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BuddyWeiser

BuddyWeiser

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I just started a new beer kit today. This is the first time I've ever experimented with hops! Here's my ingredient list...
1 can Cooper's OS Real Ale
2 lbs Bavarian Wheat Briess DME (65% wheat /35% barley)
300 g corn sugar
1 oz Amarillo Hop pellets, boiled in 2.75 liters of water for 30 min
1 Cooper's kit dry yeast pack + some yeast that i washed from my last batch
All combined = 24 liters with OG = 1042
I think it smells awesome and didn't taste bad for being unfermented! (when i took the OG reading) I was aiming for a fruity/floral hop flavor more than bittering or aroma.

Any thoughts? Or suggestions for next time? :mug:
 
That's a good point. I just did an estimate and it looks like the abv will be < 4% :eek:

I think I might add some corn sugar...
 
20 minutes on the hops would've been good flavor-wise. 30 minutes,& you start gaining a lil bittering,& lose flavor. So I cut my flavor additions to 25 minutes or less from experience. The cooper's cans can make some fine ales with a good process. And said process has little to do with the cooper's instructions.
23L even would have given you a couple more gravity points. Plus,with the 2lbs of wheat DME,the gravity should've been more like 1.042. I wonder what the other yeast was?
I've got my 2nd batch of Sharie's Summer Shandy chilling in an ice bath now that uses the cooper's OS lager as a base. It uses 1 lb each of the plain reg DME,& 1 lb of plain Wheat DME (munton's). I get low to mid 1.04x's with them.
 
I just updated the first post to reflect the "last minute" change i just made. I added 300g corn sugar boiled/disolved in some water. the end result is now 24 liters and og is now 1042. :D

The other yeast was washed from cooper's stout that i just bottled yesterday. Thanks for the tip on the hops! I will try 20-25 min next time.
 
Well,adding another gallon of water & the sugar will not only raise the alcohol,but dry the beer out a little. Thinner iow. But it'll still be beer.
I pulled a good one about 20 minutes ago. I got the 60F wort in the BB ale pale,poured through a fine mesh strainer to aerate it a little. Dito with top off water. Took a hydrometer sample. About 2" of foam,gotta wait a little. Then I snapped the lid down. Dang. Took some doin to get the lid back off so I could pour in the re-hydrated yeast. I figured I better add a blow off as well. Not gunna have another oopsie. So don't feel alone...you aren't.
 
We hit final gravity today at 1003! The smell is great. The taste is good, but I'm afraid the vigorous fermentation (that raised the temp up to 75+) has caused a subtle banana flavor that lingers on, affecting the aftertaste. By vigorous, I mean the foam tower was huge and I could watch the brew churning and swirling as if there was a current flowing inside the fermenter.

Beside the temp/banana issue, the beer is also dark colored. Darker than even an amber beer. Is it possible my wheat DME caused this dark color? Or maybe that my Cooper's can was older? (it was not expired tho)

I read that the banana flavor could very well disappear or at least become less pronounced over time. Could time also make the color change/become lighter?
 
BuddyWeiser said:
We hit final gravity today at 1003! The smell is great. The taste is good, but I'm afraid the vigorous fermentation (that raised the temp up to 75+) has caused a subtle banana flavor that lingers on, affecting the aftertaste. By vigorous, I mean the foam tower was huge and I could watch the brew churning and swirling as if there was a current flowing inside the fermenter.

Beside the temp/banana issue, the beer is also dark colored. Darker than even an amber beer. Is it possible my wheat DME caused this dark color? Or maybe that my Cooper's can was older? (it was not expired tho)

I read that the banana flavor could very well disappear or at least become less pronounced over time. Could time also make the color change/become lighter?
Click to expand...

I messed up earlier,guess the fact that you added only 1 extra liter didn't register. Kept thinking gallon. Anyway,the sugar is what got it down that low. Normally 1,008-1.010 for an FG in this case. That banana flavor is rare with Cooper's ale yeast. I got it in one bottle of my Burton ale. Odd because my temps never got over 70F with that one. But it does fade a little bit,albeit slowly. The dark color is usually from LME in a long boil. I noticed DME doesn't darken as quickly,or as much. But I don't thinkit'd be the wheat DME. It's more process related,time being the first concern.
But an older can of LME will def be darker,even though it'll taste fine. Check out my "summer ale" in my gallery. Looks more like the Salvator doppel bock. Tasted close too,even though it was a lower ABV than the Paulaner classic.
Gary Martin at Home Brewer TV gave it 3 thumbs up in episode #38. See it in my gallery.
 
I bet you're right because that summer pale ale is basically spot on the same color as mine is, with the exception that mine is foggy/cloudy. (from the wheat i assume?)

I knew my fermenter was getting to warm, but failed to act on it. I just gotta learn the hard way! :eek:

Next time I'll start with less water, no corn sugar, and take better care keeping cool :cool:
 
I didn't pay attention to the date on the Cooper's OS lager can when I bought it at the LHBS. got home & noticed it said June '09. Brewed it on 2/16/11. What was the date on yours? I'm finally getting myself to put all the numbers in my notebook nowadays. Dates,AA%,types,names,etc. It comes in handy later. Like now,for instance,when trying to relate experiences.
The fooginess isn't necessarily from the wheat extract,as it's the yeast that has more control over that. Time & patience,with a high flocculation yeast go a long way to getting clear beer naturally.
 
The date on the can was Nov. 5th, 2012 (or 5/11/12 in Aussie date format -day/month/year).

The other cans I've had weren't set to expire until 2013, so this was the oldest I've used.
 
Why use wheat extract with this batch? What were you hoping to achieve with that as opposed to a light or dark extract? Something of a Belgian Wit perhaps?

Also, I'm a big fan of Amarillo hops. I have to go with the already stated opinion that boiling them at 10 or 20 minutes would be better. John Palmer states that flavoring hops can be boiled for as long as 40 minutes and he knows a great deal more than I ever will on the subject. He also states that 30 minutes is the most common boiling time for this.

You are also the first person I've heard of washing and re-using the Coopers kit yeast.

Please let us know how this one turns out after a few weeks of conditioning.
 
40 minutes is def too long for flavor additions. You start getting decent bittering at that point. Even at 30 minutes,I've noticed some bittering & less flavor going on. I do 25 minutes max now to get all the flavor I can.
 
ronclark said:
Why use wheat extract with this batch? What were you hoping to achieve with that as opposed to a light or dark extract? Something of a Belgian Wit perhaps?

Also, I'm a big fan of Amarillo hops. I have to go with the already stated opinion that boiling them at 10 or 20 minutes would be better. John Palmer states that flavoring hops can be boiled for as long as 40 minutes and he knows a great deal more than I ever will on the subject. He also states that 30 minutes is the most common boiling time for this.

You are also the first person I've heard of washing and re-using the Coopers kit yeast.

Please let us know how this one turns out after a few weeks of conditioning.
Click to expand...

I just like the flavor of wheat beer. :D Thought that using wheat DME would add a spin to the Cooper's can I bought to make a beer more to my liking.

I will definately post back after some time has passed. Thanks! :mug:
 
This beer has sat in the bottle just two weeks now. We popped open a couple to give it a taste test, and it's pretty dang tasty! It seems a tid bit on the hoppy and bitter end. The color is still fairly dark too, but the banana flavor has nearly vanished. Probably would even notice any banana if I weren't looking for it. :ban:

All in all, I'd say this beer could have been a little better if I had put the hops in for less than 30 minutes, maybe more like 15-25 max, as stated above. Also it would help to brew it at a cooler temp but I figure that's an execution thing more than recipe change! :ban:

Thanks all!
 

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