Hi there - just cracked open the first beer from my second ever brew, Coopers, and I'm sadly quite disappointed. I'll explain why and go over my procedures, and if anyone can help me improve that'd be fantastic.
So basically the problem is both lack of head and low carbonation. When I poured into the glass there was literally zero head, and the few bubbles that were rising quickly petered out and disappeared. Even swirling it around in the glass failed to stir things up. One slight other problem is the taste - it's hard to describe, but it doesn't quite taste like a typical lager. It's slightly detergenty and funky.
As far as procedure goes, I used half a Campden tablet and 1kg beerkit enhancer. I was very careful re sterlisation & temperature control. Coopers recommends to keep it 21 - 27 degrees and I did this for ten days solid during fermentation, only nudging past 27 on one occasion for a couple of hours. Re infection risks there were four incidents: I spotted a couple of cat hairs in the bin when I opened it up; a small fly got into the vodka air lock (somehow! there was a lid...); when I did the OG hydrometer test my fingers got slightly submerged in the drink; and when I was bottling I sucked the tubing with my mouth in order to get hydrostatic pressure (other methods weren't working).
When bottling I cautiously used half a teaspoon of sugar as recommended, and I stored the capped brown bottles in a dark area for two weeks (at room temperature), before refrigerating and opening just now. After a successful (and very heady) Wherry bitter brew last time, I had high expectations for the Coopers - especially as lager is my preferred drink, and I do enjoy having a nice cool fizzy beer with a generous head.
Would be very grateful to hear any views on what went wrong. Is adding more sugar to re-prime and capping again an option?
A slightly sullen cheers
M
So basically the problem is both lack of head and low carbonation. When I poured into the glass there was literally zero head, and the few bubbles that were rising quickly petered out and disappeared. Even swirling it around in the glass failed to stir things up. One slight other problem is the taste - it's hard to describe, but it doesn't quite taste like a typical lager. It's slightly detergenty and funky.
As far as procedure goes, I used half a Campden tablet and 1kg beerkit enhancer. I was very careful re sterlisation & temperature control. Coopers recommends to keep it 21 - 27 degrees and I did this for ten days solid during fermentation, only nudging past 27 on one occasion for a couple of hours. Re infection risks there were four incidents: I spotted a couple of cat hairs in the bin when I opened it up; a small fly got into the vodka air lock (somehow! there was a lid...); when I did the OG hydrometer test my fingers got slightly submerged in the drink; and when I was bottling I sucked the tubing with my mouth in order to get hydrostatic pressure (other methods weren't working).
When bottling I cautiously used half a teaspoon of sugar as recommended, and I stored the capped brown bottles in a dark area for two weeks (at room temperature), before refrigerating and opening just now. After a successful (and very heady) Wherry bitter brew last time, I had high expectations for the Coopers - especially as lager is my preferred drink, and I do enjoy having a nice cool fizzy beer with a generous head.
Would be very grateful to hear any views on what went wrong. Is adding more sugar to re-prime and capping again an option?
A slightly sullen cheers
M
Don't expect a taste of 'lager' if you are not going to use lager yeast fermented at lager temperature 
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