Jump to content
Coopers Community

Smoty Ale


John

Recommended Posts

Thanx Muddy, you saved me going to my brew & taking a photo. I have been converted to gladwrap. Just use it straight off the roll. There is no stuffing around, mix your brew, pitch the yeast, tear off the gladwrap, bung on the o-ring & Bob's your relative[biggrin]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 90
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • 2 weeks later...

Decided to taste my SMOTY at the 2 week mark. Couldn't wait. Was delicious. Very happy with it. Smelled magical, tasted great and was very bitter but manageable. I don't know how many will make it to the 4 week mark. 1 pack of 15 bottles down already. They taste TOO good. Will definitely make this again. Thanks for the great recipe.

 

Also, was wondering about the glad wrap again. When you want to test your SG towards the end of the ferment, do you let air in or just let it suck the glad wrap down in? And, when bottling, do you just take the plastic off or do you poke a hole in the top. I'm interested as I am just about at this stage now and want to know how to approach this. I assume you just rip it off and let the air at it, but not 100% sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

G'day TrueBrew,

 

I had a bottle of SMOTY on the weekend and after a year in the bottle it is tasting pretty good - For a dark beer I wouldn't call it particularly bitter though.

 

As for glad wrap you don't need to do anything when taking a reading - It doesn't suck the plastic down at all as the tap should only be opened enough to trickle into the tube.

 

When bottling I just release the o-ring and leave the plastic sitting on top.

 

Using glad wrap is really as simple as it sounds - no need to over think it [biggrin]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Am currently drinking my SMOTY at 5 weeks in the bottle now.

The styrian hops seemed to work really well.

It really is a beautiful beer [love]

You must have the patience of a saint to get it to a year muddy! Ill be lucky if it see's 3 months although seeing how much difference a couple of weeks can make does make me want to age all my brews for as long as possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Hi guys,

 

Can anyone tell me if the coopers instructions as far as the hops go are still the best way? (eg. boil some, add some to steep and then strain leaving the hops out of the fermenter).

 

No one is adding the hops into a bag and putting them in to ferment aswell?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Alex - PB2's (Coopers) instructions for this make a great beer. You could steep the hops in the FV if you want....nothing would be lost but I also don't think anything would necessarily be gained.

 

Thanks Muddy,

 

That's all i needed to know. Just wanted to make sure the great SMOTY beer everyone is talking about has not changed since placed in the list off Coopers beers.

 

Will make this after my EB finishes,

 

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Just wanted to get a confirmation on priming sugar amount for the SMOTY.

 

Mine fermented at 19 degrees and is 22L. For a desired CO2 of 2.5 (mid range of APA) i get 140 grams of dextrose.

 

Will this be OK? otherwise what would you recommend?

 

Also, my final gravity is only down to 1.015. initial was 1.050. is this ok?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Hi all,

apologies for reviving an old topic, but was wondering how the SMOTY ale goes freshly brewed? I'm hoping to have some for an event in 3 weeks, allowing me 2 weeks to ferment and a week to carbonate in the keg. Is it good to go straight away or does it go better with some age?

Cheers

Slug

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all' date='

apologies for reviving an old topic, but was wondering how the SMOTY ale goes freshly brewed? I'm hoping to have some for an event in 3 weeks, allowing me 2 weeks to ferment and a week to carbonate in the keg. Is it good to go straight away or does it go better with some age?

Cheers

Slug[/quote']

 

G'day Slug and Welcome to the forum, not enough time in my opinion, I have one I'm drinking now nice beer still a little "sharp" in taste but good flavours and drinking well and getting better it has had two and a half months in the bottle. happy

 

As it is a toucan mix time helps the flavours combine and improve IMO. wink

 

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for that Magnaman. Is it fair to say the darker a beer, the longer it has to condition the better? Im looking for an autumn/winter drink, but right now!

 

Cheers

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for that Magnaman. Is it fair to say the darker a beer' date=' the longer it has to condition the better? Im looking for an autumn/winter drink, but right now!

 

Cheers

[/quote']

 

Basically, yeah. My experience has been that the paler styles of beer are often better fresh, but the darker ones come really good after a few months or more in the bottle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Hi All

Just tried my first bottle of my Smotty last nite - bit too bitter for my taste. Think I prefer sweeter dark ales - came out more like ann extra strong stout.

re- read the thread and many people saying the bitterness will fade a bit. I followed the recipe but did add in some extra grains ( can't remember exactly how much as I'm away from home at the mo but think it was about 100-200 gms of crystal and choc malt steeped in warm water for about 30 - 45 mins then added directly to the FV)

Would that have increased the bitterness further or am I just tasting what it is supposed to be like?

cheers

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...