Reactivating Coopers Commercial Ale Yeast

[PB2]

Coopers, encourage home brewers to use the yeast from naturally conditioned Coopers ales. The same ale strain is used across the range - Mild Ale, Pale Ale, Dark Ale, Sparkling Ale, Best Extra Stout and Extra Strong Vintage Ale.

 

There are numerous documented techniques, with varying levels of complexity, for re-activating the yeast in naturally conditioned beer. The method described below may leave some readers, experienced in growing yeast cultures, aghast. \u201cWhat! No stir plate, no malt, no alcohol swabs, no nutrient, no way! However, for Coopers yeast, it works...

 

Method

1. Buy a six pack of Coopers Original Pale Ale and place upright in the fridge for about a week for the yeast to settle.

2. Mix about 600ml of boiling water and 4 tablespoons of dextrose/sugar in a pyrex jug, cover with cling-wrap and leave to cool in the fridge for about 30mins.

3. Open 4 bottles and decant the beer into a jug, leaving behind the yeast sediment - about a couple of centimetres.

4. Pour the sugared water equally into each bottle, cover with cling-wrap and secure with a rubber band.

5. Shake the bottles then place them in a dark spot at a temperature in the mid 20\u2019s.

6. Give the bottles a shake in the morning and at night to keep the yeast in suspension.

7. After around 2 to 3 days the yeast should become active and begin forming a head.

8. Pitch the active yeast into a brew immediately or store in the fridge for about a week. Just remember to pull it out of the fridge to warm for couple of hours prior to pitching.

 

Some additional points to keep in mind;

- start with more yeast by using all 6 bottles,

- buy beer with the freshest yeast (ie. latest \u201cBest After\u201d date),

- lower alcohol content is better (mild ale or pale ale),

- it\u2019s okay to hold the culture at slightly higher temps to promote a quicker reactivation,

- one sanitised vessel (approx 1 litre) may be used rather than separate bottles,

- make sure the culture smells okay before pitching,

- buy another 6 pack for each culture and

- don\u2019t forget to drink the decanted beer [biggrin] [biggrin]

 

 

Update: Recent additions to the range of our naturally conditioned Coopers Ales are Celebration Ale and Session Ale.

[Beerlust]

Happy New Year all.

 

I think PB2's "Sticky" procedure for re-activating the CCA yeast got lost in the transfer of information from the old site to the new.

 

Perhaps have it re-positioned as a Brewing Blether sticky once again?

 

On a side note, it was interesting to read that in 1999 Coopers switched to a pure ale yeast strain for use in their ale beers, from what was originally a mixed yeast strain that the brewery had been using, dating back to 1910!

 

P.S. I'm quite happy to have my post removed if this thread is re-positioned as a sticky once again. :)

 

Cheers,

 

Anthony.

[PB2]

That's cool Lusty!

 

We dropped this as a sticky because it's now part of the Brewing FAQs:

 

How do I reactivate Coopers commercial ale yeast?

[Beerlust]

Cool. :)

[westimo]

Hey I was wondering if I should still use 4 bottles if Im pitching into the craft kit or if I should only use 2 for a 10 litre brew.

[PB2]

It never hurts to have more yeast so use 4.

[Quadricorn]

It never hurts to have more yeast so use 4.

.

 

Sotty for digging up an old thread. I have just done this with 4 bottles for a craft fermenter although admittedly the bottles had only been sitting for about 3-4 days.

 

My question is, since I am brewing afruit salad ale with this yeast, is it better to endure that I don't over pitch? I refer to wheat beers where they say to endure you do not over pitch since you want the beers to give off some esters. Seems like it could be the same deal with the fruit salad ale..

[Mark D Pirate]

would this work ?

I had 4 pale ale stubbies sitting in bottom of fridge for at least a week and will need more yeast for next weekends brew .

 

i've boiled and cooled some water to top up the almost empty stubby about 100ml now , thought i might use up the carbo drops i have since i bulk prime anyway so they're useless otherwise .

 

anyone see any major problems with method i hadn't thought of ?

spraying around the neck with hydrogen peroxide , sanitised tongs to pick up drops , using sprayed glad wrap and rubber band .

 

if this works will give me a continuous supply of a great ale yeast with only a moments work after pouring a beer (just have to fight urge to roll it )

 

now how do i know how much to pitch ! ...

 

 

[Mattrox]

What sort of apparent attenuation can be expected from a kit when using Coopers Commercial Ale Yeast?

[porschemad911]

Wondering if anyone who has previously reactivated this yeast can provide some observations on how it behaves.

 

I pitched my reactivated dregs of 6 Coopers Pale Ale stubbies late Friday night, it started showing signs of fermentation at 20C on Saturday morning, developed a fairly hefty krausen over the weekend, and by Monday morning the it was at 22C and the krausen was dropping. While removing and cleaning the krausen coller last night, I decided to take a gravity sample to check the process, and it was only down to 1.015 from an OG of 1.035.

 

I was hoping to get down to an FG of maybe 1.007 or 1.008, so fingers crossed my yeast hasn't decided to give up just yet. I gave the fermenter a gentle swirl before settling it back into my brewing cooler. My 6-pack was maybe a week beyond the 'best after' date, so I'm hoping that makes it fairly fresh. I'm fairly sure it's still fermenting since my gravity sample had a ton of CO2 in it, but as I mentioned the krausen had dropped fairly significantly. There's still a thin layer of foam on the surface, but nothing like what it was.

 

Can anyone share their observations of the correlation between the krausen dropping and the attenuation progress with this yeast? Does it continue to attenuate down another 5 - 10 points after the krausen starts to drop? Or is it just about done when that happens?

 

I've got a pack of US-05 in the fridge, so worst case I'll rehydrate and pitch that to get a bit more attenuation.

 

On a positive note, the gravity sample tasted really nice, but slightly sweet. It's definitely got that signature Coopers Pale Ale character!

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Wondering if anyone who has previously reactivated this yeast can provide some observations on how it behaves.

 

I pitched my reactivated dregs of 6 Coopers Pale Ale stubbies late Friday night' date=' it started showing signs of fermentation at 20C on Saturday morning, developed a fairly hefty krausen over the weekend, and by Monday morning the it was at 22C and the krausen was dropping. While removing and cleaning the krausen coller last night, I decided to take a gravity sample to check the process, and it was only down to 1.015 from an OG of 1.035.

 

I was hoping to get down to an FG of maybe 1.007 or 1.008, so fingers crossed my yeast hasn't decided to give up just yet. I gave the fermenter a gentle swirl before settling it back into my brewing cooler. My 6-pack was maybe a week beyond the 'best after' date, so I'm hoping that makes it fairly fresh. I'm fairly sure it's still fermenting since my gravity sample had a ton of CO2 in it, but as I mentioned the krausen had dropped fairly significantly. There's still a thin layer of foam on the surface, but nothing like what it was.

 

Can anyone share their observations of the correlation between the krausen dropping and the attenuation progress with this yeast? Does it continue to attenuate down another 5 - 10 points after the krausen starts to drop? Or is it just about done when that happens?

 

I've got a pack of US-05 in the fridge, so worst case I'll rehydrate and pitch that to get a bit more attenuation.

 

On a positive note, the gravity sample tasted really nice, but slightly sweet. It's definitely got that signature Coopers Pale Ale character! [img']happy[/img]

 

Doing a pale ale at the moment with this yeast. Starter size was 1L with two tallies. Starter took 2 days to get going but by the time I pitched had a krausen almost to the bung. Pitched and took off in about 4 hrs in a batch 21L @ 22c. OG was 1050. Nice Krausen formed and have it in my brew fridge @ 18c. 4 days later its at 1030 and the Krausen is almost gone but it is still bubbling so I think its still doing something.

 

I did one a few months ago which took forever to finish and the same thing happened though I put that down to an underpitch. However I cant count this one as an underpitch. In my opinion its just the way the commercial yeast works.

[porschemad911]

Thanks for the input Greeny, must be the way this yeast behaves then, in that the krausen drops and it keeps slowly chugging away. I'm going to give it some time and check the gravity again on the weekend.

 

Edit: have just found your thread and am reading it through

[Beerlust]

I've got a pretty basic version of the Coopers Pale Ale in a fermenter right now using the CCA yeast. Just took a gravity sample after 10 days. It's within a point of expected FG. It fermented vigorously for the first 3-4 days as usual for me, & has hit the target with no problems.

 

@ porschemad911: I read your earlier post, & it's sounds like you've been playing around with the brew much like a new brewer would at early stages of primary fermentation. You should know better John!

 

@ Greeny: If your last gravity reading is correct, I feel you may have an underpitch situation despite you believing you may not, & I'll explain why. I don't like the longneck/tallie route. The reason I prefer using individual stubbies is that you get an accurate viability assessment of the yeast in EACH of those bottles. If you're achieving C02 expelling from 4-6 different sources it tells me I have a higher likelihood of more viable yeast cells than if comparing with 2-3 sources.

 

For those unaware, the re-activation process is inclusive of a viability test (of sorts).

 

To me, 6 active sources > 3 active sources.

 

Not very often, but on a couple of occasions I have had a stubbie fail the viability test during the re-activation phase. Basically it showed no signs of C02 build-up & expelling, & subsequently told me not to bother using it for the upcoming brew.

 

I've said it before, but no harm in saying it again, I've had not a single problem using the CCA yeast by adhering to the outlined method for the re-activation process.

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[porschemad911]

Haha Lusty ... isn't every brew an exciting adventure? And may I remind you, from the mouth of the oracle as part of the outlined method:

- one sanitised vessel (approx 1 litre) may be used rather than separate bottles

The law of averages perhaps?

[Beerlust]

Haha Lusty ... isn't every brew an exciting adventure?

Indeed.

 

And may I remind you' date=' from the mouth of the oracle as part of the outlined method:

- one sanitised vessel (approx 1 litre) may be used rather than separate bottles

The law of averages perhaps?

I am quite aware of PB2's quotation there, & in an extremely rare situation like this, I would be quite happy to debate the viability from more viable sources area with him, but above all else would certainly be interested in his views about that.

 

I've adhered to the outlined method each time & continue to enjoy a 100% success rate from it. Through being educated by other members of this forum on yeast harvesting, I've furthered my ability to harvest & re-use the CCA yeast successfully over & over.

 

While that 100% success rate remains intact, I'll remain steadfast about my views around some of the pitfalls I feel others run into by deviating from the preferred outlined method of re-activating enough yeast to ferment out desired brews.

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

I've got a pretty basic version of the Coopers Pale Ale in a fermenter right now using the CCA yeast. Just took a gravity sample after 10 days. It's within a point of expected FG. It fermented vigorously for the first 3-4 days as usual for me' date=' & has hit the target with no problems.

 

[b']@ porschemad911[/b]: I read your earlier post, & it's sounds like you've been playing around with the brew much like a new brewer would at early stages of primary fermentation. You should know better John!

 

@ Greeny: If your last gravity reading is correct, I feel you may have an underpitch situation despite you believing you may not, & I'll explain why. I don't like the longneck/tallie route. The reason I prefer using individual stubbies is that you get an accurate viability assessment of the yeast in EACH of those bottles. If you're achieving C02 expelling from 4-6 different sources it tells me I have a higher likelihood of more viable yeast cells than if comparing with 2-3 sources.

 

For those unaware, the re-activation process is inclusive of a viability test (of sorts).

 

To me, 6 active sources > 3 active sources.

 

Not very often, but on a couple of occasions I have had a stubbie fail the viability test during the re-activation phase. Basically it showed no signs of C02 build-up & expelling, & subsequently told me not to bother using it for the upcoming brew.

 

I've said it before, but no harm in saying it again, I've had not a single problem using the CCA yeast by adhering to the outlined method for the re-activation process.

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

 

Not sure this time Lusty. Last time I had problems the starter was nowhere near advanced as the one I pitched this time. I am fermenting cool though @ 18c so wasn't expecting it to be fast.

 

Took a reading last night and it was 1026 so it is still coming down and still getting bubbles from the airlock but there is now no krausen whatsoever. Does yours keep a krausen all the way??

[Beerlust]

Hi Greeny.

Not sure this time Lusty. Last time I had problems the starter was nowhere near advanced as the one I pitched this time. I am fermenting cool though @ 18c so wasn't expecting it to be fast.

 

Took a reading last night and it was 1026 so it is still coming down and still getting bubbles from the airlock but there is now no krausen whatsoever. Does yours keep a krausen all the way??

The slow kick off of your 1L starter concerns me a little' date=' as does the two tallies worth of yeast used to ferment a 1.050 OG brew. Add to that, you believe the krausen has already collapsed & the yeast appears to be struggling a little after 4 days fermenting. Combined, that just sounds like an underpitch to me. [img']innocent[/img]

 

My ferments with this yeast are generally fast beginning, quite vigorous, & have usually fermented out the medium gravity brews I've used them in within 4-5 days after pitching. The krausen has usually collapsed back into the beer by the time I come to take my first gravity reading.

 

The fact the FG is still coming down is a good sign though, so fingers crossed that continues.

 

Perhaps look to pitch more yeast in future.

 

Good luck with the brew,

 

Lusty.

[PB2]

There's also this video:

 

[PhilbyT]

Very Good PB

 

Enjoying the other vids that follow this one on autoplay. Grain and Hop Additions etc, Storing and Maturing Beer and more...

[Beerlust]

There's also this video:

 

Yay! I now haz a linkz to refer to!

 

Whilst viewing the YouTube video' date=' I noticed Coopers have released some other "How To..." videos.

 

Good stuff! [img']smile[/img]

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[porschemad911]

An update on my Pale Ale Coopers yeast experiment - I bottled it into 4 x 6 litre Tap-a-Draft bottles yesterday. It had slowly crept down to 1.006 and stopped, right about where I wanted it The gravity sample tasted ok, a tiny bit cidery, but see how that goes with some conditioning. Had the signature Coopers pale ale flavour though!

 

So now I know, it gets off to a quick start, then slows down and keeps chewing away, ending up with pretty good attenuation.

[porschemad911]

And thank you PB2, I have just watched the video. I like the PET bottle tip - will use that next time. Now I have another use for all my wife's 1.25 litre soda water bottles!

[Corksniffer]

Difference in taste between Coopers packet Ale yeast and bottle conditioned anyone?

 

I'm now going to try culture a Hoegaarden yeast.. ! And use it with the Thomas Coopers Heffe. I swear Hoegaarden flavours come from the yeast alone and zest/coriander seeds are an Internet myth but we'll see.. I've stuck my nose in many-a bottle and just thought it was coming from a great strain of yeast pretty well alone

[GRK]

Hi home brewers I am new to this forum and wanted to ask some questions about culturing yeast. I have been brewing in the old 18 gallon coopers kegs for at least 25 years and have only ever had one failure. But I have always used the yeast supplied with the kits. I pretty much triple the batch to make a keg of beer. So I use 3 coopers pale ale kits and 3 brew enhancer 2's. I brew in a stainless steel old coopers keg also that has the top cut out and a thread welded into the bottom about 2 inches up. Once I have pitched the yeast I put glad wrap over the top to seal it and once it starts brewing I poke about 4 little holes in the glad wrap to act as my air lock. After about 4 days all bubbling has stopped so I decant into another 18 gallon (about 70 litres) keg, add 600gms of diluted sugar so it starts a secondary fermentation and seal it off. Within 2/3 days you can put it in the fridge (I have a large cabinet fridge which fits two kegs) and once it cools down you can sample it. Roughly two weeks after start of brewing you can taste your brew but does get better with age.

My question is how many pale ale bottles would I need to culture enough yeast to brew 70 litres?

 

**ADMIN ASSIST**

[Otto Von Blotto]

I reckon you'd end up with a better beer if you left it more like 14 days before transferring it to the other keg for carbonation, but anyway... beside the point.

 

The original post says to use about 4-6 stubbies for a normal sized batch, so you'd have to pretty much triple that for 70 litres. I'm not sure if the tallies contain double the yeast but if they do then I'd suggest about 9-10 of them.