Funny Tasting Cooper's Lager

[Denis of Stoke]

Just tried my Cooper's lager which has been in the bottle for a couple of weeks. Strange taste - sort of sweet with an almost sherry like aftertone and also quite flat. Have I done something wrong or does it just need more time to mature?

Cheers all

Denis

[mat69]

now den,am i right in thinking that you used the yeast provided in the kit which is an ale yeast and brewed it as the instructions reccomend(21*-27*)if so this does ferment quite quickly and does leave the lager with the cidery type taste to it,leaving it longer will improve it a bit,but in my experience it will still have that aftertaste,as for it being flat i can only guess that you have under primed..

[Normski]

Hi Dennis
I've got a Coopers lager that I bottled about a week ago. I used the supplied yeast, an Ale yeast. I primed with Coopers priming glucose tablets that look like sweets. It has cleared already. I’ve tried a couple of them and they have good carbonation and taste great for a Lager.
Unfortunately I think that something is not quite right with yours. If it’s got no carbonation after one week and you did prime it, I think you may have lost pressure. And the strange taste sounds dodgy. If you give more info on exactly what your process was, I’m sure more others will voice an opinion. Sorry not to be able to be very encouraging with this one.

[Denis of Stoke]

Yes I used the yeast which came with the kit. The instructions recommended 8g of sugar per litre for priming which sounded a lot, so I asked my local homebrew shopowner for advice and he said that he wouldn't use more than 100g's for the whole batch, so I syphoned off from the 1st FV, added the sugar dissolved in approx 200ml of water and bottled. I did think at the time that the brew looked quite clear but as this is the first lager I have done, I didn't worry too much about it. The brew was in the FV for about ten days before bottling - maybe not a high enough yeast count for the secondary ferm?

Any comments would be much appreciated as I would like a decent lager (or two) for the summer and don't want to make the same mistake twice.

Cheers

Denis

[mat69]

100g should have done the job den,i use 115g and its perfectly carbonated every time.i would add the dissolved priming sugar to your bottling bucket before you syphon your beer in,this way it gets evenly mixed into your brew..if ya brewing lager dennis, the best thing to do is use lager yeast it makes all the difference.try coopers european it comes with lager yeast..its the best lager kit in my opinion mate..

[Mogwyth]

Just tried my Cooper's lager which has been in the bottle for a couple of weeks. Strange taste - sort of sweet with an almost sherry like aftertone and also quite flat. Have I done something wrong or does it just need more time to mature?

Cheers all

Denis

Sounds like oxidisation, too much air got in somewhere, probably during bottling. What sort of bottles did you use?

Bill

[timothio]

Sorry to butt in here, but on the subject of oxidisation....

When I bottle my beer, I add my priming sugar to the bottle and then have to give it a damn good shake to make sure the sugar has dissolved, otherwise it just sits at the bottom. Am I risking oxidisation by shaking the bottles? Sherry's not really my thing... Maybe this is what has happened to Denis?

[simple one]

No I wouldnt say you risked oxidation. The yeast will probably mop up anything that gets in to solution at that stage.

But I found out when I posted a similar post, it is considered bad practice. (having done it to every brew I have made)

The next one will not get a shake.

[simple one]

Unless your air space in the bottle is massive.

[Denis of Stoke]

Just to reply to a couple of points raised - I used mainly glass bottles with a few plastic because I hadn't got enough glass for the whole brew - unfortunately the prroblem is the same in both. I also used a bottling stick to fill the bottles. I have used exactly the same procedure for my first three brews (Brupacks IPA, Wherry & Brupacks Birkby Bitter) which have been very successful which is why I am at a loss to understand what went wrong with the lager.

Denis

[brysie]

denis i did a coopers lager as my first kit after many years away.
it cleared quickly, was plenty sparkly but didnt really taste much like lager.
im sure its to do with the yeast and the brewing temp [around22 degrees].

i would happily use 150 to 200g of sugar to prime a lager kit, but i do like um cold and fizzy.
just out of interest, what sort of temp have you had the bottles at?

[Mogwyth]

No I wouldnt say you risked oxidation. The yeast will probably mop up anything that gets in to solution at that stage.

But I found out when I posted a similar post, it is considered bad practice. (having done it to every brew I have made)

The next one will not get a shake.

Coopers actually recommend inverting the bottle a couple of times if you put the priming sugar in the bottle.

Bill

[Denis of Stoke]

Bottles were stored at approx 22 degrees for 8 days then transferred to the garage which is around 12-14 degrees,

[brysie]

well i reckon you just got introduced to coopers lager then.

i had a sample of their european lager a while back. i was most impressed. i bought one and did it the following day. comes with a true lager yeast and brews at much lower temperatures, more like a true lager should. its nearly ready for bottling now and they recommend storing for 12 weeks to, well `lager`...should be ready for august then.
i did a muntons gold a while back that i added extra hops to, and that is much more lager like than the basic coopers kit. [but still not quite there.]
and i have just started another coopers lager with extra hops [boiled and steeped] but substituted the kit yeast for a youngs lager yeast. that ones down the cellar and brewing away slowly, [heres hoping it will be ready for september]

see, i dont think you will ever get true lager from a kit using ale yeast and brewing at ale temperatures. youre more into steam beer territory.
crisp bitter lager means slow fermentation at low temperature, followed by long conditioning at even lower temperatures.

have you tried ditches stout?