# Morgans Chairmans Corte's Cerveza



## angus_grant (27/1/12)

Hi everybody,

I have just finished reading "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" by Charles Papazian. Brilliant book and I will start reading it again. Anyways, he mentioned in the book that you can indeed (and should) boil up your can contents with the other fermentables to get a more complete tasting beer.

So I decided to test the theory with my new favourite beer Morgans Chairmans Corte's Cerveza. I boiled it (with 1kg Brewbooster and 500gms powdered corn syrup) for 45 minutes as per instructions. Original gravity was 1042 and pitching temp for yeast was 18 degrees. The can recommended fermenting temp of 12-14 degrees, so I have my fermenting fridge sitting at 14 (controlled by Fridgemate temp controller). The fermentation is really quite slow. I know that lagers should be fermented at lower temps and then cold conditioned for a few weeks, but nothing mentioned how fast the fermentation rate should be

The fermentation rate is really quite slow. It will end up being about 3 weeks for the fermentation. Makes sense to me as the colder temps should inhibit the yeast activity. Just wondering if I am correct in my assumptions.

Thanks,
Angus.


----------



## pcmfisher (27/1/12)

I would like to disagree with Charles. I wouldn't be boiling it up like that. 

Generally boiling bittered kits is counter productive. It drives away any hop flavour that the kit has, and if you are doing a huge gravity boil ie the whole kit and brew booster in only a few litres of water you stand a chance of caramelising or scorching your wort. It will probably end up darker than expected.

If you are prepared to boil for that long you might as well use some unbittered malt instead if the kit and bitter with some fresh hops. The results will be so much better.

Regarding the lager yeast, yes it will take longer at low temps. 3 weeks is good. My concern is the pissy little 6g yeast that comes with those kits is not really enough.


----------



## angus_grant (27/1/12)

I have normally just warmed the tin up in hot tap water to make the goop nice and runny and never boiled before. From memory I boiled it in 9 litres of water or so. The smell of the wort was nice on the nose and certainly didn't smell scorched. I was interested to note he said that you could boil it and better flavours would be produced so thought I'd try it out. Time and taste will tell.

I am slowly gearing up to start doing BIAB brewing. Collecting required pots, heating elements, cooling, etc, etc. I did this boil inside the unit and let's just say it was lucky for me the missus went to bed upstairs, cause it stunk out the bottom floor. So once I get the proper gear I can start doing it outside. Which is good cause it is closer to my beer fridge. he he

I think there was 9g with the kit, but I have found other forums where people talk about the 9g still not being enough and your point probably still stands. 

I am assuming I can't really open the fermenter and place some more yeast in. Great way to introduce infections to the precious liquid.

Good news about the lager taking a long time to ferment (well, kind of). I was wondering whether boiling the kit + fermentables had damaged it somehow and the yeast had nothing to feed on and died off. Or that the yeast had only partially survived and it would take ages for the beer to ferment.


----------



## yum beer (27/1/12)

angus_grant said:


> Hi everybody,
> 
> I have just finished reading "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" by Charles Papazian. Brilliant book and I will start reading it again. Anyways, he mentioned in the book that you can indeed (and should) boil up your can contents with the other fermentables to get a more complete tasting beer.
> 
> ...




I think you'll find that Charlie was referring to cans of 'extract' not kit cans. Kit cans have been kettled(boiled with hops to produce wort), 'extract' is what is you get from mashing water and grains, you need to boil this with hops to get beer, the kit can has been done for you, hence the terms, Kit and kilo, extract and mash brewing.
Most home brew books assume you are beyond just tipping shit into a bucket.

3 weeks is normal for a lager yeast to ferment and particularly if you only pitch 9gms, realistically you need more like 13gm at least, preferably 18-20gm if your not making a starter...thats probably also in the book.


----------



## angus_grant (28/1/12)

Charlie does mention boiling hop-flavoured malt extract. I thought it was strange at the time of reading it because I was fairly sure can contents had already been hopped and reduced down to the syrup.

So am I able to add some more yeast now or do I have just have to wait it out?

I am running low on my current keg, and this lager will hold up my fermenting process. I could ripvout an ale in my beer fridge as it won't be doing anything if I run out. Or heaven forbid, I go and buy some... :-O


----------



## angus_grant (28/1/12)

huh, I just read the instructions which came with the beer. The can included 15g of yeast. I could have sworn it was 9g of yeast.

I think I'll just let it run its course. I just checked the specific gravity and it is down to 1038 from the starting 1042. It has taken 2 weeks to drop 4 points so I hope it speeds up a little or it could take a couple of months to ferment....

I think I'll have to run out an Indian Pale Ale or something to get me through until this beer ferments and then cold conditions..

Man, I've never had to be this patient before....


----------



## angus_grant (4/3/12)

My lager has ended up crapping out. Not quite sure what went wrong but it seems to have picked up an infection. It never really seemed particularly happy. The gravity never really dropped below 1020 after 3 weeks with OG of 1042. First batch of beer I have lost since I started brewing about 10 years ago. A sad day...

I had it temp controlled the whole period so not quite sure what happened. So maybe boiling destroyed the integrity of the tinned extract, malt or something. There was always something not quite right with the beer. So won't bother boiling hopped extract again. I am building up parts for BIAB, so will start trying that sometime soon. Interesting experiment I suppose, and cost me $20.

I am thinking next time of doing a starter of the yeast so it can really power into the fermentation straight away. But I'd like to get my two kegs filled so I am good for beer for 2 months or so before starting another lager. That will have to wait until end of April when I will have stock up.

Thanks,
Angus.


----------



## warra48 (5/3/12)

I'm almost certain you underpitched your yeast.
One 15 gr pack of yeast is not enough, even though you pitched at 18C, but then got it down to 12 to 14C.

The health of kit yeasts must be questionable, as the yeast is stored under the can lid at ambient temperatures.
You are better of using a proprietary yeast from Fermentis, Danstar, or the repackaged yeast from Craftbrewer, and to make sure it has been stored refrigerated.
And I'd use two packs, which should give you about 25 to 30 gr dry yeast.


----------



## angus_grant (5/3/12)

yeh, that does make sense as the SG never really dropped below 1020 so that would me to think that there was something not working quite correctly with the yeast.

I think one thing I may have done incorrectly was to pitch at 18 degrees and then drop the temp down to 13 degrees over-night instead of leaving at 20 degrees to allow the yeast to start firing and getting up healthy numbers.

I think for my next lager I will be using proprietary yeast and perhaps make a starter to make sure the yeast is healthy and multiplying numbers before I pitch.


----------



## DUANNE (5/3/12)

no need for a starter with the correct pitch of dry yeast it would infact do more damage than good. a better bet to get a dry yeast of and running would be hydrating in a glass of warm water prior to pitching. there is heaps of info on this process on the web if you should feel inclined to go that way.


----------

