Am i starting with the right kit?

[evil.soup]

Hi, I am totally new to brewing and I have never made a brew, as such, I have decided to start with a basic lager kit.

I have all the fermentation equipment I will need, sanitiser and I am working on collecting the bottles, mainly by drinking lots of lager and cider lol! I will be capping in glass bottles as I have never really liked lager or cider from plastic.

Anyway, I have been doing a large amount of research and I have already got some good advice from the introduction thread. The plan at this stage is to use a Coopers Australian Kit but with a beer enhancer and a larger yeast rather than the yeast that comes with the kit.

I do have a couple of questions though. My lager preference is more a Stella style. I have a feeling this kit will probably be more of a Coors style lager as I have tried a friends brew of this but it was with the supplied yeast and 1kg sugar. I do like it all the same so this is fine, but will my choice of enhance influence the lager style in the direction I want? If so, what mix should I be looking towards in my enhancer to lean more towards the Stella style lager?

Another question, if I brew a little short, say 21ltrs, will this also lean towards the Stella style over the lighter Coors style, or am I miles off in my thinking?

Also, when priming, can I just use household sugar or do I need carbonation drops?

Sorry for so many questions, just like to plan well to get the best out of my brew.

Thanks in advance,
Ian

 

[Rodcx500z]

If you brew short yes it will up the abv, if you use a larger yeast you will need temp control, beer enhancer is fine as is ordinary sugar for bottling, while it is your first brew i would advice you to use 2 or 3 pet bottles reason being you can squeeze them and check on carbonation levels and avoid bottle bombs, hope this helps

 

[Agentgonzo]

Yes, beer enhancer (dried malt extract) will give your kit a bigger/maltier flavour than just using sugar, which will make it more like Stella than Coors.

But rather than get a kit and replace bits, wouldn't it be better to try to find a kit that's closer to Stella to begin win?

 

[evil.soup]

If you brew short yes it will up the abv, if you use a larger yeast you will need temp control, beer enhancer is fine as is ordinary sugar for bottling, while it is your first brew i would advice you to use 2 or 3 pet bottles reason being you can squeeze them and check on carbonation levels and avoid bottle bombs, hope this helps

I am going with a novalager yeast as I should be able to hold a 12 to 15°C temp. Good shout on a couple of pet bottles, will help me judge carbonation and give me some tester bottles I will have no choice to drink early thanks for the advice.

 

[evil.soup]

Yes, beer enhancer (dried malt extract) will give your kit a bigger/maltier flavour than just using sugar, which will make it more like Stella than Coors.

But rather than get a kit and replace bits, wouldn't it be better to try to find a kit that's closer to Stella to begin win?

The kit doesn't come with fermentables as it stands so that's why I was after some info on the best blend to go for given my goals. I have seen a few different combos on Get Er Brewed, 60% dextrose 40% Maltodextrin 1kg or 50% dextrose 25% Maltodextrin and 25% spraymalt 1kg or a 1kg mix of dextrose and spraymalt but it doesn't say the ratio of that mix so I am assuming it's 50/50.
In relation to the Coopers range, would I be better off with the European lager kit? Again, this doesn't come with fermentables so I would still need to select the right mix for my aims.
I have not investigated the European Lager kit as yet.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Go on the Coopers website there is some good info on pimping on it

 

[evil.soup]

Go on the Coopers website there is some good info on pimping on it

Ok will give that a try, thanks

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

Hi, I am totally new to brewing and I have never made a brew, as such, I have decided to start with a basic lager kit.

I have all the fermentation equipment I will need, sanitiser and I am working on collecting the bottles, mainly by drinking lots of lager and cider lol! I will be capping in glass bottles as I have never really liked lager or cider from plastic.

Anyway, I have been doing a large amount of research and I have already got some good advice from the introduction thread. The plan at this stage is to use a Coopers Australian Kit but with a beer enhancer and a larger yeast rather than the yeast that comes with the kit.

I do have a couple of questions though. My lager preference is more a Stella style. I have a feeling this kit will probably be more of a Coors style lager as I have tried a friends brew of this but it was with the supplied yeast and 1kg sugar. I do like it all the same so this is fine, but will my choice of enhance influence the lager style in the direction I want? If so, what mix should I be looking towards in my enhancer to lean more towards the Stella style lager?

Another question, if I brew a little short, say 21ltrs, will this also lean towards the Stella style over the lighter Coors style, or am I miles off in my thinking?

Also, when priming, can I just use household sugar or do I need carbonation drops?

Sorry for so many questions, just like to plan well to get the best out of my brew.

Thanks in advance,
Ian

Coopers European Lager is much closer to Stella when everything works out right.

 

[evil.soup]

Coopers European Lager is much closer to Stella when everything works out right.

Cheers, I found sone reviews on that one on here, am I right in thinking its a longer bottle time on the European one before it makes for good drinking?

 

[starseeker]

That would apply to most beers/lagers to be fair (

 

[evil.soup]

After a bit more research I am looking to use the Get Er Brewed, 60% dextrose 40% Maltodextrin 1kg enhancer. Should this be suitable for a lager brew and would there be any benefit to adding an additional 200g of sugar?

 

[evil.soup]

Ok final change of plan and I have just ordered the stuff before I do more research and change my mind again!!

Ordered coopers Australian lager kit, 1kg dextrose and spray malt mix and the novalager yeast. Also ordered priming sugar over carb drops so will prime in the fermenter before bottling and will brew just short to 21ltrs just to ensure I get a little more flavour and an ABV of 4.5 upwards, fingers crossed.

This time next week I should have all the kit and will make a start, can't wait!!

 

[Nucbrewer]

Are you able to control your fermentation temperature?

 

[evil.soup]

Are you able to control your fermentation temperature?

I have a room off the kitchen with no direct windows that tends to stay a steady cool temperature, the yeast activates between 10 and 20°C according to the info and the room is about the 15°C mark, so I should be able to keep things within the optimum range hopefully.

 

[evil.soup]

Ok, so an update. I started the kit 9 days ago and went at 21 ltrs as planned and 1kg 50/50 dextrose/spraymalt and on day 3 I dry hopped with 50g hersbruker for 38hrs as I only wanted a subtle hop flavour.
Tasted after taking the hop out morning of day 5 and thought I had ruined it as it was very hoppy, but today, day 9, I have taken another gravity reading and its tasting quite good considering its warm and flat. It has been fermenting at a steady 17°C with maybe half a degree fluctuation plus or minus.
My gravity today is 1008 but I have had to gestimate my OG as 1040 since I messed up the reading rushing, I don't think I mixed it enough and it was a bit too warm.

If anyone knows how to work out what my original gravity should have been, I would be grateful for the help!

Anyway, if this is correct, that should give me 4.2%. That said, I was thinking it may be finished but I juat walked past it and there were some bubbles out of the airlock, so maybe it is still doing its thing.
I will probably leave it to Sunday before doing a cold crash, that will be 2 weeks in fermentation.
So, so far so good...

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Nice work! Nearly there now.
After packing it’s time for the hard bit: patience ;-) a few early samples are alright but you really need to leave most of it for at least 4-6 weeks.
It’s well worth getting a ‘pipeline’ of brews going otherwise things tend to end up a bit feast or famine.

 

[evil.soup]

Nice work! Nearly there now.
After packing it’s time for the hard bit: patience ;-) a few early samples are alright but you really need to leave most of it for at least 4-6 weeks.
It’s well worth getting a ‘pipeline’ of brews going otherwise things tend to end up a bit feast or famine.

I was thinking I need to get another batch on reasonably soon, think I will go with the the Coopers stout kit for a nice contrast to having a batch of lager. Going to steep some chocolate malt to add in there and maybe a little coffee for more flavour.

Before that though, since I need to accumulated more bottles to put it in, I am going to get a simple apple cider on the go in a 5ltr water bottle plus some frozen cherry's in there. Something drinkable quickly lol.

 

[WillFrites]

A very interesting read. As someone who hasn't tinkered I am tempted now.

 

[evil.soup]

Just as an update as this was a few months ago.
The lager turned out great, not too strong a hop and had a very Eastern European Germanic style to it. It wasn't Stella, but had good flavour and head retention. Trouble is, it was so good, me and the other half drunk it all very quickly lol! I have 2 bottles remaining, I am hanging onto these to add some age to them and see how they develop. It's certainly a batch i will be getting on again very soon, hopefully so I have some ready for Christmas.

As for the Coopers Irish Stout idea, I did that one as well with 300g of chocolate malt and 200g of demerara sugar added to the kit as well as 1kg of dextrose. I brewed that one to 21ltrs also and I have to say, its turned out very well indeed. It has that Guinness flavour but does lack head retention and that creamy Guinness style, but that is hard to replicate at home I believe. It's another one I will be repeating.

Following the stout i went with a Mangrove Jacks Blueberry Cider kit. I followed this one to the instructions with the mangrove jacks recommended fermentables. It's been in the bottle about a month to 6 weeks and it's OK, rather strong, but I'm not 100% sure if I will do it again. It's drinkable and has quite a bit of flavour, just not sure about it yet. It's certainly improving with time so jury is still out on that one.

All in all, I have been really happy so far!

 

[starseeker]

Great to read the update