Coopers Real Ale

[Indy]

ALBATROSS ALE 1.8k Coopers Real Ale
1k CSR/Coopers Brewing Sugar
250g Powdered Corn Syrup
35g Goldings Hop Pellets (Bulk)(Alpha 5%)
Rating 9/10
Clear looking slightly darker ale. Taste of bitterness.


ok, i got this off BJ's home brew and i'm wondering if anyone has some tips for me...
(they seem to think this is a great brew)

i was thinking maybe this:
coopers real ale can
1kg LightME
[250g dextrose; 125g light malt; 125g maltodextrin]
[straight from pack mix](maybe bulk prime with this too?...)
and as it's going to be my first try with secondary fermentation, would a hand-full of Goldings Pellets be enough in the secondary?

 

[RegBadgery]

I'm a little reluctant to add sugar to extract kits so take my advice with a grain of salt. (I remember adding a kg of sugar to a can of coopers per the instructions and the result was not something I enjoyed - though I have no experience with the CSR brewing sugar).

Dryhopping pellets in secondary is a good idea - as a means of adding hop aroma (though it's just so hard to wait a couple of weeks before sampling).

I don't know what size hand you have but I've found it useful to go over the top in terms of additions - you really get a feel for what a particular ingredient does - and then you can decide if you want to tone it down, or add more.

I also enjoy hop flavour - and I get this by adding hops in the last 30 minutes of so of a boil - though I'm not sure how you'd get this using an extract kit - I brew from grain. (Does anyone brewing from kits boil hops separately to add flavour?)

One thing for sure - once you start adding to kits there's no end to it - well worth experimenting with steeped specialty grains.

cheers
reg

 

[Indy]

I also enjoy hop flavour - and I get this by adding hops in the last 30 minutes of so of a boil - though I'm not sure how you'd get this using an extract kit - I brew from grain. (Does anyone brewing from kits boil hops separately to add flavour?)

One thing for sure - once you start adding to kits there's no end to it - well worth experimenting with steeped specialty grains.

cheers
reg

so i could boil/steep my LightME and dissolve some hop pellets in there for some flavour, and throw some in the secondary for aroma?

and basically stick to malt to keep an increaced body/flavour not any dextrose/sugar...

i might try some slight variations over a few brews, to test what effect each has
there's just too many brews i want to try...

 

[PostModern]

Ditch the corn and sucrose adjuncts. Add 1.7Kg of LME instead. A handful of hops to compensate for the unfermentables. Boil 2L water, add LME, slowly, add some hops straight away, some 20 mins later, add kit, return to boil for 15 mins (no more or you'll boil off the isomerised hop essence in the kit), add another handful of hops, turn off heat, rapid chill (in sinkful of iced water), pour into carboy, add water to 23L, wait for 25C (if higher or add warm water if temp is cold) and pitch yeast. NO sugar, NO corn products = Nice beer.

CSR Brewers sugar is just 50% dextrose, 50% sucrose. Cheap, ferments to make alcohol, makes beer that tastes like ****, IMHO. (fiscus, if the language is too strong, feel free to edit).

 

[Wasabi]

Long live "The Reinheitsgebot "

 

[Doc]

I think this says it all.

From this webpage.

German Beer Purity Law, 1516
"We hereby proclaim and decree, by Authority of our Province, that henceforth in the Duchy of Bavaria, in the country as well as in the cities and marketplaces, the following rules apply to the sale of beer:

"From Michaelmas to Georgi, the price for one Mass [Bavarian Liter 1,069] or one Kopf [bowl-shaped container for fluids, not quite one Mass], is not to exceed one Pfennig Munich value, and

"From Georgi to Michaelmas, the Mass shall not be sold for more than two Pfennig of the same value, the Kopf not more than three Heller [Heller usually one-half Pfennig].

"If this not be adhered to, the punishment stated below shall be administered.

"Should any person brew, or otherwise have, other beer than March beer, it is not to be sold any higher than one Pfennig per Mass.

"Furthermore, we wish to emphasize that in future in all cities, markets and in the country, the only ingredients used for the brewing of beer must be Barley, Hops and Water. Whosoever knowingly disregards or transgresses upon this ordinance, shall be punished by the Court authorities' confiscating such barrels of beer, without fail.

"Should, however, an innkeeper in the country, city or markets buy two or three pails of beer (containing 60 Mass) and sell it again to the common peasantry, he alone shall be permitted to charge one Heller more for the Mass of the Kopf, than mentioned above. Furthermore, should there arise a scarcity and subsequent price increase of the barley (also considering that the times of harvest differ, due to location), WE, the Bavarian Duchy, shall have the right to order curtailments for the good of all concerned."

~ ~ ~

Translation of Reinheitsgebot from "History of German Brewing" by Karl J. Eden
Zymurgy magazine, Vol. 16, No. 4 Special 1993.


Cheers,
Doc

 

[PostModern]

Originally posted by RegBadgery
I'm a little reluctant to add sugar to extract kits so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Re-reading my post from last night, I think more than a grain of salt will be needed to heed my advice. A kilo should do it

 

[JWB]

:huh: Hey PostModern.
When you add hop pellets to your boil and chill ...do you strain it as you pour into carboy.
I always strain it...but have read that spent hops will sit on the bottom of fermenter and cause no problem. I always rack my brew into a 2nd fermenter after 4 days....
I was wondering if it will rack clear if spent hops are still in the bottom..

Cheers JWB :chug:

 

[kook]

:huh: Hey PostModern.
When you add hop pellets to your boil and chill ...do you strain it as you pour into carboy.
I always strain it...but have read that spent hops will sit on the bottom of fermenter and cause no problem. I always rack my brew into a 2nd fermenter after 4 days....
I was wondering if it will rack clear if spent hops are still in the bottom..

Cheers JWB :chug:

I've left all the hops in the brew before (I do normally strain) and it makes no difference. Clears out fine, gravity does the trick

Same with dry hopping, it just drops out and sits at the bottom of the fermenter with the rest of the trub.

 

[PostModern]

I don't strain. I must have been Scottish in a former life. I like to get every bit of value out of my hops.

That said tho, I recently brewed another beer on the trub of a Pale Ale that had 125g of hop pellets in it and some of them have left a ring with the krausen of the second brew. Secondary should take care of both batches... although my wit is no longer a wit - it smells more of cascade hops than oranges and corriander

 

[Indy]

Ditch the corn and sucrose adjuncts. Add 1.7Kg of LME instead.

1.7kg LME = Liquid Malt Extract...?
is that what i could get from ESB in a bulk bucket?
Bulk extract - 28 kg bucket - (light 92.00) (Amber & black 95.00)

what's the best method of measuring? get an empty 1.7kg 'can' and fill?

 

[kook]

Ditch the corn and sucrose adjuncts. Add 1.7Kg of LME instead.

1.7kg LME = Liquid Malt Extract...?
is that what i could get from ESB in a bulk bucket?
Bulk extract - 28 kg bucket - (light 92.00) (Amber & black 95.00)

what's the best method of measuring? get an empty 1.7kg 'can' and fill?

Buy a 25L Pail and a honey-gate (or buy one pre-fitted with a honey gate).
Pour all the malt from one pail to the other.

Thats what I'm going to do anyway (buying it this week). I was going to order a pail from Grumpys ($85), but the postage ends up $32. I can get a pail for $101 here in Perth so its not really worth it.

http://www.users.on.net/lamotte/cgi-bin/la.../LMEbucket.html

 

[PostModern]

Indy, I recommend you invest in a honey gate. I've got a pail and using scoops is a mess. Pouring is going to lead to wastage - the stuff pours thicker than honey.

ESB's price doesn't include the pail. I bought 28Kg for $107 or so, including a 25 litre pail... which I'll either refill or fit with a spiggot for use as a bottling bucket.

Or if you don't think you'll use that much of it quickly enough, you could just buy 1.7Kg cans of unmalted extract from any HBS. The advantage is that you can buy whatever colour you like as you need it. The disadvantage is naturally price. I have some crystal malt, some caramalt and chocolate malt, so I can steep or mash those for colour in brews made with light LME.