Tried my second brew last night

[jennyss]

My second brew is a Coopers Australian Pale Ale. I made it according to the Coopers leaflet and last night was the three week mark. Put one bottle in the frig at 9am, so it was nice and frosty by beer time (5pm in our house). The sad thing is, my husband has given up drinking for Lent, so I had no-one to share it with!

Here is my three week rating anyway.  It is much paler in appearance than the Lager. The head was nearly non-existent, but still a nice fizz. But most importantly, it is yummy. Quite dry, no nasty flavours, and no toffee taste. I think I'll make the Pale Ale again.

Spose I'll have to bite the bullet now and clean my empty PET bottles and take the rings off the lids. I saw some-one's photo of pliers next to a pile of lids. 

Best wishes to the Coopers Community out there

[ben 10]

9 minutes ago, jennyss said:

Spose I'll have to bite the bullet now and clean my empty PET bottles and take the rings off the lids.

The ring can stay - you can reuse the lids

9 minutes ago, jennyss said:

The head was nearly non-existent,

Was your glass properly clean?

10 minutes ago, jennyss said:

But most importantly, it is yummy.

Glad it worked well!

 

Malt helps with head as does wheat malt extract.

Some of the brew enhancers are a little thin when they ferment out

[Classic Brewing Co]

33 minutes ago, jennyss said:

My second brew is a Coopers Australian Pale Ale. I made it according to the Coopers leaflet and last night was the three week mark. Put one bottle in the frig at 9am, so it was nice and frosty by beer time (5pm in our house). The sad thing is, my husband has given up drinking for Lent, so I had no-one to share it with!

Here is my three week rating anyway.  It is much paler in appearance than the Lager. The head was nearly non-existent, but still a nice fizz. But most importantly, it is yummy. Quite dry, no nasty flavours, and no toffee taste. I think I'll make the Pale Ale again.

Spose I'll have to bite the bullet now and clean my empty PET bottles and take the rings off the lids. I saw some-one's photo of pliers next to a pile of lids. 

Best wishes to the Coopers Community out there

Hi @jennyss Congratulations on your 2nd brew, when you say the head was nearly non-existent  I am wondering on a couple of things, first your beer glasses, please excuse me for suggesting they are not clean, I don't mean that, it is very important for a good head to get your beer glasses "beer clean" attached is a link for a few pointers. This will make a diffference.

https://www.beercartel.com.au/blog/getting-your-glassware-beer-clean/

When you say you followed the leaflet I assume you mean you added BE2, as we have mentioned before the addition of Liquid Malt Extract or Dried Malt Extract can make a difference as you don't want to much Dextrose which BE 1/2/3 contains in varying amounts. In my last Coopers Pale Ale ( recipe attached ) I just added 500gm of Coopers Light Fried Malt & it was excellent, really a great lasting head. Try adding some to see the difference & a good head.

Cheers Phil

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, jennyss said:

Spose I'll have to bite the bullet now and clean my empty PET bottles and take the rings off the lids. I saw some-one's photo of pliers next to a pile of lids. 

It was me that posted the photo, with new bottles for first use you can use as they are, next brew take off the rings as they serve no purpose & can inhibit a tight seal.

I only use glass these days but PET have their place.

[jennyss]

Thanks @interceptor and @Classic Brewing Co  for your excellent practical tips and ideas

[Brauhaus Fritz]

2 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

It was me that posted the photo, with new bottles for first use you can use as they are, next brew take off the rings as they serve no purpose & can inhibit a tight seal.

I only use glass these days but PET have their place.

Yep, I do the same. On a different note.

 I thought Pet bottles are safe from explosion?

I recently had a few leaking bottles, about 6 of them where empty with some of the content still on the shelf and ground, the rest disappeared through the grout I believe. It seemed they cracked at the bottom in the middle where the little blob is. Some bottles where so hard that the lid was curved. They where definitely not over primed and fermentation had finished, the rest of the batch in glass bottles had no problem. Any idea other than dirty bottles?

Even so I washed and sanitised them I find Pet bottles hard to clean so if they don’t look as new I chuck them out from now on.( got them really cheap or even free).

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

52 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

Yep, I do the same. On a different note.

 I thought Pet bottles are safe from explosion?

I recently had a few leaking bottles, about 6 of them where empty with some of the content still on the shelf and ground, the rest disappeared through the grout I believe. It seemed they cracked at the bottom in the middle where the little blob is. Some bottles where so hard that the lid was curved. They where definitely not over primed and fermentation had finished, the rest of the batch in glass bottles had no problem. Any idea other than dirty bottles?

Even so I washed and sanitised them I find Pet bottles hard to clean so if they don’t look as new I chuck them out from now on.( got them really cheap or even free).

 

My opinion is PET bottle are a good starter for anyone home brewing in the early stages, they really need to be looked after, I have had some of mine for years & I know other members use them solely. A good practice is to virtually do your cleaning fairly quickly after emptying, I mean rinse the 3-4 times, not hot water shake it about , recap & store in a cool place out of light.

When it comes to bottling time all they require is a quick rinse & sanitise. It is important to ensure when replacing the lids after filling to really give it an extra twist to ensure a good seal.

It probably is a good idea to start bottling in glass as you will ultimately get a more consistent result.

That is my opinion.

Cheers

Phil

[Brauhaus Fritz]

6 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

My opinion is PET bottle are a good starter for anyone home brewing in the early stages, they really need to be looked after, I have had some of mine for years & I know other members use them solely. A good practice is to virtually do your cleaning fairly quickly after emptying, I mean rinse the 3-4 times, not hot water shake it about , recap & store in a cool place out of light.

When it comes to bottling time all they require is a quick rinse & sanitise. It is important to ensure when replacing the lids after filling to really give it an extra twist to ensure a good seal.

It probably is a good idea to start bottling in glass as you will ultimately get a more consistent result.

That is my opinion.

Cheers

Phil

Thanks Phil, but that's what I do, therefore I don't understand what happened. I always rinse my bottles (glass and pet) straight away, so cleaning later is a breeze. And they didn't leak through the top as all bottles where clean and not sticky on the outside. Like I mentioned before, I did get all my PET bottles as well as lot's of my glass bottles 2nd hand and I realized that  you can't be thoroughly enough cleaning them, some where filthy and lot's had hidden crusty spots.

I agree, Pet bottles are not bad, you can screw the lid back on when you don't finish the bottle, and most of my brews where still carbonated overnight.

As I always invest my tip money in brewing projects I might gonna buy 2 boxes of new once 

Cheers Marco

[ben 10]

4 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Coopers Light Fried Malt

Lol, does that come from Elizabeth?

[Classic Brewing Co]

Just now, interceptor said:

Lol, does that come from Elizabeth?

Yeah I saw that but the edit function was not available  when you say Elizabeth do you mean the Northern Suburbs of Adelaide ? I am in Glenelg anyway.  You also probably know the D & F keys are side by side, I am going to blame that on some beers I had. 

[ben 10]

19 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

when you say Elizabeth do you mean the Northern Suburbs of Adelaide

Yes, 

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fried

[Classic Brewing Co]

6 minutes ago, interceptor said:

Yes, 

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fried

Still don't get what you mean but that's OK.

[jennyss]

1 hour ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

Yep, I do the same. On a different note.

 I thought Pet bottles are safe from explosion?

I recently had a few leaking bottles, about 6 of them where empty with some of the content still on the shelf and ground, the rest disappeared through the grout I believe. It seemed they cracked at the bottom in the middle where the little blob is. Some bottles where so hard that the lid was curved. They where definitely not over primed and fermentation had finished, the rest of the batch in glass bottles had no problem. Any idea other than dirty bottles?

Even so I washed and sanitised them I find Pet bottles hard to clean so if they don’t look as new I chuck them out from now on.( got them really cheap or even free).

 

Wow! Scary stuff. As I finish each of my PET bottles, I have just been rinsing and shaking 4 times, no detergent involved. Before filling them again, I thought I would cold sanitise in bleach solution. Then give them a very good rinse, and straight to the filler while they are still wet. Sound OK?

[ben 10]

1 minute ago, jennyss said:

I thought I would cold sanitise in bleach solution.

Hey, you don't need the beach, it can be hard to remove and cause issues.
A good warm water rinse straight away post drinking usually works well.
 

Then a no rinse sanitiser prior to filling again (phosphoric acid type works well)

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 minutes ago, jennyss said:

Wow! Scary stuff. As I finish each of my PET bottles, I have just been rinsing and shaking 4 times, no detergent involved. Before filling them again, I thought I would cold sanitise in bleach solution. Then give them a very good rinse, and straight to the filler while they are still wet. Sound OK?

Nah lose the bleach, it works but it takes forever to rinse & get rid of any residue, try using Bi Carbonate of Soda & just rinse once, I have been doing it for years.

[Brauhaus Fritz]

35 minutes ago, jennyss said:

Wow! Scary stuff. As I finish each of my PET bottles, I have just been rinsing and shaking 4 times, no detergent involved. Before filling them again, I thought I would cold sanitise in bleach solution. Then give them a very good rinse, and straight to the filler while they are still wet. Sound OK?

Didn't mean to scare you, I started brewing one year ago and made 52 batches ( I know, it's excessive, but I enjoy it a lot, i have three fermenters) it only happened with one batch

[Brauhaus Fritz]

35 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Nah lose the bleach, it works but it takes forever to rinse & get rid of any residue, try using Bi Carbonate of Soda & just rinse once, I have been doing it for years.

What's the proportions?

[Classic Brewing Co]

25 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

What's the proportions?

Quite honestly I have never been meticulous about it but I normally put about 2-3 tablespoons in a 5 litre brewing jug & mix well & pour it into a 60 l plastic tub & clean & rinse before sanitising them, always works. I clean my fermenters in the same way & I rinse well, Bi Carb is a great product.

Edited March 15, 2022 by Classic Brewing Co

[jennyss]

2 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

My opinion is PET bottle are a good starter for anyone home brewing in the early stages, they really need to be looked after, I have had some of mine for years & I know other members use them solely. A good practice is to virtually do your cleaning fairly quickly after emptying, I mean rinse the 3-4 times, not hot water shake it about , recap & store in a cool place out of light.

When it comes to bottling time all they require is a quick rinse & sanitise. It is important to ensure when replacing the lids after filling to really give it an extra twist to ensure a good seal.

It probably is a good idea to start bottling in glass as you will ultimately get a more consistent result.

That is my opinion.

Cheers

Phil

My father, who has been making his own Coopers beer for 33 years since his retirement (yes, he is in his 90,s) has a wonderful collection of Grolsch bottles which have been used and re-used. He would like to give some to me, but I said to wait until my beer-making skills improve. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

10 minutes ago, jennyss said:

My father, who has been making his own Coopers beer for 33 years since his retirement (yes, he is in his 90,s) has a wonderful collection of Grolsch bottles which have been used and re-used. He would like to give some to me, but I said to wait until my beer-making skills improve. 

@jennyss I say grab them, I use them all the time, you just have to make sure the rubber seals are in good nick, they are easy to replace from local Home Brew stores, just make sure when you close the swing top levers you have them perfectly flat, bear in mind the older versions were 500ml, today the newer ones are 450ml, just adjust your priming sugar levels to suit.

I actually use the same amount of plain white sugar as I do with 750ml Longnecks but I always drink those first as they can become bottle bombs. By all means grab the bottles, you wont' be sorry, Cheers Phil.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Classic Brewing Co

[jennyss]

23 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

@jennyss I say grab them, I use them all the time, you just have to make sure the rubber seals are in good nick, they are easy to replace from local Home Brew stores, just make sure when you close the swing top levers you have them perfectly flat, bear in mind the older versions were 500ml, today the newer ones are 450ml, just adjust your priming sugar levels to suit.

I actually use the same amount of plain white sugar as I do with 750ml Longnecks but I always drink those first as they can become bottle bombs. By all means grab the bottles, you wont' be sorry, Cheers Phil.

 

 

Yes, they're the ones

[stquinto]

6 hours ago, jennyss said:

My father, who has been making his own Coopers beer for 33 years since his retirement (yes, he is in his 90,s) has a wonderful collection of Grolsch bottles which have been used and re-used. He would like to give some to me, but I said to wait until my beer-making skills improve. 

Well done on the second brew Jenny ! Time to try some LME and maybe some extra hops too. The Aus Pale Ale is a great beer and also a nice blank canvas for extras. I second Phil on the bottles: go grab the Grolsch bottles. I have the equivalent (not Grolsh but a local beer here in Switzerland called Boxer) and they are great. 500ml and brown too.

Funny @Brauhaus Fritz you mention the PETs leaking mate,  although I only use glass, I still use PETs to prepare yeast starters. One of them completely leaked out even though the bottle was rock hard... I knew I shouldn't brew on the site of a former Indian graveyeard, asking for it really....

[Malter White]

@jennyss Well done on your pale ale. Did you use BE2 as your adjunct? I think it's the best addition to Pale Ale for my tastes and I usually get good head retention. I reckon you'll find the head retention will improve with more bottle conditioning time.

Using dried or liquid malt will improve head retention even more but I find it changes the flavour profile of the beer that I don't prefer. It's not bad beer, it's just I want my Pale pale. The extra malt makes it malty and darker.

You don't need to remove the plastic rings either. There's no harm in doing so but I don't think it achieves much. People who remove the rings thinking they're getting a better seal are the same people who press the button at traffic lights numerous times thinking it will make the lights change quicker.

The rings do need to be removed if you're using brand new lids though.

Edited March 15, 2022 by MUZZY

[ozdevil]

Well done on your 2nd brew @jennyss    i agree with others , so not much more i can add

the good thing i see by you reporting back here is  , that your picking up on what you feel the beer is lacking and to your taste
and you are trying to improve on that 1st beer

 

[Brauhaus Fritz]

3 hours ago, MUZZY said:

@jennyss Well done on your pale ale. Did you use BE2 as your adjunct? I think it's the best addition to Pale Ale for my tastes and I usually get good head retention. I reckon you'll find the head retention will improve with more bottle conditioning time.

Using dried or liquid malt will improve head retention even more but I find it changes the flavour profile of the beer that I don't prefer. It's not bad beer, it's just I want my Pale pale. The extra malt makes it malty and darker.

You don't need to remove the plastic rings either. There's no harm in doing so but I don't think it achieves much. People who remove the rings thinking they're getting a better seal are the same people who press the button at traffic lights numerous times thinking it will make the lights change quicker.

The rings do need to be removed if you're using brand new lids though.

Well said Muzzy, I agree about the malt. The Coopers Pale Ale was the second brew I ever did. Coming back from a holiday in Byron, drinking icy cold CPA from the tap every afternoon, and some nights as well, and continuing to do so back home ,not from the tap but can or longneck as somehow I didn't like the stubbies, my brew was so similar and good. It was an adventure so getting there. In the beginning I still dissolved the extracts in very hot water, bringing the temperature up too high, so I put my fermenter overnight on the veranda to cool (which worked). Still believing that the airlock has to bubble I added some extra dry bakers yeast. Still not bubbling I bottled the beer when FG was stable. Somehow it was so good and similar to the original that I never stopped brewing since. As I didn't keep records then I don't remember what I used. I did another batch later with extra dry malt extract which was good, but far from the original.

These days I only use hot water to dilute if I want my starting temperature a little bit higher as they dissolve in normal tap water. over summer the water had a constant temperature of 22-24 Celsius, in winter it drops to 18 Celsius. Now in summer I just put some water in the fridge and freezer to control the temperature of the wort.

I still love to see the airlock bubbling so