Coopers Australian Pale Ale?

[GazOC]

Hi all,

After spending the winter brewing lager I'm thinking of doing the Coopers Australian Pale Ale kit in the Spring when the weather starts warming up a bit. Has anyone tried this kit, is the provided yeast OK or is there a better option I could buy?

All the best
Gaz

 

[Wez]

Not me, but thought i'd give the thread a bump for ya.

 

[evanvine]

Why wait till spring??

 

[Bribie]

The kit yeast isn't too bad as far as kit yeasts go. One suggestion would be to use light spray malt instead of a kilo of sugar, and add some hop flavour and aroma with some genuine Aussie Hops such as Pride of Ringwood or Superpride (available from CraftBrewer at the top of the page) Intercontinental postage seems to be quite reasonable on light items nowadays, I often order books etc from the UK and they arrive in three or four working days.

As you'd know Coopers 'main' business is as a commercial brewery and their commercial Coopers Pale Ale is a bottle conditioned yeast-driven ale and if you are patient and spot on with your sanitation you can culture up the yeast from the bottle which is the same as the main fermentation yeast .. they don't put in a special yeast for the bottle conditioning.. and if you can get a few bottles from a UK specialist supplier you can culture up the genuine article and get a really good result from that kit.

Cheers

 

[GazOC]

Cheers guys!! I'd given up on this thread (thanks for the bump Wez).

I'll look into getting some Coopers bottles, it sounds like an interesting way of improving the kit.

 

[GazOC]

Why wait till spring??

I havn't got a brewing fridge yet so I thought I'd make the most of the low temperatures, brew a few more lagers and then look at something like a pale ale or a light bitter when things warm up.

 

[evanvine]

That's fine Gazoc, what ever rocks your boat.
I find it's easier to put heat in when it's cold than to try and take heat out when it's too warm.

 

[GazOC]

That's fine Gazoc, what ever rocks your boat.
I find it's easier to put heat in when it's cold than to try and take heat out when it's too warm.

The problem is I'm out of the house for long periods and the house is empty so I'm quite at the mercy of the "outside" temps. A couple more lagers while the weather is nippy and then ales in the spring is easier for how I have to do things. (I think!!!). :

 

[evanvine]

I see where you are comming from GazOC!
Ever considered an aquarium heater/thermostat or a plant heating tray?

 

[Bluejam15]

Coopers APA well for me it has turned into my best kit brew.. with a few enhancements.

dont ask me what its like - Wez & smod can vouch for it - it also won best kit at matchless awards and came a close second / third overall - ask them to give you a review....

here's how i did it.
it was a coopers australian pale ale (APA) kit. Ive done three kits all very very good

coopers pale ale + added 10 g elderflowers and 1/2 bag goldings hops -

so what did i do?
no a fat lot - very simple - but great results.

got 38 pints from tap in bucket - left it to stand for 48 hrs

when water ready ,simmered the elderflower (brought pack of 100g from matchless - can get from anywhere) for about 5 min in a 1 1/2 pint of the water.

stuck the golding hops in with the elderflower for another 10 min

followed kit instructions to the letter (except 38 pints not 40)used geordie beer enhancer instead of sugar, then tipped in hops and elderflower into bucket .

sealed bucket (with an old fish tank heater in it to keep temp)

went on holiday for a week so did absolutley nothing, not even check it.
When got back left for another three days after checking specific gravity.

bottled and put in 3/4 teaspoon of geordie beer enhancer for secondary ferment in bottle.

and thats it!!!

lovely beer... tastes great after couple weeks but even better after couple of months.

2 tips
the 3/4 teaspoon for secondsary ferment was great if a little gassy... im a bitter drinker who likes flat beer but on further batches used 1/2 teaspoon not as gassy... but strangly liked the gassier version better :drink: ???? dont ask me why???

when putting in hops and elderflower ... not done it yet (next kit will do) get a muslin baqg and tip in and tie... stops you pratting about trying to filter out all hops....

anyway good luck and let me know how you get on , plus any kit enhancement recommendations you have

cheers,

Bluejam15 (steve) :drink:

 

[gifford]

Hi everyone thought id restart this thread

Ive just bought a coopers australian pale ale kit aswell (new to the game so this will do for the moment)

the daft question is - is this kit a lager or an ale i know its called 'pale ale' but can i put it in my pressure barrel or does it have to be bottles?

another question is how much goldings do i use im going to add honey aswell about 50gms anyway does that sound right?

i have a pack of goldings @ 113g
1 bag of dried elderflower @ 50 gms
1 bag spraymalt @ 500g

i'd prefer to put this in my barrel is that going to be ok though and if i can how much priming sugar should i use?

have i got the right kit or should i have got the candian blonde i found the recipe on here but it just said coopers pale ale kit.

any help is much appreciated and thanks in advance :wha:

 

[sonicfishcake]

It is definitely an ale not a lager in the style of an IPA(but an A instead of an I as it is Australia not India).

50g of goldings should do the trick but don't overdo it on the elderflower - 10g recommended by bluejam above.

It will be absolutely fine in your pressure barrel - this is my preferred way.

The amount of sugar used in the barrel for priming depends on preference but I tend to put about 90g in for ales.

Whether you got the right kit or not depends on whether you prefer ales or lagers(which is what the blonde is I think).

Happy brewing!

 

[gifford]

90g for priming

the woman at the home brew shop i got the stuff from said to use 300g for my last brew and that was just a basic geordie bitter

theres some pressure in it alright and leaves a good head until you finish the pint.

dont get me wrong im not doubting you sonic just hope i didnt missunderstand her. Will 300g blow the barrel or spoil the brew? 90 just seems a heck of a lot less than what ive used before.

i definatley prefer ales so i hope this turns out ok especially pale ones for summer.

while im here my first brew tastes fine and used tap water for it is it worth buying bottled water at 11p for 2ltrs or do these campden tabs that everyone talks about do the trick? any opinions welcomed and thanks again dont know where alot of people would be without this forum :party:

 

[sonicfishcake]

priming sugar depends on how gassy you want it to be and it will also increase the strength slightly. As it is an ale, I would not want it to be too gassy.

Your barrel shouldn't explode as it should have a pressure relief valve in the lid but I would not use any more than 120g max or it might affect the taste of your beer. 300g seems like an awful lot.

Also after filling the keg, don't tighten the lid much (I turn it until it just stops) as the co2 buildup in secondary fermentation will tighten it for you (if it is already tight, it may overtighten and warp your rubber seal inside the lid).

I would not use bottled water as it isn't as sterile as tap water - campden tablets are fine to use but if you have good tasting drinking water in your area, some people don't notice any difference with or without.

 

[gifford]

tap water it is then it tastes fine to me so heh

bot barrels have the lids with valves on and she did say not to overtighten whcih youve just reminded me about so thanks for that. :thumb:

oh by the way theres a beer festival on at the continental in preston 13-16th of may if anyone is in the area. really nice pub and good ale most importantly

 

[sonicfishcake]

If only!

There's hardly any festivals in my neck of the woods and obviously driving to one is a definite no no... :nono:

Will be buying some more equipment soon so I can host one of my own for friends and family :drink:

 

[Aleman]

I would not use bottled water as it isn't as sterile as tap water - campden tablets are fine to use but if you have good tasting drinking water in your area, some people don't notice any difference with or without.

Can I point out that campden tablets are an essential item in beer brewing (Unless you have a GAC filter), as they are required to remove the chlorine from the water so that the beer does not taste of TCP.

If you are being with TAP water then add 1/2 a campden tablet to 5 (treats up to 17 UK Gallons . . . bout don't worry about overdosing at this level) gallons then brew with the water.

Also the level of bacterial contaminants in bottles water is not really that high . . . we don't worry too much about it with all grain and extract brewing as it's all going to be boiled . . . Kit brewing is probably better off using tap water treated with 1/2 a campden tablet.

 

[gifford]

ill get some campden tabs onlne now then

so for my whole kit of 40 pints i just need to treat all the water (about 40 pints) first with half a crushed tablet. Do i leave the water to settle? or for the tablet to dissolve or does it do this straight away?

i take it you shouldnt just get your brew going in the vessel then add the campden?

 

[sonicfishcake]

Again, I think it depends.

In my experience (I aereate the water well enough whilst mixing), the chlorine must dissipate and our water co don't use chloramines in our area so that one isn't a problem.

I've never yet had the "TCP" smell or taste in my brews - maybe I'm just lucky.

 

[aneray]

I've never yet had the "TCP" smell or taste in my brews - maybe I'm just lucky.


You are lucky Sonicfishcake. I'm from your neck of the woods, I lived in Immingham as a kid. I brought my family up last year and had a day out at 'Meggies'. Its still the same, white chips, the toilets near the pier still stink of p##s and the Humber is like Oxtail Soup.

Do they still have the strippers on at the pub on the seafront on Sunday lunchtimes :whistle: .

Cheers Neil