my coopers family secret ale has stopped at 1010

[tonypolony]

My coopers family secret ale has stopped at 1010.
its beer brewing well for 7 days but has suddenly stopped.ive added half a cup of sugar solution to it because it also tastes quite dry. This surprised me because I started with 1 kg of sugar for a 40 pint kit.
Any ideas please.

 

[pms67]

It's finished most likely, Ive never had a beer go lower than that

 

[terrym]

That's about where it should end up.
Now leave it alone for at least another week to allow the yeast to clean up, and then provide you with clear or nearly clear beer to package. If you have a cool place put your FV in that for the last two days which will also aid the clearing process.

 

[Graz]

Don't wish to be the bringer of bad news but I found this kit very underwhelming even after I'd added a EKG hop tea. Also quite dry / bitter as you've observed.

Don't know if you'd thought about pimping it with a dry hop / hop tea but now would be the time to do that.

The end result was drinkable but it really wasn't that great. Hope yours turns out better.

 

[Sadfield]

1.010 is fine, if it went lower the beer would be even drier. Adding more sugar to the beer will also not make it any less dry, as the sugar will ferment out leaving no sweetness or body. Using Brew Enhancer instead of the intial 1Kg of sugar next time will result in a fuller, sweeter beer.

Sugars explained

 

[Lesinge]

1.010 is fine, if it went lower the beer would be even drier. Adding more sugar to the beer will also not make it any less dry, as the sugar will ferment out leaving no sweetness or body. Using Brew Enhancer instead of the intial 1Kg of sugar next time will result in a fuller, sweeter beer.

Sugars explained

Agree with this, 1010 is pretty good for a kit as I used to get 1012 as a stop for most of them, rising to 1014. Sugar will make it drier as there is no malt flavour after it has been converted to alcohol. Honey will do the same thing in a AG brew..you think it will be honey sweet but by the time the yeast has had a go it is dry not sweet.

 

[tonypolony]

Thanks to everyone for their answers and advice.
With regard to this being not a great beer I am not one for a strong hippy taste, stuff like London pride suit me. I recently brewed Evil Dog and did not like it one bit, even not adding the two sachet's of hops failed to reduce the strong hop flavour.
Bearing that in mind do you think I need to do something to the above coopers to make it sweeter and for me at least more enjoyable?
Thanks again Tony

 

[terrym]

Bearing that in mind do you think I need to do something to the above coopers to make it sweeter and for me at least more enjoyable?
Thanks again Tony

In my opinion there is not a lot you can do at this stage to make your current brew sweeter. Dumping more table sugar into it will only make it drier and thinner.
Next time you need to introduce some unfermentable sugars into your brew, by steeping some crystal malt grains or selecting a brew enhancer with a high level of maltodextrin.
You won't go far wrong by steeping say 150g light crystal malt in about one litre of water for 30 mins at about 65*C, filter off wort, sparge with water at about 85*C and then boil wort for 15 minutes to sterilise before adding to your FV.
And Coopers Brew Enhancers come in 3 types
Brew Enhancer 1 - 60% dextrose, 40% maltodextrin
Brew Enhancer 2 - 50% dextrose, 25% maltodextrin, 25% light dry malt
Brew Enhancer 3 - 50% light dry malt, 30% dextrose, 20% maltodextrin
As far as I am aware maltodextrin does not ferment out, but is there for 'mouthfeel', whereas dextrose and dry malt do ferment fully.
You could also try using all DME/spray malt which might also imnprove the taste compared to sugar.
Finally if you are not very keen on hoppy beers you might try Coopers Canadian Blonde which is a very light beer and although not to my liking may just be to yours.

 

[LarryF]

In the spirit of clutching at straws here, when I did my Turbo Cider (TC), I don't like dry cider I like it sweet and very fizzy I primed 1L bottles with 1 1/2 tsp of sugar for carbonation and 2 Canderel tablet for added sweetness. As the Canderel is a synthetic sweetener the yeast doesn't go near it and all the sweetness is in the finished product. Admittedly it's never occurred to me to do the same thing to beer but, needs must when the devil drives. You could try priming 500 ml bottles with 1/2 tsp of sugar and 1 Canderel tablet, it may counter the dryness of the beer and swing it back to a taste that's more suited to your palette.

 

[terrym]

In the spirit of clutching at straws here, when I did my Turbo Cider (TC), I don't like dry cider I like it sweet and very fizzy I primed 1L bottles with 1 1/2 tsp of sugar for carbonation and 2 Canderel tablet for added sweetness. As the Canderel is a synthetic sweetener the yeast doesn't go near it and all the sweetness is in the finished product. Admittedly it's never occurred to me to do the same thing to beer but, needs must when the devil drives. You could try priming 500 ml bottles with 1/2 tsp of sugar and 1 Canderel tablet, it may counter the dryness of the beer and swing it back to a taste that's more suited to your palette.

Good idea. :thumb:
I used four of Lidl's Cologran tabs per litre in my one and only TC and it just took the dryness off it.