This Is Not Sparta, But Is It Madness?

[RicciR]

Hi guys,

I've been successfully culturing my own Coopers Pale Ale yeast for a while now as well as a few other well known beers,
I'm also starting to slowly move away from kit brewing as much as I can,
At the moment I'm ready to put together a new brew and I have a few ingredients in the cupboard, I'm wondering if I can combine them and after some thoughts...

I'm going to use my CPA yeast culture that will be pitched from a litre starter,
With it I want to use the coopers pale ale male extract can (sans lid yeast of course), a "brewcraft" pale ale #76 kit converter with Cascade hop pellets and a Black Rock East India pale ale can.
Would these all work together in a brew? Seeing as they're all essentially pale ale ingredients?
Or would throwing in the black rock can as well be overkill?
I used the #76 pale ale kit last time I pitched my CPA yeast with a CPA malt extract can and it turned out really good, but I like experimenting and I don't want to just do the same thing twice,
I also thought I might get a packet of another hop pellet brand and try to make my boil a bit more sophisticated,
Last time I boiled for about 15 minutes adding hops in for 2 minute boil,
This time I was thinking of trying for a much longer boil with adding hops at different stages of the boil and also using hops in my fermenter.
Just wondering if anyone has any comments thoughts on this?
I'm still new so I need all the help I can get,
My last few brews have been really good and I think i've really got my understanding of yeast down after culturing so much of it, but i'm still pretty ignorant when it comes to what's in the cans and the packet extracts and how long to boil/how much to put in etc etc.

Any help appreciated

 

[rclemmett]

With it I want to use the coopers pale ale male extract can (sans lid yeast of course), a "brewcraft" pale ale #76 kit converter with Cascade hop pellets and a Black Rock East India pale ale can.

Is this a Coopers Pale ale kit or Light malt extract?

Whats in the #76?

 

[RicciR]

Thanks for the reply

The coopers pale ale kit, but just the green can

This one - http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co....persPaleAle.jpg

Sorry for being a bit of a dumb dumb, the #76 says it's 1kg of maltose, dextrose malto-dextrin, malted barley & hops..
Plus it includes a separate sachet of Cascade pellet hops,
Plus i'd consider buying another sachet of maybe Pride of Ringwood hops and use them somewhere in the process,
Last beer I made I boild for 30minutes with adding part of my hops at the start and the other closer to the end, I used two types as well, the second of which I boiled only half and put the rest in the fermenter, that's kinda what I had in mind for this as well

Thanks again for you reply/help, much appreciated

Is this a Coopers Pale ale kit or Light malt extract?

Whats in the #76?

 

[rclemmett]

I wouldn't use the two kits as it will come out very bitter and pretty strong... However, I'm not much of a fan of big beers so it depends on the style you're aiming for.

IMHO I wouldn't use PoR and Cascade together.

Did you have any particular style or flavour in mind?

 

[jayse]

It all sounds like a good idea to me, chuck everything in.

 

[michaelcocks]

Hi guys,

I've been successfully culturing my own Coopers Pale Ale yeast for a while now as well as a few other well known beers,
I'm also starting to slowly move away from kit brewing as much as I can,
At the moment I'm ready to put together a new brew and I have a few ingredients in the cupboard, I'm wondering if I can combine them and after some thoughts...

I'm going to use my CPA yeast culture that will be pitched from a litre starter,
With it I want to use the coopers pale ale male extract can (sans lid yeast of course), a "brewcraft" pale ale #76 kit converter with Cascade hop pellets and a Black Rock East India pale ale can.
Would these all work together in a brew? Seeing as they're all essentially pale ale ingredients?
Or would throwing in the black rock can as well be overkill?
I used the #76 pale ale kit last time I pitched my CPA yeast with a CPA malt extract can and it turned out really good, but I like experimenting and I don't want to just do the same thing twice,
I also thought I might get a packet of another hop pellet brand and try to make my boil a bit more sophisticated,
Last time I boiled for about 15 minutes adding hops in for 2 minute boil,
This time I was thinking of trying for a much longer boil with adding hops at different stages of the boil and also using hops in my fermenter.
Just wondering if anyone has

any comments thoughts on this?


If you want a really big strong malty bitter beer then it's ok
otherwise I'd go for a bit more balance...
What style are you trying to brew.. Sound like a triple or imperial Ipa ?


I'm still new so I need all the help I can get,
My last few brews have been really good and I think i've really got my understanding of yeast down after culturing so much of it, but i'm still pretty ignorant when it comes to what's in the cans and the packet extracts and how long to boil/how much to put in etc etc.

Any help appreciated

 

[RicciR]

I wouldn't use the two kits as it will come out very bitter and pretty strong... However, I'm not much of a fan of big beers so it depends on the style you're aiming for.

IMHO I wouldn't use PoR and Cascade together.

Did you have any particular style or flavour in mind?

Cheers Rob,

The last few i've made have been fairly easy drinking lightish beers so I'm definitely in the mood for something big and full on..
No go on the POR and Cascade?

Really I'm after something with more bitterness and more of a robust strong flavour, everything so far has been fairly middle of the road,
But obviously I'm going out on a limb using my CPA yeast, last time it worked like a charm but I guess there's always an element of doubt as to whether it will take off ok..
Ideally I'd like to keep that CPA bananery nose and feel, with more of a big robust bitter taste.

Thanks again for replying!

 

[RicciR]

It all sounds like a good idea to me, chuck everything in.

Hi Jayse,

Thanks for the reply,

Really? You think so?

My main concern is that this will throw it all out of whack, or that for some reason I've got it in my head that the wrong ratios of ingredients stuff up a brew.

Am I wrong?

 

[RicciR]

Hi Michael,

Thanks heaps for the reply,

Yeah, i'm after something that's thick and full on, with lots of character, but obviously that still retains some of that CPA type character and feel/smell, but with bitterness and more complex taste.

I guess ultimately I want it to be complex in character, but also maybe a bit higher in alcohol content than what i've been getting from my previous brews.

 

[rclemmett]

The yeast should be fine as it is the same yeast Coopers use for their Vintage ale.

Just chuck it all in as Jayse said... Don't boil the kits though.

 

[RicciR]

The yeast should be fine as it is the same yeast Coopers use for their Vintage ale.

Just chuck it all in as Jayse said... Don't boil the kits though.

Cheers again Rob,

No I wasn't going to boil the barley extract from the cans, I will boil the powdered malt though and add my hops in at various stages of that, does that sound ok?
One thing I want to try and avoid is having too much wort too hot, i've run into big problems trying to chill it fast enough before.
Will be swinging by the HB shop on my way home to get some recommendations for hops.

 

[Weizguy]

my 2 cents worth...

Two cans is much more expensive than simple extract, hopped and oiled in a small pot, with most of the extract added late.
Multiple hop additions if necessary.
If you're gonna make a big IPA, you can prob bitter with POR and add plenty of late Cascade (or whatever) hops for flavour and aroma.

It's easy enough to make an extract beer in the kitchen with a 10 litre pot ( or a bit bigger) boiling say 7 litres.

If you plan a big original gravity, over 1.055, I would recommend a larger (not lager) yeast culture of at least 2 litres (you could verify the amount required at Mr Malty.com).

As for boiling the kits, I am sure that there is no reason you would want to keep the hop aromas and flavours added to them and could be better off starting with a clean slate, so boil away. You will not destroy the bitterness, just hop flavour and aroma, which is prob minimal anyway. You will need to boil malt with your hops normally, and other people will quite happily advise you why.
Don't do something because someone tells you to, without a good reason why.
However, you should be aware that I am well out of practice with kit brewing.

Beers
Les

 

[rclemmett]

No I wasn't going to boil the barley extract from the cans, I will boil the powdered malt though and add my hops in at various stages of that, does that sound ok?
One thing I want to try and avoid is having too much wort too hot, i've run into big problems trying to chill it fast enough before.

Thats what I'd do... I don't think you would need to be to worried about boiling efficiency as I don't think you will need much more in the way of bittering.

Here is a link to a coopers vintage clone discussion. I'll eat my own words on the Hop... They suggest Hersbrucker, Cascade and PoR... There you go.
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=10273

edit: link