Coopers Australian Pale Ale question

[Linwelin]

Hey guys, i bought a Coopers Australian Pale Ale with 1kg of young's beer enhancer. I also have 600g of brewing sugar left over from my last brew (was a coopers stout) i am wondering if it will be ok to throw in the sugar with the beer enhancer for this brew ? would it add to the ABV ? or should i just use the 1kg of the beer enhancer alone ?


Thanks.

 

[McGarnigle]

It would add to the ABV. 600 grams sugar for a 5 gallon batch would add a little more than 1% (based on my completely lazy calculation).

It won't add flavor, and will dry it out a bit. The enhancer is mostly dextrose, I think. So you'd be adding more than 1 kg total sugar.

Is that too much? I don't know. Most homebrewers prefer adding extract, but that sounds like it's not an option now.

 

[unionrdr]

http://http://www.whyteshomewineequipment.co.uk/shoDME & dextrose. p/youngs-beer-kit-enhancer-1-kilo-p-444.html Says it's a mixture of DME & dextrose. Nearly the same as Cooper's BE2, but no maltodextrin. Should be OK, but I don't know about dumping a kilo of sugar on top of that.

 

[Linwelin]

I just left the brewing sugar out, will use it on my next Crevaz. I am wondering something though. When i first got my coopers brewing kit it said i didn't need to sanitize it as it came sanitized. I took my first OG reading and it was .49, and it went off like a rocket to boot!

Now since then i am on my 5th brew and have noticed something, all my OG is now around .30 to .37 and i am baffled as to why this is. I have not brewed anything different from my first brew, even manage to keep everything at the same temp. So the only thing that i can think of that could be causing this is when i sanitise my equipment ? for that i use VWP Sanitiser, i put everything into the fermentor, put 4 tsp of sanitiser and top it up to the lid with hot water. I leave it sitting for a good 30 minutes, then i rinse it all 4 times, just to make sure there is no smell. Give it another 10 minutes before making a brew.

Have i done anything wrong ?

forgot to add the temps, i brew at 22C

Also forgot to add that i only added 22LT of water and not 23.


Thanks.

 

[unionrdr]

I just left the brewing sugar out, will use it on my next Crevaz. I am wondering something though. When i first got my coopers brewing kit it said i didn't need to sanitize it as it came sanitized. I took my first OG reading and it was .49, and it went off like a rocket to boot!

Now since then i am on my 5th brew and have noticed something, all my OG is now around .30 to .37 and i am baffled as to why this is. I have not brewed anything different from my first brew, even manage to keep everything at the same temp. So the only thing that i can think of that could be causing this is when i sanitise my equipment ? for that i use VWP Sanitiser, i put everything into the fermentor, put 4 tsp of sanitiser and top it up to the lid with hot water. I leave it sitting for a good 30 minutes, then i rinse it all 4 times, just to make sure there is no smell. Give it another 10 minutes before making a brew.

Have i done anything wrong ?

forgot to add the temps, i brew at 22C

Also forgot to add that i only added 22LT of water and not 23.


Thanks.

Well, you might not be getting the chilled wort & top off water mixed well so as to give an accurate OG reading on the hydrometer. I prefer to use Starsan no=rinse sanitizer. If you have to rinse the sanitizer off, your negating any sanitation you had before rinsing. I'd lower the temp to 18-20C to get it a bit more in the average ale yeast's sweet spot. And by ".49", do you mean 1.049?

 

[Linwelin]

Well, you might not be getting the chilled wort & top off water mixed well so as to give an accurate OG reading on the hydrometer. I prefer to use Starsan no=rinse sanitizer. If you have to rinse the sanitizer off, your negating any sanitation you had before rinsing. I'd lower the temp to 18-20C to get it a bit more in the average ale yeast's sweet spot. And by ".49", do you mean 1.049?

Will get some starsan for next brew.

yes i mean 1.049 got that with my very first brew, but since then it has been around 30 to 37. Have never had a batch fail and the beer has been excellent, just don't understand why the reading is low. Will also get a new hydrometer just incase that is the problem also.

 

[McGarnigle]

You can't really miss OG if it's all extract and sugar. Your measurements are probably off. It happens sometimes.