Do you have to age Coopers Lager?

[FirstTimeBrew]

Hi I started my first Coopers Home Brew Lager kit about 2 weeks ago and have had it bottled for 8 days now, I just want to know is it necessary to have it aging for 2 weeks to carbonate.. can you do it less than 2 weeks? I want to try it already!

 

[Richard williamson]

Hi I started my first Coopers Home Brew Lager kit about 2 weeks ago and have had it bottled for 8 days now, I just want to know is it necessary to have it aging for 2 weeks to carbonate.. can you do it less than 2 weeks? I want to try it already!

I'm on my 7th brew now and have tried every one after 1 week. It won't be carbonated properly. If it's in a plastic bottle give it a squeeze and see how hard it is. If it's firm then it's on its way. Put it in the fridge for at least a day before you drink it as that helps. PS my first lager was pritty bad but I finished the last one a week ago.

 

[FirstTimeBrew]

I'm on my 7th brew now and have tried every one after 1 week. It won't be carbonated properly. If it's in a plastic bottle give it a squeeze and see how hard it is. If it's firm then it's on its way. Put it in the fridge for at least a day before you drink it as that helps. PS my first lager was pritty bad but I finished the last one a week ago.

Hi Richard cheers for the response.
Ah I see yeah I had a little sip just before I bottled and considering it was warm it actually tasted half decent, sure as hell smelt amazing! So maybe I'll give it a shot.
Yeah I'm not expecting anything special from my first brew, just hoping it's at least drinkable and not contaminated or anything - but from what I can tell it looks fine.
Got any tips on a better tasting finish?
Also how to get higher alcohol %?

 

[pnorkle]

Hi I started my first Coopers Home Brew Lager kit about 2 weeks ago and have had it bottled for 8 days now, I just want to know is it necessary to have it aging for 2 weeks to carbonate.. can you do it less than 2 weeks? I want to try it already!

Richard's advice is pretty well spot on.. if it's in plastic bottles, give one a squeeze. Don't give up if it doesn't taste as good as you expected it to... you have to persist, and before you know it you'll be making beers at least as good as the ones you can buy. There's not much better than making a really good beer & being able to say "I made that."

Oh, and just wondering, are you going to change your forum name when you make your 2nd beer?

 

[FirstTimeBrew]

Richard's advice is pretty well spot on.. if it's in plastic bottles, give one a squeeze. Don't give up if it doesn't taste as good as you expected it to... you have to persist, and before you know it you'll be making beers at least as good as the ones you can buy. There's not much better than making a really good beer & being able to say "I made that."

Oh, and just wondering, are you going to change your forum name when you make your 2nd beer?

Gday pnorkle again thanks for the response, haha I like that, yeah maybe I'll change it every brew.. OneHundred&TwentyFifthHomeBrew kinda has a ring to it right?

Ohh yeah dont get me wrong I'm keen for the finish whether it tastes average, amazing or just awful. Just the fact that I can do it 100% myself at home and still be able to get drunk off it.. well that's all a man could ask for right..?

 

[Garagebrew]

2 weeks minimum, 2 months even better.
Coopers lager was my go to kit before all grain and I always found that it was worth the wait. Its hard to stop yourself getting into the first brew immediately but I'd recommend that you set aside at least a 6 pack somewhere dark and safe from extreme temps for a little longer just to see the difference.
I know that this isn't the answer you wanted but patience makes all the difference. Good luck with the brew mate.

 

[FirstTimeBrew]

2 weeks minimum, 2 months even better.
Coopers lager was my go to kit before all grain and I always found that it was worth the wait. Its hard to stop yourself getting into the first brew immediately but I'd recommend that you set aside at least a 6 pack somewhere dark and safe from extreme temps for a little longer just to see the difference.
I know that this isn't the answer you wanted but patience makes all the difference. Good luck with the brew mate.

Hi Garagebrew, thanks for the reply!

Ahh tbh I'm happy to get any advice or response, that's actually something I will take on board. 2 months? Well I'll try my best to keep a few for that long, but don't judge if I crack one open a week or 2 early haha.

 

[Richard williamson]

Hi Richard cheers for the response.
Ah I see yeah I had a little sip just before I bottled and considering it was warm it actually tasted half decent, sure as hell smelt amazing! So maybe I'll give it a shot.
Yeah I'm not expecting anything special from my first brew, just hoping it's at least drinkable and not contaminated or anything - but from what I can tell it looks fine.
Got any tips on a better tasting finish?
Also how to get higher alcohol %?

Two simple things I now do is buy a separate yeast and not use the one that comes with the can. And leave for 2 weeks in the fermenter. To get higher ABV just add more sugar, try 500g of a brown sugar or a Cooper's brew enhancer. The best thing I did was to get a cheep fridge, about $100 on a buy and sell site and an inkbird 308 $40 on eBay. Doubles the quality of your beer. Also down load an app called brew tracker it's a cracking easy to use app.

 

[Richard williamson]

Hi I started my first Coopers Home Brew Lager kit about 2 weeks ago and have had it bottled for 8 days now, I just want to know is it necessary to have it aging for 2 weeks to carbonate.. can you do it less than 2 weeks? I want to try it already!

I'm sure you've been on youtube, the best I've found is Cellerdweller and he has his own website and forum and Craft beer and brewing magazine. I only started in August so it's good to give advice instead of receiving it.

 

[FirstTimeBrew]

Two simple things I now do is buy a separate yeast and not use the one that comes with the can. And leave for 2 weeks in the fermenter. To get higher ABV just add more sugar, try 500g of a brown sugar or a Cooper's brew enhancer. The best thing I did was to get a cheep fridge, about $100 on a buy and sell site and an inkbird 308 $40 on eBay. Doubles the quality of your beer. Also down load an app called brew tracker it's a cracking easy to use app.

Ahh really, any other yeast in particular?
So 2 weeks fermenting, and 2 weeks+ bottled?
Well I added the Coopers brew enhancer 1 which came with the kit and it is at about 3.8%, was hoping for higher range, or is that not possible with this kind of beer? - or just keep adding sugar? I just dont want to screw the next one up by adding 14kg of sugar and 3 brew enhancers if you know what I mean haha
Ahh well I guess its a good thing I got a spare fridge right yeah I've seen that online think I'll have to get one, I did a pretty good job keeping the temps from 21-26degrees, blankets over the top at nighttime to keep it warm, but I guess that'll just add a bit more quality to it?

 

[FirstTimeBrew]

I'm sure you've been on youtube, the best I've found is Cellerdweller and he has his own website and forum and Craft beer and brewing magazine. I only started in August so it's good to give advice instead of receiving it.

Well it seems you've already learnt a lot, I'm looking forward to the same! I will give Cellerdweller a shot thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Richard williamson]

Ahh really, any other yeast in particular?
So 2 weeks fermenting, and 2 weeks+ bottled?
Well I added the Coopers brew enhancer 1 which came with the kit and it is at about 3.8%, was hoping for higher range, or is that not possible with this kind of beer? - or just keep adding sugar? I just dont want to screw the next one up by adding 14kg of sugar and 3 brew enhancers if you know what I mean haha
Ahh well I guess its a good thing I got a spare fridge right yeah I've seen that online think I'll have to get one, I did a pretty good job keeping the temps from 21-26degrees, blankets over the top at nighttime to keep it warm, but I guess that'll just add a bit more quality to it?

Safale us05 is a good yeast to start with. It's what I use. It's about $5 from your local home brew shop. With lager you want the fermentation temperature as low as possible, about 15° so you might have some off flavours if it got to 26. I think it's also the fluctuation of temperature that can give off flavours. Crack one open and enjoy it, it's what it's all about after all.

 

[FirstTimeBrew]

Safale us05 is a good yeast to start with. It's what I use. It's about $5 from your local home brew shop. With lager you want the fermentation temperature as low as possible, about 15° so you might have some off flavours if it got to 26. I think it's also the fluctuation of temperature that can give off flavours. Crack one open and enjoy it, it's what it's all about after all.

I will give that a shot, cheers.
Holy dam 15!! I thought the range was like 18-28 or something, from what I read preferablly keep it around 21? Dam I hope this one doesn't taste too off then haha oh well it's all learning I guess.
I'll be cracking the first one open shortly

 

[pnorkle]

Safale us05 is a good yeast to start with. It's what I use. It's about $5 from your local home brew shop. With lager you want the fermentation temperature as low as possible, about 15° so you might have some off flavours if it got to 26. I think it's also the fluctuation of temperature that can give off flavours. Crack one open and enjoy it, it's what it's all about after all.

Yes, and no.
US05 is a good yeast indeed, but it's primarily for ales. If you look at Fermentis' technical data sheet for that yeast, you'll see that the ideal fermentation range for it is 18 - 28 deg. It's pretty well accepted that you should ferment at around 20 degrees.

While low temperatures are typically used for fermenting a lager, this would be when using a yeast specifically for that purpose ie Fermentis SafLager - which, according to the data sheet works best between 12 - 15 deg. Again, it's generally accepted to ferment at the lower end of the scale.

If you try to ferment a beer using US05 at 15 deg, you'll be faced with a very long, slow (if at all) ferment.
Links: https://fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/SafAle-US-05.pdf
https://fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/SafLager-W-3470_Rev1.pdf

HTH.

 

[Richard williamson]

I will give that a shot, cheers.
Holy dam 15!! I thought the range was like 18-28 or something, from what I read preferablly keep it around 21? Dam I hope this one doesn't taste too off then haha oh well it's all learning I guess.
I'll be cracking the first one open shortly

For anything else your spot on but lager is lower.