Coopers Lager - 21L

[Bung Jooce]

These are notes from my second brewing attempt! It was made today. Any feedback or suggestions are welcome!

Ingredients:

• Coopers Fermenter
• x1 Coopers Lager Can
• 1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 3
• 500g Coopers Brewing Sugar
• Kit yeast
• Boxed water
• 15g Cascade Hops at day 4

Process:

• Sanitised everything thoroughly
• Cut a bag of water at the corner and poured it into the fermenter
• Added BE3 to fermenter
• Added 500g of brewing sugar to fermenter
• Warmed tin in hot water in the sink and poured into fermenter
• Boiled water and put into tin to dissolve the rest of the crap
• Poured hot tin crap into the fermenter
• Stirred heaps until everything was dissolved (and it did! Lesson learned )
• Cut a bag of water at the corner and poured it into the fermenter ***(It went all over my hand and into the fermenter! Possible infection in the future!)***
• The wort was ~21C
• Sprinkled the kit yeast over the foam
• Put the heat belt on the fermenter and set the ITC-308 at 18C with 17.5C cut on time.
• SG 1.048 (wow)

• Will add 15g of cascade hops at day 4 of fermentation to see what happens

***ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT***

• Put the fermenter on the ground to pour in water; don’t leave it on the bench!
• Don't add 500g of brewing sugar. It might be OK, but the SG reading was worrying

I've attached a temperature data logger to the side of the fermenter so I can monitor it for the entire process, this is very exciting! It is the Inkbird IBS-TH1 PLUS. I've set it to record a reading every minute.

I'm very concerned that this batch will become infected due to my mishap with the water. The fermenter was sitting up on the bench and I lifted the floppy bag of water up over the top and when I let go of the cut corner, most if not all of the water ran over my hand... My hands were bathing in sanitiser solution for a majority of the process, but I'm not happy about it.

Is it worth keeping such a batch knowing this? I guess time will tell, but it's definitely not a good thing to have happened.

-Bung Jooce

 

[razz]

Good on you BJ for putting up your brewing experiences.
Don’t fuss over the water on your sanitised hand, it will be ok. As most forum users will tell you, RDWHAHB.

 

[Bung Jooce]

Good on you BJ for putting up your brewing experiences.
Don’t fuss over the water on your sanitised hand, it will be ok. As most forum users will tell you, RDWHAHB.

I had to look that up, but right on! Thanks mate.

 

[MrEflord]

These are notes from my second brewing attempt! It was made today. Any feedback or suggestions are welcome!

I'm very concerned that this batch will become infected due to my mishap with the water. The fermenter was sitting up on the bench and I lifted the floppy bag of water up over the top and when I let go of the cut corner, most if not all of the water ran over my hand... My hands were bathing in sanitiser solution for a majority of the process, but I'm not happy about it.

Is it worth keeping such a batch knowing this? I guess time will tell, but it's definitely not a good thing to have happened.


-Bung Jooce

Hey mate as a newbie too I completely understand where your coming from. I guess the key for us newbies is to just let the process take its course, take notes and continue to learn what not to do next time.

Will be good to see how it all turns out

 

[Termite]

Mate adding hops 4 Days into brewing is risky as it should have finished and stirring in anything could introduce nasties
Always add hops at start
Only ever open the lid to add finings when beer gets to sg1.010 and do not stir then let settle for 8 days min before bottling
Cheers

 

[philrob]

Risky? Lots of brewers dry hop all the time (but no stirring) and it doesn't lead to infections. I've been doing it for 13 years without problems. What's that risk you speak of?

 

[Grmblz]

Mate adding hops 4 Days into brewing is risky as it should have finished and stirring in anything could introduce nasties
Always add hops at start
Only ever open the lid to add finings when beer gets to sg1.010 and do not stir then let settle for 8 days min before bottling
Cheers

Sorry Termite but I have to disagree, hops are anti bacterial and were originally used to preserve beer, there is a risk every time you open a fermenter from airborne bacteria of course but if you are quick and hold your breath (breathing into a fermenter whilst marvelling at the process is a sure fire way of getting it infected) the risk is minimal.
You don't "stir in" dry hops, if using pellets put them in a sanitised hop sock (prevents a lot of clogging problems) and chuck it in, if using flowers just chuck them in.
The reason for dry hopping is to add aroma and flavour without adding any additional bitterness, the process of fermentation drives off the aroma, so waiting until most of the fermentation is finished allows for a lot more aroma in the finished product, for average gravity beers 4 days is a fairly standard time frame although for bigger beers a week is not unreasonable.
And finally many beers never get to 1.010, there's many reasons for this, but usually it's due to the un-fermentables present in the wort, and you can wait as long as you like it wont make any difference.
What I've written is over simplified (easier for new brewers) as brewing can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it, just make sure that what you believe is based on fact not dogma.
I appreciate you were trying to help BJ so please don't take this personally.

 

[Termite]

All good no offence taken
I just like to keep it simple and keep the opening of the wort to an absolute minimum
Cheers

 

[Karl Cotter]

These are notes from my second brewing attempt! It was made today. Any feedback or suggestions are welcome!

Ingredients:

• Coopers Fermenter
• x1 Coopers Lager Can
• 1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 3
• 500g Coopers Brewing Sugar
• Kit yeast
• Boxed water
• 15g Cascade Hops at day 4

Process:

• Sanitised everything thoroughly
• Cut a bag of water at the corner and poured it into the fermenter
• Added BE3 to fermenter
• Added 500g of brewing sugar to fermenter
• Warmed tin in hot water in the sink and poured into fermenter
• Boiled water and put into tin to dissolve the rest of the crap
• Poured hot tin crap into the fermenter
• Stirred heaps until everything was dissolved (and it did! Lesson learned )
• Cut a bag of water at the corner and poured it into the fermenter ***(It went all over my hand and into the fermenter! Possible infection in the future!)***
• The wort was ~21C
• Sprinkled the kit yeast over the foam
• Put the heat belt on the fermenter and set the ITC-308 at 18C with 17.5C cut on time.
• SG 1.048 (wow)

• Will add 15g of cascade hops at day 4 of fermentation to see what happens

***ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT***

• Put the fermenter on the ground to pour in water; don’t leave it on the bench!
• Don't add 500g of brewing sugar. It might be OK, but the SG reading was worrying

I've attached a temperature data logger to the side of the fermenter so I can monitor it for the entire process, this is very exciting! It is the Inkbird IBS-TH1 PLUS. I've set it to record a reading every minute.

I'm very concerned that this batch will become infected due to my mishap with the water. The fermenter was sitting up on the bench and I lifted the floppy bag of water up over the top and when I let go of the cut corner, most if not all of the water ran over my hand... My hands were bathing in sanitiser solution for a majority of the process, but I'm not happy about it.

Is it worth keeping such a batch knowing this? I guess time will tell, but it's definitely not a good thing to have happened.

View attachment 118546

-Bung Jooce

Well documented Bung Jooce!! I did the same thing at my first canned brew. As I was pouring the water into the fermenter the container slipped and water went over my hands also. Oh my god I thought, that's it, this beer is doomed!!!! But nothing happened. It just worked out ok. Just lucky I guess. So...now I always, even though nothing happened with that brew, I wash my hands and then spray them with star san. Good luck with it mate.

 

[Bung Jooce]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions!

I did in fact add the hops on day 4 however the fermenter was rumbling with activity. Perhaps it was a bit sluggish to get going.

Quick sample the other day and it tastes and smells like warm flat beer with hops, so I'll be bottling this brew tomorrow.

 

[Karl Cotter]

Sounds exactly how it's supposed to smell and taste. It'll be a good drop!!

 

[Bung Jooce]

I got 22 long necks of Coopers lager bottled up.

I used a priming measuring scoop with white sugar this time, instead of the carbonation lollies. What a PITA that thing is. Much cheaper than using the Coopers gear, but a lot more fiddly.

I got most of the beer out into the bottles, about level to the fermenter tap, then the hops blocked up the bottling wand. I figured I got enough for this round so called it on 22 bottles.

They are all chilling (warming) on the heat mat. I can't find a spot that is warm enough to store them so I'll see what this does.

The four dark bottles on the right are from the stout batch.

-Bung Jooce

 

[Karl Cotter]

Well time will tell Bung Jooce if they're going to be ok. I reckon they'll be fine. We wait.......

 

[Bung Jooce]

Well time will tell Bung Jooce if they're going to be ok. I reckon they'll be fine. We wait.......

I had another sample, I think it tasted pretty nice. I'm not a fan of big hops and bitterness, but I didn't mind this.

 

[peterlonz]

Coopers Lager Kit - not too bad for a kit IMHO, I have done two can versions but the result is a too bitter for my taste.
Also I have used as a"base" for other brews which have generally worked out quite well.
Interestingly there is a YouTube video by Craig using this kit & only additional brown sugar, I tried it & it was frankly surprisingly drinkable.
Don't be concerned about your bottles completing secondary fermentation, just allow extra time, Coopers yeasts are are great performers generally vastly underrated.

 

[Bung Jooce]

Coopers Lager Kit - not too bad for a kit IMHO, I have done two can versions but the result is a too bitter for my taste.
Also I have used as a"base" for other brews which have generally worked out quite well.
Interestingly there is a YouTube video by Craig using this kit & only additional brown sugar, I tried it & it was frankly surprisingly drinkable.
Don't be concerned about your bottles completing secondary fermentation, just allow extra time, Coopers yeasts are are great performers generally vastly underrated.

Thanks mate, I'll check out his video! Simple is what I like.

You're not wrong about the Coopers yeast, I was impressed by it's rumble in the bronx. Most of the bottles from this batch are now firming up!