hey guys, i'm ready to start my second batch. i already have a can of coopers real ale extract, 2 kg of coopers brewing sugar, and a bag of the carbonation drops. i was just wondering if someone could share a basic recipe or offer hints for this brew. my first batch was the lager with 1kg coopers brew enhancer 1 which i'm not too crazy about. it has a funny taste, maybe due to leaving in fermenter for only 6 days, and a pitifully low alcohol content. i need this next round to be good so i can keep up the excitement for home brewing. sorry for the newb questions, but any help would be appreciated.
Coopers Real Ale Recipe
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ButcherBrew
Well-Known Member
I would recommend substituting DME for the sugar....Start with that modification first and I believe you will see some nice improvements. (Charlie P talks about this at length in the "Joy of Homebrewing". When I brew these Cooper kits, I always use DME as it seems to provide a much better malt flavor and decent head retention. You can still make these kits good by following the standard directions - however, adding DME is a great way to "Kick it up a notch".
Good Luck to you!:rockin:
Good Luck to you!:rockin:
hbhudy
Well-Known Member
+1 for the DME..
If you want to add a little more without a headache simply steep 4oz of crystal40 at 150 for about 30min. in 1 gallon of H2O. Put the crystal40 tea water into your brew pale and add the coopers can.
You can use SafAle-04 or SafAle-05 and it will turn out with a good brew.
If you want to add a little more without a headache simply steep 4oz of crystal40 at 150 for about 30min. in 1 gallon of H2O. Put the crystal40 tea water into your brew pale and add the coopers can.
You can use SafAle-04 or SafAle-05 and it will turn out with a good brew.
rocketcrab
Well-Known Member
You might want to check out the "How To Brew" section of the Coopers website. There's a recipe there called "Unreal Ale" that is excellant!
http://www.coopers.com.au/
mlanoue
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I did just that, and boiled a handful of Glacier hops with this Cooper's Real Ale kit. Plus a couple lbs. of DME. It really turned out nice.
ok guys, so i went to visit my local home brew supplier. he sent me home with different yeast(wyeast 1098 Brit ale), 2lb of dry malt, and 1lb of 60L crystal malt. he told me to steep the full pound of crystal malt, use the 2lb of dry malt, and add about 1/4 pound of the coopers brewing sugar that i have. just curious if all this sounds reasonable to others, as i am wanting to start things tonight if possible.
I'm also about to brew the same beer, and am new to modifying anything, so I was wondering if you might clarify a bit.
When you boil the hops, do you boil them in the steeped malt water, or do you actually boil the whole wort, after adding the can of coopers to it?
I don't have a pot big enough to boil the whole wort yield yet, so I'm confused about how I can "cook" my wort, as opposed to just adding the extract to warm water as the instructions say to do.
Would you add the hops at 3 different intervals for bittering, flavour, and aroma and boil for an hour?? Or just at hops once? Boil for how long?
Also, about adding the DME, do you add the munton beer enhancer to replace the sugar you put in the initial wort mixture before fermenting, or do you mean adding the munton beer enhancer to replace the priming sugar after fermentation when your about to bottle, or do you replace ALL sugar with the munton beer enhancer?
Thanks!
Chris
I'm also about to brew the same beer, and am new to modifying anything, so I was wondering if you might clarify a bit.
When you boil the hops, do you boil them in the steeped malt water, or do you actually boil the whole wort, after adding the can of coopers to it?
I don't have a pot big enough to boil the whole wort yield yet, so I'm confused about how I can "cook" my wort, as opposed to just adding the extract to warm water as the instructions say to do.
Would you add the hops at 3 different intervals for bittering, flavour, and aroma and boil for an hour?? Or just at hops once? Boil for how long?
Also, about adding the DME, do you add the munton beer enhancer to replace the sugar you put in the initial wort mixture before fermenting, or do you mean adding the munton beer enhancer to replace the priming sugar after fermentation when your about to bottle, or do you replace ALL sugar with the munton beer enhancer?
Thanks!
Chris
Ok,1st of all NEVER boil a pre-hopped can of extract! It'll caramelize,not to mention drive off the hop profile. I use a 3lb bag of plain DME,half of which goes in the boil (1.5lbs). I boil 2.5-3 gallons of water for this. So,with 1.5lb of the DME dissolved in the boiling water,it'll go through a mini hot break for about 3 minutes. Not much foam at all. Then I do flavor/aroma hop additions with 2 oz of 2 different hops for,say,a pale ale.
Starting at 20 minutes for 1st addition,12-15 minutes for 2nd addition. At flame out,add the remaining 1.5lb of DME. Then when that's dissolved,add the cooper's can & stir till no more LME can be scraped of the bottom.
The coper's pre-hopped can provides the bittering,since that's all the OS cans have. Then cover & steep for 10-15 minutes,as the remaining heat is still high enough to pasteurize it. Pasteurization happens at 160-170F,so no need to boil to achieve the effect. Then chill down to pitch temp in an ice bath.
Thanks for the reply!
OK, I've got a 500g bag of Muntons light spray malt, a 1kg bag of Muntons beer kit enhancer, and a Muntons priming enhancer kit also to use at bottling.
I've used the priming enhancing kit before a few times, definitely increases the head of the beer, but never have I replaced the dextrose when making the beer with spray malt or the beer kit enhancer.
Which of these 2 do I use? The enhancer, or the spray malt, or both?
The instructions on both of the Munton products say to replace the dextrose with the enhancer.
I only have the Munton products available locally, so I'm using those.
I have a can of Cooper's real ale kit, and I'm wanting to make it the best possible with the ingredients I currently have.
On the Coopers page, they have a recipe for "Unreal Ale" which includes the following:
1.7kg Coopers Real Ale
1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 1
500g Coopers Light Dry Malt
It of course shows Coopers ingredients, not Muntons products, but the weights are the same as the Munton ones, so am I to assume I could add BOTH the Munton beer kit enhancer, and the Munton light spray malt to the beer kit?
Wouldn't that be too much sugar?
Thanks!
Chris
Thanks for the reply!
OK, I've got a 500g bag of Muntons light spray malt, a 1kg bag of Muntons beer kit enhancer, and a Muntons priming enhancer kit also to use at bottling.
I've used the priming enhancing kit before a few times, definitely increases the head of the beer, but never have I replaced the dextrose when making the beer with spray malt or the beer kit enhancer.
Which of these 2 do I use? The enhancer, or the spray malt, or both?
The instructions on both of the Munton products say to replace the dextrose with the enhancer.
I only have the Munton products available locally, so I'm using those.
I have a can of Cooper's real ale kit, and I'm wanting to make it the best possible with the ingredients I currently have.
On the Coopers page, they have a recipe for "Unreal Ale" which includes the following:
1.7kg Coopers Real Ale
1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 1
500g Coopers Light Dry Malt
It of course shows Coopers ingredients, not Muntons products, but the weights are the same as the Munton ones, so am I to assume I could add BOTH the Munton beer kit enhancer, and the Munton light spray malt to the beer kit?
Wouldn't that be too much sugar?
Thanks!
Chris
Just use the light DME in the boil for hop additions. The enhancer should be added at the end. The enhancers are typically dextrose & maltodextrin mixed together. No,it shouldn't be too much sugar,since beer enhancers aren't 100% dextrose. The maltodextrine added only ferments no more than 5%,so it adds mouth feel.
I'm a bit confused.
The instructions for the Muntons light spray malt says to substitute the sugar with it, but also, the Muntons beer kit enhancer says to do the same, so aren't I substituting the sugar for two different (twice as much) substitutions?
Also, I'm not "boiling" the wort, but rather adding boiling water to the Coopers Real Ale can, as per the instructions.
This is the confusion I run into between a "real" brewing process where you boil the wort in a pot, and the manufacturers instructions which tell you to add the hot water and the beer kit to the primary fermenter bucket.
I would like to brew beer the "real" way, but I don't have a big enough pot yet, or a wort chiller. My current SS pot is only 18L, so I'm limited with what I can do.
So what would the "real" instructions be for brewing a Coopers real ale kit with the ingredients and the equipment that I currently have? I cannot even get hops locally, and will have to order some online soon, so I unfortunately won't be adding any of those either.
So, I add boiling water to the beer kit, AND BOTH the beer kit enhancer, and the light spray malt in the fermenter all at once then?
Or, should I add the spray malt to the boiling water, (if so how long does it need to boil for with the spray malt added?)then dump that mixture of water and spray malt into the fermenter, and then add the can of Coopers Ale kit, and then the Muntons beer enhancer kit and then top it up with cold water to 23L?
thanks!
Chris
I just put a similar recipe in my primary, though a little simpler. Just added 500g of hopped light dme and removed 300g of the sugar.
I found that you will defo have to mix the dme with boiling water first as it sets into lumps in the one if you don't.
I boiled (barely) mine in about a 7lt pot... Carefully. I then put the pot contents + boiling water + the sugar in the bin to mix, only because I did not have room in the pan. Then filled with cold tap water to 23l.
I found that you will defo have to mix the dme with boiling water first as it sets into lumps in the one if you don't.
I boiled (barely) mine in about a 7lt pot... Carefully. I then put the pot contents + boiling water + the sugar in the bin to mix, only because I did not have room in the pan. Then filled with cold tap water to 23l.
An 18L pot is plenty big enough to do a partial boil when you're ready to. I only boil 2.5-3 gallons for my partial boils. I always use plain DME,so 1.5-2lbs of that in the boiling water to dissolve it well for hop additions. If you're not doing hop additions,then add all the DME to the boiling water. A tiny hot break for about 3 minutes.
Then,remove from heat,& add the brew enhancer & cooper's can. Stir till all is dissolved,& no more LME (cooper's can) can be scraped off the bottom. Then into the sink for an ice bath. Chill down to pitch temp. This will lesson chill haze later if you get done in 20 minutes or less.
Then pour through fine mesh strainer into fermenter. Dito on top off water. It gets out the grainy bits & aerates all real well. Stir for 5 minutes straight roughly to aerate more & mix well.
Then,remove from heat,& add the brew enhancer & cooper's can. Stir till all is dissolved,& no more LME (cooper's can) can be scraped off the bottom. Then into the sink for an ice bath. Chill down to pitch temp. This will lesson chill haze later if you get done in 20 minutes or less.
Then pour through fine mesh strainer into fermenter. Dito on top off water. It gets out the grainy bits & aerates all real well. Stir for 5 minutes straight roughly to aerate more & mix well.
OK, a bit of change of plans.
I've now got hops (Columbus), and good quality DME, plus the Coopers kit, 1/2lb of crystal malt, and 1/2lb of 2 row, and I'm wishing to make the wort using these ingredients.
I'm under the impression that this is the correct way to brew using these ingredients, please correct me if I'm wrong, or if something can be improved upon:
1) Add the barley to a mesh bag and steep like a tea bag adding them to the cold water in the pot until it comes up to 170 degrees F, then remove the mesh bag.
2) Bring water to gentle rolling boil, and then remove from heat, and add the DME stirring it all in until it's all dissolved well.
3) Put pot back on burner, and add 1/2 ounce of the hops (bittering), stirring them in nicely.
4) Boil for one hour, adding 1/2 ounce hops at 30 minutes into the boil (flavour), then again 1/2 ounce at 5 minutes before the end of the boil (aroma).
Now here is my questions:
1) I've been told a 15 minute boil is sufficient, with hop additions at 5 minutes each, should I boil for 15 minutes, or for 1 hour as described above??
A tutorial video I just watched said you MUST boil for at least 45 mins or the beer won't turn out.
2) When do I add the can of Coopers extract? Do I add it when I add the DME, or do I simply dissolve it into the wort at the end of the boil once removed from heat, and stir it in before dumping it through the strainer into my primary fermenter??
Someone on the forum told me NOT to ever boil the can of Coopers or it will caramelize, which is true?
Should I add it at the beginning of the boil, or after the boil is complete??
Thanks for your help!
Chris
This is the way I do mine,so no worries m8!OK, a bit of change of plans.
I've now got hops (Columbus), and good quality DME, plus the Coopers kit, 1/2lb of crystal malt, and 1/2lb of 2 row, and I'm wishing to make the wort using these ingredients.
You don't need the 2 row. Crystal malts are for color & flavor. 2 row is a base malt needed to get other grains to convert from starches to simple sugars that can be fermented.
I'm under the impression that this is the correct way to brew using these ingredients, please correct me if I'm wrong, or if something can be improved upon:
1) Add the barley to a mesh bag and steep like a tea bag adding them to the cold water in the pot until it comes up to 170 degrees F, then remove the mesh bag.
Or just bring the water up to 150-160F for 20-30 minutes.Then drop the bagged crystal malts in for the time & temp stated. You can suspend a floating thermometer in the pot with some twist ties to keep track od steep temps.
2) Bring water to gentle rolling boil, and then remove from heat, and add the DME stirring it all in until it's all dissolved well.
You don't need to remove the p[ot from the burner ehen adding DME. Only do that with LME.
3) Put pot back on burner, and add 1/2 ounce of the hops (bittering), stirring them in nicely.
You won't get a lot of bittering at only 30 minutes. The pre-hopped Cooper's can will take care of that,if you want it a a tiny bit on the malty side. Otherwise,add 1/4oz @ 60 minutes. And use a hop sack,it'll make things easier later.
4) Boil for one hour, adding 1/2 ounce hops at 30 minutes into the boil (flavour), then again 1/2 ounce at 5 minutes before the end of the boil (aroma).
Add a half ounce of the hops at 20 minutes,the last 1/4oz @ 5 minutes for some aroma.
Now here is my questions:
1) I've been told a 15 minute boil is sufficient, with hop additions at 5 minutes each, should I boil for 15 minutes, or for 1 hour as described above??
If you want to go with the cooper's bittering,just do 1/2oz at 20 minutes,& the other 1/2oz at 12 minutes.
A tutorial video I just watched said you MUST boil for at least 45 mins or the beer won't turn out.
Twaddle speak says I. $5 minute minimum for bittering additions,not flavor/aroma!
2) When do I add the can of Coopers extract? Do I add it when I add the DME, or do I simply dissolve it into the wort at the end of the boil once removed from heat, and stir it in before dumping it through the strainer into my primary fermenter??
Someone on the forum told me NOT to ever boil the can of Coopers or it will caramelize, which is true?
Should I add it at the beginning of the boil, or after the boil is complete??
Take the BK off the heat source to stir in the Cooper's can till no more can be scrapped off the bottom of the BK. And yes,don't ever boil pre-hopped LME cans,as it drives off the hop profile,& can darken it. Not to mention give that "extract twang". I always add the Cooper's can/LME at flame out. Since pasteurization happens at 162F,you don't need to boil it. Just cover & let it steep for a few minutes. The residual temp from boiling is more than enough. RDWHAHB!!!!!
Thanks for your help!
Chris
Well,
Here's what I ended up doing.
I added the grains in a nylon brewing bag at about 100 degrees, and let it steep until the temp got to exactly 170 degrees, then I removed it, brought it to a boil, then added 1.2kg of Breiss DME, stirred it all in, and then brought to a boil.
I then removed all the grain from the nylon bag and added one half ounce of Columbus hops to it and dunked it in the wort for about 5 minutes, then removed it, as I tasted the wort and it was pretty bitter already!
Then, I boiled it for only 15 mins (it's valentines day, I ran out of time and I had to go pick up valentines dinner for my wife soon!!) and added another 1/2 ounce of hops to the bag and put it back in the wort 5 mins before the boil was over.
I removed it from the heat, and added the can of Coopers to the wort, and removed the nylon bag, and stirred until all the Coopers was dissolved.
I put the brew pot in the bathtub, went outside, and shoveled snow into a bucket and loaded up the bathtub until the wort cooled down to about 90 degrees, then I dumped the wort into the fermenter, and topped up with room temp water. The wort at that time was 74 degrees.
I violently stirred the wort to get as much oxygen into it for 5 mins, then pitched the yeast, and put the lid on the fermenter......sigh
So, what do you think this beer will turn out like?
Thanks!
Chris
Sounds normal to me (as newbie). Though, are the first (bittering) hops not meant to stay in for the full duration of the boil?
Also, I noticed you guys are talking about putting the grains in to cold water as you raise it to 170F. I heat my water to 155F and steep them in it at a constant temp for 30 mins. Wondering what difference that makes.
Also... contravesial, but some yeast manufacturers suggest you don't aerate the wort, always best to read the yeast packet, or their website for instructions. When I read up on Nottingham yeast, they claim their yeast are cultvated in a high oxygen, low sugar environment, which gives them mass storage of the chemicals they usually get from oxygen that enables them to bud. They claim they have plenty reserves to bud enough to inoculate the wort without aeration.
Also, I noticed you guys are talking about putting the grains in to cold water as you raise it to 170F. I heat my water to 155F and steep them in it at a constant temp for 30 mins. Wondering what difference that makes.
Also... contravesial, but some yeast manufacturers suggest you don't aerate the wort, always best to read the yeast packet, or their website for instructions. When I read up on Nottingham yeast, they claim their yeast are cultvated in a high oxygen, low sugar environment, which gives them mass storage of the chemicals they usually get from oxygen that enables them to bud. They claim they have plenty reserves to bud enough to inoculate the wort without aeration.
I'm just curious about something.
I watched an instructional brewing video before I made this batch of beer, and in that video, the guy only used a bag of grain, a kg of DME, water and hops.
He did not add any "can" of any LME of any kind, just the DME and grains.
So why do I need the can of coopers to begin with? Couldn't I just make the beer by steeping the grain in the nylon bag, removing it, adding a kg of DME, then bringing to a boil, and adding hops at the correct intervals?
How would it turn out? Do you need a store bought can of stuff to make beer taste good, or can you leave that out and still get good tasting beer?
Thanks!
Chris
I watched an instructional brewing video before I made this batch of beer, and in that video, the guy only used a bag of grain, a kg of DME, water and hops.
He did not add any "can" of any LME of any kind, just the DME and grains.
So why do I need the can of coopers to begin with? Couldn't I just make the beer by steeping the grain in the nylon bag, removing it, adding a kg of DME, then bringing to a boil, and adding hops at the correct intervals?
How would it turn out? Do you need a store bought can of stuff to make beer taste good, or can you leave that out and still get good tasting beer?
Thanks!
Chris
1) a 45 or 60 min is not needed in this case since your pre-hopped extract already has enough bittering. So the 15 min boil is fine for adding falvour and aroma.
2) At the end of the boil. Yes it's true, you are not meant to boil the prehopped kits.
Yes that's how extract brewing is done. DME and LME are just different forms of the same thing. The Coopers can is just LME that already has been hopped. The intention of the prehopped cans is the make the process as simple as possible, no boil reqd. So if you are just using plain DME or LME you obviously would need more hops. And typically you do a 60 min boil for the bittering hops addition. I recommend you have a read of the first few chapters of How To Brew - a great education for a new brewer.I'm just curious about something.
I watched an instructional brewing video before I made this batch of beer, and in that video, the guy only used a bag of grain, a kg of DME, water and hops.
He did not add any "can" of any LME of any kind, just the DME and grains.
So why do I need the can of coopers to begin with? Couldn't I just make the beer by steeping the grain in the nylon bag, removing it, adding a kg of DME, then bringing to a boil, and adding hops at the correct intervals?
How would it turn out? Do you need a store bought can of stuff to make beer taste good, or can you leave that out and still get good tasting beer?
Thanks!
Chris
