Coopers European Lager

[PEZ]

Anyone got any experience of this? I just bought a kit... any hints and tips, i see it recommends fermenting it at the lower end of the scale, suggests 19 degrees

[stevezx7r]

As with any lager, it's best to ferment it at the lower end i.e down to about 12C. Plus, it's a good idea to "lager" it in the proper way by storing (that's what lagering means ) in a very cool place i.e a fridge and in either bottles or a corny keg.

As you have your kit I would suggest checking the yeast to make sure it can handle making the beer at the colder temps (you may need two packs of yeast to do this). Or, if you have a decent HBS, pop in and ask for some genuine lager yeast such as Saflager. Again, two packs would be ideal and making a starter wouldn't be a bad idea.

Of course, if you can't get it to a low enough temp for a couple of weeks you could always use the yeast supplied and ferment it at ale temps (18 - 25C). This will result in a slightly fruitier taste and won't quite have that lager "zing" but it will be just fine served ice cold over a nice bbq

[PEZ]

thanks for that, yeah it comes with a 7g lager yeast that will go down to 13, not the usual coopers yeast!

already cocked up by not adding the sugar before the yeast haha!!! nightmare, so i dissolved the sugar in a litre of water and added it after everything else was done and gave it a stir. probably ruined it all in the process but i'm good at that anyway. cheers, Pez

[mat69]

tip#1.use bke
tip#2.brew at lower temp
tip#3.read instuctions pez

[Trunky]

[mat69]

it really won't get drunk till it's been a good 3 months in the keg.

thats what i tell myself,but after 2 weeks it tastes great..by the way what do you do with badly behaved yeast..do you put it in the naughty corner..

[Trunky]

[brysie]

tasted one of these yesterday that my local homebrew had in the barrel for 5 weeks.
i was so impressed i bought one and made it .
fingers crossed.
it says to leave for 12 weeks to condition. should be ready for me birthday then.

[PEZ]

damn that yeast was damn naughty haha mad.

glad this lager one is supposed to be well behaved tho haha. woman in the shop said that a customer reckons it tastes just like
the DUTCH heineken, not the one size fits all english brewed tasteless version (i said that last bit not her, she is a respectable lady
i'll have you know)..

holdin it steady at 19degrees and its got a good inch of nice lookin foam on top after it all disspeared when chuckin in the warm
water/sugar solution and givin another stir (what a twat)..

i cant wait for this stuff,i've only done the 2 can woodefords kits till now and had varied results...

[Ady1975]

what is BKE? is it beer kit enhancer?
come to think of it, what is BSM? is it brewing spray malt?

[verno]

I made this one with 500g light malt extract, 500g brew sugar, 200g honey and also 30g Saaz hops seeped for 30mins.

Its been conditioning for about 8 weeks. I have had a couple and they are prettty good. I can't really taste the honey but good apart from that. I am trying to leave it 12 weeks per instructions so will let you know.

[stevezx7r]

Honey is one of those flavours which is hard to "keep" through fermentation. I would use that as a priming agent instead of normal sugar - maybe make a kit using demerera or some other dark sugar (muscovado) and prime with honey.

[Ady1975]

I've got a coopers aussie sitting at 19 degs at the moment,using the yeast supplied. seems to be ok but it's not going crazy or anything, about 1cm-2cm of bubble action on top. but it only went into the FV yesterday afternoon.
I'm going to start another batch using saflager s23 and ferment at a lower temp in my outside cupboard, I look forward to being able to compare the two once they are completed.
I will perform identical processes apart from the initial ferment, both will have BKE and I'm going to try a couple of different priming ideas following some great tips from stevezx7r in another thread.

I'm sure both brews will be enjoyable, But i'm very interested to see how the flavours, alcohol content and carbonation alter between the various techniques of brewing.

[brysie]

what is BSM?

i think its a driving school.

[PEZ]

bottled it 3 days ago due to goin away till today and not wantin it to go off... fg was 1212 so used less sugar to prime..
was surprised to see its already crystal clear!no sign of bubbles yet but i'm sure they'll come..