Recipe

Coopers Sparkling Ale clone

Coopers Sparkling Ale clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.052 FG = 1.008
IBU = 29 SRM = 6 ABV = 5.8%

Ingredients
8.75 lbs. (4 kg) Joe White pale ale malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Joe White white wheat malt
1.6 oz. (45 g) English extra dark crystal malt (180 °L)
7 oz. (200 g) cane sugar (90 min.)
7.1 AAUs Pride of Ringwood hops (90 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 9.5% alpha acid)
1 tsp. Irish moss (15 min.)
White Labs WLP009 (Australian Ale) or yeast cultured from bottles of Coopers Sparkling Ale
1 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Mash the grains at 149 °F (65°C) for 90 minutes. Vourlaf until your runnings are clear, sparge to collect 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort, and bring to a boil. Boil for 90 minutes, adding the hops and sugar at the beginning of the boil. After the boil, turn off the heat and chill the wort rapidly to 65 °F (18 °C). Transfer to a fermenter, aerate well, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 65 – 68 °F (18 – 20 °C). When the beer has reached final gravity, bottle or keg as usual.

Extract with Grains Recipe:
Omit the 2-row pale ale and wheat malts. Add 6.6 lbs. (3 kg) Coopers light liquid malt extract. Place the crushed malts in a nylon steeping bag and steep in 3 qts. (2.8 L) of water at 150 °F (66 °C) for 30 minutes. Add water to make 3 gallons (11 L), stir in half the liquid malt extract, the sugar and hops, and bring to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes. Add the other half of the liquid malt extract and Irish moss with 15 minutes left in the boil. After the boil, cool the wort and transfer to a sanitized fermenter and top up to 5 gallons (19 L) with cool water. Aerate well and pitch the yeast. Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe.

Issue: March-April 2009

Cooper’s Sparkling Ale is the bar that all others are measured when brewing an Australian sparkling ale. According to Coopers, “Little has changed since Thomas Cooper brewed his first batch of Sparkling Ale in 1862. It’s still naturally conditioned in the bottle with our unique strain of Coopers yeast.”