Coopers kits question

[abeyptfc]

coopers oz lager.

so add 80 grams on top of the kilo i used at the fermentation stage?

yeah the extra 80 grams is for secondary fermentation/carbonation. personally i would give it at least 10, if not 14 days before bottling/kegging.

 

[rickthebrew]

What sort of keg do you have - lager is better of in a bottle or corni as a plastic keg will not hold the pressure of a really fizzy lager, you can use plastic PET bottles as well. Its well worth collecting some pint glass bottles and getting some crown caps and a capper :thumb:

 

[mryork]

so when i add the extra sugar will it really foam up?

 

[mryork]

thanks for the tip think i ll head along to the beer shop tomorrow and get some bottles

 

[rickthebrew]

:thumb: you won`t regret it - bottles will hold the pressure and give you a fizzy lager

 

[Sussex Hopburner]

thanks for the tip think i ll head along to the beer shop tomorrow and get some bottles

If its just glass bottles you are after, go to your local and ask for old Magners bottles-they are ideal and free.

 

[abeyptfc]

so when i add the extra sugar will it really foam up?

it wont foam up, it will carbonate over a week or two. usually when bottling you leave the brew at room temp for a week to 10 days then put out somewhere colder for a while.

 

[shearclass]

How much sugar did you prime with? I`d go a whole teaspoon for a lager, how warm was warm? I find a week or two at a lower temp is just as good. It may just need another week or so

8g per litre bottle. Stored in my bedroom, which is about 18 - 22 degrees C, for 1 week.

Normally do it for longer, but was trying to rush this one after i read someone say this kit (Canadian Blonde) can be ready very quickly.

As well as being very flat, I'm quite surprised that my Canadian Blonde is actually not very blonde at all, quite dark for a lager.

Just started drinking Coopers European lager after 8 weeks conditioning, and that is very nice indeed.

 

[rickthebrew]

When it opens is there a hiss of co2 at all? The priming amount, time and temp all look spot on :thumb:

 

[shearclass]

When it opens is there a hiss of co2 at all? The priming amount, time and temp all look spot on :thumb:

Thanks for your responses Rick. :

So you don't think it could have done with longer than 1 week in the warm?

Yeah there was a slight hiss, and the lager wasn't totally flat. However, if iwas served in a pub, you would definately take it back to the bar and complain, it was more like an ale.

I left the brew in one bucket for about a fortnight, then transferred it to another bucket for a week before bottling. The FG was 1.012, which i thought was quite high for a lager. I was reassured on the forum that it was acceptable, however. There is only a very small amount of sediment in the bottles, which was the aim, but does it mean there is not enough yeast in the lager to ferment the priming sugar? As well as being flat, the lager was quite sweet.

:wha:

I have put two bottles in the airing cupboard, which is very warm, and have moved a few others back to the bedroom to see if they carbonate. I'll be able to tell, as i used plastic PET bottles, so if they are firmer then obviously they will have carbonated.

Any other suggests? :hmm:

 

[Aleman]

If you have sediment in the bottles you have enough yeast to carbonate.

If they are not carbonated after a week, then leave them longer in the warm, being a lager yeast they will carbonate in the cool, it just takes much longer (4 or 5 times as long).

If you were bottling in glass bottles I would always suggest bottling one in a 500ml PET botle, squeeze the air out, and then when it is firm to the touch the rest should have carbonated.

I do wonder if people can actually taste /12 or 1 tsp of sugar in 500ml of beer as 'sweet' I know I use 1/2-1tsp of sugar in a pint mug of tea it doesn't taste sweet . . .but does change the taste. If you used spray malt / malt extract then the residual sugars contributed after fermentation should not taste sweet either . . .but the balance of the kit may have been shifted from bitter to sweet as the kit is formulated to deliver a certain level of bitterness using sugar as a fermentable . . . plus the fact that a lot of these kits actually have quite a low bitterness anyway.

 

[shearclass]

Thanks Aleman.

There is literally just a slither of sediment.

I actually used a kit supplied ale yeast for this rather that a proper lager yeast. This was the last kit I did before I read on here that I should ditch the kit yeast and buy other brand yeast.

I'll bring the bottles into the warm for another week and pray for carbonation.

 

[rickthebrew]

I'll bring the bottles into the warm for another week and pray for carbonation.

:thumb: Should be fine - some times its hard to wait though :lol:

 

[YogiB]

I am fermenting two of Coopers European Lager kits; one with the yeast provided in the kit and the other using S23 - for a little (or not so little) taste test :party:

I intend to use 2litre plastic bottles (PET?) but don’t know how much priming sugar to use.

There is a lot of information on temperature control and suggestions of 1 or 1 ½ teaspoons per bottle or 500ml or 750ml; My questions are - Is there a fixed ratio for priming lager and if so, what is it? If there isn’t a fixed ratio then how can I best achieve a decent level of carbonation?

Any recommendations?

 

[Aleman]

How much priming sugar to add depends on the temperature used for fermentation/lagering and the amount of fizziness you want the beer to have.

There are calculators that tell you how to work this out Like this one for kegging at the HBD Or the same one for bottle priming.

Personally I don't really like very fizzy beers so always tend to go for the low end of any suggested CO2 amount range

 

[YogiB]

Thanks Aleman :thumb:

I selected "German Pils"" as the desired CO2 volume; seems like a good starting point!

Slightly confused about the temperature option in the calculator:-
Selecting simple sugar as priming agent I was left with a question of temperature; is it the temperature of the lager whilst in storeage which is asked for?

 

[Aleman]

Beer which has fermented will have a residual level of CO2 . . .that amount of CO2 has to be taken into account and it depends on temperature. At 20C An Ale will have 0.6Vols of CO2 . . .and at 10C a lager will have 1.2Vols of CO2 . . . to achieve the same level of carbonation (Fizziness) they need different amounts of priming sugar.

 

[YogiB]

:thumb: Aleman

I will be reading about this, along with everything else :)

 

[YogiB]

I've just checked my First Cooper's European (Coopers yeast), started 21st March, as haven't checked it in over a week; it's still in the FV (lid but no airlock) with a OG of 1.014 now and looks almost clear. The top of the lager FV looks...[ how can I describe it]..... it looks like a flat pint with reminents of old head! .. sorry not a good description; My question is should I bottle now at 1.014?
EDIT: 2)Am I right that the 2 litre PET bottles will need 12g of sugar each as per the priming guide on the site above, or is 8g per litre as per the general instructions on the instruction packet required? (i'm a little confused)
3) How much space should be left at the top of the bottle?
4) how many g (weight) per teaspoon (volume?!)? ( i know it's on here somewhere!)


YogiB

The second European Lager is in one of those large Young's fermenters with an airlock!

 

[YogiB]

All bottled now, didn't use teaspoon measures.

3 x 2 litre bottles at 16g
3 x 2 litre bottles at 14g
5 x 2 litre bottles at 12g

Edit: 28th April 2011: Sampled all now - all turned out nice - plenty of bubbles for my tastes - kept their head throughout - tastes far better than I remember - I'll definitely use this calculator again.