A little help remembering the basics please :)

[bmouthboyo]

Hello everyone,

I brewed some beer when I was back at uni (5 years ago) using Coopers kits and bottling. They came out great but bit of a pain with the priming of bottles etc. I invested in 3 Corni's a couple of years back with CO2, regulator etc but due to changing situations never really had a chance to use them properly.

I am interested into getting back into brewing again and am going to brew a Coopers Ginger Beer and possibly another recommended easy brew to start with. I have done a lot of reading up but just wanted to make sure what I know so far is correct.

With most basic kits (cooper etc) I firstly follow the instructions and use an initial fermenting bucket. After 10 days or so, when the yeast action has finished I then take a gravity reading, and syphon the brew into a secondary fermenter leaving the sediment behind, to allow it time to clear (a week??) with possibility of adding finings.
Once clear I can take another gravity reading and syphon the brew into one of my Corni Kegs, purge with Co2 and slap the pressure up to 20 Psi for a week or two to carbonate. Then when ready to drink lower the psi to about 6 - 12 psi for pouring. Does this sound right?

The main things I am not 100% on is:
[*]How do I know when to transfer to secondary bucket
[*]Is a secondary fermenter really needed when using Corni set-up?
[*]How long should I leave in secondary
[*]Does it matter if the secondary fermenter is plastic or glass?

Anything else I am missing?

Thanks :

 

[abeyptfc]

hi mate, ive done a few coopers kits in the last month or 2, u take a hydrometer reading before pitching the yeast,then take a reading before bottling and u can calculate the alcohol percentage.
I usually leave it in the first fermenting bucket for 2 weeks, it is advised to take a hydro reading around the 2 week stage for 2 days in a row to make sure the gravity is the same and its fully fermented, you can tell if its fermented and it foams up during the first week and leaves a ring of gunk round ur bucket. ive not used a keg before so what i do is syphon from first Fermenting bucket to a second bucket, and then bottle straight from there so im not dragging any yeast **** up from the bottom. if you use the search facility ive donw quite a few posts on the coopers kits, ive done draught,cerveza, lager, got a canadian blonde fermenting, also got a draught, lager cerveza and european leager next in line! yeeha! and it is explained a bit better
hope it goes well

 

[bmouthboyo]

Thanks for the reply mate :)

Can I ask what are you secondary fermenting in, plastic bucket or glass carboy? And how do you usually leave it in there? Until looks clear? Is it then ready to drink (carbonation permitting)?

I guess with a corni I just syphon the brew from the secondary when ready into my corni kegs.

Can you recommend a cooper beer that's refreshing and easy to brew? I know people do not agree with commercial larger but I cant / shouldn't really drink 38 pints worth myself lol so something my friends would drink is a bit of a must. I was thinking the Canadian blonde (Labatt blue?) or the Mexican Cereza (corona?)??

 

[abeyptfc]

i leave it in the first plastic bucket for 2 weeks, transfer to second plastic bucket then bottle from there straight away, i suppose if you leave it longer then it will clear a bit more, if you were to transfer it to a glass vessell make sure u keep it out of any light as that will give the booze an off taste. the coopers kits are all decent, would like to give the ginger beer a try but ive got 4 other kits to brew first! also got an elderflower champers to be bottled on tuesday! if you need any help with the coopers kits pm me as ive probably already asked any questions you may have! apart from kegging!

 

[cwrw]

Hi guys,
With regards to the Ginger Beer abeyptfc - be weary as when I did this kit the bu**er stuck and later-on in the process did cause a few gushers and exploding bottles when we had our intense "summer" for three weeks this year.It's a sticky mix,so keep an eye.

In regards to returning to brewing - my take is to re-rack with a syphon into another bucket with your priming sugar dissolved in hot water (already in the 2nd bucket),then give it 2 hours to settle and just bottle. :thumb:

 

[Grumpy Jack]

Hi guys,
In regards to returning to brewing - my take is to re-rack with a syphon into another bucket with your priming sugar dissolved in hot water (already in the 2nd bucket),then give it 2 hours to settle and just bottle. :thumb:

I've done about ten Coopers kits in the last 18 months, all have been good and the advice above from cwrw is sound mate! :

 

[bmouthboyo]

Thanks guys,

My main problem is I am not sure how to best utilise my Cornelius kegs, and if its worth secondary fermenting to let it settle..

I have 3 Cornelius Kegs. I am intending to have a coopers ginger beer and a coopers Canadian larger started shortly.

I am thinking ginger beer in the primary FV for 2 weeks then into secondary FV to settle. Once settled for a week I will syphon it into one of my Cornelius kegs, add the co2 to force carbonate for a week, then reduce pressure to dispensing 6 psi.

Serve on ice :)

With regards to the Canadian larger, I will stagger it behind the ginger beer by 2 weeks, so it will take over the primary FV as the ginger beer goes into secondary etc.

This sound good guys?