Coopers European Lager Review

[ScottM]

I've been progressively drinking this over the past few weeks and decided to take a proper taste of one tonight.

It's came on leaps and bounds. Unfortunately there is still a bit of a sulphur odour, but I guess that may be down to my processing rather than characteristics of the kit. It's a lot less than it was previously, so that's a bonus. To add to that the crispness of the flavour is really coming through. I still think it could do with a touch more hops, even though I used hopped DME, but other than that everything is spot on.

Notes for next time:

A bit More hops (on top of the pre-hopped DME)
Cooler fermenting temp (lager yeast apparently so I'll aim for around the 15 degree mark)
Longer secondary time (Hopefully disperse the sulphur smell)
Less priming sugar (Getting a pint of head if I'm not REALLY careful, went with 180 the last time. This has a bit of body so will go with 150 the next time)


I'll definitely be giving it another go, it's a cracking kit for the money. Whole thing can be made premium for less than £20 total. A little refinement will make it an absolute bargain, look forward to trying it again.

 

[Brewing Boilerman]

I've been progressively drinking this over the past few weeks and decided to take a proper taste of one tonight.

It's came on leaps and bounds. Unfortunately there is still a bit of a sulphur odour, but I guess that may be down to my processing rather than characteristics of the kit. It's a lot less than it was previously, so that's a bonus. To add to that the crispness of the flavour is really coming through. I still think it could do with a touch more hops, even though I used hopped DME, but other than that everything is spot on.

Notes for next time:

A bit More hops (on top of the pre-hopped DME)
Cooler fermenting temp (lager yeast apparently so I'll aim for around the 15 degree mark)
Longer secondary time (Hopefully disperse the sulphur smell)
Less priming sugar (Getting a pint of head if I'm not REALLY careful, went with 180 the last time. This has a bit of body so will go with 150 the next time)


I'll definitely be giving it another go, it's a cracking kit for the money. Whole thing can be made premium for less than £20 total. A little refinement will make it an absolute bargain, look forward to trying it again.

Did you prime with Granulated Sugar? I have done a few Coopers Pilsner kits and batch primed with 150g of granulated suger. I was worried it would be lacking in carbonation.

 

[ScottM]

I've been progressively drinking this over the past few weeks and decided to take a proper taste of one tonight.

It's came on leaps and bounds. Unfortunately there is still a bit of a sulphur odour, but I guess that may be down to my processing rather than characteristics of the kit. It's a lot less than it was previously, so that's a bonus. To add to that the crispness of the flavour is really coming through. I still think it could do with a touch more hops, even though I used hopped DME, but other than that everything is spot on.

Notes for next time:

A bit More hops (on top of the pre-hopped DME)
Cooler fermenting temp (lager yeast apparently so I'll aim for around the 15 degree mark)
Longer secondary time (Hopefully disperse the sulphur smell)
Less priming sugar (Getting a pint of head if I'm not REALLY careful, went with 180 the last time. This has a bit of body so will go with 150 the next time)


I'll definitely be giving it another go, it's a cracking kit for the money. Whole thing can be made premium for less than £20 total. A little refinement will make it an absolute bargain, look forward to trying it again.

Did you prime with Granulated Sugar? I have done a few Coopers Pilsner kits and batch primed with 150g of granulated suger. I was worried it would be lacking in carbonation.

Yup, I always prime with granulated.

It may be lacking a little bit if you brewed to the instructions (ie 23L with no additional DME etc), but if you have added some extra DME or brewed short then there will definitely be nothing to worry about.

Even if it is under carbonated, it'll only be a little bit I would have thought.

 

[Brewing Boilerman]

I brewedmy pilsner with 1kg DME and batch primed with 150g granulated. Its possibly just still very young. I'll give it some more time before i try it again.

 

[ScottM]

I brewedmy pilsner with 1kg DME and batch primed with 150g granulated. Its possibly just still very young. I'll give it some more time before i try it again.

Sounds like you will be fine. Remember to leave the bottles at 20 degrees for 2 weeks, this gives the yeast time to get to all the priming sugar. I've noticed a huge difference between 1 week and 2 with regards to carbonation, obviously the cooler the temp the longer is required also.

 

[bottler]

Remember, this kit is not ready for drinking for at least 12 weeks, as per coopers instructions. I tested a few of mine well before that and they are comeing along fine.

 

[mattrickl06]

Agreed - they take a good while to "lager"

7 weeks in and they are tasting lovely!!

 

[falafael]

To be honest, i have done a couple of these kits, and found them to be great, one kit in particular, i actually did leave for 3 months!, and never tasted it before the 3 months, and when that time came, along with 2 'sceptical about homebrew' mates, i gave them a pint each, and they could not tell it was homebrew.

So, these kits i really recommend, one of my favourites!
:

 

[Kinleycat]

Put one of these on this morning with 1/2 dextrose and 1/2 extra light spray malt.
Pitched at 18c and hopefully it will live at around 14c for fermentation.

 

[bottler]

Great beer KC. It will live with 14c no problem :thumb:

 

[Kinleycat]

Nice one, cheers Bottler!! :thumb:

 

[Kinleycat]

Sitting under the stairs at 16c and getting some co2 activity.

 

[Sandimas]

Likewise I've just done one of these, with Enhancer and a tea made from BrewUK flavour pack. Very nervous leaving it at such a low temp (16c) having had ale kits stick below 18C, but the lager yeast is doing its job and it's bubbling away nicely

 

[Kinleycat]

Tbh I'm leaving this one well alone, and trusting the lager yeast will do its job.
It's still sat in there at 16c and there is a krausen ring about an inch above the beer level - so something is happening/has happened. :thumb:

 

[bottler]

Im going to bottle my cerveza tomorrow night. I used a saflager yeast and left it in my brewing room/spare bedroom with temperatures from about 12c to 16c and i think for 3 weeks, OG was 1042 and its down to 1010.First time i have kept the temps so low, but works ok.

 

[ScottM]

Im going to bottle my cerveza tomorrow night. I used a saflager yeast and left it in my brewing room/spare bedroom with temperatures from about 12c to 16c and i think for 3 weeks, OG was 1042 and its down to 1010.First time i have kept the temps so low, but works ok.

1010 might be a bit high to bottle for that lager. I hit 1004 with it. I brewed it at room temp though. My simple lager (extract) took 4 weeks to ferment out fully at 12 degrees.

Also, remember to bring the temperature up to 20 degrees (ish) steadily over 2 days before racking to secondary or bottling. I believe this is quite important, I can see how the pressure would increase simply by the temperature changing in the bottle. Once up to temp I would also allow it to sit for a couple of days to let everything settle after moving.

 

[bottler]

Hi scott, took a proper reading tonight, 1008 and its bottled now. Its been in the fv for ages and nothing showing on top of brew, i must check when i started the brew. The sample i took was quite clear and tasted good for a sample very light and not a lot of body but i can live with that for a good cold summer drink, if it lasts that long. Just checked, feb 16th was the start date.

 

[ScottM]

Hi scott, took a proper reading tonight, 1008 and its bottled now. Its been in the fv for ages and nothing showing on top of brew, i must check when i started the brew. The sample i took was quite clear and tasted good for a sample very light and not a lot of body but i can live with that for a good cold summer drink, if it lasts that long.

2 points is a fair drop and closer to what I would have expected so I would be happy with seeing that too. Need to allow a point or 2 for the hydrometer too, mine reads 3 points high

 

[Kinleycat]

10 days in and this is down from 1040 to 1014.
It's a bit slower than the other two coopers kits (1008 & 1010) but its absolutely crystal clear.
Very impressed with the lager yeast alternative so far.

 

[bottler]

Its going well kc using a lager yeast at cooler temps, and im sure it will get down in time, maybe another week even. It will be well worth it mate, a cracking pint. Coopers say in the instructions it takes 12 week before ready. Not one of mine seen the twelve week mark