Australian Pale Ale (higher ABV)

[egoAIO]

Just took a gravity reading, really quite shocked... already 1.020, OG was 1.046. That is fast isn't it? Been 60 hours since pitch yeast. So it's already 56% attenuation and 3.4% abv.

 

Do coopers yeast stop at 75% attenuation?

[ChristinaS1]

Just took a gravity reading' date=' really quite shocked... already 1.020, OG was 1.046. That is fast isn't it? Been 60 hours since pitch yeast. So it's already 56% attenuation and 3.4% abv.

 

Do coopers yeast stop at 75% attenuation?[/quote']

 

Glad it's working.

 

Coopers dry ale yeast by itself is said to attenuate ~72%, but the APA yeast is an blend of their ale yeast and a third party lager yeast. Most dry lager yeast attenuate ~84%, so a blend of the two probably attenuates half way in between, maybe ~78%.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

That's a good rate of fermentation, nothing wrong with that at all; a 'standard' batch of ale shouldn't take any longer than 7 days at the most to reach FG. If it does take longer then there is something wrong somewhere. On a home brew level the most likely problem in that instance would be an underpitch of yeast, or the temp dropping too low.

[egoAIO]

Now its 1.013.

 

Smelling the sample, does have a bit of a banana/acetone smell to it. Would that dissipate once the yeast clean up after themselves? It's been as high as 22c in the fermenter during the day. Tired of being sickly from home batches, so think will be patient with this one.

[Otto Von Blotto]

It should disappear, I sometimes get banana notes in my pale ales and lagers (although fermented with different yeasts) while it's still just finishing up fermentation but once it's done that and cleaned up and been cold crashed and kegged etc. the banana has disappeared.

 

Acetone like aroma and flavor is caused by ethyl acetate. It is an ester that is primarily the result of the ferment temp being too high and/or there not being enough yeast pitched/stressed yeast/not enough dissolved oxygen in the wort at pitching time. 22C is too high for the lager portion of that yeast, so perhaps this is why it has thrown this ester. It can be aged out of the beer but it does take a fair bit of time.

 

You can find information on common beer faults here: http://www.carolinabrewmasters.com/PDF/Complete_Beer_Fault_Guide.pdf Page 13 contains info about esters and page 34 deals with solventy (acetone) issues.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[BreweyMcHops]

On 5/4/2017 at 11:55 AM, egoAIO said:

After a few batches of dog piss, i'd like to do a proper beer.

 

Will pick up a aussie pale ale kit. Are there any calcs online to work out how much sugar to add to achieve about 6.5% abv? I'll be using table granulated sugar not a brew enhancer kit or brewing sugar. Thanks.

 

Also, what kind of attenuation can i expect after 1 week of fermentation. My current batch of Canadian blonde only had 25% attenuation after 7 days (the kit was 6 years old but added new yeast). Ambient temps inside are exactly 20c.

To be fair, who among us, on our first batches, didn't go for gold in terms of abv, and try and hit the moon with a 6.5% or above disaster that tasted like liquid punishment? I did a russian imperial stout aiming for a about 8% ( and i got there...) that blew the lid of my fermenter , it blew up so hard i think im STILL on a government terror watchlist . Black marks on the ceiling. 

In the end you realise there is a good reason most beers are between say 4.2 and 5.2%, and you also realise, hangon, you get PLENTY pissed on those beers as it is, especially with a roomfull and a fridgefull. 

 

Slow down , do a 4.6% with just a( new not 6 years old) tin of coopers pale, a 1kg box of brew enhancer 3...  ferment for 7 days , dry hop for 3-5 more days, then bottle. Once you get that sussed , THEN start to experiment with higher ABV's ( using dry malt, like the boys said, not table shugar)

Cheers! Let us know how you go

[Smashed Crabs]

After experimenting with some 60%ABV drinks I concur, only did it once before swapping back to the ol reliable 37.5-40%. My liver thanked me!