A Walk On The Wild Side

[tribalfish]

Hi all,

Have done approx a dozen brews since starting, 1 has been toucan but the rest have been pretty standard with be2's, with very drinkable results.
Tonight i tried something different and I'm a bit curious to see how other brewers think it will turn out.

1 can Coopers original lager
1.25kg be2
12g saaz steeped in 1 litre of boiling water, mashed around until the bag split open left for 15mins and threw the whole lot in.
Safale US05

It's the first time i've used a different yeast and the first time I've used hops.
Now I know that it's the hop aroma that I ejoy so much when mixing up a fresh wort, what an amazing intoxicating smell, more please!
I was pretty keen on adding some honey also, but chickened out at the last minute.
I also had some pride of ringwood that I contemplated adding aswell but didn't want it to become too bitter.
I guess experimenting is the key. Let me know what you think.

Cheers, Tribalfish.

 

[Gavo]

Using a better yeast such as US-05 will certainly make it a better brew and you would notice the difference right there with a much cleaner ferment. The saaz steeped for 15min will also add to the flavor. Check out the price of buying hop pellets or plugs from the above sponsors instead of teabags as it will work out a lot cheaper.
Watch out as you will keep wanting to do more with your brewing, it is a slippery slope.

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[Bribie G]

Don't worry about the bag splitting, will all settle down into the sediment in the fermenter. Top marks for the yeast, although it is called a "lager", that particular tin just comes with an all purpose ale yeast anyway and the one you are using is heaps better.

Brew improver sometimes gets a bit of a bagging on the forum but at the end of the day it gives you a far better kit beer than just a kilo of sugar or dextrose.

I personally wouldn't add the honey

The best thing you can do is to keep the brew below 20 degrees if you can to give a clean finish with no skanky off flavours from fermenting too hot, and also look at adding some finings for clarity.

| have just gone All grain and in the lead-up I cleaned out some stuff I had hanging around, and currently in the drinkables fridge is a:

Coopers Lager
Brew Improver 2
Nottingham ale yeast (not unlike your yeast)

About 20g of Tettnang pellets I had left over, boiled for about ten minutes and just chucked in

Fermented out, racked to secondary, chilled, gelatine fined and treated with polyclar (full instructions on the forum here)

It's turned out crystal clear, crisp, clean, nicely bitter and no complaints for a kit beer. Might even take a bottle to the home brew club in January if I still have one left and see if I can trick anyone with it :lol:

You are on the right track tribal.