Pale Ale Brew

[sokodan]

Hi All

Been contemplating a dark ale type brew , as the name sugests "fairly new to brewing " after some researching i think i have decided on the coopers IPA recipe from their site , just doing K&k at the moment which calls for the coopers IPA kit 500 gm Coppers LDM and 300 gm dex , any idea's/ input would be appreciated . At the moment no " cooling facilites " just fermenting in the garage on the Gold coast with ferment temp at the moment around 22-25 deg C which is why i am currently trying ales . I do have one of the 100 can cooler type esky things which i have tried and seems to do the job , but at the moment i think i would like to try a few ales as the temp here at the moment seems to favour ale type brews . Currently brewing a strawberry blonde ale , just bottled a basic coopers bitter .

Thanks

Dan

 

[capitalfinancial]

I've done many a coopers IPA and their tops. Out of all the brews this is the most reliable for me and never failed. I always T bag hopped in primary with cascade, and because it turned out so good i never did it without. I used coopers BE2. Nothing else.
Suggest you go light on with the carbonation or try a few bottles with half the required amount.
Good luck :beerbang:

 

[sokodan]

I've done many a coopers IPA and their tops. Out of all the brews this is the most reliable for me and never failed. I always T bag hopped in primary with cascade, and because it turned out so good i never did it without. I used coopers BE2. Nothing else.
Suggest you go light on with the carbonation or try a few bottles with half the required amount.
Good luck :beerbang:

Hey Toby

How does ferment temp sound ?? no Racking ?? When you say go light on carbonation , i use drops so do you reckon 1 drop in 750ml tallie instead of the recommended 2 . how long in primary " generally "

Thanks

Dan

 

[DJR]

Sounds like a plan with the IPA kit

Get some cascade, fuggles or goldings and add about 15-20g as a dry hop in secondary for a few days and see how you like it

Get some US56 yeast and try to keep it at 20C or lower (but 20C is fine)

Still use 2 carb drops or look into bulk priming - much easier and cheaper (cane/white/table sugar is fine for priming)

Mind you, a "dark ale" would suggest something darker than a Coopers IPA which isn't that dark at all. If you want to make it darker why not steep some chocolate and crystal malt as well - 50g of each would add a bit more flavour to it.

 

[hughman666]

2 ways to improve:

1. temp: i wouldn't go above 20c if possible with ales as this attracts off-flavours, they may not taste "off" but fermenting under 20c (preferably 18c - 20c) will give you a much cleaner taste. trust me, i thought this was crap when i first started and was fermenting around the 22c-24c mark but as soon as i got my ales fermenting between 18c-20c the improvement was amazing. racking is not really necessary for the IPA style , particularly if you let your ale ferment right out at the 18c mark, but it does help.

2. yeast: use us56 for your ales if youre just starting out and don't want to worry about liquid yeast. safale us56 is cheap and bloody good. very neutral and will give you a good ferment with little flavour interference. plus for pale ales, us56 will do the job for 90% of the varieties extremely well.

 

[micka]

2 ways to improve:

1. temp: i wouldn't go above 20c if possible with ales as this attracts off-flavours, they may not taste "off" but fermenting under 20c (preferably 18c - 20c) will give you a much cleaner taste. trust me, i thought this was crap when i first started and was fermenting around the 22c-24c mark but as soon as i got my ales fermenting between 18c-20c the improvement was amazing. racking is not really necessary for the IPA style , particularly if you let your ale ferment right out at the 18c mark, but it does help.

2. yeast: use us56 for your ales if youre just starting out and don't want to worry about liquid yeast. safale us56 is cheap and bloody good. very neutral and will give you a good ferment with little flavour interference. plus for pale ales, us56 will do the job for 90% of the varieties extremely well.

Hi mate I am about to put the Coopers pale ale down tomorrow but I was wandering if the yeast it came with will do a good enough job and weather with the standard yeast can ferment at 18 to 20c.
Cheers micka

 

[hughman666]

Hi mate I am about to put the Coopers pale ale down tomorrow but I was wandering if the yeast it came with will do a good enough job and weather with the standard yeast can ferment at 18 to 20c.
Cheers micka

hi micka, the coopers yeast will appreciate the 18c-20c range as the standard coopers yeast is an ale yeast, although not the same as us56.

if possible, go and get a packet of us56, it should only set you back $4 and will make a big difference. yeast is the most important improvement you can make to a kit, alongside good fermentation temps and good sanitisation. out of these three things, it's the only one that costs any money and for $4 you will have a nicer beer.

sure you can add extra hop additions and steep grain etc but keep it basic at the start and build from there. once you have a nice basic beer you can start adding the extras and you will be able to taste the improvements.

that's the best thing - to ensure you are improving in your brewing, you get to drink more beer! :chug:

 

[brettprevans]

newtobrew

check out these 2 links on K&K. plenty of easy recipes that should handle the temps you are talking about.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...ic=8885&hl=

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=15321

The 100 can cooler you've got, should be ace. I can get mine down below 10C (havent got a digital thermometor to check actual temp). All you need is to freeze soft drink bottles or empty-clean plastic milk containers flled with water. Then you have as much cooling power as you need. just rotate them ie some in freezer some in cooler. or chuck in a bag of ice. this will also help crash chill it if you are doing a larger.

I also agree with Hughman. Good Yeast can make a big differance. Check out the above sponsor -craftbrewer (no affiliation etc etc). They have heaps of yeasts and are located in QLD. no idea if they are close to you or not. have a look.