Thomas Cooper's Premium Selection Sparkling Ale

Matty · Post by **Matty** » Sunday Sep 26, 2004 9:11 am

I've got a recipe from a different site:

Premium Selection Sparkling Ale kit
1.5 kg light LME
300gm dextrose
500gm light DME
Dry hop with Pride of Ringwood, 15-20gm when cold conditioning

I have all the ingredients but I'm steering away from dextrose so was planning to use 1kg of light DME instead of the dextrose and dried malt. Dextrose wouldn't be necessary other than being a fermentable would it?

Cheers

Matty

Super Max Power · Post by **Super Max Power** » Monday Sep 27, 2004 3:54 pm

True - the dextrose is a fermentable but, it would also be used to give the yeast something to get into quickly.

I have done one of these kits before (without the extra hops) and I must say the alcohol content gets up a bit. I personally think there is enough malt in the rest of the recipe and the 300gm of dextrose is totally unnoticeable.

Matty · Post by **Matty** » Monday Sep 27, 2004 8:40 pm

I'll be using a yeast starter from 6 sparkling ale stubbies which l have started or a safale yeast which l'll rehydrate b4 pitching so speedy fermentables aren't an issue. If the dextrose isn't 'necessary' l'd rather use malt. Just wasn't sure if the dextrose had more of a purpose than bumping up the alc %

Matty

Evo · Post by **Evo** » Thursday Oct 21, 2004 1:14 pm

Yeah, I too was thinking of giving this recipe a bash but am a bit sceptical. Normally I'm using about 2.7kgs of fermentables (a can and a kilo) and getting an ABV of about 5%. I know Coopers Sparkling is a bit stronger but 4.2kgs of fermentables would be way too much.

Has anyone else given this recipe a try ?

thehipone · Post by **thehipone** » Thursday Oct 21, 2004 3:09 pm

Hi,

I haven't actually tried this recipe, but one thing to keep in mind is that malt extract is roughly 80% fermentable.

In a 23L batch I get an estimate of about 6.9% ABV with the original recipe as Matty posted it with , not tooo far off of the sparkling ale you buy (6.2% is it?). WIth 1kg of dry malt extract instead of the 300dex/500 light DME I get 7%. And with the dextrose omitted from the original recipe, 6.1%.

I've done all malt beers and the yeast have no problem getting going. They don't need the dextrose. So if you want some more kick, leave it in. If not, it's not going to affect the flavor at all.

Matty · Post by **Matty** » Friday Oct 22, 2004 8:47 am

I racked my sparkling ale into the secondary the other day and dry hopped with 17.5gm pride of ringwood hops. Probably leave it for another week or so then bottle it. Should be right for x-mas

Evo · Post by **Evo** » Friday Oct 22, 2004 3:51 pm

Whoah !

Just mixed up my Coopers Sparkling recipe - 1.7kg Can, 1.5kg LME, 250g DME and 250g Dextrose and came out with a whopping 1066 O.G. So I'm guessing with all that malt in it, it might brew down to about 1016 maybe. That gives it an ABV of about 6.9% (the real deal is 5.8%). Should definitely get the party started anyway !

What did your Sparkling Ale turn out to be (ABV% wise) Matty ?

Matty · Post by **Matty** » Tuesday Oct 26, 2004 12:08 am

Hey Evo,

The last reading I did would have given me 6.9%.

Cooper's Sparkling Ale kit
1kg light DME
1.5kg light LME
Yeast starter from 5 Sparkling Ale stubbies & 2 bottles

17.5gm POR hops for CCing

OG 1.058 @ 20C 7/10/2004 1.013-12 @ 18C

Dry hopped the POR hops a couple of weeks ago so will bottle in the next couple of days

Evo · Post by **Evo** » Tuesday Oct 26, 2004 9:10 pm

Hey Matty,

Yeah, as of today mine is down to 1016. I'm concerned though, I had a bit of a taste out of the hydrometer tube after measuring it, and ahhh... how can I put it... a bit nasty. I'm hoping cause it's such a high alcohol beer (6.9%) and it's warm and maybe that funky taste might "lager out". Maybe I'm hoping alot. So it kinda tastes... ummm... for want of a better adjective, soapy. Is this that crook Pride of Ringwood taste that these fine webmasters have mentioned ? Or have I just stuffed up ?

Matty · Post by **Matty** » Tuesday Oct 26, 2004 11:40 pm

Hey Evo,

Mine tasted pretty nice out of the hydrometer test, not unpleasent at all. I bottled it tonight so I'll know in a few weeks how close it is to the original.

Matty

thehipone · Post by **thehipone** » Wednesday Oct 27, 2004 11:54 am

Usually the higher alcohol beers take a little longer to mature.

I've also found that a lot of the high alpha hops (PoR, Northern Brewer) can impart a pretty strong flavor that mellows out with longer aging. Definitely give this one a month+ in the cellar to reach its potential.

Evo · Post by **Evo** » Wednesday Oct 27, 2004 6:19 pm

Nice. I'll keg this one tonight and test my willpower in not drinking it for a while. It'll be the first of the twelve steps for me

Yeah, let me know how yours goes Matty.

Jezza · Post by **Jezza** » Thursday Oct 28, 2004 1:10 pm

Fellas,

I am brewing a Sparkling Ale at the moment for the first time. Didn't tamper with the recipe too much, just followed the directions on the can. However, I wanted to bump up the alcohol % a little so I added an extra 350g of dextrose. Ended up with an initial SG reading of 1058.

Can anyone tell me what I should expect from this brew? Will it go down to the usual 1005 - 1010 or will it be around 1016+ like some of the other brews I have been reading about?

I'm thinking if I let it brew for a little longer than usual, it should turn out ok. Any suggestions?

Jezza.

Matty · Post by **Matty** » Friday Oct 29, 2004 11:51 am

Hey Jezza,

I've never tried a Sparkling Ale home-brew so I'm not sure what to expect. From what I've read tho, if you dry hop in the secondary fermenter with about 15-20gm of Pride Of Ringwood hops for a couple of weeks it brings the brew closer to the real thing.
I bottled mine a few days ago and my FG was 1.012 @ 18'C, so I reckon yours should come down past that if you just followed the kit instructions and used 1.5 kg LME.

Cheers,

Matty

wombat · Post by **wombat** » Saturday Oct 30, 2004 1:28 am

hi all,

i just put down a cooper's sparkling ale today myself.

i pretty much just followed the recipe, using the 1.7kg sparkling ale can, 1.5kg light malt extract, 500g light dried malt extract and 300g dextrose.

the only modifications i did to it were that i added some aroma hops and i used some live yeast.

with the hops, i used 15g of pride of ringwood hop pellets and i just turfed them in on top of the couple of litres of hot wort in the fermenter just before i began filling it up to the 23ltr mark with cold water. i was thinking of not adding anything and just strictly following the recipe but i decided that a couple of grams of fresh pride of ringwood pellets would be a welcome addition to this can brew.

the other thing i did was to culture up a smallish starter out of one longneck of coopers sparkling ale using about 50g of light dried malt extract to pitch in addition to the packet of dried yeast they have supplied. i was originally going to make a complete culture starter but i really feel like drinking 3 longnecks of sparkling ale at that particular time. sockets programming can give you the shits if you're smashed on coopers...

kind of a long post i know, but i just figured i'd add to this thread about using a cooper's sparkling ale home brew kit so you all can find out how this kit goes for me at the same time i do

smelled nice but tasted like battery acid out of the fermenter. serves me right for thinking i should sample the wort before it had even so much as seen the yeast yet. that'll learn me.

anyway... SG was 1060 @ 28deg C on a hydrometer calibrated for 15deg C. so, after calibrating, SG was 1063.

i expect the FG to be 1016 after calibration.

-wombat

Evo · Post by **Evo** » Saturday Oct 30, 2004 11:35 am

Yeah, I kegged mine the other day and the FG was 1015 (from an OG of 1066) which from memory puts it up to about 7%ABV. Pretty heavy for a light coloured beer I think. Mine was only 18litres though.

And I too will post again once I taste it. If I'm not too mashed to type that is

Be interested to see how yours turns out Matty and Wombat. I'm not that confident about mine but we'll see.

Matty · Post by **Matty** » Sunday Oct 31, 2004 10:28 am

I wouldn't be worried about it Evo, even if our brews don't turn out like their name sake I'm sure they'll still be a more than acceptable brew.
I tend to reckon that adding ingredients to almost any kit will only improve it, it may not make it true to the style but who cares, so long as you enjoy making, drinking and sharing it with ya buddies, that's what I'm in it for anyway.

Cheers,

Matty

kombi · Post by **kombi** » Wednesday Nov 03, 2004 12:51 pm

yes- i've just done a sparkling ale too. followed exact recipe on can, no extras. started with og of 1045+ (thats as high as my hydrometer goes) and after 4 days is 1008, so i've added finings to clear it a bit and will bottle in 2 days. thats works out about 4.8-5% i think. tastes ok out of hydrometer test tube.
i followed exact can recipe as its only my 2nd brew. my first i got too tricky and went for a pilsner with extra hops and stuff and the fermentation stopped at 1020, but bottled it anyway. Hoping the sparkling comes out a winner!

wombat · Post by **wombat** » Wednesday Nov 03, 2004 1:26 pm

i'd get a better hydrometer

i don't think i've brewed anything with an intial gravity of 1045 or less since the old days of kit and kilo.
try and get a beer and wine hydrometer if you can.
-wombat

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Wednesday Nov 03, 2004 10:04 pm

I just dropped mine on a concrete floor, suffice it to say it doesn't work well anymore. I to have to buy one

Dogger