Coopers Sparkling Ale
Coopers Sparkling Ale is considered to be the big brother of Coopers Original Pale Ale - displaying fruity esters on the nose, full malty palate with firm hop bitterness and a clean finish. Its origins date back to the late 1800s when Thomas Cooper & Sons produced only ale and stout.
Although Coopers now offer numerous varieties of ales, links to the original product remain, with employees at the Brewery referring to Sparkling Ale as just “ale”. Perhaps not so surprising, when many other old terms, such as “pints”and “quarts”, are aired around the Brewery still!
This recipe produces a beer with emphasis on malt. We think fermentation using a Coopers Commercial Ale yeast culture will give a result even closer to the real thing!
Beer Style
Ale
Flavour Profile
Malty, Floral, Estery
Alcohol Content
5.8
Colour (SRM)
5.5
Bitterness (IBU)
0
Volume
23L
Difficulty
Expert
Flavour Profile
malty
floral
estery
Recipe contains:
- 1 × Thomas Coopers Innkeeper's Daughter Sparkling Ale (1.7kg)
- 3 × Light Dry Malt (500g)
- 1 × Dextrose (1kg)
- 1 × Carbonation Drops (250g)
This recipe requires hops, malts or yeasts that are not sold within the Coopers Online Store. Your local brewing store should be able to assist you with these additional ingredients.
You supply:
- 1 × Coopers Commercial Yeast Culture (or used the supplied Brew Can yeast)
Or add individually
Ingredients
- 1 x 1.7kg Thomas Coopers Inkeeper's Daughter Sparkling Ale
- 3 x 500g Coopers Light Dry Malt
- 1 x 300g Coopers Dextrose (or White Sugar)
- 1 x Coopers Commercial Yeast Culture (or used the supplied Brew Can yeast)
- 1 x 250g Coopers Carbonation Drops
1. Mix
- Place the Coopers Light Dry Malt in a sanitised, well drained fermenting vessel (FV).
- Add 2 litres of hot water, immediately pick the fermenter up and swirl the contents until dissolved (about 15 secs) - this minimises lumps.
- Add the Inkeeper's Daughter Sparkling Ale extract and 300g of Dextrose (or White Sugar) then stir to dissolve.
- Add cold water up to the 20 litre mark and stir vigorously.
- Check the brew temperature and top up to the 23 litre mark with hot or cold water (refrigerated if necessary) to get as close as possible to 21C.
- Stir in the Coopers Commercial Yeast Culture and/or sprinkle the Brew Can yeast then fit the lid.
Click here to view our how-to-video on Harvesting Commercial Yeast.
2. Brew
- Try to ferment in the 18C to 21C range.
- Although Ale yeast can ferment at very high temperatures (as high as 40°C), the closer the brew is to 21C the cleaner the flavour and aroma.
- Fermentation has finished once the specific gravity reading is stable over 2 days.
3. Bottle
- Gently fill clean PET bottles to about 3cm from the top.
- Add 2 carbonation drops per bottle and secure the caps (use only one carbonation drop for bottles intended to be stored for a longer period).
- Store the bottles upright in a location out of direct sunlight at or above 18C.
Need bottles?
4. Enjoy
- After at least two weeks, check for sufficient carbonation by squeezing the PET bottles.
- Bottles kept unrefrigerated should improve with age.
- When ready to drink, chill the bottles upright.
- The chilled beer may be poured into clean glassware, leaving the sediment behind.
- Expect the alcohol content to be approximately 5.8% ABV.