Coopers Pale Ale #5

Ingredients
1.7kg Black Rock India Pale Ale Can
1kg Shire Brewing Brew Booster #15
11.5g Safale #04 yeast

Calculations
Original Gravity - 1040 (5.1%)
Final Gravity -1020 (1.9%)
Approx. ABV - 3.2%

Brewing Notes
First brew in 6 months. I keep saying it was too warm to brew but it's just laziness I guess. This was a very simple brew cashing in on a Xmas gift voucher from a local home brew store. I also purchased a glass hydrometer so I'll see if my readings are a bit more credible!
Mixed up the sugars and the can in 2 litres of boiling water and filled to 23 litres with cold. Pitched yeast at 26 degrees (C) which is probably a bit warm but the brew has settled to a fairly constant 18 degrees using a heat belt that is on for an hour and off for an hour from midnight to 6am.
This yeast says ideal temperatures between 15 and 24 degrees so I'm not too worried if the temp dips a bit lower...

I tested original gravity after I pitched the yeast, maybe this is my problem because 3.2% ABV just does not sound right! Bottled 30 bottles but also realised that I forgot to take the Krausen collar off after 3 days. Hope this doesn't affect it! Arrghh, that's what happens when you don't brew for a while!

Tasting Notes
Cracked one of these after 2 weeks in the bottle and it was NOT ready! Waited one more week and low and behold a decent beer. The problem is that it's more like Cooper's Mild Ale as the alcohol content was way too low. I think I might not have mixed the sugars enough.

Rating: 3

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.