Coopers european.

[bottler]

Brewed the coopers european today og 1044. Great hopes for this one. Says 12 weeks after bottling, so i'll stick them in the loft when formented til around march... honest :whistle:
Bye the way lads, i took the og reading from the tap on the fv, would that be the same as sample taken from the top of the brew? I gave the brew a bloody good stir.

 

[LeedsBrewer]

yeah... cos thats guna happen

 

[Brett]

I read this with great excitement. I put together my first ever batch on Sat afternoon - Coopers European Lager. It would be great if i can compare notes with you on how they are progressing to see if i am on the right track to a good brew and if it goes **** up i can maybe find out where I went wrong.

Ok, so i followed the instructions on the pack more or less.

I added half a crushed campden tablet to my cold water about an hour before.
I used 1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 instead of sugar.
I only topped up to 22l of water because the temp dropped down to 18c so added a little hot to bring it back up, was 22c before added yeast (in hind sight after a bit more research I now realise that a lager yeast could probably handle 18c ?)
OG measured 1.038

Ok, so its Monday morning now and its sitting next to the stove beating out a steady marching pace through the bubbler, holding a fairly constant 22c.

Lessons learned so far - 1.secure the siphon to the fermenter unless you want to be cleaning brew out your hair and all over the kitchen 2.the wife is not going to be anywhere near as exited about little bubbles of CO2 as I am.

 

[fbsf]

Brett - if you can try and get it a little cooler. The yeast supplied with the Coopers European works best at around 14-16C, and will give a much cleaner crisper taste at those temps. You won't get any fusel alcohol at 22, but it won't taste as good as it could...

 

[Brett]

fusel?

Surprised, the kit states 21c. to drop the temp i will need to move the barrel, will this not disturb it? i was under the impression that i shouldn't move it at all?

So, stick with a high temp or disturb the sediments. whats to be done?

Thanks for the advice though, this is what i'm looking for.

 

[fatbelly]

Brewed the coopers european today og 1044. Great hopes for this one. Says 12 weeks after bottling, so i'll stick them in the loft when formented til around march... honest :whistle:
Bye the way lads, i took the og reading from the tap on the fv, would that be the same as sample taken from the top of the brew? I gave the brew a bloody good stir.

Make sure that you get it carbonated, I didn't put enough Sugar in and the Beer was almost flat when I poured it 10 weeks later :sulk:

 

[bottler]

Brewed the coopers european today og 1044. Great hopes for this one. Says 12 weeks after bottling, so i'll stick them in the loft when formented til around march... honest :whistle:
Bye the way lads, i took the og reading from the tap on the fv, would that be the same as sample taken from the top of the brew? I gave the brew a bloody good stir.

Make sure that you get it carbonated, I didn't put enough Sugar in and the Beer was almost flat when I poured it 10 weeks later :sulk:

Thanks for the tip mate, id usually put a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in a 500ml bottle and a heaped 1/2 teaspoon in my 660ml bottles, and has worked fine with my first couple of brews. How much did you add mate? A real bummer if it dosn't turn out a good pint after all the effort :thumb:

 

[bottler]

I read this with great excitement. I put together my first ever batch on Sat afternoon - Coopers European Lager. It would be great if i can compare notes with you on how they are progressing to see if i am on the right track to a good brew and if it goes **** up i can maybe find out where I went wrong.

Ok, so i followed the instructions on the pack more or less.

I added half a crushed campden tablet to my cold water about an hour before.
I used 1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 instead of sugar.
I only topped up to 22l of water because the temp dropped down to 18c so added a little hot to bring it back up, was 22c before added yeast (in hind sight after a bit more research I now realise that a lager yeast could probably handle 18c ?)
OG measured 1.038

Ok, so its Monday morning now and its sitting next to the stove beating out a steady marching pace through the bubbler, holding a fairly constant 22c.

Lessons learned so far - 1.secure the siphon to the fermenter unless you want to be cleaning brew out your hair and all over the kitchen 2.the wife is not going to be anywhere near as exited about little bubbles of CO2 as I am.

Hi brett and welcome to the forum. I short brewed mine to 21 litres, used coopers enhancer. Mine is sitting around 18-20c as i use a fishtank immersion, but after reading one of the above posts, ive just now unplugged it and see what temp it holds. I have 2 jumpers over thr fv ,as me and the wife both work so the house would get cold for 5 or 6hours. The brew is frothing away nicely and i wont rush it. I'll give it time to fully forment. :thumb:

 

[fatbelly]

Brewed the coopers european today og 1044. Great hopes for this one. Says 12 weeks after bottling, so i'll stick them in the loft when formented til around march... honest :whistle:
Bye the way lads, i took the og reading from the tap on the fv, would that be the same as sample taken from the top of the brew? I gave the brew a bloody good stir.

Make sure that you get it carbonated, I didn't put enough Sugar in and the Beer was almost flat when I poured it 10 weeks later :sulk:

Thanks for the tip mate, id usually put a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in a 500ml bottle and a heaped 1/2 teaspoon in my 660ml bottles, and has worked fine with my first couple of brews. How much did you add mate? A real bummer if it doesn't turn out a good pint after all the effort :thumb:

I did 1/2 t/spoon in a 500ml bottle and it clearly wasn't enough.
Lagers are meant to me more carbonated that Ales but I used the same amount of sugar that I would use in a Ale

 

[Green Ninja]

I like even my ales fizzy and always put in 1 teaspoon sugar per pint / 500ml.

This makes it fizzy enough for lagers too.

Cheers,

Terry.

 

[Brett]

OK, so no activity out the bubbler since last night, from what i can see there is no more foam on top - time to take a reading? or too early yet? 5 days at around 22c. instructions state 6 days at 21c.

 

[LeedsBrewer]

Yep take an SG reading today and make a note of it. take another SG reading in 2 days time. If it's the same then bottle away.

I usually leave mine in FV1 for 7 days then transfer to a second FV and put it in a cool location for 3 or 4 days. Then I bottle by batch priming. This way I get a lot less sediment transfer into the bottles.

 

[Brett]

Oh ave no got time for that, to bloody excited, besides i only have 1 fv so will prime direct into the bottles using coopers wee drop thingys. my plan was, as you say, take reading today then again on sat with intention of hopefully bottling on sat/sun. happy days.

 

[mattrickl06]

Oh ave no got time for that, to bloody excited, besides i only have 1 fv so will prime direct into the bottles using coopers wee drop thingys. my plan was, as you say, take reading today then again on sat with intention of hopefully bottling on sat/sun. happy days.

Dont forget patience is more important than any ingredient :

 

[Brett]

I know, I know, lesson 3 - dont leave the fv in the living room, out of sight out of mind!

 

[Brett]

Ok, so who would leave it in the fv for another week or so?

 

[mattrickl06]

Ok, so who would leave it in the fv for another week or so?

Considering its Euro Lager and yer supposed to leave it conditioning for 12 weeks, i dont think another week in the fv will do it any harm.

I had mine in the fv for 9 days which gave it around 3 days to let it settle a bit before bottling.

It is now 2 weeks after bottling and it smells bluddy awful, the taste isnt too bad but i reckon it will easily take at least 12 weeks before its properly quaffable and smells nice.

You should have really picked a "quicker" kit than the European Lager if you are in a rush :rofl:

 

[simonlpearce]

I just did my first pilsner kit so very similar to the euro lager. I would definitely move to another FV to let it settle as mine came out with a lot of sediment in, and lagers/pilsners are supposed to be clear.

It also made pouring a little harder.

 

[PD]

my beers are usually 3 weeks of age before I even consider bottling them. They then get a further couple of weeks or more to condition before drinking.
If your making beer/lagers you might as well make it right and the best you can. Otherwise stick to the Carlsberg and Fosters.

 

[Brett]

OK, so tescos are doing an offer on crabbies, I will concede to men with better knowledge, no point in putting in effort without getting best results possible.