Air Lock Activity Speed

[Jonez]

I put a lager kit on Friday. It has been bubbling at about 1 bubble/sec (8mm tube) consistently for the last 48 hours. This is something I notice because some of my previous batches would start at faster rate and then slow down to 2 /min or so. I guess this does have to do with variations in temp.. does it? .. with this brew I am being a bit more careful at controlling the temperature. Using a 54L storage container with iced pet bottles and ice blocks to keep my fermented.

I guess my question is, is this rate dictated by the temperature more than the health/amount/type of yeast used?.. but again according to this site the coopers lager kit comes with a lager yeast. Can this be the reasong for the steady rate?

 

[Adamt]

Fermentation rate is affected by the yeast health, yeast type, available food, temperature, everything. Temperature is the most noticeable factor for fermentation rate. The Coopers Lager kit (green one) doesn't come with a lager yeast. The yeasts that come with the standard kits work best around 20C.

 

[Jonez]

... The Coopers Lager kit (green one) doesn't come with a lager yeast. The yeasts that come with the standard kits work best around 20C.

oh, OK. I was sure I read somewhere it did. I guess with the ice my fermenter would be at less than 20C at the moment.

 

[Gavo]

My experience with Coopers lager and kit yeast is that it is a lively ferment. Don't pay too much attention to the airlock and just aim at keeping the fermentation temp down. As the Coopers Lager from the original line is packaged with an ale yeast, aim to keep the temp at 18 degrees C.

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[buttersd70]

Kill me. Kill me now. Please.
Airlocks were invented by Adolf Hitler, in association with Joseph Stalin, just to confuse new brewers, and bring scorched earth poloicy to fruition.....
A more accurate determination of fermentation can be made by reading tea leaves.

sorry for the sarcasm, but really, the airlock thing comes up about every 2 or 3 days. After a couple of years of the same question every few days, you would get a bit shirty as well........

The coopers lager kit (the regular lager, not the Euro) is supplied with an ale yeast, exactly as me old china Gavo says. Follow his advice, it's valid.

 

[loikar]

Kill me. Kill me now. Please.
Airlocks were invented by Adolf Hitler, in association with Joseph Stalin, just to confuse new brewers, and bring scorched earth poloicy to fruition.....
A more accurate determination of fermentation can be made by reading tea leaves.

Adolf and Joseph brewed beer?

sorry for the sarcasm, but really, the airlock thing comes up about every 2 or 3 days. After a couple of years of the same question every few days, you would get a bit shirty as well........

Mental note: never mention the air lock again......

love your work butters!

 

[Jonez]

My experience with Coopers lager and kit yeast is that it is a lively ferment. Don't pay too much attention to the airlock and just aim at keeping the fermentation temp down. As the Coopers Lager from the original line is packaged with an ale yeast, aim to keep the temp at 18 degrees C.

Cheers
Gavo.

will do Gavo. And yes it is an Ale yeast then.
Also I notice a lot of people here and everywhere else say: more malt =good no table sugar = good.
I have done two draught batches, one with equal amounts of table sugar, dex and LDME and another with only Dex and double the amount of LDME. Surprisingly, the batch with the table sugar has better head, better body, better flavour. Other differences were, more hops(still no more than recomended) and lager yeast on the Dex-LDME only batch while ale yeast used in the batch with table sugar. I know and old men that brews his own and although he does not like table sugar in general, he reckons some should be included.

 

[Gavo]

Kill me. Kill me now. Please.
Airlocks were invented by Adolf Hitler, in association with Joseph Stalin, just to confuse new brewers, and bring scorched earth poloicy to fruition.....
A more accurate determination of fermentation can be made by reading tea leaves.

And little old me just thought that airlocks were of the devil. I have just learned that they are worse than that.

will do Gavo. And yes it is an Ale yeast then.
Also I notice a lot of people here and everywhere else say: more malt =good no table sugar = good.
I have done two draught batches, one with equal amounts of table sugar, dex and LDME and another with only Dex and double the amount of LDME. Surprisingly, the batch with the table sugar has better head, better body, better flavour. Other differences were, more hops(still no more than recomended) and lager yeast on the Dex-LDME only batch while ale yeast used in the batch with table sugar. I know and old men that brews his own and although he does not like table sugar in general, he reckons some should be included.

I actually don't like the Coopers draft kit too much at all. I brewed three of these and the only success I had was this. (I would define success as it is quite drinkable and now gone.)

0.70 kg Light Dry Extract (15.8 EBC) Dry Extract 24.14 %
1.70 kg Coopers Draft (11.6 EBC) Extract 58.62 %
0.40 kg Carahell (27.0 EBC) Grain 13.79 %
0.10 kg Carafa I (950.0 EBC) Grain 3.45 %
6.00 gm Cascade [6.30 %] (15 min) Hops 1.5 IBU
15.00 gm Cascade [6.30 %] (5 min) Hops 2.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Quite the trans-atlantic beer.

Two I did with 500 grams LDME and 600 grams dex. One I did with the kit yeast close to use by date and the other with US-05. the one with US-05 I over-carbed but can drink it it now after five months in the bottle, the other... well I havn't been game to try it yet as it just didn't smell right.
I have gotten too spoiled by extract, partails and AG to get through these last two drafts but I am working towards getting the bottles emptied.

Anyway, for my money the all malt is best but must be balanced with some extra hops. Or if you are to use Malt and Dextrose with no extra hops, (steer away from sugar in most recipes) use say 300 - 400 of malt at the most and the rest dex. Butters you didn't hear me say to use dex. h34r:

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[buttersd70]

Butters you didn't hear me say to use dex. h34r:

LALALALAIAMNOTLISTENINGLALALALA...
As long as its a monosachiride, not a polysachiride. :lol:

 

[Jonez]

..Anyway, for my money the all malt is best but must be balanced with some extra hops...

Cheers
Gavo.

Hi Gavo
i just got some hops from the HBS. only found the tea bags type. i forgot to ask there, (although the guy did not seem very keen in helping) but wonder whether I could drop the bag in the fermenter or I should soak them in boiling water first. the instructions say I should add them before adding the yeast....which is long gone now.

the can is a Coopers lager. I am planning to use the hallertau hops but also bought cluster and saaz. can I make something good by mixing a couple of them?

 

[troublebrewing]

You could just chuck them in, or you could boil them for a few minutes then take the saucepan off the stove for about 15 to make a hop tea, and throw the tea and bag into the brew. Both should work fine, at least I hope so cause I've done both! h34r: For reference, I liked the flavors more from the boiled ones, but your milage may vary.

Maybe an expert can comment though?

 

[Gavo]

Hi Gavo
i just got some hops from the HBS. only found the tea bags type. i forgot to ask there, (although the guy did not seem very keen in helping) but wonder whether I could drop the bag in the fermenter or I should soak them in boiling water first. the instructions say I should add them before adding the yeast....which is long gone now.

the can is a Coopers lager. I am planning to use the hallertau hops but also bought cluster and saaz. can I make something good by mixing a couple of them?

If you are trying to balance the malt and add some more hop flavor then you would need to boil the hops. An easy way to do this is to boil them in about 2 litres of water and 100 grams per litre, so 200 grams, of LDME. The LDME is required to get a better utilization from the hops. You can do a hop tea where you boil the hops in water only, this has good reports from brewers here also. How long you boil them for will dictate the amount of flavor or aroma you get. The longer the boil the more bitterness extracted but you will boil away the flavor. The shorter the time the more aroma but less flavor. With a kit + malt + hops the balance seems to be between 5 min to 15 min boil. Dry hopping (dropping them into the fermenter) will give aroma but little flavor.
I used the teabags once and was not happy with the way the hops end up in a tight ball and therefore would rather use them loose. I haven't used the varieties you have mentioned but I reckon go with the descriptions and use them as you think you would like them.
I think the coopers lager kit is a good base to experiment with. With this kit + 500g LDME + 600g Dex I would attempt a 15min boil of 10 -15 grams for flavor and a flameout or dry hop addition of the same for aroma. Hops of your choice of course. I have a mate up the road brewing coopers lager K&K. He is interested in making some changes and I will end up helping him to do a brew like this. I am thinking Cascade for flavor and aroma with US-05 and at least 500g of LDME.

Cheers
Gavo.


Edit: Just re-reading your last post again. If you are wanting to add hops to a brew that is already fermenting, then you could just drop the teabag in for an aroma addition. If you are after a little more flavor then you could try doing a hop tea as Troublebrewing has suggested. I haven't tried this myself but others here have and reported success.

 

[Jakechan]

Hi Gavo
i just got some hops from the HBS. only found the tea bags type. i forgot to ask there, (although the guy did not seem very keen in helping) but wonder whether I could drop the bag in the fermenter or I should soak them in boiling water first. the instructions say I should add them before adding the yeast....which is long gone now.

the can is a Coopers lager. I am planning to use the hallertau hops but also bought cluster and saaz. can I make something good by mixing a couple of them?

That sounds just like my LHBS. I'd rather cut off both my arms than go in there.

 

[Gavo]

That sounds just like my LHBS. I'd rather cut off both my arms than go in there.

Yeah, I've run into a few like that. And then run out again. :lol: But seriously a lot of them either seem like they know bugger all, or act like they are hiding the holy grail of their grandmothers fruitcake recipe and you are way to low for them to share the secrets with. That's why I love it when I can get into Craftbrewer during my infrequent visits to the big smoke. Or when I call them. No matter how busy they may be they always seem to have time to help out.

Cheers
Gavo.