Coopers APA question

[Azure]

First post on this great forum. Have always wanted to get into home brew and finally took the time. I searched high and low for the answer to my question and while there is a ton of help on here and other forums, I think I might have a bit of a unique situation.

Working on my second kit, and decided to go with Coopers Australian Pale Ale. Trying to keep everything as simple as possible while I sort through the endless ways of making the best beer without going crazy.

I misread the instructions a bit while doing initial research, and when I went to mix up the Pale Ale kit, I only had 1kg of dextrose as a brew enhancer instead of what Coopers and many others recommend. So I mixed the Pale Ale with 1kg of dextrose, and it is fermenting along nicely, I'm a bit worried about not getting a such a great tasting beer according to what I've read. Would it help to do some dry hopping to add some more flavor after I move it to secondary fermentation?

My 1st kit was the Festa Brew kit which was rather easy and is still conditioning in the bottles, and I'm willing to experiment a bit with dry hopping to add some more flavor. Was thinking of using Cascade & Cluster hops to try and add some more flavor. Cheap enough to try.

Advice is very much appreciated!

 

[unionrdr]

The Cooper's kits are designed to at least add the kilo of dextrose, but the BE2 with the maltodextrin & light DME added would've been better. Dry hopping it would make it more of an American pale ale than Australian. But generally, pale ales are lightly dry hopped for aroma, less so than an IPA.

 

[bobeer]

Do it! Not sure how much flavor dryhopping will add since it's usually meant more the nose of the beer. Hop flavor additions are usually late in the boil, or afterwards in a whirlpool, but hey... this is homebrewing so experiment away. You still get a little flavor out of them when dryhopping. Just keep a log as to what you do and when so you can see how the different actions you do affect the finished beer. Nothing wrong with a dryhopped Aussie beer!

 

[Azure]

Do it! Not sure how much flavor dryhopping will add since it's usually meant more the nose of the beer. Hop flavor additions are usually late in the boil, or afterwards in a whirlpool, but hey... this is homebrewing so experiment away. You still get a little flavor out of them when dryhopping. Just keep a log as to what you do and when so you can see how the different actions you do affect the finished beer. Nothing wrong with a dryhopped Aussie beer!

Awesome. I'll try it for sure. I'm trying to start very simple and slowly experiment more as I move along. The problem is I just type in a simple google search for 'coopers pale ale brew enhancer', and there are about 5,673 different possibilities of how it can be made with each person getting equally good results.

Should be interesting how it turns out. I've starting keeping a log of everything. Thanks!

 

[unionrdr]

Just for the record, dry hopping doesn't add flavor. But, since our senses of smell & taste are linked at the roof of the mouth, aroma can be perceived as adding to the flavor.

 

[Azure]

Just for the record, dry hopping doesn't add flavor. But, since or senses of smell & taste are linked at the roof of the mouth, arma can be perceived as adding to the flavor.

Yes I realize that. How much is recommended to add to a 20L batch?

 

[unionrdr]

With pale ales, I typically dry hop with one or two ounces of the same hops used in the boil for flavor to give them a more rounded flavor/aroma experience.

 

[bucfan1234]

I am still pretty new to all this but here goes.

I think Coopers uses Pride of Ringwood in their APA. Cascade would probably be good and more like an American pale ale. I would probably add a 1/2 oz then taste it after a bit and see if i thought it needed further additions.


After a couple really good one gallon all grain batches recently, I decided I wanted an easy and quick brew so I made the Coopers APA kit with 3lbs of light DME and no additional hops, and it turned out to be a pretty good beer. It's in the keg now and I find that I enjoy the flavors produced by the coopers yeast and POR with just a little bittering on the finish.

Overall better than I expected.

 

[unionrdr]

All the Cooper's Original Series kits (usually referred to as OS) are bittered with POR. Not sure about the other hop additions in the APA kit. I just took certain of the Cooper's cans & added to them to make'em into the style I wanted. Some examples are in my recipes.

 

[Azure]

Well, had it in the primary for about 3 weeks, bottles for 2 weeks and then put one in the fridge for a couple hours to test it.

Not sure if the 'hops' are coming through, but it has a 'citrus' kind of after taste? I can't really place exactly what it is. For all I know the APA is supposed to taste like that.

Not really my kind of beer. Its not terrible, but I'm a Red Ale(rickards) fan. I assume leaving it in the bottle for a while longer will help things so I'll try that. Otherwise its half decent.

There is also a lot of sediment at the bottom. Does keeping it cold for a certain period of time eliminate that? I recall reading somewhere that cool temperatures kills off yeast and other sediment.

My Festa Brew Red Ale kit is unbelievably good, so my expectations are WAY to high.

 

[unionrdr]

Chilling for at least 5-7 days will compact the yeast & trub at the bottom of the bottle. This'll make it easier to pour a clear beer. This amount of time will also allow any chill haze to form & settle. The citrus flavor is from the hops used, common in APA & IPA's over here.

 

[Azure]

Chilling for at least 5-7 days will compact the yeast & trub at the bottom of the bottle. This'll make it easier to pour a clear beer. This amount of time will also allow any chill haze to form & settle. The citrus flavor is from the hops used, common in APA & IPA's over here.

Will the citrus flavor go away with time in the bottle? I don't particularly like it.

 

[unionrdr]

Flavors do tend to fade eventually, so far as hops are concerned, but aromas will go first.