Kit 'O Beer #20 - CascArillo Australian Pale Ale

[Glass]

The Coopers Aussie Pale Ale is like a dry steam ale. I like it. It work well as a base for dry hopping. This will be the first time using 2 hops for this beer.

The recipe:
1 x 1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale
1.25 kg Brew Booster - from the preferred LHBS
2 x 7gms Coopers yeast rehydrated
30gms Cascade pellet hops dry hopped
30gms Amarillo pellet hops dry hopped

Changes:
Cascade hops. Double yeast. Rehydrated
Amarillo

OG 1.048
Volume: 20L
Fermenter: Coopers

Brew temp: 26C - ambient
Pitch temp: 23C
Current temp: 23C

Not much new here. Guaranteed to be drinkable. Ready for summer.

[Glass]

I rehydrated the yeast before pitching this time around. This is the first time I have done this. Not only is it straight forward but it is well worth doing from what I have seen. I would probably use a fraction more warm water due to the amount of dry yeast I put in. Both were 7gms coopers. It's fast but I think this might be something else. We will see.

So in summary I will do this always where possible.

I want to see if it speeds up the other yeasts. I find they are much different in the time they need when dry pitching.
Coopers needs 7 days
SafAle needs about 10 - 12 days
Danstar needs about 14 days

They each influence the beer flavour differently as well. Only slight.

[BrewTech]

I rehydrated the yeast before pitching this time around. This is the first time I have done this. Not only is it straight forward but it is well worth doing from what I have seen. I would probably use a fraction more warm water due to the amount of dry yeast I put in. Both were 7gms coopers. It's fast but I think this might be something else. We will see.

So in summary I will do this always where possible.

I want to see if it speeds up the other yeasts. I find they are much different in the time they need.
Coopers needs 7 days
SafAle needs about 10 - 12 days
Danstar needs about 14 days

They each influence the beer flavour differently as well. Only slight.

Could you clarify what you are trying to say about yeast performance here? I think I know but I don't want to assume...

[Glass]

when I dry pitch the yeast onto the wort I find that the different yeasts take different lengths of time to finish fermenting the beer.

Coopers yeast works very fast. About 7 days. It's a bit rougher.
SafAles I have used seem to take 10 - 12 days. A day or two before any action then a lot of action. Not quite 2 weeks. Bit smoother finish.
DanStar take a long time to start. 2 days. Takes the longest 14 days, but seems like the smoothest finish.

Trying them all I've noticed the different speeds and the way they work. Also the taste/finish of the beer. I think the SafAle is the most neutral. Would like it to be faster.

[BrewTech]

when I dry pitch the yeast onto the wort I find that the different yeasts take different lengths of time to finish fermenting the beer.

Coopers yeast works very fast. About 7 days. It's a bit rougher.
SafAles I have used seem to take 10 - 12 days. A day or two before any action then a lot of action. Not quite 2 weeks. Bit smoother finish.
DanStar take a long time to start. 2 days. Takes the longest 14 days, but seems like the smoothest finish.

Trying them all I've noticed the different speeds and the way they work. Also the taste/finish of the beer. I think the SafAle is the most neutral. Would like it to be faster.

Depends on a few factors... strain, manufacturing method, initial wort oxygenation and OG all affect start times and length of fermentation, as well as FG. Some strains require less oxygen, and some dry yeast manufacturers claim the no wort oxygenation is necessary on the initial pitch because the yeast are packaged pre-oxygenated. It has also been said that adding a minute amount of fatty acid (olive oil has been mentioned) can provide the lipids up front to the yeast that they can use to build up their cell walls if the wort lacks O2. Neva Parker over at White Labs did an experiment (http://www.whitelabs.com/blog/olive-oil-vs-aeration-experiment) along these lines. She is super cool and certainly knows her stuff, so if you have questions about fermentation you can always email her.

[Glass]

Racked to secondary today. No Amarillo hops. What? yup. thought I had some. I was even digging around in the hops on Saturday at the LHBS. Dont remember seeing any. Saw cascade so grabbed. Each row has 3 or 4 different type of hops in it. got to flick through them.

Throw out plan A and we are going with plan B. Galaxy and Motueka. I'm supposed to be doing Galaxy in #21 but I will scout out some Amarillo and do a CascArillo Blonde instead. Will be good to taste them on some sweetness.

The pale ale is very dry. This one is exactly like the one they brew. Spot on. Its on the edge for my taste. It has a slight funk. A lot like corona.

I think these two hops smell very similar. The Galaxy is a bit skunky. The Motueka is almost the same. Might be a double up. We see.

[Glass]

Bottled this one today. About 50 x 13oz bottles. It was dry hopped for about 8 days.

Not sure what to make of this. The aroma is impressive in intensity. It hits me with some kind of pine passion fruit aroma. There is something else there. Maybe a couple things. It smells like it has a problem. It's there on the taste. Off buttermilk? If it was only a primary ferment I would say it needs a rest. Yeast. There was a reasonable amount in the secondary.

The racked beer was good though. It could be the combination of hops. Reading my notes. Was not sure then. I probably should have done a single hop on the galaxy. After all that I am getting some new flavours that seem good. Lets see how they progress.

[Glass]

ok. I know it's early days but I wanted to confirm nothing was amiss with this beer. Not yet carbonated. Fast chilled so lots of haze.'

Beer has light caramel flavour. On top of something that is like mango. I don't like mango. This is not so bad, so it's like but not. Maybe its apricot and something. Caramel. Nope. What it is will become clear with more time. At least I don't think there is anything to worry about here. It has the potential to be a decent summer ale.

I'm tasting it and wondering if I've got the right brew. I think I do.