Coopers Bavarian

[Jye]

Hi everyone,

I am still fairly new to brewing and would like to start using hops. I am about to put down a Coopers Bavarian lager with 500g of light dry malt and 1kg of dex (any comments/changes on this are welcome) and would like to know if and what hops I could add to this and how to add them eg boil with the DME or/and add to secondary.

If this helps, my setup at the moment consist of a primary and secondary, cube for CC (unfortunately no room in the fridge so I tend to skip this) and then to the keg.

Cheers
Jye

 

[warrenlw63]

Jye,

Maybe boil a small amount (15g) of any German variety, say Hallertauer, Tettnang, Hersbrucker or Saaz (Czech) with your malt extract and 2 litres of water for 15 mins. Put the pot in a sink of cold water and cool it for about 15 mins. Change the water a couple of times. Pour carefully to your fermenter with the rest of your ingredients and leave behind the goop at the bottom of the pot.

Cut your dextrose back to 500g. If you can manage it get yourself a sachet of Saflager S23 yeast and ferment as close to about 12-14c as you can.

Warren -

 

[barfridge]

I've done this kit before with hallertau, and it came up fantastic for a kit beer. Since hallertau is a low alpha acid hop, you are going to need a bit more than the 12g tea bag. I used about 50grams, 25g boiled for 15 minutes, and 25g boiled for 2 mins.

 

[Jye]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I dont have any means if keeping the fermenter below abient temperature which is about 16 - 18 C here in Brisbane at the moment. Will this be too high for the saflager, or should I try using a wet towel and ice blocks to bring the temp down?
If so do I only need to keep the temp down for the first 4-5 days while in the primary?

Thanks again
Jye

 

[Bilph]

Any time I'm using a kit I tend to add about 1g/l of hops. That tends to appeal to most tastes. If it's just for me I'll do something very similar to barfridge and step it up to around 2g/l - half flavour, half aroma.
To start with I'd suggest about 15g boiled for 10-15mins, and 10g at 0-1min. I'd agree with any of Warren's suggestions for choice of hops.
I don't think there's any need to boil all of the malt. I'd just boil about 125g in 1 litre with the hops which gives a solution of around 1040 which is about right for hop oil extraction. Then cooling is less of an issue.
This is just the start. Enjoy your journey to Hop Heaven.

 

[KillerRx4]

Whats the deal with boiling the extract as opposed to the sugar?

I wondered this on the weekend when making a Grumpys double hop pale ale masterbrew. This masterbrew had no grain in the pack & looked to be simply dextrose/dry malt mix & hops.

I figure in future when doing K+K brews it would be worth boiling up the brewbooster with some hops before dumping in with the extract.


Another thing that had me thinking is why bother to cool the boiled liquid before adding to the fermenter when you have to add 1-2 lt of boiling water to disolve the extract??

 

[Jye]

Well I had my first hops experience on Tuesday night ended up using 50g since this is my first time and I really wanted the taste / smell it, 25g for 15 min and the other 25g in the last min. I only use 1L with 125g of malt and with the amount of sludge at the bottom I think half of the liquid was left behind, even thou I gave it a good squeeze.

It is happily fermenting away with saflager and cant wait to try it out.

Cheers guys :beer:

 

[Borret]

Whats the deal with boiling the extract as opposed to the sugar?

I wondered this on the weekend when making a Grumpys double hop pale ale masterbrew. This masterbrew had no grain in the pack & looked to be simply dextrose/dry malt mix & hops.

I figure in future when doing K+K brews it would be worth boiling up the brewbooster with some hops before dumping in with the extract.


Another thing that had me thinking is why bother to cool the boiled liquid before adding to the fermenter when you have to add 1-2 lt of boiling water to disolve the extract??

[post="65271"][/post]​

Killer,

The force chilling of the boil I imagine is to promote a cold break and help aim for a clearer bear. The other reason is I surpose to reduce HSA on that larger volume of the brew.
I hear what you say about the masterbrews. On the few occasions I have done a grumpies kit I have added the extract to the rest of the ingredients at the end of the boil, gently mixed through to dissolve the extract and then force chilled the whole lot in the sink before adding to the fermentor and topping up with cool water to reach a target temp.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Borret :blink:

 

[dickTed]

Killer, The point about cooling the wort is that many people boil a significant proportion of their brew. Anywhere from about 10 litres to the whole brew, and it has to be cooled to a reasonable yeast-pitching temperature, and it has to be cooled reasonably quickly to get what is known as a "cold break".

If you're only boiling a few litres, then I'd say cold break is an insignificant factor.

I brewed one of those Bavarian lager kits last November. I had trouble keeping the temp below 22C. I had it in the built in robe of my bedroom, with a wet towel & fan. Nearly gassed me. Even bottled it there. Here are some comments from my brewing notes.

Too gassy - foams up after opening. Hard to pour. Gushy. Thin. Tangy. Sour.

But it was only my 4th brew. I used 1kg dextrose with the kit. It was bottled after one week, and I would have started drinking it one week after bottling. I'm sure a bit of extra time would have helped. I've heard some good raps about that kit.

 

[KillerRx4]

Thanks guys,
I had read about cold break but didnt think it really applied to my current technique since everything from the pot ends up in the fermenter anyway (except when theres grain in the bag, that gets strained out).

Borret, After dissolving your extract then cooling I imagine it would become thick again or not so? If so id also imagine having a hell of a time trying to strain gran out of the wort.


So im right to boil up my dry malt/sugars & additional hops (same way i do a masterbrew) & add it to the fermenter & extract?

 

[Borret]

Killer, I recall boiling it with 6 litres water in place of the recommended 3 to counteract this problem.

Cheers

Borret

 

[Jye]

I used 1kg dextrose with the kit. It was bottled after one week, and I would have started drinking it one week after bottling. I'm sure a bit of extra time would have helped. I've heard some good raps about that kit

Hey dickTed

I ended up using 500g of dex with 500 of light dried malt and the fermenter is just sitting in the garage at about 18 - 20 degrees, no towels or fans. In a couple of days I will transfer to a secondary and leave it there for 2 weeks before kegging.

Will report back on how it turned out.

Cheers :beerbang:

 

[bouncingcastle]

I ended up using 500g of dex with 500 of light dried malt and the fermenter is just sitting in the garage at about 18 - 20 degrees, no towels or fans.

Don't these kits come with a lager yeast? If so won't 18-20 be too high?

mmm fruity , brings back memories of my first brew - Coopers lager in the middle of summer. hehehe - 26-28C and finished in 3 days. Ah the things I used to do. Thank god for this forum... :beer:

 

[kitchenbitch]

Hi guys

I did a Bavarian lager kit with 250g light dry malt and 1kg of be1. The alcohol content finished up about 5%. It fermented in my garage at approx. 15-16 degress. It's been lagered for about 3 weeks now and it tastes great, can't wait to try it in summer when it has had a chance to mellow out a bit.