Cooper's question

[gvhorwitz]

I'm brewing a cooper's lager. It's been in the fermenting vessel for about three weeks.

When checking my specific gravity I noticed that it was still bubbling happily away. How long can I keep it in the vessel before bottling. It's at 1014 still so it's not at the preferred FFA yet.

Greg


Brewing in Connecticut

 

[menoetes]

Hi Greg,

The short answer to your question is weeks & weeks, some people have been known to leave their beer in the fermenter for a few months even. So don't get too worried about a mere three weeks, especially if your yeast is still active.

It does sound like it's taking a long time for regular coopers lager kit to ferment though, what temperatures are you keeping your wort at?

The standard coopers lager kit (the one that comes in the white tin) comes with their standard ale yeast that should be fermented at about 18'c (65'f) for best effect. Significantly higher or lower temperatures could lead to a slower (longer) fermentation and/or a slight change in the beers flavor & character.

 

[gvhorwitz]

It's around 20 degrees but I did have it higher before I realized what I was doing. I learning, that's what counts.

Thank you for your help.

Greg


Brewing in Connecticut

 

[antiphile]

I'm not sure what you added to the Coopers OS Lager. If it's the Brew Enhancer 1 (1 Kg) box that's included in the DIY kit you are probably about finished (but make sure you have a stable SG over several days (maybe 3) before thinking about bottling!

IIRC, with just the OS Lager and 1 kg of BE1 (which contains 600 g dextrose and 400 g maltodextrin) the usual OG is 1.036-1.038; and the FG is usually 1.013-1.016 making a brew of about 3.7% or so after priming.