Coopers mexican cerveza.

[tommoleeds]

I'm currently 55 hours into my 1st attempt, a coopers mexican cerveza. I got a start reading of 1.040 and have just taken a 2nd reading and its already down to 1.018 is this good or bad. The smell on it is very good with a light hint of fruit/citrus obviously it was a little cloudy but not as much as i was expecting.

I mixed my brew and pitched the yeast at 22c and it has been at a constant of 23-24c. I know some people pitch yeast lower but i went on an average of places i looked up and video's i watched. My vessel is in quite a bright and airy room, but not in direct sunlight and is shaded as much as possible, during the day i am covering vessel with a dark towel to keep light off as much as possible. Do you guys think this will be fine?

Thanks in advance!

 

[kelper]

All looking good, leave it in the fermentation vessel for two weeks as the instructions are always optimistic.

 

[tommoleeds]

All looking good, leave it in the fermentation vessel for two weeks as the instructions are always optimistic.

Cheers kelper, was going to leave it 10days to 2weeks but ive also seen i should bottle when i get a reading same for 2 days on bounce! as this means fermentation has more than likely finished? is this correct?

 

[kelper]

I'm really a novice too, but the advice on this forum is two weeks fermenting, two weeks conditioning and two weeks in a cold place to clear. My latest brew is still dropping in SG every 36 hours, so two readings the same in 24 hours does not prove that fermentation has finished. I'm sure you will get similar advice from more experienced home brewers.

 

[tommoleeds]

I'm really a novice too, but the advice on this forum is two weeks fermenting, two weeks conditioning and two weeks in a cold place to clear. My latest brew is still dropping in SG every 36 hours, so two readings the same in 24 hours does not prove that fermentation has finished. I'm sure you will get similar advice from more experienced home brewers.

sorry i should clarify, i mean 2 same readings over 48 hours

 

[Pirate_Pete]

I don't keep taking samples. Wastes too much beer.
I realise not everyone can do this, but I take an initial reading. I then leave that next to the FV with the hydrometer in.
Watch it drop over a few days. After 2 weeks in the FV I take another reading to check that it's done.
I use a temperature controlled fridge, so it's nearly always ready after 2 weeks.

Keep it covered and out of the light. Just leave it alone for another 10 days or so.
I would try to keep it at a lower temperature too. 20C would be good.
Let us know what you think of it. I don't want to put you off, but it might be a bit bland.
Good for an ice cold one in the summer though.

 

[tommoleeds]

I don't keep taking samples. Wastes too much beer.
I realise not everyone can do this, but I take an initial reading. I then leave that next to the FV with the hydrometer in.
Watch it drop over a few days. After 2 weeks in the FV I take another reading to check that it's done.
I use a temperature controlled fridge, so it's nearly always ready after 2 weeks.

Keep it covered and out of the light. Just leave it alone for another 10 days or so.
I would try to keep it at a lower temperature too. 20C would be good.
Let us know what you think of it. I don't want to put you off, but it might be a bit bland.
Good for an ice cold one in the summer though.

Cheers pete, yeah i get what you're saying about taking too many readings and wasting a little too much beer, and the way you are doing your readings i will deffo do in future.
Yes again i went for a happy medium on what i researched online of brewing temps, again i'll wait for results on this batch before i brew a lager again. I'm doing a bitter next what temps would you suggest to brew this at, if you have any thoughts or experiences!

 

[Pirate_Pete]

Cheers pete, yeah i get what you're saying about taking too many readings and wasting a little too much beer, and the way you are doing your readings i will deffo do in future.
Yes again i went for a happy medium on what i researched online of brewing temps, again i'll wait for results on this batch before i brew a lager again. I'm doing a bitter next what temps would you suggest to brew this at, if you have any thoughts or experiences!

When I first started I just tried to keep all my beers at 18-20C. Just keep it simple. A constant temperature around 18-20C will result in an OK beer.
It's when the temperature fluctuates, or goes too high that can result in off tastes
The yeast you get with the Cerveza isn't a true lager yeast, so you should be OK.
If you plan on brewing a Coopers European Lager or similar have a look at some of the threads on here before you do.
You really need a temperature controlled fridge for that though.

 

[Duncan Dobbin]

It may have already stopped fermenting, but you should still leave it in the FV for a couple of weeks in order for it to clear nicely, and for the yeast and other particles to drop to the bottom of the vessel. This way you will not be bottling all of that gunk! Like others have said, the general rule is 2+2+2.

 

[tommoleeds]

Well 247 hours in and readings are at 1.010, the sample i just got was not very cloudy at all, had quite a good head to it and quite a few bubbles coming up the sample too, now the clincher i supped it down and it was actually very reasonable, very distinctive lager taste with just a hint of citrus but wasnt sure if that was smell rather than taste, but never the less im very happy.
Will start bottling thursday morning as this will be my 14th day, im hoping to bottle 18 x 500ml bottles and 10 x 1000ml bottles and 3 x 250ml sampler bottles.

 

[Bernie]

How does beer get wasted when taking samples?

 

[tommoleeds]

How does beer get wasted when taking samples?

i'm presuming not everyone drinks their samples, i know i didnt sample my 1st 2.

 

[tommoleeds]

Well all is bottled, but by bloody hell did that take a while, took longer than mixing the bloody thing haha. To be fair though a lot of that was down to sanitising bottles. So now i have just mixed my Coopers International Bitter.

 

[GhostShip]

Well all is bottled, but by bloody hell did that take a while, took longer than mixing the bloody thing haha. To be fair though a lot of that was down to sanitising bottles. So now i have just mixed my Coopers International Bitter.

Bottling is without doubt the most tedious part of the brewing process. I love the satisfied feeling when it's all done, but I always find bottling day a pain. A bottle washer and bottle tree do help a lot though.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Bottling is without doubt the most tedious part of the brewing process. I love the satisfied feeling when it's all done, but I always find bottling day a pain. A bottle washer and bottle tree do help a lot though.

I have to disagree @GhostShip. I'm still very new to this and so still find bottling a little exciting and quite look forward to it (roll on tomorrow :)). As a NOOB though, I'm still at the stage of acquiring the receptacles required in which to store my brews. So, without any shadow of doubt, the most tedious task for me is getting the labels off of my used beer bottles!!

 

[tommoleeds]

I have to disagree @GhostShip. I'm still very new to this and so still find bottling a little exciting and quite look forward to it (roll on tomorrow :)). As a NOOB though, I'm still at the stage of acquiring the receptacles required in which to store my brews. So, without any shadow of doubt, the most tedious task for me is getting the labels off of my used beer bottles!!

I'm using plastic 1's so all is good

 

[tommoleeds]

Ok so here's the 1st proper pint, clean crisp taste, lovely and clear, plenty of carbonation.
Just need to sample a few more haha.
Got a final ABV% of 4.89

 

[GhostShip]

That looks cracking!

 

[tommoleeds]

That looks cracking!

trust me pal, it tastes as good as it looks!

 

[Drunkula]

I'm still very new to this and so still find bottling a little exciting

I genuinely remember that feeling. It really does wear off and you'll think "Oh sod that tonight." when you realise you're booze is ready to bottle.

I did find the wash, swill, bake method sped things up when I changed out from the wash, swill, sanitiser, swill routine. Had to do it that way because the no-rinse DIY acidified bleach I had wasn't no rinse due to a crap batch of thin bleach. Startsan has cut that back one step but the oven thing I still think is great.