Stejoh Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Hi All 6 years ago I did a dozen or so batches of Coopers APA with LME and harvested Coopers commercial yeast. Resulting beers were almost carbon copies of Coopers PA in every sense; appearance, mouth feel, aroma and most importantly flavour. Since that time I have been all-grain brewing and either 4 or 5 years ago I put down a couple of all grain Coopers PA clones using grain malts, POR hops and Coopers commercial yeast with similar success. I have been busy recently moving homes and haven't had the time to do an all grain batche so decided to use a couple of Coopers APA kits with LME and harvested Coopers commercial yeast again. Both batches fermented out fine so I kegged 2 x 19 litres and bottled the rest' What I have found is that the flavour of neither batch comes close to Coopers PA. Both batches, draught and bottled lack that distinct Coopers flavour that I associate with their proprietary yeast. Every step of the process this time was the same as I did 4-6 years ago but with very different results. I'm happy to admit to human error but I'm thinking that Coopers are now using a different yeast for their bottle conditioning than they did in past years. Has anyone else had the same experience? Thanks for your thoughts and feedback Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 2 hours ago, Stejoh said: Hi All 6 years ago I did a dozen or so batches of Coopers APA with LME and harvested Coopers commercial yeast. Resulting beers were almost carbon copies of Coopers PA in every sense; appearance, mouth feel, aroma and most importantly flavour. Since that time I have been all-grain brewing and either 4 or 5 years ago I put down a couple of all grain Coopers PA clones using grain malts, POR hops and Coopers commercial yeast with similar success. I have been busy recently moving homes and haven't had the time to do an all grain batche so decided to use a couple of Coopers APA kits with LME and harvested Coopers commercial yeast again. Both batches fermented out fine so I kegged 2 x 19 litres and bottled the rest' What I have found is that the flavour of neither batch comes close to Coopers PA. Both batches, draught and bottled lack that distinct Coopers flavour that I associate with their proprietary yeast. Every step of the process this time was the same as I did 4-6 years ago but with very different results. I'm happy to admit to human error but I'm thinking that Coopers are now using a different yeast for their bottle conditioning than they did in past years. Has anyone else had the same experience? Thanks for your thoughts and feedback Somebody said something similar on another forum. I last used CCA about 8 or 9 months ago and didn't notice a difference. Easy way to find out though. @Coopers DIY Beer Team Can you confirm that the bottling yeast has not changed. I.e the primary fermentation yeast is the same as the bottling yeast? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 @Coopers DIY Beer Team Just bumping this thread. Would be good if you could answer as I have seen this mentioned on other forums. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bribie G Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Coopers commercial yeast harvested from bottles only seems to hit its straps after a couple of generations. Back in 2011 I attended the Brisbane brewing conference where a rep from Whitelabs said a similar thing about their own yeasts, that they should be allowed a couple of batches. On another forum I heard a similar thing, that the Coopers was great for a couple of pitches but if you keep propagating it, then you get an unpleasant banana ester so best to go back to square one and save some more from bottles. I'd guess that Coopers keep this well under control in their labs and that the yeast in the bottles is consistently gen one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malter White Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 9 hours ago, Bribie G said: Coopers commercial yeast harvested from bottles only seems to hit its straps after a couple of generations. My anecdotal evidence suggests the opposite but that could just be my taste buds' individuality. I've mad a few brews with the CCA reactivated yeast and have used second and third generations of it but I didn't think the subsequent brews were as good. That could also be due to the "wow factor" diminishing over subsequent brews. A bit like eating chocolate - the first piece is always a thrill to the taste buds. Second, third and fourth pieces are still good nothing like that first taste. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Yeah I never bother to keep it beyond 2 or 3 generations. Just a couple of tallies away from a fresh starter and the bottles are great for my high carbonation brews. I haven't noticed a difference from the first use to the last use really. I have found that it's a yeast which is always better done cool with an oversized starter or you can get excessive esters. Was just interested in the confirming or denying comments that had come up in other forums about a bottling yeast now being used. It has come up a couple of times now in different forums. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coopers DIY Beer Team Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 Goodness me! Change our yeast?! No, we will never change the yeast while the current board of directors are in charge. End of story. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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