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Best Extra Stout

Posted by: Makebeer on 2/9/2010

Coopers Best Extra Stout is an outstanding beer, hence the numerous awards. This recipe is an approximation to the former version of Best Extra Stout at 6.8% ABV, which was also sold as a bottled-aged product called Special Old Stout. The extra alcohol increases the longevity of the brew. It’s a great beer to cellar and taste periodically to see how it develops.

Ingredients
• 1.7kg can Original Series Stout
• 1.5kg Thomas Coopers Dark Malt Extract
• 500g Sugar/Dextrose

Method
1. Dissolve Coopers Original Series Stout, Thomas Coopers Dark Malt Extract and Sugar/Dextrose in 2 litres of hot water.
2. Fill fermenter with cool water to the 20 liter mark and stir.
3. Sprinkle supplied yeast over the wort surface (or stir in active Coopers yeast culture).
4. Ferment temperature should be as close to 21C as possible.
5. Bottle once the specific gravity is stable over 24 hours.

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17 Comments

Nov 28 2011, 12:32 AM Mr.Glenn
I'm new to brewing and love dark ales and stouts, so tonight I decided to try your recipe for Best Extra Stout. My initial SG is 1.054. Hopefully I will have a nice stout to enjoy for New Years!
Nov 28 2011, 4:17 PM Makebeer
Hi Mr. Glenn, Sounds like a great choice for your next brew! Let us know how it works out. Happy Brewing.
Nov 30 2011, 1:09 AM Mr.Glenn
At 48 hours I have a nice krausen dome just above the lip of the bucket! I have maintained the temperature at 22-24c. I'm pretty excited to see my second brew doing this well!
Nov 30 2011, 10:50 AM Makebeer
Sounds like you have a lively fermentation on your hands Mr. Glenn.
Jan 05 2012, 2:43 PM PTM
Irish Stout complete package versus Original Series Stout package, pros & cons of each, is there that big a difference between the two?
Jan 05 2012, 6:58 PM Makebeer
The main difference between the Irish Stout and Original Stout is that the Irish Stout uses an English Ale Style Yeast and has some additional flavoring hops. In terms of packages the Irish Stout has will have a better body, head retention and a higher ABV than the Original Stout.
Jan 11 2012, 8:52 PM jmprdood
Made the Extra Stout for Xmas/New Years added an extra lb of dme and a lb of brown sugar. Boiled all the dme and sugar plus an oz of Willamette hops for 5 mins, then into fermenter for 2 weeks. Bottle conditioned for a month - and; WOW, hit of the holidays! Cheers!
Jan 24 2012, 2:40 PM PM
For the Best Extra Stout, what effect would subsituting the Irish Stout for the Original Series Stout have on the taste and ABV
Jan 24 2012, 3:17 PM Makebeer
The Irish Stout uses an English Ale strain of yeast versus the Coopers original series yeast. The Irish Stout also has some Goldings aroma hops added to it. My guess is that the Irish Stout would be a little dryer. The ABV should be the same. This recipe is designed to replicate The Coopers commercial Best Extra Stout.
Jan 25 2012, 2:58 PM PM
So the only difference if using the Irish Stout versus the original Stout would be the beer would be a little dryer with the irish Stout?
Jan 25 2012, 4:57 PM Makebeer
Additional aroma hops are added to the Irish Stout.
Jan 29 2012, 5:37 PM Mr.Glenn
The stout I started on Nov 28th came out great. I used Coopers Original Stout, Brew Enhancer 1, and Dark Malt Extract...fermented in the bucket for 10 days then bottled in 500ml bottles with 1 carbonation drop per bottle. I started drinking the brew after 5 weeks in the bottle. I haven't quite decided what to try next...
Feb 04 2012, 6:53 PM Pete Doherty
Hi, I followed your recipe for the Best Extra Stout - well nearly, I used the Coopers Irish Stout, Coopers tin of Dark Malt Extract, and 500 grams of dark brown sugar. Everything was going really well and had a S.G. of 1010 yesterday. Today it has dropped to 0995, does that mean something is wrong? I didn't expect it to drop below the 1000 mark. I've held it at constant temp (21 c) in fermenter for 2 weeks now. I'm due to bottle tomorrow - do you think I should bottle any way and see how it turns out? Thanks in advance, Pete
Feb 05 2012, 3:42 PM Makebeer
@Pete Do you know what the original gravity was? What is your gravity reading today? It sounds like you should be okay to bottle. But I think it's important to know if your hydrometer is off. What is the gravity reading of water using your hydrometer?
Feb 05 2012, 5:38 PM Pete Doherty
@Makebeer, thanks for the reply. O.G. was 1049. I took another reading today and its at 0995 so it appears to have stabilised. Tap water is sitting at 0980 (just a fraction below the highest line on new Cooper's kit hydrometer. Water temp is about 44f. I know the temp makes a difference but hydrometer reading is so low does that mean its broken do you think? I thought a broken hydrometer might be the reason too but I'll be unable to get a new one until Tuesday. One other query, I was considering priming half the bottles with black treacly - for or against that idea? Thanks in advance, Pete
Feb 13 2012, 7:52 PM Makebeer
@Pete I haven't decided if I'm for or against. Why not just prime with dextrose? It's simple and does the trick.
Feb 14 2012, 3:36 PM Pete Doherty
@Makebeer, thanks. I ended up halving the batch, half with the coopers sugar drops, have with black treacle so we'll see how they turn out. I also don't have a bottling bucket yet (just one fv) for batch priming. I'm brewing your American Amber Ale now and have a query but I'll add that to other page. Thanks for your help!

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By Jason on Sanitize, Sanitize, Sanitize!! :
"This is my first Home brew batch, I got the kit for my B-day, I have been using bleach on everything so-far to sanitize everything. In about 4 of 5 days it will be time to bottle for my first time (I am excited) I think I will run the unused bottles in the dish washer without soap(to remove dust and such) then rinse with a bleach mixture to sanitize, one final rinse with water to get rid of the bleach, then bottle my first batch of beer. I hope my method will give me a good brew. If not please let me know, I am a new to home brew." Read more ›
By Makebeer on Bottling Day:
"@Piers. There should be adequate amount of yeast in suspension (as long as you don't wait to long before bottling) so as not to shake the beer before bottling. The amount of final carbonation is determined by the sugar added to the bottle." Read more ›
By Piers on Bottling Day:
"Hi there. I have a similar question to Jim. If you are adding sugar to each bottle, should you stir the fermented beer prior to pouring it into the bottles, to evenly distribute any residue etc?" Read more ›

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