Australian Pale/Sparkling Ale

[chiller]

Australian Pale/Sparkling Ale

As I live in Adelaide the home of the Coopers brewery I thought I would post my thoughts on quite a popular beer here in Australia.

Adelaide is a city of just over 1 million people.

The Coopers Brewery moved house from one side of the city to the other a few years back and have gone from an excellent 19th century style brewery to one of the most modern breweries in Australia. Despite the obvious hassles in moving to a new location the popularity of this excellent ale in a sea of Lager is very heart warming. The brew quality is very consistent – colour taste and drinkablity.

Do I posses any inside knowledge on this beer? Not really but it is a style many try to brew here in Australia. I have been surprise at the number of recipes posted that come “from the source” If that is the case there must be many “genuine” recipes the brewery uses and that is surely not the case.

The beer drinks very well in Winter but in Summer it is great. It is a deceptively easy beer to drink and that is due to the fact it is not heavy. When the temperature is 40+ a cold beer goes down well. I don't know how it travels but as we can get the beer very fresh all the time it has a great balance to all aspects – taste aroma and bittering.

Now the recipe!

Is this the genuine article, the real recipe given to me on the back of a beer carton by the brewer with a litre of yeast – of course not but it is a good attempt at something similar.

The beer is about 18 – 20 EBC well carbonated and served cool – cold.

These percentages are from Beer Engine [thanks Graham]
Volume 22.9 litres - Original gravity 1048 - Final gravity 1.008

Pale Ale 3562 gms [85.6%]
Wheat malt 207 gms [5%]
Medium Crystal 79 gms [1.9%]
Roast Barley 20 gms [0.5%]
Sugar 499 gms [12%]

The crystal and the Roast are not for flavour, just to get the colour to the correct level, hence the low amounts.

Yeast -- WLP 009 is apparently the original Coopers yeast from a long time ago. It is a very good yeast for this beer. I'm led to believe that the fermentation yeast and the yeast in the bottle of Coopers are one and the same but I'm not certain they are the same as 009. The slurry from 2 - 3 bottles or a 6 pack will fire up a starter in no time.

The hops are very simple for this brew. You are aiming for about 28 – 30 IBU. The main brewing hop here in Australia for years was Pride of Ringwood. You either love it or don't. It is a very distinct aroma and flavour. It is also a hi Alpha acid hop so you must weigh it accurately.

POR 60 minutes 15 gms [9% Alpha]
Goldings 60 minutes 23 gms [5.3 % Alpha] -- the Goldings is my concession to good taste

This beer does not have late additions – to my knowledge. POR even in the boil for 60 minutes will still give flavour to the beer.
This is the Adelaide water profile that many homebrewers use. They often just add CaSo4 to bring the Calcium up to an acceptable level.

Ca 27 Mg 17 Na 76 SO4 59 HC03 78 Cl 134

Don't try to recreate this water, it is definitely not the secret of an Australian Pale Ale.
Coopers, as do all/most modern breweries use very carefully purified RO water and then tailor the salt additions to match the flavour they want. .

Mash as a single infusion at 65C for 60 minutes. Boil for 60 minutes.
Will this be the same as the genuine article – probably not. It will be a nice drink over summer, it is easy to make and mature quickly as well.

Oh and it doen't have ####!y Cascade or Simcoe or orange peel or dog fur or the neighbours cat for extra body.

Pride of Ringwood will give you all of that.

Steve

[weiht]

i was looking around for a little creatures bright ale recipe, which really surprised me when i tasted it. I wasnt expect much from it, but i dont really take a liking to aussie beers. I know there are smaller craft brewers around australia and NZ, but its pretty hard to get my hands on them, n the common aussie lagers arent my cup of tea. No offence.

But little creatures definitely brew a nice n refreshing beer there. Do u guys down under use lots of local and kiwi grown hops?

[chiller]

I'm probably one of the few people who doesn't go ooh aah everytime a Cascade hop is thrown in the boiler. Little creatures is an excellent beer and is very well crafted but definately not my favourite beer. NZ hops are excellent as are some of the Tasmanian hops, they are very fresh and most are very high alpha yet still produce good beers. I visited a friend at his micro brewery the other day and he gave me some Millenium [14.7%] so careful measuring for homebrew is essential.

As I'm fairly straight in my approach to brewing a mixture of beer and grapefruit has never appealed. There are so many better hops than those that come from America.

[Manx Guy]

Hi Steve,

Good looking recipe... I note the use of wheat malt... I'm guessing this is more the Sparkling Ale (Golden ale) style as I've heard that the Pale Ale (Green label) uses more wheat to obtain the paler colour...

Brewers like Coopers and little creatures use mainly POR for bittering and some other (mainly Aussie or NZ grown hops)th Island NZ) use mainly NZ hops but do use other hops for other beer styles such as czeck or germand hops for their seasonal beers.

Let us know how this turns out when you brew it!



Guy

[chiller]

I haven't brewed it for awhile but fresh from a keg on a warm [40c day] it works well. I enjoy English beers but my perception of them is based on bottle that may not give the best account of what they are.

I did mean to say that the bottle cultured yeast probably gives the best results around 17 - 19c whereas the 009 is about 20c -- for my tastes.

[weiht]

I too dont like to use cascades in my brew, but u have to admit that alot of nice tasting beers do have them. Like one forum member mentioned before, that they yanks use cascade for everything. I have tasted an aussie brew that used only amarillo hops which was pleasing.

[chiller]

I feel with the heritage of British beers both here and in your own country should lend itself to a touch of purity.

For example an "American" IPA loaded with Chinook or some other citrussy hop beggers belief. I must have missed the history lesson when America was supplying India - the country - with beer.

A mild loaded with Amarillo -- the list goes on.

Yes some of them are nice beers but if I loaded up a SNPA with POR and called it a SNPA clone it would be nothing other than a beer with POR hops. Likewise to load up a bitter or a mild or whatever with non traditional hops doesn't make it less of a beer but it doesn't make it the real deal.

[Manx Guy]

Hi,

Thanks for the tips about yeast... I have tried reculturing the yeast from coopers bottles in the past and found the resulting beer too sweet and fruity BUT I fermented at 19/20C...

If I can get my hands on some WLP009 Autralian Ale yeast then I'll used that at 20C as you suggest.

I'd tend to agree, nothing wrong with trying a C hop in a bitter style ale but its not really true to style... All it seems to acheive is to make trying new and different beers harder!

I can accept that while an American IPA is now an established style in its self they are an IPA with an US twist- as has been stated before the USA did not export Ales to the subcontinent as far as I'm aware...

I like Cascade et al in the right style eg. SNPA etc... But I wouldn't be too pleased to find my local ale has been 'reformulated' using cascade or centenial...

Cheers!

Guy

[bosium]

Interesting, I've heard good things about this beer but never tried it.. Only Aussie beers available near me are Fosters (ugh) and Victoria Bitter, which I've not yet tried..

[Fatgodzilla]

Interesting, I've heard good things about this beer but never tried it.. Only Aussie beers available near me are Fosters (ugh) and Victoria Bitter, which I've not yet tried..

All beer is good, just some is much better!

The standard aussie lagers like VB, Fosters,XXXX, Tooheys etc all have their purpose in life - summer quenchers (trust me, 40C and a cold cold beer are essential) and something to dump shite on at the top of the list. They are mega swill. Coopers are unique in Oz as a family company with output below the megas but way too big to be considered a craft brewer. IMHO their beers are good and are better than the mega swills but nothing more than that. That said, they are a benchmark for a "new" style in BJCP - australian sparkling ale, which I gather will probably only find favour here. Beer historians will show you the origin of this "style" in english ales of a century ago, but that now is unimportant. And the late Michael Jackson (the real one) was an unabashed fan of Coopers Sparkling Ale when in the colony, which no doubt has helped us overcome the cultural cringe.

You Poms recognise that Australians prefer substance over style, so try them if you can. Do not confuse the Coopers kit beer with the brewery produced output - same company, many similarities but far from a close match. Like it or lump it - its your choice.

On the matter of C hops in IPAs - what's the problem? If it tastes good, drink it. If you are happy with your traditional english styles and can still get them, good luck to you. The rest of the world will just keep using what is at hand ands make drinkable beers. And bugger styles.

lastly, if you haven'y used some of the "exotic" flavour hops from NZ (and now Australia) .. you will find them interesting ! Just don't expect anything that is "to a traditional english style". Substance over style, remember.

[weiht]

Im also from a tropical country where the temperature is 28-35 degrees ALL YEAR ROUND!!! The hottest of the british summer is just another typical day for me, without the rain n gray clouds. Under these conditions, one would very much prefer a lighter lager that fizzy n cold as a thirst quencher. Traditional English ale would be perceived as flat to the untrained person, or rather someone thats unexposed to these styles.

We dont have the luxury of the beer remaining cool at room temperature as you guys, n beers here do get warm very quick... Maybe thats why majority of aussies still down ice cold lagers.

To me, a fine beer is a fine beer. In fact i would be more interested to find out what the brewer did to get a twist in his approach. I recently did 2 porters and used cascade for bittering in one and magnum for another targeting the same ibu. Altho the bitterness is at the same ibu, the cascades are softer n more at the background as compared to the magnum which was sharp and in your face.

I think some times its best to enjoy the dinner, n not find out what they are doing behind the kitchen!!! Especially in my part of the world lol.

[bosium]

Where are you then, Weiht?

I agree, I grew up on cold lagers because of the hot weather and while I do enjoy the bitters now, I still love a good lager the most..

[weiht]

im from the sunny island of singapore, n we are not in china!!!! lol , and btw i was joking about the kitchen conditions here. Reason being, we have much tastier food in our neighbouring countries where hygene is no where near our standards, that is why we locals (we are big time foodies!!!!) always joke that when we travel across borders, just enjoy the food and not question.

Btw pal, i can see how much u like ur lager judging by ur primary fv n kegs!!!

[Manx Guy]

Hi,

I take your point about substance over style - or function over form as my engineering mates would say...

I only mention 'styles' as I beleive they serve 2 purposes :

First (and in my opinion at least) the most important They are a guide to help someone try a new beer, if they know its likely to have characteristics that they know they already like - IPA/AIPA = You expect it to be pale(ish) fairly strong and well hopped - regardless of what hops and malts are yused OR their origin.

Second - (Probably most important for the brewers and small craft and micros wanting to get publicity by wining a competition) For judging beers in a competition, so like can be compared with like. Again useful for the beer drinkers (consumers) and also for the small micro wanting to bring their lovingly crafted beers to a wider audience by winning a few national or international awards for their beers.

I have travelled around Australia and NZ and found that the Inbev, Carlton and Lion Nathan brewed beers do have their place in keeping your throat moist in the 30-40C heat I actually enjoyed Tooheys Dry and Old when in Qld (hot & humid) and Coopers Sparkling/Pale Ale when in Vic. & SA - Also a fan of the Coopers Dark too -nice evening drink for when the tempratures eased a bit
POR is a great hop, from what commercial beers I've tried - although I have only used it in the homebrewi setting to add that bit extra to my Coopers Kit brews....
My next brews will be AG - Starting with an IPA!

I think its great that hop growers and brewers around the globe are continuing to push the envelope as far as brewing goes - a good beer no matter how new or traditional will always find a home in my beer glass!


There are some amazing Hops coming out of the Motueka and Nelson ares of NZ and Ilook forward to trying these in a few Antipoedal PAle Ales I plan to brew in the coming months..

Cheers!

Guy

[Wolfy]

Australian Pale/Sparkling Ale
The beer is about 18 – 20 EBC well carbonated and served cool – cold.

These percentages are from Beer Engine [thanks Graham]
Volume 22.9 litres - Original gravity 1048 - Final gravity 1.008

Pale Ale 3562 gms [85.6%]
Wheat malt 207 gms [5%]
Medium Crystal 79 gms [1.9%]
Roast Barley 20 gms [0.5%]
Sugar 499 gms [12%]

While there is nothing wrong with using sugar to get the FG down far enough - getting the FG down is one of the key tricks to brewing a good Coopers clone - it's widely belied that they do not use sugar in the real thing.
The following recipe comes from Andrew Clark and uses a complex mash (or just low mash temps) and a large/healthy starter to get the required FG.

Coopers Pale Ale Clone
Batch Size: 23.00 L, Boil Size: 28.19 L
OG: 1.043, FG: 1.008

3.75 kg Pale Malt, Ale (Barrett Burston) [94.2%]
0.20 kg Wheat Malt (Barrett Burston) [5%]
0.03 kg Crystal Dark Bairds [0.8%]
28.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [8.30%] 30.2 IBU

Small amounts of yeast nutrient, calcium chloride, epsom salts and gypsum are added depending on local water profile.
If possible try to use whole POR hop cones, as I think it makes a nice/subtle difference in terms of hop flavor.

This is the mash schedule he suggests:
Mash In Add 15.92 L of water at 36.8 C 35.0 C 5 min
Protien Rest Heat to 52.0 C over 10 min 52.0 C 15 min
Sacch Rest Heat to 63.0 C over 10 min 63.0 C 45 min
Sach Rest Heat to 72.0 C over 10 min 72.0 C 30 min
Mash Out Heat to 78.0 C over 10 min 78.0 C 10 min

But last time I brewed it I used a single Saccrification at 63C and my FG was still down nice and low.

A healthy well sized starter (most often re cultured from a bottle) of Coopers yeast is one of the most important aspects of getting the beer right.
Fermenting about 18-20C will give a nice balance of yeast flavours, much over that and you'll get an excess fruity/banana esters.
The last time I made this I fermented at 17C to minimize the esters, primary fermentation was still very quick - finished in about 3-4 days - (but I left it for 7) before cold-crashing with some gelatin finings.
Carbonate to about 2.4 Volumes and you should be pretty close to the real thing.