Coopers Yeast In An Old Ale

[Adamt]

Here's the plan for my first partial:

Mash: (temperature, supposedly should be high for the style? how long?)
1.5kg Pale Malt
1kg Wheat Malt
0.5kg Medium Caramel/Crystal

Boil with:
30g POR for 60
30g Fuggles for 30
10g of POR + Fuggles at Flameout

Also add at flameout:
1.7kg Coopers Pale Ale can
1.7kg Coopers Real Ale can
0.5kg Brown Sugar


For a 20L batch:

Estimated OG: 1.095
Colour: 13.2SRM
IBU: 34.2


Now... I want to use re-cultured Coopers Ale Yeast, to get the nice fruity flavours (and I'm poor), but fermenting ~18C to avoid a bananarama.

The question is; can the yeast handle the alcohol the whole way? Beersmith estimated it to drop down to 1.024 (for 9.3% alc). Probably will pop it in a secondary either way, maybe with some wine yeast ready to go if it's stopped.

Anyone used Coopers' Ale Yeast in a big meaty brew?

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

That's a lot of "food" for the yeast to chew through.

Although I'm not at the mashing stage I can suggest from experience that maybe you should do this:

Add all mentioned above except for one can of goop and then after 4-5 days add the last can and another yeast starter. Then pretend you have started all over again (ie. leave in primary for at least another week).

You'll need to keep the initial volume down a couple of litres to make up for the later can/water addition, but that's fairly obvious I suppose.

It's worked for me with a triple can brew before, so I can't see why it wouldn't work for you here :beer:

PZ.

 

[Kai]

Yes. I have a barleywine sitting in primary right now that so far has gone from 1.100 to 1.023 in just under a week, using recultured coopers pale ale yeast.

Of course, you need to be very thorough over aeration and high pitching rates, as with all high gravity ferments.

 

[mike_hillyer]

Check the Coopers Vintage Ale thread out, someone said Cooper's use it for that brew.