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Coopers pale Ale


Rob Courtney

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How does it compare to the American Pale...

 

Seriously though, I am going to look at hopping this brew as the only hops appear to be in the ingredients not pouches so the Brew sgop guy has given me some "super pride of ringwood hops" 25g. He has said "FFS, don't use all of it if you are hop tea the thing"

 

Thoughts, comes in an airtight bag with hops in a mesh bag...should I just chuck the bag in like a frickin' man?

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2 hours ago, Rob Courtney said:

How does it compare to the American Pale...

 

Seriously though, I am going to look at hopping this brew as the only hops appear to be in the ingredients not pouches so the Brew sgop guy has given me some "super pride of ringwood hops" 25g. He has said "FFS, don't use all of it if you are hop tea the thing"

 

Thoughts, comes in an airtight bag with hops in a mesh bag...should I just chuck the bag in like a frickin' man?

I’d say quite a difference with the Coopers Pale Ale and the American however the pride of Ringwood hops will certainly make it different. This hop is mainly used in lagers however it’s use in Pale Ales is not uncommon. The hops in profile will provide quite pronounced, woody, earth, herbal outcomes and very bitter finish - why he suggested not to use all in a hop tea. (I think you like bitterness).

Chuck the bag in, this would be a good start in evaluating this hop.

 

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Yes if your going to keg/bottle 24hrs later. I usually put it in when I think fermentation is nearly complete, around 7 to 8 days depending on what is brewing. You can predict this fairly closely by looking at the temperature activity, like when it’s basically a flat to slight increase over 8 hours. (I like to keg as soon as EOF happens and ready to keg is the go). 

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24 minutes ago, Rob Courtney said:

So, I am going to keg/bottle and i let it go to EOF, then sit for a few days on storage to cear the beer. I am now reading that storage kills the yeast (well not kill but buggers it) and affects head retention and carbonation, what do you think on the last bit?

 

I have found that the two coopers cans I did have great head retention and fizz...don't taste as good as brewprints but..and they were the ones I kegged and bottled pretty much straight away

The cold temperature of storage doesn’t kill the yeast but puts it to sleep. It can be revived again by temp increase and addition of sugars. This is how brewers use the yeast from Coopers Pale Ale bottles. Head retention won’t be affected but carbonation won’t occur at the low temperature as the yeast is asleep, but once warmed up again, say 18C, carbonation will occur as the yeast awakes and converts the sugar for carbonation purposes.

When EOF occurs I’d add the hops and leave in the keg mode for the two days then bottle/keg or go into storage for further beer clearing If you think necessary.

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3 minutes ago, Barrelboy said:

The cold temperature of storage doesn’t kill the yeast but puts it to sleep. It can be revived again by temp increase and addition of sugars. This is how brewers use the yeast from Coopers Pale Ale bottles. Head retention won’t be affected but carbonation won’t occur at the low temperature as the yeast is asleep, but once warmed up again, say 18C, carbonation will occur as the yeast awakes and converts the sugar for carbonation purposes.

When EOF occurs I’d add the hops and leave in the keg mode for the two days then bottle/keg or go into storage for further beer clearing If you think necessary.

Really appreciate the info Mark. So you don't think 25gms of Super ringwood is too much?

 

Brewshop guy acted like a frickin Nancy today but to be fair he did say " you can always add extra, you just can't take it out", which I said to him was advice for beer making and sex

 

He looked at me weird

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20 minutes ago, Rob Courtney said:

Oh it was there, in fact I could have kegged it after 18 hours but left it 24. Question though, if you have the hops in a mesh bag does that make less mess or do the hops just break down in the bag as well. Sure makes a difference to how the droid looks after it is drained though :)

In the hop bag they swell up and release the goodies, if you didn’t use the bag and just plonk them in you have that much sediment in you bottles and or keg. Now some brewers actually hop in the kegs (19l) but they are usually the hop buds/flowers. Personally not my cup of tea so to speak.

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16 minutes ago, Darran Haynes said:

Ok just popped in at my new favourite shop (Brewmart) & grabbed 100g's of Chinook, Amarillo & Cluster hops to experiment with plus a hop nylon mesh bag.  Not sure how I'm going to use them yet but it's a start I guess 🤪😇

I like the Amarillo hops, check out the hop guide in the thread “ Additional Hops” page 2

Edited by Barrelboy
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10 hours ago, Rob Courtney said:

 

Ok, so with a bit less daylight and better electric light, I can see the progression through the bottles to the amount hops in the beer. First four of seven are clear, fifth with a tiny bit floating in, 6th has a bit in it, think a careful pour and a few weeks could minimise the hops in the glass. There is no pussyfooting around the 7th though, it was a dregs bottle so it was always going to be cloudy but yeah that one doesn't appear to be drinkable.

So I guess I won't do that again and just buy the hops in bags ( brew shop guy sells them and given I used about 10gs of hops and was really impressed, might start there

 

No real damage done however hop bags are a go. Also ask your brew shop guy about a ss hop ball. That can be sanitised and used over and over again making hop purchase at 10g per packet a cheaper way to go.

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8 hours ago, Rob Courtney said:

I mean, it worked on my empty droid when I gave it a test, the real fun comes in a few days when I actually drink a keg so I have one free. I didn't bother buying any kegs from the Black Friday sale. I kinda figure 16 kegs and 80 longnecks is an OK amount, would rather look into a bottling kit than getting a few extra kegs at this stage

Don’t know why you want so many bottles??image.thumb.jpg.e6c4d876f13f440be04d5c27db31e0d2.jpg

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It’s good to have that relationship. The old saying “good things come in glass” is so correct. The brews last a hell of a lot longer in glass. Those bottles in the pic above are mainly stouts, dark ales and a few strong scotch ales. The youngest ones are now 5 years old, the oldest 7. They are very drinkable and loved by others. 

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  • 1 month later...
11 minutes ago, Barrelboy said:

Interesting, never used pride of Ringwood hops, seems to add something a bit special?

It's what Brew Shop guy was adamant on and to be fair, he pulled out a recipe book that called for it too. To be honest tasting it, you'd think " that's an OK beer I could session that" and you could but the second someone said " that's my Coopers Pale Ale" you'd be going "nah, wrong hops on that, pour me another just to make sure but".

Nothing wrong with the beer, nothing at all, just not a Coopers Pale Ale 

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1 hour ago, Barrelboy said:

A years brewing stock, is that a brew a week with the two droids?

LOL, no.

Near capacity and drink a 5lt keg on weekends and 4 longnecks on a Tuesday...could drink more, could drink like Keith Richards on a bender but choose to try and keep more alcohol free days than on days...of course if there are a few over 33+ days, I will induge.

Given that, at present, two droids is a luxury but a happy luxury, I can step up production if needed and somewhere along the line, I may move to carny kegs ( or you know, 5-10 litre kegs) and start being in a position where I an take one in an insulated sleeve to parties etc 

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On 29/01/2020 at 8:03 PM, Barrelboy said:

Interesting, never used pride of Ringwood hops, seems to add something a bit special?

 

From this experience, it doesn't add anything bad as far as flavour but it seems to open up. Have really enjoyed tonights session. Not really Pale Ale, not a vast difference but the beer itself you could quite easily enjoy a few pints of without a problem

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  • 1 month later...

So yesterday I bottled this beer. Sooooo hope it turns out as well as I am hoping . Those hops smelt amazing when I put them in and when I took them out lol , just wanted to squeeze the bag in there for extra flavor lol. Will give these a few weeks and give it a go. 

20200324_152154.jpg

20200324_153052.jpg

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