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Coopers IPA


RichardB14

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am brand new to brewing beer, however I have made meade. That said, lastnight I spent a bit of time doing reading and thinking & planning & decided an extract kit style product should be my first adventure. So, I went to my local brewer supply store, after much looking & looking, I selected Coopers Pale Ale (Green Can) spoke to the salesperson, explained my lack of experience and needed guidence in my purchases. I said I guess I had better take it home, read the instructions & return to purchase whatever additional materials I would need. He said "Oh, the yeast is under the cap, it's pretty easy, the directions are included, and you shouldn't need anything else until approaching bottling time" Well all the fool me, I believed what this fellow said, he surely didn't know how Coopers Kits work, because I'm home know, all excited about getting started & I find the turkey of a salesperson failed to inform me about or sell me the Enhancer 2 (sugars) recommended, so I'm at an angry stand still. He really did not make a very good first sale, or impression. I WANTED to buy everything I needed.

 

Anyway, the fact that I can't brew tonight, has landed me on the Net, and I have learned there is a Coopers Site. I had never heard of Coopers products until I selected my Pale Ale. To my knowledge, it is not very well known in the US, I could be wrong, as I said, I have only made meade previously. I have never seen bottled Coopers for sale when I peruse the shelves of the better stores around here.

 

I read on another post, by a brewer who had just finished drinking his/her last bottle of Coopers Pale Ale Kit, & he/she observed that the Enhancer 2, recommened, which he used, gave a final cidery flavor, and he thought starting with Coopers Lite Malt Extract would prove a better choice. Can I have anyone's idea or feedback on that ? As the "salesperson from @@## has delayed my getting started, I thought I would inquire.

 

[pouty]

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I would use 500g light dry malt extract and 250g dextrose, this should give a bit more malt flavour than just the Brew Enhancer 2. It is a great kit, it's not overly filled with flavour, but it certainly makes a nice easy drinking beer. Just try and keep the fermentation temperature around 18-20*C and you should be fine. [biggrin]

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Welcome to the forum GayleV.

 

I think you should avoid that brew shop going forward.

 

I believe that Coopers home brew products are widely available in the US; not so sure about their bottled beer though.

 

Biermoasta's advice is good. Go with the light dry malt (LDM). You could even push it up a bit more to say 750g LDM and 250g dextrose. Especially if you like it a bit stronger and maltier.

 

Just a quick aside. Your subject header is "Coopers IPA". To clarify, the Australian Pale Ale you bought is not an IPA. The pale ale kit is quite low in bitterness, especially in comparison to the IPA kit.

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Hi Gayle and welcome to the forum

 

My last brew was the same kit. I used 1kg LDM and 400g Dextrose. I didn't have any hops so didn't have a hop addition. I was drinking it the day after it was brewed and the kit is one of my favorites to use as a base.

 

FYI: BE2 is made up of 500g Dextrose, 250g Maltodextrin and 250G LDM. If I use one of the enhancers I rather BE2 over BE1.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been drinking my second brew for about the last week -

Coopers IPA

Coopers Pale Liquid Malt Exctract (1.5kg)

500g Muntons Hopped Light Dry Malt extract

Safale US-05 yeast

and then I dry hopped with 30g of Apollo hops after a week in primary.

 

And it's fuppin delicious!! [lol]

 

Now to be honest, I don't think it's a great example of an IPA - it isn't bitter enough (for my taste anyway), and it's much more malty than I expected, but I really love it. It was about 5.3% out of the fermenter, so pushing 6% after carbonation I reckon.

 

If it's a nice malty brew (with a great hop aroma) then you could do worse!

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