2 Coopers Pale Ale Recipes

#1
Coopers Pale Ale tin
1kg Brew Enhancer #2
500g LDME
Cascade hop teabag
US-05 Dry Yeast (optional 300gram light crystal grain steep)

#2 (when confident)
2.0kg LDME
0.7kg Dextrose
18g Pride of Ringwood hops
200g Caraamber
100g Carapils
Recultured CPA Yeast

1.) Steep the milled grains in 4L of 60-70C water in a tied swiss voile square for 30 minutes.

2.) Remove grain bag, let drain (squeeze lightly) and then add 200g of the LDME. Bring to boil and simmer.

3.) Add hops and set timer for 60 minutes.

4.) Add all dry ingredients to fermenter. Pour hop boil through strainer into fermenter (ignore clumping of LDME, it dissolves).

5.) Top up to 22L with cold tap water. Add yeast and keep between 17 and 20C.

Coopers Pale Ale #4

Ingredients
1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale
1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer #2
1/2 tablet finishing hops

Calculations
Original Gravity - 1.036
Final Gravity - 1.012
Approx. ABV - 4% (need a decent hydrometer, this can't be right!)

Brewing Notes
Mixed up sugars and added can, dropped half tablet of finishing hops before pitching yeast at 25 degrees. Hops definitely make the brew go a darker color at first but this dissipates before bottling. Used two teaspoons of dextrose per longneck,  high hopes for this one!

Note - I made two batches of this one with the second batch only filling the fermenter to 21 litres due to the low ABV reading of the first batch. Second batch came out at 4.8% ABV...

Tasting Notes
It's very close to CPA but seems to be missing the kick. The finishing hops don't seem to do a lot, I think a real hop addition like Coopers Pale Ale #2 is the way to go...

Rating 3.5/5

Cooper's Canadian Blonde

Ingredients
1.7kg Cooper's Canadian Blonde
1kg Brew Enhancer #1

Calculations
Original Gravity - 1.040
Final Gravity - 1.012
Approx. ABV - 4.3%

Brewing Notes
Mixed up sugars and can, pitched yeast at 24 degrees. Might use 2 teaspoons of dextrose in each bottle. Also, I have been taking my original gravity reading after adding the yeast. With this one I took it before adding the yeast and it is a somewhat higher reading. Will test with a Pale Ale next go...

Tasting Notes
This beer definitely gets better with age. After 4 weeks it was not too bad, maybe it's my pallet but I found it just that, OK...

Rating 3/5

Coopers Pale Ale #3

Ingredients

Re-activating Coopers commercial yeast

1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale
1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer #2
Re-activated Coopers commercial yeast

Calculations
Original Gravity - 1.035
Final Gravity - 1.008
Approx. ABV - 4.2%

Brewing Notes
Re-activating yeast as per instructions in "Re-activating Coopers Commercial Yeast" post below.

+3 days - Only a little bit of bubbling in the bottles, will check tonight and if there is no activity I might have to use the yeast in the kit :(

OK, when I turn the bottles upside down a big head is formed after turning it back, I'm assuming this means it's ready to go. I mixed up the Brew Enhancer with the can of goo and pitched the bottles of (hopefully) re-activated yeast at 23 degrees. I'm quite nervous, if this doesn't kick off it will be a big waste of time! Come on the yeast!

Super foamy!

+2 days in the fermenter - It's working! Actually, I've created a monster! I've never seen anything foam like this... it's sitting at 18-20 degrees and has a big foam mushroom in the middle!? Anyway, good news, the yeast has spoken!

Tasting Notes
This is the closest I have come to commercial Coopers Pale Ale. The re-activated yeast really helps in giving it the Cooper's flavour. It is still missing some secret ingredient though, perhaps a small amount of hops? Hard to tell the difference from the real thing!

Rating: 5/5

Coopers Sparkling Ale

I went to "The Country Brewer" at Yarrawarra to get his Little Creatures Pale Ale recipe that was recommended to me but alas, he was all out. He recommended I try the Sparkling Ale so here we are:

Ingredients
1.7kg Thomas Coopers Premium Selection Sparkling Ale
1kg Country Brewer Brew Booster

Calculations
Original Gravity - 1.035
Final Gravity - 1.003
Approx. ABV - 4.8%

Brewing Notes
Mixed up Brew Booster in 2L boiling water and added can, mixed well. Pitched yeast at 24 degrees and will ferment at around 18-20 degrees.

+10 days - Disaster! In getting my final gravity reading I must have left the tap dripping overnight and lost 10 bottles worth of the good stuff! Bottled 20 using approx. 1.5 teaspoons of dextrose although 1 or 2 may have bottom of the barrel nastiness in them... Oh well onto the next one I guess...

Tasting Notes
+2 weeks in the bottle - Cracked one last night and it is still a bit green with very low carbonation. I'll leave it for another week and if the carbonation is not right then I need to use 2 teaspoons of dextrose next time!

Turns out it's not a bad drop but when using dextrose you do need to have 2 teaspoons per bottle.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Coopers Pale Ale #2

I found the recipe on Coopers Talk Brewing but after further research found a tweaked version at George's Home Brewing - http://www.georges-homebrewing.com/index.php/pale-ales/49-coppers-pale-ale
Tossing up whether to try a different yeast to the one supplied with the kit.

Ingredients
1.7kg Coopers Pale Ale kit
1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer #2
15g Cascade Finishing Hops

Calculations
Original Gravity - 1.036
Final Gravity - 1.006
Approx. ABV - 4.5%

Brewing Notes
Steep the hops in boiling water for 15 minutes. Dissolve the brew enhancer in 2 litres of boiling water and add the can. Washed out the rest of the can with a bit of boiling water and added it and the hops (bag as well) to the wort. I also tried George's trick of filling two cans worth of wort from the tap and adding it back into the top of the fermenter. Pitched the yeast at 22 degrees and will try to keep it at 18- 20 degrees using a brew belt at night.

+4 hours, just noticed that the brew is quite dark compared to the last one. Must be the hops, fingers crossed it's OK!

+8 days - Bottled 30 bottles, looks good!

Tasting Notes
This beer is really close to the commercial product. It's a touch more floral due to the addition of the hops but that doesn't detract from the taste. A great beer!

Rating: 4/5.

Coopers Pale Ale #1

Ingredients
1.7kg Australian Pale Ale
500g Light Dry Malt
250g Sugar (Dextrose)

Calculations
Original Gravity - 1.030 (Could have been false reading)
Final Gravity - 1.003
Approx. ABV - 4.2%

Brewing Notes
Mixed up LDM and Dextrose in 2 litres of boiling water. Added the can, filled to 23 litres and pitched the yeast at approx 20 degrees. Fermented at 16-20 degrees (18 degrees on average) using a brew belt on a timer during the night with final gravity reached after 8 days. Made 29 bottles and will condition for 2+ weeks. I think I will invest in a glass hydrometer to get better gravity readings in the future.

Tasting Notes
Cracked a couple after 2.5 weeks in the bottle and it tastes like Coopers Pale Ale! Well, not exactly but in the ball park. I think another week and it will be a nice semi-clone. The next one with extra hops should be closer I think.

Rating: 3/5

Little Creatures Pale Ale Recipe

A Little Creatures Pale Ale clone I would like to try down the track:

Ingredients:

• 1.7kg Coopers Premium Draught
• 1.5kg Morgans light malt extract
• 200g dried wheat malt extract
• 15g East Kent Goldings Hops
• 15g Galaxy Hops
• 10g Cascade Hops
• 11.5g US-05 ale yeast

Method:

• Sit the extract cans in hot water so they can be poured.
• Boil 2L of water and add dried wheat malt extract, bring back to boil then simmer.
• Add EKG & galaxy hops and boil for 15 minutes.
• Add boiled extract to the fermenter with the extract cans and stir.
• Top up fermenter with cold water to the 23L mark.
• Pitch the yeast and ferment at 18-20C.
• After 4-5 days add the Cascade hops to the fermenter.
• Bottle with 2 tspsn sugar (per longneck).

Reactivating Coopers Commercial Ale Yeast

(copied from "Coopers - Talk Brewing" website - http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/talk-brewing?g=posts&t=1876)

Coopers encourage home brewers to use the yeast from naturally conditioned Coopers ales. The same ale strain is used across the range - Mild Ale, Pale Ale, Dark Ale, Sparkling Ale, Best Extra Stout and Extra Strong Vintage Ale.

There are numerous documented techniques, with varying levels of complexity, for re-activating the yeast in naturally conditioned beer. The method described below may leave some readers, experienced in growing yeast cultures, aghast. “What! No stir plate, no malt, no alcohol swabs, no nutrient, no way! However, for Coopers yeast, it works...

Method
1. Buy a six pack of Coopers Original Pale Ale and place upright in the fridge for about a week for the yeast to settle.
2. Mix about 600ml of boiling water and 4 tablespoons of dextrose/sugar in a pyrex jug, cover with cling-wrap and leave to cool in the fridge for about 30mins.
3. Open 4 bottles and decant the beer into a jug, leaving behind the yeast sediment - about a couple of centimetres.
4. Pour the sugared water equally into each bottle, cover with cling-wrap and secure with a rubber band.
5. Shake the bottles then place them in a dark spot at a temperature in the mid 20’s.
6. Give the bottles a shake in the morning and at night to keep the yeast in suspension.
7. After around 2 to 3 days the yeast should become active and begin forming a head.
8. Pitch the active yeast into a brew immediately or store in the fridge for about a week. Just remember to pull it out of the fridge to warm for couple of hours prior to pitching.

Some additional points to keep in mind;
- start with more yeast by using all 6 bottles,
- buy beer with the freshest yeast (ie. latest “Best After” date),
- lower alcohol content is better (mild ale or pale ale),
- it’s okay to hold the culture at slightly higher temps to promote a quicker reactivation,
- one sanitised vessel (approx 1 litre) may be used rather than separate bottles,
- make sure the culture smells okay before pitching,
- buy another 6 pack for each culture and
- don’t forget to drink the decanted beer

Coopers Lager

Ingredients
Coopers Lager Brew Can
Coopers Brew Enhancer #1

Calculations
Original Gravity - 1.040
Final Gravity - 1.012
Approx. ABV - 4.3%

Brewing Notes
Fermentation started off quite high at 26C for two days and dropped quite low to 16C-18C for the last two days. Stable specific gravity reached on day 8. Made 29 bottles and conditioned for 2+ weeks.

Tasting Notes
Tried a few bottles right on the 2 week mark and on first impression it had that "Home Brew" taste. After the 2nd bottle it became a lot more palatable. Not bad for my first effort but not great. Hoping it improves over time!

Update - after 3+ weeks this became quite nice although I prefer ales myself....

Rating: 2.5/5