Cooper's Mexican Cerveza....?

[The Seer]

i made several coopers lager type kits and found no difference between sugar and beer enhancer, however i found most bitter or ale kits were better with some spraymalt added - however once you start paying for a kit and a KG of spraymalt your better of buying an all malt 3kg kit like woodfordes or muntons :thumb:

Thanks, I thought so, I'll avoid beer "enhancer" a bit of a con I reckon. :nono:

 

[The Seer]

i found a lot of kits were a bit untruthful about expected starting gravity
chuck a bit of sugar in :party:

Yeah I've noticed this too! :x

Just worried increasing the sugar and trying to get a greater O.G. could damage the taste. :hmm:

 

[The Seer]

Starting mine tomorrow. :)

 

[aneray]

Seer

I am looking for a decent cider kit to brew and I notice that you have a Finlandia on the go.
Have you tried this one or any other decent kit before. I tried the John Bull and it was like cats p##s. Just wonder what comments you have about other cider kits.

Cheers Neil

 

[The Seer]

Seer

I am looking for a decent cider kit to brew and I notice that you have a Finlandia on the go.
Have you tried this one or any other decent kit before. I tried the John Bull and it was like cats p##s. Just wonder what comments you have about other cider kits.

Cheers Neil

I've tried all the Magnum range and ALL are good. :thumb:

My personal favourite is either the regular Apple Cider or Elderflower Cider. A Strawberry kit is available, it's good but I found strangely a little sour for my taste. The Pear isn't too bad either.

Most of em' are reasonably sweet but are balanced in flavour. I'd certainly recommend. Bottle em' too for best results.

I'll avoid the John Bull kit. :!:

 

[rickthebrew]

Just worried increasing the sugar and trying to get a greater O.G. could damage the taste. :hmm:

I wouldn`t worry to much if you adding say 300g extra - especially with lager kits(maybe use extra spraymalt with bitter kits and try some dry hopping :thumb: ) As long as you don`t try and make your lager 10% reckon you`ll be OK Don`t be afraid to experiment with your kits - some people just make them up with less water also - so your 40pint brew made into 32pints will be 20% stronger anyway - it`ll just cost a little more per pint

then there`s always AG :whistle:

 

[stephent]

shes now at 1012 and bubbling away slowly. It was going nuts at first but the head is virtualy nothing now. Hopefully t goes a bit further in the nexy day or two. I calculate it should be about 5% at the mo?

 

[aneray]

Stephen

Mine is now down to 1010 so if it drops to 1006 I will have a brew around 5.8%. I will just bottle it and forget it until the summer (yeah right). I did have a slight eggy smell from the airlock for a while but had a sip and seems to be ok.

Cheers Neil

 

[The Seer]

Stephen

Mine is now down to 1010 so if it drops to 1006 I will have a brew around 5.8%. I will just bottle it and forget it until the summer (yeah right). I did have a slight eggy smell from the airlock for a while but had a sip and seems to be ok.

Cheers Neil

I did a Cooper's European Lager kit, the eggy smell was present. It certainly disappears with maturation. Don't worry.

 

[The Seer]

Just worried increasing the sugar and trying to get a greater O.G. could damage the taste. :hmm:

I wouldn`t worry to much if you adding say 300g extra - especially with lager kits(maybe use extra spraymalt with bitter kits and try some dry hopping :thumb: ) As long as you don`t try and make your lager 10% reckon you`ll be OK Don`t be afraid to experiment with your kits - some people just make them up with less water also - so your 40pint brew made into 32pints will be 20% stronger anyway - it`ll just cost a little more per pint

then there`s always AG :whistle:

Cheers, I'll up the sugar level then! :

 

[stephent]

mine hit 1006 today. Yours get there to?

 

[The Seer]

mine hit 1006 today. Yours get there to?

I haven't looked, but judging by the airlock activity, I'd say not.

It's got a couple of days yet.

However, I've bottled at 1005 and slightly lower. I find despite priming sugar the yeast doesn't pick up again. I'll bottle at 1006-1008.

 

[aneray]

Eight days later mine is finally down to 1006. There again I havn't tested it for a few days so it more than likely finished ages ago. Had a wee taste from the trial jar and can see why this brew is easy drinking. Its light and very clean tasting but considering the original gravity it really doesn't taste strong.

I'm quite concerned about what 'The Seer' said about the lack of carbonation with the end product so I will add three quarters of a teaspoon of caster sugar to prime.


Cheers Neil

 

[stephent]

I added slightly less sugar than the recommended amount on the instructions for priming and bottled last sunday. Tried a bottle Friday so it had been conditioning for 5 days, and it was fizzy enough.

Just needs time to age now.

Got the coopers european in the FV now.

 

[stephent]

you guys tried your yet?

Opened a bottle this evening and its not to bad. Quite gassy, and no head forms when pouring, but it soon forms a head just from the gas :wha:

I dont think a mexican cerveza would have much of a head anyway?

 

[chiefstoker]

Is the cooper mexican cerveza the only cerveza style kit out there?

I'm a big lover of San Miguel, Cruzcampo, Mahou etc. Whats the nearest kit to these?

: stoker

 

[The Seer]

The only other I know of is Morgans Cortes Cerveza.
It is very good!Nice hint of lime with it,works nicely!:-)

 

[The Seer]

Ok,its ready!
Huge apathy on my part when it came to bottling the brew.Left it six weeks in the fermenter before doing so!!!
I suspected it d be flat!
At first after secondary fermentation,tried a bottle,it was flat.
Placed the bottles in the fridge,left it a week,absolutely fine!:-S
Most pleased with the taste,very good.:-D

 

[robbo18]

hi i have just bought this kit with some brewing sugar. i was wondering whoever has made it successful how long u left it in each stage and what you added right up to bottling also any general tips for making this taste good,im really new at this and need the benifit of all your experiance

thanks, dan

 

[rickthebrew]

hi dan and welcome to the forum :

I made a few coopers kits last year including this one and the normal lager - just follow the kit instructions and leave to ferment for up to ten days -if you have a hydrometer your brews gravity should come down to around 1006 or 1004. I bottled with 1good tsp of sugar and left for a minimum of six weeks for the best result, this is hard to do but well worth the wait as it it really does improve after the four week point :drink: Brewing sugar or normal sugar is fine with this kit and I upped the sugar by 300 to 400grams to give me a stronger brew

Any questions ask away :thumb: