bottling some of the left over and adding carbonation drops.

When storing the beer after its bottled do you store it in the fridge at cold temp or put it in a cupboard or something


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## gsouth82 (19/6/14)

When you bottle, the yeast wakes back up and eats the sugars in the carbonation drop. Instead of the CO2 that's produced bubbling out through an airlock, its trapped in there and absorbs into the beer which carbonates it. So, based on that, you'll need to store your bottles at room temperature. If its too cold, the yeast wont work, much like normal fermentation.
The other thing that's important when you bottle is making sure the beer has reached its FG. If not, and you bottle early, the yeast will continue fermenting the original sugars plus the carbonation drop and produce over carbonated beer and possibly 'bottle bombs'.
Make sure you have steady gravity readings over 3 days before bottling. According to IanH's spreadsheet you'll be aiming for around 1.017.


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## mattyg8 (19/6/14)

Hey thanks for that I wasnt to sure, Yeah I was going to wait and see what the reading was first, Usually I cold crash before I transfer to a keg, is this a good idea if I plan on bottling or once it gets back to room temp in the bottle the yeast will wake back up and eats the sugars in the carbonation drop


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## gsouth82 (19/6/14)

Cold crashing is fine, the only trouble you'll have is that a lot of the yeast will drop out of suspension when you cold crash.
It will wake back up when it gets to room temperature but it means it might take a little longer for the bottles to carb up because of the smaller amount of yeast in there. The difference is probably only 2-3 weeks compared to 1-2 when not cold crashing. I'd be leaving your brew in the bottle for at least 4 weeks anyway. Your keg will be a distant memory by then!


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## mattyg8 (19/6/14)

Thanks for that....yeh the bottles are just for the leftover, ill just leave them there till im desperate lol


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## MrTwalky (19/6/14)

There's some good advice in this thread Matty. It is a steep learning curve when you first start but it gets easier. Soon you'll be asked 'how do you make beer?' and you'll realise that you can't answer that question without explaining a thousand other things on the way.

Immerse yourself in the hobby and find people that brew to hang out with, its a great way to learn and share skills. BREW BREW BREW like a maniac!!!

P.S: I so glad you weren't put off home brewing after your first attempt, there are so many people who are and then bad mouth home brew for the rest of their lives having never tasted good quality brews.

Happy Brewing!


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## mattyg8 (19/6/14)

MrTwalky said:


> There's some good advice in this thread Matty. It is a steep learning curve when you first start but it gets easier. Soon you'll be asked 'how do you make beer?' and you'll realise that you can't answer that question without explaining a thousand other things on the way.
> 
> Immerse yourself in the hobby and find people that brew to hang out with, its a great way to learn and share skills. BREW BREW BREW like a maniac!!!
> 
> ...


Haha the reason I wasnt put off was because I spent so much money building a keezer lol Ive tried mates homebrew on tap and it tasted grate so knew I would be able to make some better stuff


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## mattyg8 (23/6/14)

ok took a reading and its @ 1.020, according to IanH's spreadsheet i should be getting 1.017 should i wait a few more days today is day 16


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## menoetes (23/6/14)

Just wait until your OG has been stable for three days and it's done. Your maltodextrin would have added a bit to your FG but I wouldn't have thought that it added that much... maybe your yeast has just petted out from such a high OG. Either way if the FG is stable there's not a lot you can do but add more yeast if you're that keen to drop it by 4 points.


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## mattyg8 (23/6/14)

cheers ill try it again for next few days


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