Taste test - Coopers Bottled Dark Ale, and Hard Cider 

Sir I am impressed. I came across your videos because of pure nostalgia. I lived in the UK just long enough to get keen on beer and the hell of a range by the way... I was wondering on the process of home brewing and the fist video I watched was yours, which defenitely get me thinking on doing some shopping here in France cause, what the heck, your tutorials are well explained, structured, methodical and fun!!!! enough ranting, thanx a lot sir.

So glad you got your channel back before it got suspended I was watching all your videos from the beginning this is where I got up to. Craigtube is back 🍺🍺

I am a beginner brewer and your videos are the best homebrew videos I have ever seen. I am actually enjoying a pale ale that I brew 3 weeks ago and am really enjoying this video. Keep up the good work, all the way from Ireland!!!!

This was my first homebrew. I left it in the fermenter for 3 weeks before bottling. Left it in the bottles for another 3 weeks. Fermented in my garage in a pan with water, an old t-shirt around the bucket to wick water, and a fan on it to keep the temps as low as I could in central Florida in April (probably 74 or so). Came out surprisingly well. Out of 45 bottles (one exploded) I've got about 14 left. Pretty good, and I'd consider brewing again. Think I'll do the English Bitter next.

Truth be told I came here for the Apple Cider because I have been making some lately but I ended up leaving wanting to try this Dark Ale. I am definitely intrigued. Cheers Craig!

I would just like to say, you are SUCH an incredibly pleasant personality to listen to on youtube. I wish there were more people like you on RU-vid.

I literally have learned 90 percent of what i know about brewing from you craig. Love your videos!

Watched yourvideo on dark ale made it with. 500g of medium spray malt and 500g light brown sugar , drank the firstbottle after 5 days when it cleared and holy cr*p its good . Love the reviews 👍

Very nice once again. As I drink my first coopers brew ever, I enjoy watching your videos.

CRAIG YOU HAVE A MOUTH ON YOU! I laughed my ass off when it showed the dark ale out of the keg!

Great one as always. Fine ending showing your tuns. My Cooper's Dark Ale came out harsh, but I made it per the can instructions with just 1kg corn sugar. I've put the kegs away in the closet to hopefully age out that harsh taste. Reading a lot about water, I'm using RO water 'cause that's what I've got. May try other water too.

Also, I Age ALL my beers at least a month now. I'll try a test bottle about two weeks after bottling, but I'm always astonished at the difference in taste after a month. Patience is a virtue :)

Classic video I just bought a dark ale to do on my channel I never did do it by itself last time I make the Craig Tube porter with it ! Cheers!

I kegged 5 gallons of very cheap (Youngs - £9) Mild for about four weeks. The keg leaked air a little, so I syphoned the Mild into primed PET bottles and left it for a further two weeks to carbonate. The result was a fabulous clear, carbonated, refreshing brew. And all you need is a leaky 'o' ring in your keg. So, accidents sometimes help!

Coopers Dark Ale tastes a heck of a lot better than an import out of the liquor store! :)

Craig...I love the vidoes man! It is because of you , that I got into home brewing. It has been a complete joy. The process is amazing! Anyway, I just bought this kit...I am totally stoaked. I am definately going to do it at 5 US gallons. Also, thinking of adding hops. Cheers, and Thanks! Brody

hey craig,,to clear the cider just use "finings",,you probobly know what this is but if you dont,,fining fluid is usually used with homebrewing of wine and it also usually comes with homebrew wine kits but you can purchase it seperately,,,it comes in a sachet in liquid form and you just pour it in before you rack your cider/wine and hey presto,,,crystal clear,hope i helped,,,i feel a bit wierd trying to give advice to the master,hahaha.

Thanks Craig for the reply. I will be watching for the hard cider and clicking those adds as they appear...)

Amazing initial reaction to the dark ale. Made me laugh hard.

Yeah man, next easiest thing to do is to steep some specialty grains. And then full boil with hop additions and Liquid Malt Extract (not pre-hopped/pre-boiled can). Does your local brewshop have that? Or replace the LME with Dry if they don't. Have fun! I hope you enjoy it. Doesn't require any extra equipment, except maybe the grain bag.

Nice transitions. Good to see you experimenting with Vegas Craig. I have to thank you for teaching me the basics of Sony Vegas too. Getting quit proficient at it now. Great video as well. Keep up the home brew videos!

Yes, definitely letting the beer age a month helps a lot. Some recommend 2 months. So, you'd have to make like 2 batches back to back, and just try not to touch one until what you're drinking is a bit more conditioned. Aging a bit also will help remove any off-flavors. I had a batch that was a bit estery on an early taste, but it went away after 4 weeks.

I'm going to have to try the Dark Ale. Looks super!!

The Bentonite? I add it at the end 1 day before before bottling, crystal clear and drinkable with in 24 hours. I have used many kinds of finnings and other options, Bentonite for me wins hands down, its amazing stuff. As far as I can see the Champagne yeast also helps me squeeze a couple more percentages of alcohol out of my brew. Heres a tip, if you buy bentonite from a brew shop it works out expensive, go to a health shop and buy it there in 5 kilo bags for less than half price.

I will be starting my Dark Ale after this Saturday. I ordered dextrose for priming and to boost the abv. I also have some pils light dme and maltodextrin. Fermax will be added to the water first. Then everything else. I hope mine is as good as yours is...Thanks for the video.

gotta like Craig. not commenting on the teal green wall paint, with the tasteful wallpaper (chair rail) border halfway up the wall.

Heres a thought, I very seldom secondary anything as Ive learned that the risk is seldom worth the benefit- I often cold crash my primary after it has reached terminal gravity and then use regular gelatin as a fining agent- its very cheap at your local grocery- This not only clears the cider/beer/wine, but also creates a gelatine layer ontop of my yeastcake and prevents any trub from racking out with my final product. Cheers !!

Good stuff man.Very entertaining as per usual. Thats some head on that dark ale all right!

Bentonite works for me also, I only make inmate brews. I use Champagne yeast, it seems to help clear up better.

Craig, have you tried leaving your beer on the lees for 3 weeks instead of just one? I tried an experiment with an extract ale. I bottled a six pack when it reached it's FG. I bottled the rest at 3 weeks. I aged both sets of bottles for 2 months before me and a few friends tried them. There was a noticeable difference in the beer that spent more time on the yeast cake. It takes more time, but IMHO is well worth the wait. You might give it a try and see what you think. Keep up the good work!

New ingredients... doing some different things...hmm. Could you possibly be doing a partial extract/partial mash? This is exciting. I can't wait.

@CraigTube First I rack off into 1 gallon bottles with air locks, I mix a heaped tbl of bentonite into half a cup of boiling water and whisk until dissolved, whilst still hot I poor all of the liquid into a 1 gallon bottle of brew and then shake the whole thing vigorously. At this point I also add a campden tablet and half tsp of E202, if after 12 hours it doesn't look like its getting as clear as it should, I shake the whole lot up again. 24hrs-48hrs max for most of my clearing.

at 1:26 ,,, I laughed so hard I cried,,,one of the BEST you tube moments EVER !!!

Craig, why not just rack into your keg after primary and use the keg as a secondary. Ive had great luck with that! No use in racking twice. Just my two cents...

Craig try a Snakebite, somepeople make snakebites just to get drunk but and i mean BUT if you get the right conncoction it can be an incredible rich refreshing alcoholic beverage. I generally do a strongbow cider with a good solid stout and here in yorkshire we call it a velvet, a rich velvet or a velvet smooth. Its like a cocktail for beer and cider drinkers.

Hey great video. You should review a Sleeman's Honey Brown Lager. I came to vacation in Canada over the summer with my dad and when my lips touched that beer I felt like the guys in beerfest when they tried the best beer in the world. I know your taste preference and I think your going to love what you taste.

cleareing cider.. Craig I brew my cider/apple wine by first adding a pectolic enzyme to break down the starches then 24 hours later adding bentonite prior to adding th yeast (this regulates fermentatuion and clears the must as it ferments).. after racking and stabilisation and degassing I use chitosan to remove positive charges haze. I end up with really clear cider/apple wine. My real; problem is that I don't have the room for cold stabiliastion so even after keeping my brew on its lees for at least 18 monrths and ML complete I still end up with tartration in the bottle. I think I might adapt a fridge or freezer to cold stabilise...

Ah, I went back and looked at your vid where you made the Cooper' Dark Ale. In addition to the 1kg corn sugar, you added high malt glucose syrup and filled with water to 5 US gallons instead of 5 Imperial gallons. Next time I make this, I'll try something similar.

well i was thinking it would be around the same ABV that yours was. almost about 1 kilo of fermentables with some adjuct coming from the honey, we shall see though I will try and take a specific before and an ending keep you posted.

@Zaban94 Ah yes, good point. Especially if they are dry hopped. But, do you think that a month in the bottle is too long for something like that? I guess it would also depend if it was racked to a secondary or not too. But yeah, like a beer like Pliney the Elder, you wouldn't want to drink that right away, if you can find it, hehe.

Great review

Great video Craig. What was the final ABW %? I just finished my First successful batch of home wine -- came out great. ABW was 9.5% A little low, I was hoping for a lil higher %, but will experiment in the near future with different sugars,etc .but overall a great tasting wine. Question: If you didn't refrigerate the wine yet, couldn't you still carbonate the wine ? BTW, GOOD LUCK on your Partial Mash ;)...I plan on doing one here soon myself, as well as kegging a batch as well.

Hey Greg, love your videos! Im just wondering have you made the Coopers Dark Ale, it sure looks good :) Did you add anything too the kit, or is it just the extract with dry malt extract?

i brewed this beer one can of dark ale one can of amber unhopped malt extract and it came out really good I got a bready preztel aftertaste it was good

Craig to clear wines baked eggshells works it is in that little yellow wine book I sent you a section how to clear wines

Pectic enzyme will help clear pectic haze in fruit brews. Pitch it before the yeast

Hello Craig, Is that dark ale you are tasting, the one that you added glucose with less water to increase the Alcohol? I couldn't find fermentable glucose and remember you said I can use two malt kit in 23litres of water to get more alcohol. if I do that, do I get same taste as yours? I can see you are amazed of the taste so I want to have the same :-) cheers and love your videos

Dear Craig, Will there be a taste test on the hard cider you made without the grapes? I am very interested in that out come.. Thanks Dave

sorry forgot to say thank-you LOL just fillin my wheaties after a long day of work. but man that wine is just off the chain wooooohoooo

wow what an amazing video. I actually have had a can of that Dark Ale for about a month now going to brew this weekend, definitely after seeing this vid. Oh and also have some coopers Dry Malt thinking of adding about a pound of that, a pound of light brown sugar, two cups of honey i was thinking about adding some choc, definitely going to do now since you said has a choclity note, and a couple of drops of some good coffee extract. Maaaaaan sounds good already let you know how it turns out.

Great vid.

Why leave it for the month in the bottle? Would it still be good and carbonated after 2 weeks? Also how do you stop secondary carbonation?

Did you add just dextrose for this? Or DME/LME? I might give this kit a go, I'm not a big stout fan, but a dark ale goes a long way, especially after mowing the lawn on a hot summer day.

I have brew most of coopers and have found dark ale to be the nicest and good abv 5.5-6.2%

I juiced my own apples from a tree in my yard then added 2 cups of refined sugar (think that will be any good?) then used some bakers yeast, since I used normal table sugar instead of dextrose corn sugar will it make a huge difference?

Coopers dark ale is good I must admit some homebrews have that yeasty taste Coopers Dark Ale does not its amazing, Craig what do you mean by lacing?

What happens if you try to make beer in temps over 75F? In the summer, the only place I have is about the upper 70's.

Hi craig I really love your videos and learn loads from them but one question that bugs me and I can't find any answer's anywhere is how long dose home brew last in a plastic pressurize barrel if I only have a few pints left, I have held it in the barrel for a few months just to check the taste that is still ok but it has very little carbonation but I am concerned about the safety of drinking it, any help would be greatly received

I noticed that eather in this video or the other you let it ferment for about 7 days. I've been letting my kits ferment for 21. am I fermenting for to long? my kits are coming out great but if I can turn it out faster with the same quality that would be great. any advice is helpful to this new be brewer. thanks

i really think i will start keggijg this year ... great videos buy the way

I just started a brew of dark ale today. Not as strong as yours I'm looking at about 4.2%. I'm very keen to try it. But I've still got a full 30 bottles of lager to drink first so I assume ill be aging it quite a bit too

You might want to let your brews stay in primary longer say 2 or 3 weeks and than maybe 1 week in secondary if needed. After they yeast is done eating all the fermentables it will look for something else to eat. It will clean up after itself and start eating some of it's waste product and clear and clean the brew. I think there is a taste differance. IMHO Look forward to your next vid.

chitosan, to clear hard cider, as its in the wine family!...hmm...i wonder if de-gassing the hard cider would be worth it...i may try that on my next batch of hard cider!

Did you do a taste test on the ordinary hard cider you made without the grapes.

Hi Craig Tube. Do you have any videos on .freeze distilation? if not have you tried freeze distilation?

Is coopers endorsing you now ? The ending made me a little curious this time .

Have you thought of a lager batch. Or have you already done one before?

hi craig , for bottling is it wise to resort to thick plastic bottles in case glass bottles aren't available?

G'day Craig, About to put down a batch of the Dark Ale, and I'm excited to see how it will go, I was recommended to add 1kg of Dark Malt instead of plain sugars, so I'm hoping it turns out well. With the Dark Ale, what would you recommend for the fermenting temperature? Thanks!

Did you figure out a good clearing method for the "inmate brew"? And can you carbonate it after you clear it?

Hi craig im doing the dark ale now, how much sugar would you recommend to use for priming a 5 gallon batch ( using household sugar ) Thanks Aain,

I am thinking of beginning to homebrew (yep, still a virgin) because of your videos. Great job.

"I don't know what to tell you...it's a can" -Craigtube

@CraigTube what!!?/ no congrats onmy first successful batch of wine?...why i oughtta ;)

think i might sell up and come brew in the US

dude i was just watching TSA's video response and i don't know how he thinks a canned kit is half sugar and half water. LOL but if something is an extract usually has less that 10 percent water in it. so im confused

That head just didn't last long enough. It should have stayed at least two inches thick for 5 hours straight. lol. Sorry I've been watching too many TSA videos and trying not to gouge my eyes out. Head and lacing... head and lacing... head and lacing. That guy is a broken record. Anyways great looking brew. I will have to try the Dark Ale for my next brew.

★★★★★ great video, thanks

Hi Greg Can you age beer in a keg?

cheers by the way

Is that mud on that glass? lol....

you guys in the US put us brits to shame with your home brewing.. you have the market for decent equipment and ingredients.. you also have a wine industry so at least you can get stuff in bulk

Craig, You should check out the Northern Brewer forums if you haven't already. They're pretty nice. northernbrewer(dot)com

hey craig,,,im hoping to send you a gift from a local beer festival which i attended recently(if you google BENTANDBONGS youll see their website) and im not sure how to send this,,if you could private message me on how to send that would be great,,,its just a thankyou for all the fantastic vids and advice which has helped me,,

"holy ffffff *BEEP!!*"