First Coopers Pale Ale Brew Help

[mattyg8]

Hi I previously tried a Coopers Draught kit and don't think I left it to ferment long enough as it didn't even seem like much alcohol %...yes was first brew and was impatient and forgot to do proper gravity readings lol

I keg my beer and would like to bump up the abv

I would like to try out a Australian Pale Ale

going by the Coopers site the ingredients are:

Australian Pale Ale Coopers Kit
Brew Enhancer 2 1kg = 50% dextrose, 25% maltodextrin, 25% light dry malt

What ingredients should I add to try get it up to 5-6%

thanks

 

[gsouth82]

Chuck in another 1kg of light dry malt. That will bump it up however you'll end up with a very malty and not so hoppy beer.
I'd recommend boiling 2L of water with 200g of the light dry malt, add 25g of hops for 5 minutes then dump everything into the ferment and top up to 23L.
What hops? anything like galaxy, cascade, Amarillo, mosaic or citra.

 

[mattyg8]

Ive never done hops before so id have to check it out

 

[eungaibitter1]

You could forget about the brew enhancer and just use light dry malt. I've used that tin before with 1kg light dry malt and as above, a 20 minute boil with 20gm Amarillo pellet. It rounded out to about 5% and was a good drop from memory.

 

[gsouth82]

Its really easy to add hops and you'll be stoked with the improvement to your beer.
I think if you made the beer with the pale tin, BE2 and light DME, you'd be fairly underwhelmed by the results.
The pale ale tin already has a little bit of bitterness in it so adding some flavour/aroma hops using the method would help your beer a lot.

 

[LiquidGold]

Adding hops is definately worth it. One thing to note when doing a boil for your hops is that you can also use it to dissolve your tin after flamout and before transferring to the fermenter. Or dissolve everything in the fermenter but remember to have cold water on hand to counteract the temp from the boil (unless you chill it in an ice bath). I've only recently managed to get my pitching temp spot on as soon as topping up to required volume and it feels great when it works out perfect so a bit of trial and error usually helps.

 

[gsouth82]

Adding hops is definately worth it. One thing to note when doing a boil for your hops is that you can also use it to dissolve your tin after flamout and before transferring to the fermenter. Or dissolve everything in the fermenter but remember to have cold water on hand to counteract the temp from the boil (unless you chill it in an ice bath). I've only recently managed to get my pitching temp spot on as soon as topping up to required volume and it feels great when it works out perfect so a bit of trial and error usually helps.

That's why I suggested a 2L boil. I've found that 2L hot to 18L from the tap (I usually do 20L batches for kegging) works a treat. gets me around the 20C mark.

 

[mattyg8]

Thanks for the info I got a mate who does a bit more advance brewing then just tins so Ill maybe get a hand from him

So I should get
a pale ale tin
Brew Enhancer 2 1kg = 50% dextrose, 25% maltodextrin, 25% light dry malt
1kg of light dry malt
25g of hops for 5 minutes

 

[LiquidGold]

That's why I suggested a 2L boil. I've found that 2L hot to 18L from the tap (I usually do 20L batches for kegging) works a treat. gets me around the 20C mark.

Yeah true. I was aiming for 23 Litres at around 18 degrees with probably more of a 3 or 4 litres boil so yeah there's always a few variables and I found it's good to have more cold water than you might need, just in case. Having said that a 2L boil and tap water sounds like it'd work fine and is nice and simple.

 

[gsouth82]

Having said that a 2L boil and tap water sounds like it'd work fine and is nice and simple.

And if i'm being super lazy, my kettle holds 1.7L...

 

[gsouth82]

Thanks for the info I got a mate who does a bit more advance brewing then just tins so Ill maybe get a hand from him

Great idea Matty.
And while we're on the topic, that recipe is pretty much my standard keg filler (minus the BE2).
I use a pale tin, 1kg of light DME and 20-25g of flavour/aroma hops. Usually comes out at 4.7% when made to 20L.
Its quick, easy and delicious!

 

[mattyg8]

Great idea Matty.
And while we're on the topic, that recipe is pretty much my standard keg filler (minus the BE2).
I use a pale tin, 1kg of light DME and 20-25g of flavour/aroma hops. Usually comes out at 4.7% when made to 20L.
Its quick, easy and delicious!

Would adding BE2 Do much to the recipe? other wise I already have some dextrose and maltodextrin which I could just add 500gm and 250gm like BE2

 

[gsouth82]

Would adding BE2 Do much to the recipe? other wise I already have some dextrose and maltodextrin which I could just add 500gm and 250gm like BE2

Personally I think your better off with more malt than sugars so I'd use the BE2 because it at least has a bit of malt in it. That's if your still after the higher alcohol. If not, I'd drop it altogether. The first thing I did when beginning my brewing journey was swap brew enhancers for malt extract.
According to IanH's spreedsheet, the extra 250g of light DME in the BE2 will give you an extra .5%. Made to 23L and bottled your looking around 5.6%.

 

[mattyg8]

Personally I think your better off with more malt than sugars so I'd use the BE2 because it at least has a bit of malt in it. That's if your still after the higher alcohol. If not, I'd drop it altogether. The first thing I did when beginning my brewing journey was swap brew enhancers for malt extract.
According to IanH's spreedsheet, the extra 250g of light DME in the BE2 will give you an extra .5%. Made to 23L and bottled your looking around 5.6%.

I will play around with the figures as I plan to keg so would it be best to drop to 20L-21L and drop it

 

[menoetes]

+1 to Malt over sugars like Gsouth says.

You could add half of the BE2 (500g) with the 1kg of Dry Malt if you were after a higher % of Alcohol and/or increase the volume ei. 23lts of beer instead of 20lts But speaking generally; a lot of that dry thin taste that sets homebrew below pub beer comes from using sugars instead of straight malt and no hops (we'll get to steeping small amounts of fresh grains for bigger 'fresh grain taste' later).

 

[mattyg8]

+1 to Malt over sugars like Gsouth says.

You could add half of the BE2 (500g) with the 1kg of Dry Malt if you were after a higher % of Alcohol and/or increase the volume ei. 23lts of beer instead of 20lts But speaking generally; a lot of that dry thin taste that sets homebrew below pub beer comes from using sugars instead of straight malt and no hops (we'll get to steeping small amounts of fresh grains for bigger 'fresh grain taste' later).

Yeh Its a learning curve but thanks for the input

 

[Amber_Man]

You are probably confused as hell now mate. Have a look at this video, it's not the greatest lesson you will get, but it will help you visulise the advise you are getting from everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7iqgerF748

 

[mattyg8]

You are probably confused as hell now mate. Have a look at this video, it's not the greatest lesson you will get, but it will help you visulise the advise you are getting from everyone.

Hey that was a great help

 

[Amber_Man]

There is just one thing I would do different to the video and that is rehydrate your yeast. It is a simple process and doesn't take long. Always use a good quality yeast, try to avoid using the one that comes with the can if possible.

The other thing to remember is there are no rules when it comes to beer flavour, don't be afraid to experiment with different hops etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL92Bd4kfbQ

 

[mattyg8]

Which yeast and hops would be good with this