I'm planning my second ever brew this weekend - Coopers lager. I've taken some tips from here : viewtopic.php?f=4&t=22949&p=258376 and bought some more ingredients. I have a few questions about them - I'm going to use :
Coopers tin 1.7kgs
Saflager S-23 yeast (in place of the Coopers supplied yeast). This is 11g against the 7g in the supplied packet - should I use the lot ?
Saaz hops - planning to use 30gs boiled up as per the link
Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 - I was going to use 800g of this & save 200g for priming. Does that sound about right ? It seems a lot for priming but I will be bottling.
Not sure what temp the FV should be at - is 20 deg about right ?
Thanks for your help
Bodders
Coopers Australian lager - questions
-
psychoactive
Re: Coopers Australian lager - questions
Hi Bodders,
Can't really advise about the hops as have not gone down this route yet; however:
1. Changing for the Saflager was a good idea - I did this kit with the supplied yeast and it was definitely 'aley'
2. With a real lager yeast try and keep the temperature well below 20oc - think more 15 if you can. Some people talk about starting the brew off in colder temps (15-18), then transferring to room temp for the last third of fermentation or so (commonly referred to as a 'diacetyl rest'). I think this is more of a worry for the AG brewers though - I'm sure others will advise.Keeping the temperature low produces a cleaner tasting lager.
3. Lager yeasts often take a while to get going - use the full paacket and perhaps consider a yeast starter - search on this forum but this is essentially a small amoint of wort started to get the yeast going before you pitch into the remainder of the wort. This means the fermentation gets going quicker, so there's less lag time for the wort to get infected.
4. I'd use the full 1kg of brew enhancer for the fermentation, then prime with household sugar - it's not going to add to the flavour and it's a lot cheaper!
Good luck and let us know how you get on!
Can't really advise about the hops as have not gone down this route yet; however:
1. Changing for the Saflager was a good idea - I did this kit with the supplied yeast and it was definitely 'aley'
2. With a real lager yeast try and keep the temperature well below 20oc - think more 15 if you can. Some people talk about starting the brew off in colder temps (15-18), then transferring to room temp for the last third of fermentation or so (commonly referred to as a 'diacetyl rest'). I think this is more of a worry for the AG brewers though - I'm sure others will advise.Keeping the temperature low produces a cleaner tasting lager.
3. Lager yeasts often take a while to get going - use the full paacket and perhaps consider a yeast starter - search on this forum but this is essentially a small amoint of wort started to get the yeast going before you pitch into the remainder of the wort. This means the fermentation gets going quicker, so there's less lag time for the wort to get infected.
4. I'd use the full 1kg of brew enhancer for the fermentation, then prime with household sugar - it's not going to add to the flavour and it's a lot cheaper!
Good luck and let us know how you get on!
-
Cheshire-cheese
Re: Coopers Australian lager - questions
Yup, I agree about the yeast. The yeast supplied with Coopers Aussy lager kits is an ale yeast (where as the yeast in their European lager kits is a lager yeast) and that is okay at 20C, but your lager yeast would be better at a cooler temp as post 2 suggests.
Go for it with the saaz hops, perhaps steeped for 15 mins or so to get some aroma.
Use all of the coopers beer enhancer and prime with household sugar if I were you.
Go for it with the saaz hops, perhaps steeped for 15 mins or so to get some aroma.
Use all of the coopers beer enhancer and prime with household sugar if I were you.