Coopers Australian Pale Ale - bulk priming a& other Q's

[davejacko]

Hi folks, a couple of questions about Coopers Australian Pale Ale, my second brew:

Q1:
Should I give it 3 weeks in primary. Its been in for 10 days and hit a FG of 1009 (OG was 1040)? Some say to give it an extra week to clean up.

Q2:
I want to try out bulk priming instead of carbonation drops. How much dextrose do I add when bulk priming 23L?

Q3:
How long for bottle conditioning at 19-20 degrees, 500ml bottles?

Q4:
After bottle conditioning can I drink after few hours in the fridge or does it need more time in the cold to condition.

Thanks in advance.

 

[unionrdr]

If it's at 1.009 in only 10 days,then it's probably done. wait till the 3rd day past the day you tested it to see if the numbers match. Then give it another 3-7 days to clean up & settle out clear or slightly misty. 21C (69.8F) would be close enough to the 70F we normally carb & condition our beers at for 3 weeks. Then a week in the fridge to give any chill haze a chance to form & settle out,getting more co2 into solution as well. Here's the priming calculator I use; http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

 

[DaNewf]

Cooper's recommends 8 grams of dextrose per litre for most of their kits. 8 x 23 = 184 which explains why my LHBS sells priming sugar pre-measured to 180 grams.

Of course this is just the generic suggestion to new brewers. Like unionrdr I use online priming calculators to determine a priming rate that is more style specific. In general my stouts get about half the priming sugar Cooper's recommends. My Canadian Blonde however gets the whole 180 grams.

I leave my beer in the fermenter for 3 weeks. It might be done (fermented and "cleaned up") much earlier than that but I've settled on 3 weeks as a matter of habit.

My bottle conditioning schedule is pretty much the same as unionrdr's.

 

[davejacko]

Thanks, great to get consistent advise.