Coopers guesswork

[starkid721]

Evening all,

Felt like I should use my new second FV and got one on the go last night, using a Coopers Australian Pale Ale. My eagerness has been matched only by my idiocy.

Steeped approximately 25g Challenger hops in 1 litre of boiled water with 150g brew enhancer for about 20 minutes (idiocy #1: why did I add the brew enhancer at this stage? I have no idea!). I did some research into which hops work with which type of beer, eventually getting confused, and ended up using Challenger as it was the one I had most of (idiocy #2). This mix was subsequently ineffectively strained into the FV - I didn't learn my lesson from last time and had no straining muslin available. Once again a lot of the hop sludge made it into the FV (idiocy #3).

After adding the steeped and (poorly) strained hops to the FV, I chucked in 1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 and a further 350g of Youngs brew enhancer. I didn't realise it until too late, but the dextrose and spray malt in the Youngs bag had settled and separated, so it seemed that more dextrose than spray malt made it into the FV.

Gave it a stir, added the Coopers Australian Pale Ale tin. Topped up to 22 litres, gave it a good thrash to aerate. Decided to add two sachets of Coopers yeast (one from the previous Canadian Blonde brew, one from this APA). I don't know why I decided to use two sachets of yeast....hoping for better attenuation and a higher ABV? Not really thinking properly? Idiocy #4.

The FV now has a green tinge with hop bittering and flavours that I'm not even sure work with this beer! OG 1042. Don't know whether to look forward to the results of this brew or not!

 

[brumbrew]

The hops will settle out don't worry.

My first AG brew with homemade kit had no hop filter. The beer was still wonderful.

You can actually get good flavours from mixing yeast brands so I don't think you buggered that up either.

I'm still learning what hops go with what, it that's part of the hobby. You never now it might fit in wonderfully :-)

The kit will have enough malt in it so don't worry about the separated dextrose either.

Might not have been the process you wanted, but that comes with time. I literally only have to faf around when it comes to connecting the hose for the chiller as it comes through the window.

Oh and cleaning everything!

So all in all, keep smiling, you never know :-)

 

[chub1]

Still learning the ropes myself, have done a couple of brews with Challenger and both were good:thumb:

 

[LarryF]

Starkid, your beer will be fine, you might even surprise yourself with one you'll want to do again. As for the yeast, I always use two of the Coopers yeast when I do use them, I have a stock of them in the fridge and always chuck two packs in my starter.

 

[IainM]

Like the others have said, this will be fine, possibly a great brew. MyQul did an experimental brew leaving ALL the hop debris in during fermentation, and ended up with a cracking pint in the end. The debris will settle out and Challenger is pretty robust. It works in ales and lagers, so I think it will make a great addition to the Coopers APA. I wouldn't worry about two packs of yeast either. It is almost impossible for homebrewers to overpitch, and having a healthy starting population can only be a good thing - a couple of days ago I bottled a Coopers stout mod where I mixed the kit yeast with a Coopers wheat yeast which, when comparing them, was obviously a different yeast, and from what I can gather is actually a proper wheat yeast albeit a neutral one. Trial jar tasted great, and I'm sure yours will be too. :thumb:

 

[MyQul]

I think your beer will turn out great! :thumb:

Idiocy#1 - I dont think adding brew enhancer to the hop tea will make any difference. When AG brew's do what's know as 0 min addition, hops are steeped in the hot wort for 20 mins. I think a mix of brew enhancer and water for the tea might have mimiced this to a certain extent seeing as though sweet wort is more or less sugary water (simplifiying I know)

Idiocy#2 - Challenger, from what I've read is a great all round hop. It's dual purpose (can be used for bittering and flavouring) and supposedly makes a great single hop beer. One that I intend trying once I've worked my way through the slovinian hops I won

Idiocy#3 - As IanM mentioned, prompted by a thread by Tony1951, I tried out leaving all my flavouring/aroma hops in the FV for the 10 days or so of fermentation. Iirc I left about 60g of hops in there. Initially the beer had a VERY soapy taste to it and I was like, WTF!!! Tony you've ruined my beer! But after 6 weeks of conditioning it turned out to be the best pale ale I'd ever made. A real depth of full flavour from the hops. I now use this method as standard on my house bitter, although I only use about half as much flavour/aroma hops as that first time.
So you initially MAY have a slight soapyness to your beer but it will condition out and it wont take 6 weeks as it doesn't sound as if as much (as 60g) hop debris went into your FV.

Idiocy#4 - As IanM has said, you have to chuck a shed load of yeast in to over pitch as a HBer and others (like LarryF has said) use two packets as standard. The only effect you may see are a) a bit higher attenuation than you would get with one packet as more yeast means more cells to do the work of chomping through the sugars b) A cleaner tasting beer. When you over pitch less fruity esters are produced so you get a "cleaner" brew. Some people do the opposite on purpose (underpitch slightly) as this stress the yeast and gets them to produce esters which are very appropriate in styles like English Bitters and Belgian Beers

All in all I think your good. Dextrose is 100% fermentable and coupled with a possible slighly higher attenuation from the two packets of yeast as you say the dextrose and spray malt seprated out so you put more dextrose in than spray malt. You MAY get a slighly thinner tasting beer than you want

 

[starkid721]

Thanks guys, you've made me feel a lot more optimitistic about how it will turn out.

I can remember someone (but can't remember who) posting elsewhere, that as long as you've avoided an infection, at the end of the day you'll get some sort of beer. :grin:

Will keep you updated!