Cooper's Bavarian Lager Kit

[Gout]

Then i will need one for the food

I have a test running at the moment for brewing in using a home made peltier device cooler but i dont think it will have the power to keep a exothermic brew cool enough.

It may be ok to keep kegs CC (dont think it will get it down to 4deg though.......

what and see when the tests are done. Its only been on 20 min

 

[Trough Lolly]

Put down the Bav Lager yesterday arvo - yeah, took the day off to brew!!

For those interested, here are some notes:

Ingredients:
1.7Kg Coopers Bavarian Lager kit into fermenter
1 Kg Coopers Liquid Extra Pale Malt Extract for small boil (6L)
125g Barrett Burston Crystal Malt 140EBC (steeped)
W3470 SAFLAGER Dry Yeast (for yeast starter)
Hallertau Plugs for bittering and finishing

Sterilised everything!

No major issues with cookup, but this morning there is little activity - I did get a good yeast starter going, in fact it looked like a cappucino at 20C!! but the brew is now around the 18C mark and no krausen yet - perhaps its a bit too warm despite the yeast kicking in the cup at 20C??

Airlock shows displacement, but not going berserk yet - will check again this evening to see if I need to perhaps pitch some more lager yeast and chill the fermenter down a bit further. I won't rush this (or any other) lager - it's like brewing in slow motion!!

Question: I did strain the crystal malt, but left the plugs in the primary, ie, I didn't strain the wort out of the boiler into the fermenter. I did this once before with a Kilkenny clone and it worked beautifully. Is this non-straining the reason why the krausen is slow to form?? :blink:

I hope to keep in primary for a couple of weeks, rack to secondary for a couple of weeks then bulk prime and bottle.

SG was 1040 - a touch lighter than expected.

Cheers,

TL

 

[Trough Lolly]

Update on Brewing:

Primary Fermentation - 9 Days.

Racked to secondary fermenter for cold conditioning at 6C for 3 weeks.

Bulk Primed (155g Dextrose) and cold bottled yesterday. FG - 1010.

Taste Test: Very clear golden hue with a fragrant, crisp palate already present. Hallertau hops were there but not as overpowering as was the case when I sampled before lagering. The grains have given the lager added depth and mouthfeel without making the lager too "thick" on the tongue. Very good finish - the mild tang of bitterness at the start of the mouthful will smooth out even further with bottle conditioning and cellar storage over summer (17C) or as long as they remain untouched .

IMHO - This is a very good result from a kit beer - the W3470 Saflager yeast, Crystal Malt and Hallertau plugs have turned an ordinary kit beer into one of my best lagers!

Currently fermenting - GMK Australian Draught for the summer barbies. A London Porter is next on the list...between feeds for the new addition to the family and getting Mum and bub out of hospital!!

Cheers,

TL
:chug:

 

[Trough Lolly]

It is now nearly two months since I brewed this beer.

Had a couple of bottles over the weekend and it is developing very well. Next time I will substitute more grain and less malt extract. The hops are balancing out very nicely, but I would prefer a maltier taste - perhaps some more xtal malt or maybe a mini mash with some Munich Grains? The bulk conditioning helped the whole brew develop rather than taking the green beer straight into the bottles.

Anyway, it's a hell of a lot better than the first time I made this kit brew with 1kg of Dextrose and no additional hops a few years ago!

Cheers,

TL

 

[Jovial_Monk]

A long lag time is not necessarily a bad thing, means the yeastie beasties are multiplying, ensuring you of a strong complete ferment.

If the lag is over 24 hours, try running the wort into a second fermenter, with aeration, and I bet this will kick the yeast into action quickly.

I had this trouble with an IPA, no sign of any krausen forming at all. Put a heating belt around the fermenter to warm the wort to ale temps, no result. A hydrometer sample I had, transferred from sample jar to a cup and back to sample jar a couple of times, 1" of foan in the sample jar next morning. Dropped the IPA in the fermenter, soon had a very healthy krausen.





Jovial Monk