American Amber ale partial mash

[carrobrew]

Hey everyone,

Looking at putting down a brew soon. Did a partial mash using the guide stickied to the partial mash forum (https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/pimping-a-coopers-kit-with-a-partial-mash.72607/) and was pretty pleased with the result so will be doing again but unsure on my hop schedule.

I want to get some big hop flavours but don’t want to make the beer undrinkable. Found this hop schedule on an American forum and sounds good, what do you think? Unsure on amounts to use.

Chinook 1.00 oz First Wort Hopped


Chinook 0.50 oz 20 Min From End
Simcoe 0.50 oz 20 Min From End
Columbus 0.50 oz 20 Min From End
Centennial 0.50 oz 20 Min From End

Columbus 0.50 oz 5 Min From End
Simcoe 0.50 oz 5 Min From End
Centennial 0.50 oz 5 Min From End
Chinook 0.50 oz 5 Min From End

Simcoe 1.00 oz Dry-Hopped
Centennial 1.00 oz Dry-Hopped

I’m thinking of use a tin of the Thomas cooper family secret Amber ale https://www.bigw.com.au/product/thomas-cooper-s-family-secret-amber-ale-1-7kg/p/455234/ and mashing a kilo of maybe Joe white dark Munich with maybe a small amount of carared and US 05 as not sure about the kit yeast. Also will use a kilo of LDM as fermentables.

Let me know what you think or if I am way off base. Am open to suggestions/changes on everything but the tin needs to come from big w as I have a gift card for there from a Christmas present.

I also have the hop details if needed (alpha acid%, IBU etc) apologies if formatting is dodgy I am on mobile. Thanks I appreciate the help

 

[carrobrew]

So I ended up making this and bottled a couple of days ago. Only difference to the above was I added about a cup or so of quick oats in the mash for mouthfeel and the hop amounts were slightly different as I was using 50-55 gram (slightly less than 2 oz) lots instead of ounces.

Used US 05 and also chucked in the kit yeast. Fermented quick and hard for about 3.5 days then quieted down a bit.

Used 200 grams carared steeped in 2L of 70c water. Boiled the wort (about 7L) from the mash of 1kg Dark munich for an hour with above hop additions then chilled the boil pot down in and esky full of ice water.

Pitched at about 20c and kept fermenting between 20-22 (no temp control besides wet towels around the fermenter.

SG was 1.061 and FG was 1.019-1.020. Stayed at 1.020 for about a week so bottled after 2 weeks and a day.

Dry hopped at about the 4 day mark in a hop sock.

Drank a glass straight out of primary and it was amazing, west coast IPA taste, hoppy and delicious sweet but balanced with the bitterness from the FWH chinook and full of fruitiness from the late hop additions. Nice body and colour from the grain, dark amber red.

All in all very pleased with how it turned out so far.

Will post pics once I crack a bottle after it's carbonated in a week or 2.

 

[matt77]

Nice!
I used a tin of coopers pale ale and half a tin of that same amber ale.
It could have used a little more bitterness, but it was a bit more interesting than the last couple pales i did!

 

[carrobrew]

Nice!
I used a tin of coopers pale ale and half a tin of that same amber ale.
It could have used a little more bitterness, but it was a bit more interesting than the last couple pales i did!

Yeah I read on Rate and Review Homebrew Beer Kits - Rate Beer Kits that the bitterness was fairly low but seems like a good base to muck around with. Adding the early boil hops helped a lot. I’m gonna be mighty thirsty waiting for it to carbonate now.

 

[matt77]

Yeah I read on Rate and Review Homebrew Beer Kits - Rate Beer Kits that the bitterness was fairly low but seems like a good base to muck around with. Adding the early boil hops helped a lot. I’m gonna be mighty thirsty waiting for it to carbonate now.

Yep I've done 2 pales with 20g pride ringwood for 45 mins since. And much better (bitterer?)

 

[carrobrew]

Yep I've done 2 pales with 20g pride ringwood for 45 mins since. And much better (bitterer?)

Nice. I’ve been meaning to try the Cooper’s pale ale kit. Any good?

 

[matt77]

I drink coopers pales. Love it!

But always brewed something different as i didn't want the disappointment of it not being as good as taylor brewed...
I've done about 7 in last 6 months! They are that good! And light enough that you can taste any changes you make to the recipe.

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

I drink coopers pales. Love it!

But always brewed something different as i didn't want the disappointment of it not being as good as taylor brewed...
I've done about 7 in last 6 months! They are that good! And light enough that you can taste any changes you make to the recipe.

Using the yeast from a CPA 6-pack will go a long way to getting you that CPA taste! If you hadn't read up about, check out the thread Why Re-culturing Coopers Commercial Yeast?

Of note in particular from that thread is the following process;


Coopers method for re-culturing yeasties

Coopers, encourage home brewers to use the yeast from naturally conditioned Coopers ales. There are numerous documented techniques, with varying levels of complexity, for re-activating the yeast in naturally conditioned beer. The method described below may leave some readers, experienced in growing yeast cultures, aghast. “What! No stir plate, no malt, no alcohol swabs, no nutrient, no way! However, for Coopers yeast, it works...

Method
1. Buy a six pack of Coopers Original Pale Ale and place upright in the fridge for about a week for the yeast to settle.
2. Mix about 600ml of boiling water and 4 tablespoons of dextrose/sugar in a pyrex jug, cover with cling-wrap and leave to cool in the fridge for about 30mins.
3. Open 4 bottles and decant the beer into a jug, leaving behind the yeast sediment - about a couple of centimetres.
4. Pour the sugared water equally into each bottle, cover with cling-wrap and secure with a rubber band.
5. Shake the bottles then place them in a dark spot at a temperature in the mid 20’s.
6. Give the bottles a shake in the morning and at night to keep the yeast in suspension.
7. After around 2 to 3 days the yeast should become active and begin forming a head.
8. Pitch the active yeast into a brew immediately or store in the fridge for about a week. Just remember to pull it out of the fridge to warm for couple of hours prior to pitching.

Some additional points to keep in mind;
- start with more yeast by using all 6 bottles,
- buy beer with the freshest yeast (ie. latest “Best After” date),
- lower alcohol content is better (mild ale or pale ale),
- it’s okay to hold the culture at slightly higher temps to promote a quicker reactivation,
- one sanitised vessel (approx 1 litre) may be used rather than separate bottles,
- make sure the culture smells okay before pitching,
- buy another 6 pack for each culture and
- don’t forget to drink the decanted beer

 

[matt77]

Yep re-culturing all the way. Haven't bought yeast in 5 months

 

[carrobrew]

Yep re-culturing all the way. Haven't bought yeast in 5 months

I’ve never tried but sounds fairly easy. Do you do it only with CPA or are there other beers it works with as well?

 

[matt77]

They have to be bottle conditioned to have the viable yeast still active.
I'm in Adelaide so transport is pretty fast.
I've heard that through summer the road trip out of Adelaide can kill the yeast if it gets too hot for too long.

 

[carrobrew]

As promise here are some glamour shots.
Beer turned out really well, nice bitterness balanced by the carared and plenty of hops and nice aroma. I’ll make this one again, maybe try a different grain, not that the dark Munich was bad but would be interesting to see how the hops balance changes with something like maris otter or something else and would also get a bit more of the red colour come through. Still a little green but very nice, should get even better with further conditioning.