Coopers Ales

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I made the Coopers Sparkling ale yesterday mainly based on your byo link Dough.
I adjusted the recipe for coopers ale malt as the base.
I left out the crystal as I was told the coopers malt is dark but halfway through the mash added a little for visual colour adjustment.
Mashed at 63C for 1.5hr based on the article recipe and beersmith estimated attenuation of 1.006.
Same hop and water additions.
1L re-cultured coopers yeast starter.
My efficiency was a little higher than expected but I'll run with it. OG 1.048
I'll report back on the results with a side by side.
 
Hi siiren,

I made the Coopers Sparkling ale yesterday mainly based on your byo link Dough.

Great to hear your trying Tony Wheeler's recipe and following his recommendations. His instruction came through for me so I'm sure you'll also end up close to a Coopers Sparking.

I adjusted the recipe for coopers ale malt as the base.

I like it that you've used Coopers malt in a Coopers Sparkling :) I've never made it with ale malt, only pilsner malt, but that "Coopers Sparking character" comes mainly from the yeast so I'm sure it's still going to scream Coopers Sparkling. With the ale malt it may well be an improvement over the commercial Sparkling, a bit more mouthfeel. Please report to us - better, worse or simply just different - what your taste buds report to you.

I left out the crystal as I was told the coopers malt is dark but halfway through the mash added a little for visual colour adjustment.

Yes, generally ale malt has a darker colour than pilsner malt so you won't need as much crystal malt for colouring. If you know how much crystal malt you added, and you have some commercial Sparking on hand for comparison, you can adjust to better match the colour in your next "Coopers Sparkling" clone attempt.

Mashed at 63C for 1.5hr based on the article recipe and beersmith estimated attenuation of 1.006.
Same hop and water additions.
1L re-cultured coopers yeast starter.

Sounds good to me!

My first Coppers Sparkling primary ferment was fast and fruity. The primary ferment finished about 2.5 days after pitching, Tony Wheeler said about 3-4 days. Mine was with a large healthy starter pitched at 19C, at a fridge temp of 20C with the beer being at 22C the day after high krausen. The beer could well have reached 23,24C or more during high krausen. The ferment was unmistakably "Coopers Sparkling", plenty of fruity banana and pineapple like aromas. After the primary ferment, which finished abruptly, I upped the temp by 3C, as per Tony's advice, to help clean up the beer and kegged it about two days later, 5 and 3/4 days after pitching the yeast. I force carbonated rather than sugaring the keg.

But no two ferments are exactly the same, how is/did your Coopers ferment going/go, fast and fruity like my first one?

Cheers!
Rob
 
First taste out of the fermenter was very close. I know the yeast plays a big part in the flavour.

My gravity was a bit out, 1.009 where I was shooting for 1.006, may be my pitch rate, 1L starter.
I have plenty of yeast to play with now.

The flavour difference to the original is a more grainy/malty as typical with a fresh beer.
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!

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.

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.

I'll see how it carbs up. It's a base point to adjust from.

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!
 
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:

YearFinal GavitySource
Mid 20041.007Australian Made Carlton 1.000-1.050 Hydrometer
Early 20091.005Tony Wheeler's Article
April 20201.006Australian 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:

TimeIBUSource
200935Tony Wheelers 2009 Article
202030Coopers Website in 2020
2024, June32Coopers 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
 
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Just reporting back after a bit of age on the sparkling ale keg.

I did a side by side with a fresh red can and here are my notes.

The commercial is a lot lighter in colour. I only added 150g medium crystal but my guess it Coopers don't add any anymore.
I prime carbed the keg trying to keep it close to the bottle age regime. It's still pouring hazy as it should, 2 months in the keg.

The IBU's are pretty spot on for a 'clone'

Flavour wise they are very similar with a touch more malt backbone in my version.
The typical bready flavours are there from the re-cultured yeast.

All in all if I wanted to tweak the recipe I would scrap the crystal and use only coopers ale malt in the grist. I would keep the rest of the recipe and fementation regime the same.

However, I know Coopers have changed their recipe multiple times over the years. My version brings me back 30yrs to when it was tradition to grab 2 king browns from the bottlo after work.
The colour is how I remember and the taste is perfect to my palette.
As they say brew to your own preferences, and I think with this one I've nailed it.

If anyone is interested in my recipe, It's simple.

86% Coopers ale malt (red bag)
11% Wheat malt, I used gladfields
3% medium crystal (gladfields again)
30g Pride of Ringwood at 60min (33IBU's)
I think I chilled this one, but maybe cubed. Can't remember! It wont make a difference!
1l starter of recultured Coopers yeast from a pale ale bottle
Mashed at 62C to produce a dry finish
OG 1.049, FG 1.009 @ 5.3ABV
I didn't add any salts to the water, just plain old Adelaide water treated for chloramines.
Fermented at 22C until it finished, I think it was at day 9 I racked to keg and primed with about 65g white sugar.

If anyone wants to 'clone' a recent version then omit the crystal.

Cheers for all the help.
 
Hi Siren,
Thanks for getting back to us.

Just reporting back after a bit of age on the sparkling ale keg.
<snip>
I know Coopers have changed their recipe multiple times over the years. My version brings me back 30yrs to when it was tradition to grab 2 king browns from the bottlo after work.
The colour is how I remember and the taste is perfect to my palette.
As they say brew to your own preferences, and I think with this one I've nailed it.

Excellent, you'd have to be happy with that, well done!

If anyone is interested in my recipe, It's simple.

86% Coopers ale malt (red bag)
11% Wheat malt, I used gladfields
3% medium crystal (gladfields again)
30g Pride of Ringwood at 60min (33IBU's)
I think I chilled this one, but maybe cubed. Can't remember! It wont make a difference!
1l starter of recultured Coopers yeast from a pale ale bottle
Mashed at 62C to produce a dry finish
OG 1.049, FG 1.009 @ 5.3ABV
I didn't add any salts to the water, just plain old Adelaide water treated for chloramines.
Fermented at 22C until it finished, I think it was at day 9 I racked to keg and primed with about 65g white sugar.

If anyone wants to 'clone' a recent version then omit the crystal.

Thanks!

For completeness I looked up the water report for Adelaide 5000 for what it's worth, I don't know your postcode:

SA Water - Your drinking water profile

The report covered the 12 months to to the end of July 2024. Rounding the stated average results to whole numbers. These should be considered ballpark figures, however, luckily, the cations and anions balance:

Ca=24 Mg=13 Na=51 SO4=46 Cl=90 HCO3=60

I did a side by side with a fresh red can and here are my notes.

The commercial is a lot lighter in colour. I only added 150g medium crystal but my guess it Coopers don't add any anymore.
I prime carbed the keg trying to keep it close to the bottle age regime. It's still pouring hazy as it should, 2 months in the keg.

The IBU's are pretty spot on for a 'clone'

Flavour wise they are very similar with a touch more malt backbone in my version.
The typical bready flavours are there from the re-cultured yeast.

All in all if I wanted to tweak the recipe I would scrap the crystal and use only coopers ale malt in the grist. I would keep the rest of the recipe and fementation regime the same.

Yeah, using Coopers Ale Malt over Pilsner would give a slightly darker colour so it makes sense that yours is darker, but shouldn't affect the taste. Great that the bitterness is spot on and it finished dry enough FG=1.009.

Great, the 22C ferment temp worked out. As mentioned about I've had to drive the Coopers yeast with a high temp to get it to throw enough "Coopers Ale" esters. Sometimes though, I get a little too much of that funkyness at 23C. I'll try it at 22C next time, a little bit of a safety margin is probably good insurance.

Cheers and thanks!
Rob
 

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