Coopers Sparkling Ale clone

5 gallons, extract with grains; OG = 1.050; FG = 1.006; IBUs = 25

Ingredients

• 6 lbs. Coopers light unhopped malt extract
• 0.50 lb. crystal malt (60° Lovibond)
• 1 lb. Belgian candie sugar (white)
• 4.75 AAUs Pride of Ringwood pellet hops (1/3 oz. at 9.5% alpha acid
• 4.75 AAUs Pride of Ringwood pellet hops (1/2 oz. at 9.5% alpha acid
• 4.75 AAUs Pride of Ringwood pellet hops (1/2 oz. of 9.5% alpha acid)
• 1 tsp. Irish moss
• 1 cup corn sugar to prime
• Yeast culture from two bottles of sparkling ale or Coopers Homebrew Yeast or YeastLabs A01 (Coopers Ale Yeast)
• 7/8 to 1 cup corn sugar to prime

Step by Step

Steep specialty grains in 3 gallons of water at 150° F for 45 minutes. Remove grains and add malt syrup. Bring to boil for 30 minutes. Add 0.33 oz. Pride of Ringwood pellet hops. Boil 30 minutes, then add candi sugar and Irish moss.

Boil for 15 minutes and add 0.50 oz. Pride of Ringwood hops. Boil for 13 minutes and add remaining hops. Boil for two more minutes and remove from heat.

Cool to about 70° F and transfer to fermenting vessel with yeast. Ferment at 64° to 70° F until complete (about 7 to 10 days), then transfer to a secondary vessel or rack into bottles or keg with corn sugar.

All-grain version:

Omit extract and mash 7.5 lbs. Schooner or Harrington two-row pale malt with crystal malt in 8.5 quarts of water to get a single-infusion mash temperature of 150° F for 45 minutes.

Sparge with hot water (170° F or more) to get 5.5 gallons of wort. Then bring to boil and use the above hopping and fermentation schedule.

*The Coopers brewery still belongs to the family that started the enterprise in 1862. They keep their recipes a secret, but Mark Henry of Cascadia Importers, an importer for Coopers, knows quite a bit about Coopers beer.

Henry says the brewers use their own Schooner base malt, but extract brewers can get similar results by using Coopers unhopped malt extracts. “The color is more off-golden rather than amber. My guess is that they use a small amount of crystal malt for head retention,” says Henry.  “Coopers uses Pride of Ringwood hops across the board, though any Hallertauer will work,” he adds. “As for yeast, Coopers ales are produced with multiple strains of yeast. For authenticity, the homebrewer can purchase a few bottles of sparkling ale and harvest the yeast from the bottom.”

Otherwise, use a packet of Coopers Homebrew Ale Yeast. Ferment at 64° to 70° F and prime with a full cup of corn sugar to impart the effervescence of its namesake. For more information about the brewery, call (011-61-8-8300-4222) or go to www.coopers.com.au.