coopers yeast takes a long time to get going

[simo]

Hi all

Love this forum and all the great advice i have got from reading the various posts.

I have a question about Coopers yeast.

I have recently done a coopers real ale kit with brewing sugar and the yeast took over 36 hours to start its work.

I have just started to drink it now and it is a great pint, it's only 5 days in the bottle but it's great to pint already.

I pitched the yeast on my australian lager kit yesterday at 1800hours and i cant see any froth yet either.

Is it just me or does the yeast that comes with coopers kits take a long time to start?

Should i rehydrate it first? the instructions say just to sprinkle it on top of the wort.

Great Forum
Thanks in advance

Simo

[Timo]

I've just done the Euro lager and the yeast started really fast, big head in under 12 hours. I didn't re-hydrate the yeast I just sprinkled on top with the temp around 22c, then I left for a week in the FV at 8-11c. After 5 days it came down to 1.008 and stayed there for the next two days so I kegged it after a week.

How hot was the liquid when you pitched the yeast? and what temp is your FV now?

[Stomach]

After doing quite a few kits now, I dont usually expect to see anything for the first 24 hours. Obviously this isnt set in stone but my own observations!

I suspect some yeasts act very quicka nd some much slower!

Cheers.

[Ditch]

Simo; I've made so much Coopers Stout now, for so long, I've honestly forgotten how long any other yeast takes, by comparison.

That said, I find mine usually takes closer to 48 hours. I suspect this is because I chuck the dry yeast into a stone cold FV and then chuck the heater in. It takes a 50 Watt heater a fair time to warm 20 Ltrs to 21 c. But, once it does? Armageddon!!!

Here's a few I put in, I think it was monday ....?

Yeast seems to be working .....

[simo]

thanks for the replies.
WOW that is some yeast mountains you got going on there Ditch.! hahahaha

How do you sanitise your 50w heater? Ive got one but i am never confident that i can get it sanitized, its the rubber boot bit at the top i worry about not getting clean enough. Thats why i dont use it, i rely i the central heating/warmth of the house.
Also mine is set to 24 degrees, i can alter it but it says thats the optimum temp.

The temp of the wort is 20c now. i have given it another thrashing with a sterilised spoon/paddle in the hope that it might wake up the yeast.

Could i have killed the yeast if the wort was too cold when i sprinkled it on top?

I think next time i will rehydrate it like i do when i do a woodfordes wherry.

cheers

Simon

[Gordonmull]

Don't sweat it, your yeast will be fine if pitched into the cold. You'd be surprised how easily they survive cold, it just sends them dormant. They'll soon be woken up, ready to turn the sugar to alcohol!

Best thing to do is just leave it alone for a few days and let the yeast do it's job.

[Ditch]

Yeah, impressive, I know. But nothing at all beyond expectations with my gear Oh, and that lid was lifted and pushed aside by the Blow. I'd left it 'on'. Anyway .....


How do I sanitise my heater / stat's? Couldn't be easier! I have an open bucket here. It sits on my kitchen floor. It's full of water and everything I'm not using and which needs sanitising just gets dumped in there. Heaters. Syphon tube. Micro pore cloth. You name it.

Now and then, I'll sniff the water, or else sniff the cloth before using it to, eg. wash off my FV's. If it doesn't smell bleachy enough? I sling some more bleach into the water. I don't measure it. I just pour a splash in.

Want to use a heater / stat? Pull one out. Give it a rinse under the tap. Dump it into the FV and plug it in.


Who says 24c is optimum? Optimum for what? I was taught that 24 is optimum for forcing a fermentation. In fact, ye could actually ferment a medium strength beer in two or three days, at that temp. Would it taste optimum? That's a different matter .....

20 c would be absolutely fine by me. That's a beautiful temperature to ferment at. Ye should have a gorgeous head on the FV within a few days at that temp'.

All this thrashing and bothering the damn stuff. I see so many people doing that. Wouldn't dream of it, myself. I chuck the yeast in and walk away. That beer either goes ballistic, or ..... well, mine's only ever gone f**king ballistic! Simply never had the situation where I might feel the need to mess about with it.

Frankly, I can't think of a worse thing to do to a brew. Seems insane to me. Inviting infection by stirring out any CO2 blanket and stirring in the possibility of god knows what.

No. One of mine failed to kick off in a few days? I'd just sling another pack of yeast in it. Wouldn't even stir that in. Never do.


Could ye worter have been too cold? Can't see how it could be any colder than mine. My water comes straight from the tap and, I can assure ye, it's damn cold! I don't hold with this messing about adding boiling water and all that shite. I chuck my yeast into the Baltic. It soon wakes up, once the heater's got the temp' up a bit. Never hurt my yeast. Why should it hurt yours? Dunno.


Rehydrating the yeast? Did that a few times. Worked fine. But, so does just emptying the packet into the FV. Loads less work just chucking it in there. Same result. I'm a lazy bastard. Why would I make work for myself, messing around with the yeast?

Jesus F**king Wept!!! After all that, I just checked and now see that ye've hardly waited thirty hours, then ye've started poking it about?

Look what I said in my first response here; " forty eight hours " !


Patience, Grasshopper!

[simo]

I think the yeast has finally woken up and started chomping their way through the sugar.

I have a slight white froth on the wort.

I am used to quite a big head after about 24 hours with other kits i have done. The coopers real ale took a bit less time to get going though, but when it did there was a lot of froth. I am sure these coopers kits take longer to get going!

The lager smells great so far though so i dont think i have an infection, i kept the lid on with a tea towel over it too so i dont think any bacteria could have got in it.

Just got to leave it now and see what it turns out like.

The real ale is really good already. Had a couple of bottles and it tastes good even at this young age. afterall you gotta taste your brews at various stages havent ya!

Heres hoping for a cracking aussie lager.

Cheers

Simon

[Gordonmull]

That's the way simo, let it be and see how it goes. It will be fine, the yeast has years of expereince in doing the job. You just need to wait.

I must admit I started drinking the coopers real ale early too, bottled and bulk primed with 80g sugar. Was a great pint and it didn't survive to old age. In fact I've got one of those and a coopers stout waiting in the cupboard for an empty fv.

[Ditch]

I've got one of those and a coopers stout waiting in the cupboard for an empty fv.

You f**king tight fisted Scot! Come on, Gordon, get ye hand in ye pocket! What's a FV? Under a tenner? I never let a lack of FV's stand in my way of making more beer!

[grumpysod]

I've got one of those and a coopers stout waiting in the cupboard for an empty fv.

You f**king tight fisted Scot! Come on, Gordon, get ye hand in ye pocket! What's a FV? Under a tenner? I never let a lack of FV's stand in my way of making more beer!

You don't even need to spend that much, in the dark old days of homebrew in the 1980s, my brother made his kits in a black bin bag inside a cardboard box, food grade plastic was anything that was clean!

[simo]

just an update on the lager.
Its now at 1008 on the hydrometer and i guess its nearly finished. The temperature of the wort according to my stick on thermometer is 17c. it has been at this temp for a few days now and i guess its a little low really. I am interested to see if the final beer with taste better cos it was fermented at a l lower temp.

It tastes food and is very clear already.

Going to bottle this one in a 1 and 2 litres bottles (pet). How much tate n lyle per bottle dya think is required to make a fizzy lager?

Also when you guys say to rinse a bottle thoroughly do you fill it up completely to the brim, empty and repeat? Just curious really.

As long as i cant smell bleach i guess its ok.

Cheers
Simon

[niallac]

Hi Simon,

The temperature of the wort according to my stick on thermometer is 17c. it has been at this temp for a few days now and i guess its a little low really.

FYI - I think that the yeast packaged with the Coopers Euro Lager kit (and I stand to be corrected) is a true lager yeast. These typically have a specified temperature range of 10-15C, and some can operate as low as 5C. You don't want to go too much above this range, or you can start to get fruity, ale-type flavours in your lager. My first ever lager was a Thomas Cooper's Pilsner, and while it was good, it didn't taste quite right - I put this down to fermenting it at too high a temperature.

Going to bottle this one in a 1 and 2 litres bottles (pet). How much tate n lyle per bottle dya think is required to make a fizzy lager?

I bottled that same batch with 150g of DME and 80g of brown sugar, which, IMHO, was a perfect level of carbonation for a pilsner. See herehttp://www.aussiehomebrewing.com/Alcoho ... lator.html for an online priming calculator - I find this pretty reliable, be sure to read the text marked 'Caution', though!

I hope this helps...

[simo]

Well the lager is down to 1.008 on the hydrometer and was 1.008 yesterday too so i have bottled a couple with 1tsp of sugar in litre pet bottles.
It was very fizzy when i put it in the bottles and tasted fine but bland. Not sure if its finished yet. i reckon giving it another day in the fermenter will tell.

How come the coopers real ale kit had a FG 1.002 and this lager looks like being higher than that?
Why dont all kits get down to 1000 or there abouts?

Cheers

Simon

[Gordonmull]

I've got one of those and a coopers stout waiting in the cupboard for an empty fv.

You f**king tight fisted Scot! Come on, Gordon, get ye hand in ye pocket! What's a FV? Under a tenner? I never let a lack of FV's stand in my way of making more beer!

I think SWMBO would kill me if i came back home with yet another 25L fv and a big smile on my face! The stout was started last night, replacing brewmakers scottish 80/-, and is smelling very nice already. Real ale goes in tomorrow when the TC comes out. Tooheys lager will soon be ready to be replaced with one of next weeks two kits that i will buy on Sat. Other TC is taking its time but i'm in no real hurry.

That and with 13 DJs of wine now on the go I'm busy enough! Tonight's the first night i've sat down before 11 in three nights and that was after putting a plum wine on. Not an experience I will repeat unless it kicks ass because stoning 2kg of plums was not fun.

My basic strategy is two kits a week until I've got plenty of stock. Then drop back to one a week. Hopefully I get a good enough stash before march because then i start tapping birch and that will leave me even less time...and from then I'm going scavenge wine crazy.

And no, no way will I use a bin bag. Imagine if it burst? oh god no, no, no! All that beer. i'd be licking the carpet...oooh-er!