Easy Larger?

[kuzzy]

New to kits and bits, but experienced with kits in general - mainly ales.

Have played with some steeping and tea bag hops and happy with that - I am willing to buy some proper hops and add them as required.

Now - I don't have a fermenting fridge set up yet, but have a method of keeping temp to 20deg with ice packs, wet towels etc - so that will limit what yeasts I can use during the remaining summer.

So, what would be a good Boags Larger type recipie using a kit, steeping grains & hops etc?

I can get coopers and morgan kits easy at the local home brew shop.

Thanks in advance :icon_chickcheers:

 

[phinnsfotos]

If you're going to want to create lagers like Boags then you're going to have to get you temp well bellow 20. Something more like 10 degrees for the fermentation and 2-4 degrees for the cold conditioning is my understanding of the process.

I've seen a few people mention that US-05 is quite a forgiving and clean tasting Ale yeast at 18 degrees. A false lager if you will, but it's still not a lager, and you'll still need to cold condition for weeks at 4 degrees.I"ve never tried US-05 like this though.

For what it's worth I've used a ESB 3kg Bavarian lager can, which came dry hopped so it had quite a pleasant hoppy flavour, but I was lazy and didn't cold condition it, and spent every glass wishing I had.

EDIT: Forgot to mention I used a Saflager yeast that ran at 10 degrees for about two weeks, then 2 days warmed up to around 18 to finish. And I'm guessing that a bit of Tasmanian Hersbrucker dry hopping will help things along.

 

[pcmfisher]

Kuzzy,

I would suggest-

A blond sort of kit
A brew booster dextrose/maltodextrin mix
250g light dry malt
25g Tettnanger steeped in boiling water for few mins then toss the lot in.

 

[booyablack]

For what it's worth I've used a ESB 3kg Bavarian lager can, which came dry hopped so it had quite a pleasant hoppy flavour, but I was lazy and didn't cold condition it, and spent every glass wishing I had.

Why? From what I understand the cold-conditioning is used to help with the clarity of the beer allowing the yeast to drop out of suspension, form a solid trub and create a clear brew.

Was your lager not clear enough for your tastes or was there another reason you wish you'd cold conditioned it? i.e. mellowing of flavours etc.

Forgive my ignorance I just would like to understand the usefulness of cold-conditioning and lagering.

 

[manticle]

Why? From what I understand the cold-conditioning is used to help with the clarity of the beer allowing the yeast to drop out of suspension, form a solid trub and create a clear brew.

Was your lager not clear enough for your tastes or was there another reason you wish you'd cold conditioned it? i.e. mellowing of flavours etc.

Forgive my ignorance I just would like to understand the usefulness of cold-conditioning and lagering.

I can't offer you any science behind it but I cold condition all my brews and find that it helps with maturation and flavour development. Even if that comes purely from dropping yeast out of suspension, it will impact flavour as yeast is a primary contributor to flavour. Flocculating yeast out is not just to do with having pretty looking beer.

 

[booyablack]

I can't offer you any science behind it but I cold condition all my brews and find that it helps with maturation and flavour development. Even if that comes purely from dropping yeast out of suspension, it will impact flavour as yeast is a primary contributor to flavour. Flocculating yeast out is not just to do with having pretty looking beer.

OK, I thought it might be something along those lines.

Thanks Manticle.

(Fast response!)

 

[kuzzy]

Cold conditioning is not an issue for me. Just the brewing temp - I could get it to 16-18deg if I just use one fermentor at a time.

 

[phinnsfotos]

I"m not fused with clear beer. When I drink commercial I'll always head for the coopers pale, and you'd better roll that bottle before you hand it to me.

The lager just didn't taste as clean and crisp as I'd wanted. And it took three and really more like four months before it was drinkable. Pretty much what Manticle was saying.