Coopers Real Ale

First brew, and first post. So take it easy on me.

I assume everyones first batch is always a bit "interesting". So here goes... Enjoy the newbness.

Saturday morning I brewed up 1 can of Coopers Real Ale, 2lbs Light Malt extract (dry), and 2.5lbs corn sugar (minus the 3/4 cup for priming). Total liquid volume is around 5.5 gal.

OG 1.053 @ 76 degrees prior to pitching the coopers yeast. Tasted a little of the wort. IMO, it was not bad. A tad sweet, but not bad.

Bubbling like crazy, foam coming out the top of my 7 gal carboy. I assume this is normal, so I just clean the bubbler and keep watching. I guess my question is, was the 2lbs of dry malt extract supposed to be a replacement for the corn sugar, or am I an the right track? My general assumption is this is going to be in the 7% ABV range, which got me worried there was too much of something. :/ Perhaps first time jitters, but dang that is some strong brew.

At any rate, I guess this is the fun of the hobby, seeing what progresses. lol



Bill

Hi there and welcome to HBT!
Good to hear you have your first batch in the fermenter. I think you will have a pretty good beer when finished. If I might suggest on your next batch do away with the corn sugar. What it does to your beer is raise the alcohol content while making the beer thinner. I think with the amount you used you will be fine but if you use dried malt extract in it's place you will have a maltier better tasting beer.
Having said that, you will need 3/4 CUP of corn sugar when you bottle your beer for carbonation.
Let us know how your first beer turns out.

I guess my question is, was the 2lbs of dry malt extract supposed to be a replacement for the corn sugar, or am I an the right track?

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It was supposed to be a replacement for the corn sugar, but don't worry it will turn out all right, just stronger than usual. And the Coopers kits yeast really like that corn sugar anyway, I always give em some extra corn sugar.

With a 1.053 OG, you'll be more likely in the 5.5% range, depending on how well your attenuation is.

Ok, thanks for the heads up! That was kinda what I had figured after I started doing some more reading and research.

Actually I drank 9 or 10 of my coopers real ale over the weekend. I made mine with 2 pounds of LME and 1 pouns of liquid glucose. I started out with an OG of about 104 id i remember right and it ended up with an fg of about 1009 which i think was somewhere between 4.5 and 5%.

I actually love the stuff. I left 5 days in primary racked to secondary for 2 weeks to get it nice and clear then bottled. I tried a botle after about 10 days and it had a malty sweet taste - left for another 2 weeks til the weekend past and it seemed most of the sweetness was gone and it was a well balanced beer. Turned out great Im going to be making another batch once I get a free Carboy again.

Right now I have some coopers wheat beer in one of my carboys i'll let you know how i turns out incase you want to try it.

Enjoy the Real Ale when its ready - cheers!

Racked the Real Ale to my secondary last night. Was around 1.010 and hardly bubbling anymore. It started clarifying immediately in the secondary, and by this morning half of the carboy up was clear as a gem! Very cool!

What little extra I had last night I took a few sips of, and man I'm excited! This is going to be an easy brew to drink. Very smooth, not too bitter, seemed very balanced on sweetness and hoppiness. Just needs some carbonation and we're off!

Yea that particular one will not take very long to clear - I left it two weeks and it was clear as a bell. With mind I found the the sweetness sorta faded after a month or so - but it is still very smooth and very easy to drink. Let us know how it turns out when its carbonated. How much corn sugar are you gonna use?

I assume the usual 3/4 cup for priming would be fine.

Depending on how its looking around Thankgsgiving, I might bottle it then when the folks are in town. I know my Dad is real excited about this as well, be nice to include him in the process and have some extra hands.

Cool - I used 1 1/4 cup in mine - but I like alot of carbonation in my beer. It is always good to have some help while bottling - especially sanitizing the bottles!

I have another dozen in the fridge chilling for this weekend. Also have a few bottle of coopers draft which turned out well. Should be some good drinking