Thoughts On This K&k Mix

[Cube]

Gidday.

My third brew is going to be a Coopers Aussie pale ale. I am going to add the following:

BE2
Super Alpha hops steeped for 10 mins and brewed in primary bag 'n' all to 20l ( A fuller bodied pale ale? )

Yeast is a Brew cellar premium lager yeast instead of the coopers inherited.

I can hold a steady 18 deg with the fermenter sitting on the kitchen bench by the window ( southern side ) with no complaints from wifey. I wrap the barrel in a thick towel and then a bath robe. 18 deg, constant, except maybe 7am it drops to 16 17 ish.

I'm thinking keep the premium yeast and use the under lid one as I am unsure if I can get a nice 13 deg constant. The lady at Oxenford said this lager yeast would be best with this pale ale. Comments?

Thoughts on yeast and hops with my temps and pale ale? I have a few days before I rack my spicy ghost to decide. I was going to do it tonight, but forgot to pick up another stick on temp strip for the new fermenter

I realise this is pretty beginner with a K&K, but from 2 weeks ago this is huge for me h34r:

Cheers

 

[mwd]

Don't know why you would be using a Lager Yeast at those temperatures I would have thought Ale Yeast would be the go. US-05 ?? for pale ale.

Don't worry though you will get some much more informed information if you wait a while.

 

[Bizier]

My third brew is going to be a Coopers Aussie pale ale...
Yeast is a Brew cellar premium lager yeast

This will be a lager, not an ale, if that is a true lager yeast - and the fermentation temp is quite high for a lager.

I suggest using a carefully recultured coopers yeast from 1-3 longnecks, or just getting another appropriate ale yeast, maybe US05?? though it won't be like coopers.

OR you could brew as is and come up with an australian 'californian common'... no comment as to how this will taste, I am not experienced enough.

Dan

 

[Bizier]

what he said...

 

[boingk]

It depends on what you want to do. Honestly I'd lay off the lager yeast and just use either the one from under the lid [16-18'C they are alright], or go an S-04 for a fruitier beer at an 18-20'C ferment, or the US-05 which I've found is better than psuedo-lager yeasts provided with many 'lager' kits and gives a lovely crisp, smooth taste which is much better than using a lager yeast at 16+'C IMHO.

Good work with the volume reduction, although you may find that this combined with the super alphas give a substantially more bitter brew than you are used to. Not in itself a bad thing, but just giving a 'heads up'. I tend to brew to 21L as I find I only miss out on one bottle per 30 long necks and it makes for a slightly more bitter and thicker brew if using tins.

Hope all goes well, no matter what you decide.

Cheers - boingk

 

[muckey]

definately use an ale yeast at thiose temps

the pale kit is good AFAIK but I've never used it
never used BE2 for that matter - I tended to use I higher amount of malt (several planning sessions required to work out the mix) however the be2 mix is far better than just using dex.
should be good with the extra hops I've used extra dry hopping in brews and they give a nice extra hop push. They dont actually give any bittering unless you do a proper boil.

I would suggest if you are dry hopping, forgo the BE2 and create a mix that has I higher proportion of LDME. I think BE2 is the 1 with maltodextrin in it ( Butters will know) and if so, forget the maltodextrin. If you've already got the BE2 try it and then try the same wit a LDME/Dextrose blend and the same yeast and compare results.

Hope that helps

 

[buttersd70]

BE2 is 250g malt, 250g maltodextrin, 500g ldm.

If you're going to drop to 20L, this will give you a little more bitterness, I would look at 400malt/600 dex.

 

[wyatt_girth]

I would suggest if you are dry hopping, forgo the BE2 and create a mix that has I higher proportion of LDME. I think BE2 is the 1 with maltodextrin in it ( Butters will know) and if so, forget the maltodextrin. If you've already got the BE2 try it and then try the same wit a LDME/Dextrose blend and the same yeast and compare results.

maybe you can keep the BE2 and just add some extra fermentables like DME. just a thought.

 

[buttersd70]

If the be2 has already been purchased, I agree with wyatt, add an extra 150g ldm. But if you haven't bought the BE2 yet, just go to hbs and get the stuff to mix your own, its cheap, like the budgie. If mixing your own, forget about the maltodextrin, it adds body only with no flavour....the extra malt will do this anyway.

 

[Muggus]

I can hold a steady 18 deg with the fermenter sitting on the kitchen bench by the window ( southern side ) with no complaints from wifey. I wrap the barrel in a thick towel and then a bath robe. 18 deg, constant, except maybe 7am it drops to 16 17 ish.

Not so much worried about your recipe, sounds decent, but the whole keeping the fermenter by the window thing has got me a bit worried. My main concern is if you get direct sunlight onto the brew, it may penetrate through the plastic fermenter (assuming thats what you use) and cause some sort of damage to your brew.
Not sure if it'll matter, but it's just a thought.

 

[buttersd70]

Never thought of that, muggus, but you're right.
If its near the window, cover it up. (thats what my neighbour said. But in this case I'm referring to the fermenter. :unsure: )
Some have used a black t-shirt, or garbage bag, amongst other things.

 

[QIK86]

What damage does sunlight do to fermenting beer?

Is it only direct sunlight or ambient light also? My fermenter has been quite close to a window for my last 2 brews (yet to taste them ) I actually put a towel around it this morning after reading the words "light strike" last night. What does it mean?

 

[Cube]

Wonderful and excellent reply posts, thank you. As for the lager yeast, that is what I was told to use at the shop today, but after a week lurking on this site it sounded a bit funny. I bought it anyway, and it resides in the fridge for a true lager down the track. I'm going to use the pack yeast at 18 deg.

I have a BE2 for it, and I will use. I am back to brew shop tomorrow for a sticky temp gauge so will get 1 kg of ldme and put 250g in as per suggestions here. Also will try the hops I have as mentioned before, but will raise the volume to 22L.

Hence forth, I will mix/weigh my own as per the gods on here say.

Sounds like the HBS are like any other shop in any other industry, hit and miss with educated advice. God bless the interweb and this site.

 

[Josh]

I'm with Bizier. I like using the Coopers yeast recultured from a couple of longnecks.

I have also not even bothered with reculturing before. Just made up the wort and then had a session on the Pale Ales. As I decantered the beer into a glass, just added the yeast dregs straight to the fermenter. Worked no probs.

 

[Franko]

Hey cube,
I do a hell of a lot of coopers pale ale best thing is ditch the yeast under the lid.
if your going to the brew shop tomorrow pick up some us05 thats a 100% improvement right there.
Also if your up for a little kick in flavour add some Amarillo hops that will please you guaranteed


beers
Franko

 

[buttersd70]

What damage does sunlight do to fermenting beer?

Is it only direct sunlight or ambient light also? My fermenter has been quite close to a window for my last 2 brews (yet to taste them ) I actually put a towel around it this morning after reading the words "light strike" last night. What does it mean?

have a read of this, qik. My skunk induced vomit is a source of some humour....
link

EDIT...whilst light strike is bad, I wouldn't stress or lose any sleep over the ones you've already done, quik. I haven't tested fermenters themselves to see the effects. But I have fermented in (reasonably) low ambient light without a cover, using fresh hops, with no detected strike.

 

[Cube]

Muggus: great comment re light from a window. I have a plastic fermenter. It's wrapped in a thick towel and over that a bath robe is around it. No light touches it and I am very aware of the evil light The wife gets a light tickle slap if she even opens the blinds lol

Franko: cheers will do the us05 as well - cheers. Since I now have this damn hops I will bench mark it and next time use the Amarillo.

 

[muckey]

sounds like the beginnings of an excellent brew

will be interested in hearing about the results Cube :icon_chickcheers:

 

[tdack]

Have a crack at using the yeast from a couple of long necks of Coopers Pale Ale. It's not that hard and you'll feel pretty chuffed once you've done it.

I just put down a Pale Ale with the yeast form 3 stubbies of Pale Ale, it's now happily burbling away in the corner @ 18C.

Here's the guide that I used if you're not brave enough to just tip the dregs out of your bottles into the fermenter: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=40

Cheers!

 

[Barley Belly]

I do a hell of a lot of coopers pale ale best thing is ditch the yeast under the lid.
if your going to the brew shop tomorrow pick up some us05 thats a 100% improvement right there.
Also if your up for a little kick in flavour add some Amarillo hops that will please you guaranteed

What sugar mix do you normally use???