Hi siiren,
Thanks for getting back to us.
First taste out of the fermenter was very close.
<snip>
The flavour difference to the original is a more grainy/malty as typical with a fresh beer.
That has to be a good sign
My gravity was a bit out, 1.009 where I was shooting for 1.006, may be my pitch rate, 1L starter.
It's nice when you hit your targets, but I don't think your far enough out for it to make much of a difference in the final beer. BTW, it's varied a bit over time, but not enough to matter:
| Year | Final Gavity | Source |
|---|
| Mid 2004 | 1.007 | Australian Made Carlton 1.000-1.050 Hydrometer |
| Early 2009 | 1.005 | Tony Wheeler's Article |
| April 2020 | 1.006 | Australian Made Carlton 1.000-1.050 Hydrometer |
Add to that measurement errors, carbonation of the beer, bubbles, etc and three points isn't much. The F.G. may still drop a little more over time as the yeast will keep chewing on those harder to ferment sugars.
A larger starter could help but I suspect your one litre stater will drive it just as low as a 2 litre, but it may just take a little longer. Did you raise the temp a few degrees towards the end of the ferment, for a "clean up/diacetyl" phase? That can often get you and extra point or two. Priming with sugar, rather than force carbonating, will also dry it out a little.
The ale malt is malted by coopers, the same as they use at the factory. They also have a pale, used for the pale ale. Likewise the wheat. The handful of crystal was gladfields medium, which I had on hand!
Great, all Coopers Malts in a Coopers Sparkling clone, that's got to help you get close. Though the difference between Pilsner and Pale Ale, particularly from the same Maltster - who most probably uses the same grain for both, will be very subtle. The crystal won't matter, not enough to affect the flavor.
It shouldn't be hard for you to get your hands on some Dough, I have been using the pale as my base malt with good success. I live about 15min drive from Coopers factory but have never done a tour, I think it's time.
Your nicely located, and you'll definitely have to go on that brewery tour. But perhaps after a couple of attempts at cloning the Sparkling, just in case you have some difficult questions to get answered.
Do Coopers sell their grain out of the factory?
I'll have to give it a try but I haven't been in a hurry, mainly because of this article:
Brulosophy | exBEERiment | Grain Comparison: Pale Malt vs. Pilsner Malt In German Pils
but you've been raising my curiosity level, and sometimes you just have to try things for yourself
My hopping schedule was a bit out, all I could get was 2021 POR which I adjusted for loss of IBU's however learning from the HBS it was packaged immediately purged with nitrogen and vac sealed/frozen so hadn't degraded as much as calculated.
The IBU of Coopers Sparkling has been a moving target over time, though not enough to taste the difference:
| Time | IBU | Source |
|---|
| 2009 | 35 | Tony Wheelers 2009 Article |
| 2020 | 30 | Coopers Website in 2020 |
| 2024, June | 32 | Coopers website Today |
BTW, the BJCP 2015 and 2021 say - Aust. Sparkling Ale 12B - IBU: 20-35
In the past I've been frustrated by not being able to get my software to reconcile the hop Alpha Acid percentage (AA%) with the stated IBU mentioned in some online and printed recipes, usually old ones. I've tried changing the calculation Formula - Tinseth,Noonan,Ragar,Garetz - but when the copper hop IBUs were correct, the late hop ones were out, or vice-versa.
It all got complicated fast, too many variables, some changing over time, for any accuracy. And it doesn't really matter anyway as our logarithmic senses can't pick IBU changes very well, let alone possible vast difference in bitterness perception from person to person.
So, when following a recipe I use the weight and AA% and only use any IBU mentioned as a rough cross check. I figure the brewer knew for sure the weight used and the AA% written on the packed of hops more reliably than the derived IBU value his/her software produced, if there was any software available at the time. For sure, compensate for deterioration - age and storage conditions - but I pretty much ignore the stated IBU when the AA% and weight are available in a recipe.
I'll see how it carbs up. It's a base point to adjust from.
Great, I love that feeling, all done, it's on it's way, nothing left to do but tweak the carbonation,
drink it, and take some notes for next time. And, hopefully let us here know when your taste buds tell you it's reaching it's peak. Tony says:
"Pitch to pour in 10 days, Australian pale ale is a certainly a "present
use" style! Thanks to the absence of late hopping, it doesn't need time to
mellow out like the hoppy pale ales often do. However, experience shows
that the beer will benefit from a few weeks maturation."
He says 3.5 volumes carbonation, which is on target. Personally, I liked it best just a smidgen higher, at 3.6 - 3.7 volumes. But start for Tony's 3.5 and adjust to your liking.
My original idea was to clone sparkling ale grain bill to use as a base to make a whisky from, later to learn that Coopers have beaten me to it!
Oh well, but perhaps yours would be nicer.
I didn't know Coopers was into whisky, not that I am, but good to hear they have the money to branch out. Is that distillery the "factory" near you that you mentioned earlier?
Looking back this is a long post, my apologies, and I haven't had a beer yet
Cheers!
Rob
