Coopers draught ale

[Norse John]

Finished brewing this kit up and bottled it about 3 weeks ago. Brewed it to 22L with 700g LDME and 400g dextrose, carbonated with half tsp of sugar per 500ml.

Took a tester taste yesterday, and was surprised at how sweet it is. Had a lovely aroma and copper colouring - almost identical to skrimshander IPA, but the taste for some reason is sweet.

Is this a kit which needs an extended time to mature and condition?

 

[terrym]

Two obvious questions
- what was the FG
- had it carbed up

 

[spigley]

I have been drinking this for the last couple of weeks but I aimed to make mine quite weak for summer drinking. Only added 100g dextrose, came out at 2.7 ABV and is surprisingly tasty and not sweet at all

 

[Norse John]

The OG was 1.039, the FG was 1.006.

The carbonation in the bottles is pretty strong to the squeeze - about the same as others I've done , but didn't seem very lively in the glass.

If it makes any difference, I left it in the fv for longer than intended, maybe a total of 2 weeks when I'm sure it would have been ready to bottle after a week.

 

[Norse John]

I have been drinking this for the last couple of weeks but I aimed to make mine quite weak for summer drinking. Only added 100g dextrose, came out at 2.7 ABV and is surprisingly tasty and not sweet at all

How much quantity did you make?

 

[spigley]

I ended up with about 22 litres, most of it I put in a corny keg which I have just emptied today. Put 5L in a mini keg which I took to an afternoon party and it all went!

 

[Norse John]

Sounds good. Just surprised mine tastes sweet when the yeast clearly has been working throughout fermentation and priming. Just thought I'd see if this was usual for the beer kit.

How long did you condition yours for spigley?

 

[Banbeer]

At what temp did you carb at?

 

[Norse John]

Temp will have been in a dark cupboard between 20-24.

 

[Banbeer]

ideal temp then.....Mmmm

 

[Norse John]

ideal temp then.....Mmmm

Indeed.

Have you ever used such a high spray malt to dextrose ratio in the past? 700g to 400? I'm wondering if maturation time is longer with this combination.

 

[Banbeer]

Have you ever used such a high spray malt to dextrose ratio in the past? 700g to 400? I'm wondering if maturation time is longer with this combination.

Only ever used spraymalt or dextrose/sucrose for Draught, never both, if the SG and OG seem right then all the fermentables will have been scoffed so won't make any difference, maybe they just haven't carbed up fully and the primed bottles still have the sweetness of what you added?

 

[Sandimas]

Sounds odd that is has an FG of 1.006 but still tastes sweet.

However, I have made brews in the past that have tasted a bit sweet, and that disappeared after 4-6 weeks conditioning. So suggest leaving it a bit.

 

[Jakeyboi]

I think it’s the Spraymalt, I noticed something similar when I made a coopers cevasa one week with dextrose and second week 500 dme and 500 dextrose. The second one seemed sweet in comparison. Did the kit ask for dme to be used? Sometimes I wonder if there is enough bitterness in them kits once you start adding in some unfermentable sugars. If my memory is correct mine improved after 8 weeks or so conditioning.

 

[Norse John]

I think it’s the Spraymalt, I noticed something similar when I made a coopers cevasa one week with dextrose and second week 500 dme and 500 dextrose. The second one seemed sweet in comparison. Did the kit ask for dme to be used? Sometimes I wonder if there is enough bitterness in them kits once you start adding in some unfermentable sugars. If my memory is correct mine improved after 8 weeks or so conditioning.

The kit recommends coopers brew enhancer, so I guess a 50/50 split of a kilo dme/dextrose, but also say 1 kg of sugar is fine. Funilly enough, the bitterness comes through despite the sweetness.

Shall sit on the rest of the batch for a while now as you and darrell suggest, as it could turn out to be decent so long as it loses the sweetness.

 

[Norse John]

Another taster 5 weeks or so after bottling and the sweetness has died down a bit, still a bit cloying, but getting better. But from the taste it will be nice if left alone, just didn't expect it to take this long.

 

[Norse John]

Another taster about 9 weeks after brewing, and it has a complex taste which is a definite decent quality session ale. Sweetness has come down a long way.

 

[ExpatBrewer]

Had a lovely aroma and copper colouring - almost identical to skrimshander IPA,

Copper colouring? This kit usually comes out quite pale. If it's copper in colour then that makes me whether it's either oxidised or the can itself was expired...?