Coopers dark ale

[Knockaboutbrewing]

I'm in the process of brewing the dark ale and when checking the SG after 6 days it is very heady. Is this normal ? If not how can I rectify it.  It is my 3rd brew attempted and haven't come across it when doing the lager and pale ale. 

Cheers

[Journeyman]

19 minutes ago, Knockaboutbrewing said:

I'm in the process of brewing the dark ale and when checking the SG after 6 days it is very heady. Is this normal ? If not how can I rectify it.  It is my 3rd brew attempted and haven't come across it when doing the lager and pale ale. 

That's likely not heady. it's just karusen and it's normal - it will quieten down soon and keep fermenting more quietly.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Journeyman

[Shamus O'Sean]

2 hours ago, Knockaboutbrewing said:

I'm in the process of brewing the dark ale and when checking the SG after 6 days it is very heady. Is this normal ? If not how can I rectify it.  It is my 3rd brew attempted and haven't come across it when doing the lager and pale ale. 

Cheers

Hi Knockaboutbrewing and welcome to the Forum.  Explain what you mean by heady.  The Dark Ale is more complex and rich than the APA and the Lager.  Maybe that is what you are tasting.  What was your SG at day 6?

[Knockaboutbrewing]

The SG 1018. By heady I mean when getting a sample in my testing tube the "head" is around 2cm. The lager and APA were around 1cm. Thanks for the advice

[Malter White]

14 minutes ago, Knockaboutbrewing said:

The SG 1018. By heady I mean when getting a sample in my testing tube the "head" is around 2cm. The lager and APA were around 1cm. Thanks for the advice

It is normal for darker beers to produce more foam when taking samples. It just means you have to wait a little longer for the bubbles to pop before you get an accurate reading. I often use my hydrometer to squeeze the bubbles against the test tube to speed up the process. I'm not really sure if it works but it has a definite placebo effect that it is working for this brewer.  

[Classic Brewing Co]

I have noticed that also, I have found filling the tube up to (or at least close to) the top, so that when you lower the hydrometer, most of the foam spills over the edge. Once it's that high up, it's not too hard to blow most of the remaining foam off. I also have poured the sample between two containers a few times and the gas dissipates.

All part of the fun to get an accurate reading.

[Cult Of One]

On 6/6/2021 at 5:41 PM, Knockaboutbrewing said:

I'm in the process of brewing the dark ale and when checking the SG after 6 days it is very heady. Is this normal ? If not how can I rectify it.  It is my 3rd brew attempted and haven't come across it when doing the lager and pale ale. 

Cheers

So how did it end up tasting?

[Oldbloke]

7 hours ago, Cult Of One said:

So how did it end up tasting?

Typically "yummy". It's my favourite.  

 

Sorry couldn't help myself.

[Back2Brewing]

Put down a Coopers Dark Ale yesterday

My Ingredients: 

1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale extract.

1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 3 (300g Dextrose, 200g Maltodextrine, 500g LDME)

500g Dark Malt Extract

5g yeast nutrient

6g of Coopers yeast R007 from the kit. (Same as the yeast comes with the Coopers Stout & Lager)

Made to 23 ltr.

OG was 1.050.

Brewing at 18-19 deg' C.

[Oldbloke]

That will be great in 3-4 months

[Classic Brewing Co]

27 minutes ago, Oldbloke said:

That will be great in 3-4 months

Be good in 2-3 weeks, ain't going to be much better really at the end of the day.

Anyway, it wouldn't last long at Phil's Bar & Grill, I made that for years & never really noted in difference in trying to age it, especially a k & k beer.

[Shamus O'Sean]

13 hours ago, Back2Brewing said:

Put down a Coopers Dark Ale yesterday

My Ingredients: 

1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale extract.

1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 3 (300g Dextrose, 200g Maltodextrine, 500g LDME)

500g Dark Malt Extract

5g yeast nutrient

6g of Coopers yeast R007 from the kit. (Same as the yeast comes with the Coopers Stout & Lager)

Made to 23 ltr.

OG was 1.050.

Brewing at 18-19 deg' C.

I will be interested to hear how this goes.  I am planning something similar at some time.  I bought a Coopers Dark Ale and a Cooper Pale Malt Extract can during the recent ROTM free delivery offer.  I want to do something pretty basic, but I might drop in some Light Dry Malt to up the ABV a little bit.  I will also probably use a different yeast because I find the Original Series R007 yeast does not attenuate as much as some commercial ale yeasts.

[Back2Brewing]

No problems @Shamus O'Sean. I'll provide updates. I wanted a simple one this time too. I have plenty of LDME, DDME, and coopers BE's but wanted some of the darker malt flavor for a try on this one, and also save my 1.2kg canned malts for other future beer. LOL, I was also trying to keep the ABV down a bit on purpose after some recent ones. 500g of both malts should even it out. (+ the bit of dex'/malto') Additionally I also purposely used the Coopers kit dry yeast this time for a first. I've either used coopers commercial yeast or US Ale dry yeasts (all to great effect) and wanted to see how this went in comparison. Especially flavor and any signs of early "home brew" flavors I've not experienced with the others. Yes I was worried a bit about the attenuation with the smaller size kit yeast, but a 1.050 is not a big beer,  and I used a yeast nutrient to give it a kick. (I may also be a bit gun-shy about over attenuating after (I think) a failed experiment on a beer with too much yeast.)  FYI,  on the Dark Ale 12 hours in I had a 7cm high krausen "volcano" going and 24hours in the krausen was totally covered and 7-10cm thick. The brew was exothermic adding 2.1 deg' to the FV temp' so I had to get the fan out. I've got the hydrom in so I can post the SG graph when finished. 

Oh and thank you for your work on the spreadsheet.  I used it yesterday. Awesome stuff!

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Back2Brewing

[Oldbloke]

On 9/1/2023 at 4:13 PM, Classic Brewing Co said:

Be good in 2-3 weeks, ain't going to be much better really at the end of the day.

Anyway, it wouldn't last long at Phil's Bar & Grill, I made that for years & never really noted in difference in trying to age it, especially a k & k beer.

I can't talk about kegs. But there is no doubt bottled dark beers improve with time IMO.

[Classic Brewing Co]

3 minutes ago, Oldbloke said:

I can't talk about kegs. But there is no doubt bottled dark beers improve with time IMO.

In my experience k & k brews don't improve that much after 4-6 weeks or so depending on factors like grain additions, obviously you don't want to drink 'green' beer but given their ingredients it's not going to improve that much.

An AG Dark Ale/Stout would definitely mature with age but in all of my years of brewing extracts all they seem to do is get darker & pretty much taste the same.

As I said they don't last that long in my Brewery. Each to their own.

 

[Kegory]

41 minutes ago, Oldbloke said:

I can't talk about kegs. But there is no doubt bottled dark beers improve with time IMO.

Some of Coopers DIY recipes mention that they can be aged. Coopers Dark Ale Is definitely one, some of the others are the Devil's Brew Porter and the Irish Red Ale.

Edited September 3, 2023 by Kegory
Word

[DavidM]

Last winter I didn't age my Dark Ales. They were OK

This year I did Age my Dark and Amber Ales, and they are a lot better, to my uneducated palette.

I have extra bottles to use and the space to store them.

Pale Ales I like to drink after 4 weeks

Dark and Ambers, after 10 weeks

Stouts can wait for 6 months 

However, if I run short, I drink whatever I feel like!

 

[Back2Brewing]

Hi @Shamus O'Sean. As promised here is the SG graph of the Coopers Dark Ale (with R007) as brewed above. It started on 31 Aug at 1535 (pitch time) at OG 1.0495 and bottomed out about 0800 on 03 Sep at FG 1.0135, so pretty quick. Tastes yummy from the FV.  Bottling it today, and then onto the next new one.

[Back2Brewing]

Well the Dark Ale done at the end of Aug 23 has improved to a delicious, smooth, roasted, goodness. Quite a difference from the early tastings.  I just wish I had more, so I did another one today similar to last time but with a bit more LDME and trying a different yeast.

Coopers Dark Ale

Ingredients:

1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale (pre-hopped extract)

1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 3 (300g Dextrose, 200g Maltodextrine, 500g LDME)

500gm  Dark Dry Malt Extract

500gm LDME

5gm yeast nutrient

2 x 7 Grams of Coopers yeast (R3559) from the TC kits.

OG 1.058

[Classic Brewing Co]

3 minutes ago, Back2Brewing said:

Well the Dark Ale done at the end of Aug 23 has improved to a delicious, smooth, roasted, goodness. Quite a difference from the early tastings.  I just wish I had more, so I did another one today similar to last time but with a bit more LDME and trying a different yeast.

Coopers Dark Ale

Ingredients:

1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale (pre-hopped extract)

1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 3 (300g Dextrose, 200g Maltodextrine, 500g LDME)

500gm  Dark Dry Malt Extract

500gm LDME

5gm yeast nutrient

2 x 7 Grams of Coopers yeast (R3559) from the TC kits.

OG 1.058

Sounds good. 

[Aussiekraut]

2 hours ago, Back2Brewing said:

Well the Dark Ale done at the end of Aug 23 has improved to a delicious, smooth, roasted, goodness. Quite a difference from the early tastings.  I just wish I had more, so I did another one today similar to last time but with a bit more LDME and trying a different yeast.

Coopers Dark Ale

Ingredients:

1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale (pre-hopped extract)

1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 3 (300g Dextrose, 200g Maltodextrine, 500g LDME)

500gm  Dark Dry Malt Extract

500gm LDME

5gm yeast nutrient

2 x 7 Grams of Coopers yeast (R3559) from the TC kits.

OG 1.058

Back in the Kits 'n' Bits days, I used to make a straightforward, easy peasy, quite tasty Dark Ale, which had some fans here. 

1 can of Morgan's Iron Bark Dark Ale
1 can of Black Rock Creamy Brown blend
1 pack of Nottingham

The Creamy Brown contains a goodly amount of Caramalt and Choc malt, so no extras are needed. I know none of the ingredients are Coopers but good nevertheless  

[Shamus O'Sean]

4 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

Back in the Kits 'n' Bits days, I used to make a straightforward, easy peasy, quite tasty Dark Ale, which had some fans here. 

1 can of Morgan's Iron Bark Dark Ale
1 can of Black Rock Creamy Brown blend
1 pack of Nottingham

The Creamy Brown contains a goodly amount of Caramalt and Choc malt, so no extras are needed. I know none of the ingredients are Coopers but good nevertheless  

So not exactly the same, but if you can only get Coopers cans, the equivalent might be:

• 1 can Coopers Dark Ale
• 1 can Coopers Dark Malt Extract
• 250g Lactose
• 300g Light Crystal Malt hot steep
• Neutral ale yeast of choice, or even the kit yeast