Next brew: Coopers Pilsener

[Fozzie]

After bribing the wife, I plan to make a start on my next brew this weekend.

Instead of the instructions suggested 500g DME and 300g sugar, I intend to use the rest of my DME (750g), and 250g of brewing sugar. Would the supplied 7g yeast sachet be sufficient to ferment all this, or should I throw in a saflager instead?

The instructions recommend a fermenting temp of 21C, but says the yeast can ferment as low as 13C. Would I be right in thinking that I should aim more towards fermenting at 13C rather than 21C?

If you've tried this kit before, I'll welcome any suggestions!

[J_P]

Re: the yeast question the colder and slower lager yeast ferments the cleaner the flavour of the brew. If you brew at a higher temperature you get more fruity notes coming from the yeast (esters I think) and less of the clean taste you'll be after.

The only issue that may arise from using extra DME is that the brew will end up with a little more body and that's no bad thing in my book!

[Fozzie]

Thanks JP!

I won't bother with trying to keep the temp up to 21C then. The ambient temp in the shed currently ranges from 16-18C, so that should create less of those esters...

I got an OG reading of 1030. Suspecting a dodgy hydrometer, I plopped in the spare and got a reading of 1044. Is it common for these things to go wrong?

[Fozzie]

Cheers for cursing my beer, DaaB.

I best get a tinfoil hat made, just in case...

Oh yes, got 2 litres of sainsburys thin bleach for 28p. Result!

[Fozzie]

All looking good!

Still fermenting slowly, and gravity currently 1010.

I'm wondering about my methods for bottling after fermentation. I attach a syphon tube to the tap on the fermenter, and place the other end in the bottom of the bottling bucket. I then fill the bucket gently, speeding the beerflow up when it's filled a bit. Once thats filled, I fill the bottling tube with water, then fill the bottles.

I've tested my first brew after 3 weeks in the bottle. It's still cloudy, and has a funny bitter taste on the back of the tongue. It might just need more time, but on reading up on this, I found that the funny taste could be astringency, which oxydation can cause.

http://homebrewzone.com/astringency.htm

It tasted fine when in primary, so if the taste doesn't go, I can only assume that something went wrong when it was bottled. It's still drinkable, but it's not one I'd feel too good about giving to others.

Any advise on this would be gratefully reveived!

[Fozzie]

Yes, I use a bottling stick.

I'll just have to keep testing this on a weekly basis. It's a hard life...