Brew number 2 - Coopers Australian Lager

[marksa222]

Well... found some vouchers that I won at work last year and realised I could use them at Wilkos!

The only Coopers kit they had was the Australian Lager one. I went in hoping they would have the Woodfordes Wherry as they do online but no. So i settled on the Lager. I also got some Brew Enhancer from Muntons.

I made it with 2.5l of boiled water and topped upto 21.5l with morrisons 18p water. I live on an old farm that has its own water supply so I don't trust it. As i poured the boiling water in the jug it literally exploded! As I waited for the kettle to reboil I started to sweep up the glass. As I went to empty the glass from the dustpan which I had in my left hand, for some reason with the brush in my right hand, instead of the glass bin, I lifted the lid of the fv, and before I noticed, the dirty brush had made contact with the inside of the fv. Panicing and not thinking properly, rather than resanitising the whole fv, I just decided to wipe down the bit it touched. Its above the line the beer reaches now, but now i'm going to spend the next few months wondering if i've really f'ed it up.

Anyway, what's done is done. I pitched the yeast at 22 degrees and put the belt on to keep it around 20.

The beer is a bit darker tham I thought. Could this be because of the enhancer? Is it maybe more for ales or bitters like coopers brew enhancer 2? Could it get lighter in the FV?

Something always goes wrong

 

[Kinleycat]

Supping it as we speak very nice.
Did one with straight brewing sugar an one with 1/2 brewing sugar and 1/2 extra light spray malt.
Nowt wrong with either!!! :thumb:

 

[Zedilly]

I bottled one of these kits last weekend and I thought it was a little dark too, almost like a bitter. I tried one on Sunday evening for research purposes and it is exactly the same. The taste was a long way from ready and I was unable to finish it
I also made it up with muntons beer kit enhancer.

 

[marksa222]

I bottled one of these kits last weekend and I thought it was a little dark too, almost like a bitter. I tried one on Sunday evening for research purposes and it is exactly the same. The taste was a long way from ready and I was unable to finish it
I also made it up with muntons beer kit enhancer.

So is that after its been bottled for a day or 2?

 

[Zedilly]

Bottled 8 days ,7 in the warm and 1 outside in the cold. It was very clear, but strangely dark.

 

[mmaguy41]

This was my first brew it gets pretty good after about 8-10 weeks in the bottle i found

 

[marksa222]

Cheers...

Expect the worst, hope for the best scenario.

Think ill get a wherry on the go when the fv is free... cant mess up a 2 can kit surely lol

 

[marksa222]

Wow.. here's an irony for you...

I want to bottle my beers in glass because I think plastic looks a bit "trampy"... just spent 5 mins in my local picking out 500ml bottles from the a bin infront of people lol.

Just stay with plastic for a while I think!!!

 

[Charlatan]

Wow.. here's an irony for you...

I want to bottle my beers in glass because I think plastic looks a bit "trampy"... just spent 5 mins in my local picking out 500ml bottles from the a bin infront of people lol.

Just stay with plastic for a while I think!!!

You know its the same thing that has stopped me so far too.

My mate is a manager in a larger boozer in town and has said im welcome to bottles but i need to get them myself. I can order 24x500ml coopers PETs for £10 online and been too lazy so far to get the glass. Storage of the PETS is easier (in their box) and until Im sure of what Im doing I dont want anything going bang!

 

[marksa222]

The beer was 14 degrees when I checked it this morning. Ive moved the belt down and it seems to be climbing up a bit. Could the coldish start stop anything working? It not doing anything yet but its only been 15 hours.

 

[GaryG]

Coopers Australian lager.

9 days in FV. 10 days in bottle. Taken this morning at 6.15 after a nightshift.



Tastes great, can only get better and clearer.

 

[GaryG]

The beer was 14 degrees when I checked it this morning. Ive moved the belt down and it seems to be climbing up a bit. Could the coldish start stop anything working? It not doing anything yet but its only been 15 hours.

I think it would just slow the fermentation down a bit. Might take a bit longer to ferment. I think too hot is more a yeast killer than the cold.


Gary.

 

[marksa222]

After about 48 hours... Think this is about normal? I was really worried about it this morning. Had a bad feeling about it, but seems ok now. I wouldn't normally open the lid but I couldn't see through the lid properly because it had steamed up. Won't do it again :nono:

 

[GaryG]

Dont worry about opening the lid now and again as there is a layer of carbon dioxide to protect the wort. I have to open mine on day 3/4 to remove the krausen collar on my coopers set up. As long as its not all the time, you should be ok. I love the smell you get :thumb:


Gary.

 

[GaryG]

10 minutes ago :



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[marksa222]

when I started looking at home brewing, something nearly put me off... Every tutorial type vid on youtube always had a cheesey sip of another beer at the start and a "mmm you can't beat it"... I don't know what it is about that, but I find it really irritating. You picture Gary, just brought back all those feelings lol. (only joking, i'm sure you're a nice guy)

I just took this photo, this is after 3 days in the fv. Does this look normal? If you read my first post in this thread, you'll know i was worried about getting an infection, and seeing this colour doesn't make me feel any easier!

 

[GaryG]

(only joking, i'm sure you're a nice guy)

I thinks so but my other half might disagree :rofl:

 

[mmaguy41]

its totally normal, now stop opening the lid and just let it do its thing for a week

 

[marksa222]

Hi!

I planned on leaving this one in the FV for 2 weeks, which is tomorrow. I took a FG of 1009 after 9 days and decided to move it in to the cold in the hope that it might clear up on Saturday. All being well I plan on bottling tomorrow. I was planning on using 1 tsp per 500ml bottle as I want it to be a fizzy lager, is this too much? I don't want to risk them exploding on me!
I'd be very grateful for any suggestions :pray:

Btw, I've mentioned my support for brew belts in previous posts, I've changed my mind now. I found it really hard to keep it at a stable temp this time and hope it won't affect the flavour. In general it has been between 18-20 degrees, but one night I left it on and it slipped lower down and the temp went to 26 and on the odd occasion going down to 16. I have got an aquarium heater ordered for next time.

 

[GaryG]

I primed my 500ml PET bottles and 568ml magners bottles with 1.5 Tate and Lyle sugar cubes from Tescos. 98p for 500g packet. The PET bottles are brick hard after a week. The 330ml tester bottles, I used 1 cube. I opened one on friday and it was nice. Gonna test another tomorrow and if fizzy enough, I'll put the rest in cold storage.

I'm going in to Wilkos today to buy their lager with the free brewing sugar.

BTW the cubes went in the PET bottles no problem, but the glass bottles have smaller openings and the cubes had to be halved in two. I got a new FV so will now batch prime. Tescos are selling a FV for £7.26 with no lid.

Gary.