First Winter Brew

[antains]

I've had a bit of a break from brewing for the past six months - the odds seemed to be against me: no time to brew or ingredients weren't available when I went shopping... Mindful of the winter temperatures, I've been monitoring the little cellar under our house - even though it's been 3 or 4 degrees C most nights, the cellar has never dropped below 9 degrees.

I decided to brew a Coopers Lager - my standard when I'm experimenting - and use the Safale Lager Yeast.
I've been meaning to ask for predictions about the results, but didn't get to it, so here's what I can tell you:

Sunday, 3 August, 2008.
1. Barrel pre-cleaned, but quickly re-cleaned with Napisan.
2. Sprayed with Brewcraft's Brewshield (first time I've used it).
3. Full 15g sachet pitched in wort at 21 degrees (a little bit lower than the normal Coopers-proscribed).
3a. Wort comprised 1 can Coopers Lager, 1kg Coopers brewing sugar, 2 litres boiling water, cold water added to total 23 litres.
4. Original Gravity 1052 (high!)
5. Steady change in specific gravity and lovely yeasty smell every day.
6. Today, SG at 1024 - slowing down a little bit - 9 degrees outside the barrel, 10-11 degrees inside (borderline by the yeast's preferred operating temperatures).
6a. Sediment coming through tap when I got the sample for gravity reading this morning - this is a first for me.

My opinions/theories/guessed errors that I would love to have corrected or supported, because they expose what I know/don't know about the process:
The sediment is stimulated by a larger quantity than normal yeast.
The Napisan may not have been rinsed well enough before the Brewshield was sprayed. I was advised with the Brewshield to run off the excess and not even bother letting it to dry completely.

So, what do you think will happen?


Ant.
(It's good to be back into it.)

 

[Pennywise]

Brewshield is a great sanitiser. That OG does seem too high, are you sure the 23 litre mark on your fermenter is correct? Did you mix the wort properly? 10 - 11 deg is good if you used the Saflager yeast. The sediment will come through the tap at first, just draw some off till you get no sediment and then take a sample. I would also suggest to use malt or dextrose or combo of both instead of the Coopers brewing sugar, their brewing sugar has sucrose in it and leaves a funny taste from what I've read (dunno from experience, never used it)

 

[antains]

Brewshield is a great sanitiser. That OG does seem too high, are you sure the 23 litre mark on your fermenter is correct? Did you mix the wort properly? 10 - 11 deg is good if you used the Saflager yeast. The sediment will come through the tap at first, just draw some off till you get no sediment and then take a sample. I would also suggest to use malt or dextrose or combo of both instead of the Coopers brewing sugar, their brewing sugar has sucrose in it and leaves a funny taste from what I've read (dunno from experience, never used it)

I'm certain about the measurementon the fermenter and I'm confident about the mixture. It is the Saflager (I keep getting the name mixed up for some reason).

Thanks for the quick tip about the dextrose. I hadn't really mentally processed what the difference would lead to, but I know the taste you mean.

I maintain, as always, that sucrose is the antichrist.
A technical rant about the evils of sucrose is here
and that was just about white sugar in the prime, not even in the main ferment. :blink: Homebrewer79's advice is sound.

Cheers for the seconding.

I'm also thinking of doing a bulk secondary, too, which will be another first.

 

[The Big Burper]

Coopers brewing sugar, their brewing sugar has sucrose in it and leaves a funny taste from what I've read (dunno from experience, never used it)

Hello dere,

Coopers Brewing sugar is now dextrose, used to be sucrose, but nay no more.

cheers
Dave

 

[antains]

Sunday, 3 August, 2008.
1. Barrel pre-cleaned, but quickly re-cleaned with Napisan.
2. Sprayed with Brewcraft's Brewshield (first time I've used it).
3. Full 15g sachet pitched in wort at 21 degrees (a little bit lower than the normal Coopers-proscribed).
3a. Wort comprised 1 can Coopers Lager, 1kg Coopers brewing sugar, 2 litres boiling water, cold water added to total 23 litres.
4. Original Gravity 1052 (high!)
5. Steady change in specific gravity and lovely yeasty smell every day.
6. Today, SG at 1024 - slowing down a little bit - 9 degrees outside the barrel, 10-11 degrees inside (borderline by the yeast's preferred operating temperatures).
6a. Sediment coming through tap when I got the sample for gravity reading this morning - this is a first for me.

My opinions/theories/guessed errors that I would love to have corrected or supported, because they expose what I know/don't know about the process:
The sediment is stimulated by a larger quantity than normal yeast.
The Napisan may not have been rinsed well enough before the Brewshield was sprayed. I was advised with the Brewshield to run off the excess and not even bother letting it to dry completely.

Well, I've been drinking the final product for a week now. The time for the gravity to settle was quite length. My understanding is this is because of the cooler temperatures.
I did bulk the secondary dose of sugar. Again I was crude and imprecise about this: the lower temperature meant that my sugar quantity had to be different and the table I used was a little confusing. Good news is that it gets me drunk and there were no bottle bombs.
In terms of quirks in the taste, there is nothing that I can identify as being caused by the changes in the process (ie. sanitising). There are some flavours that I've noticed that I am simply putting down to the Coopers Lager malt, because they always seem to be there.
End result is the brew is drinkable, but I probably won't share it around.

I won't be using Coopers Lager malt anymore, I don't think - although they seem to be a good benchmark for experimentation - because I'll just end up putting time and effort into a beer that I'm not comfortable sharing.

 

[brendo]

Hey Ant,

While I haven't used he Coopers Lager kit myself - i have certainly found that with lagers, bulk conditioning it at around 3 degrees for 3-4 weeks certainly helps to smooth out the flavours and results in a clearer beer - after all, lagers traditionally undergo this sort of process anyway.

Defintely go with more malt - you will get far more body to the beer. Hops and or steeping some specialty grains can really elevate the brew beyond the 'kit' taste.

I wouldn't write the kit off just yet - plenty that you can do to improve it.

Give me a yell if you want to chat about it more - you know how to find me.

Cheers,

Brendo

 

[antains]

Hey Ant,

While I haven't used he Coopers Lager kit myself - i have certainly found that with lagers, bulk conditioning it at around 3 degrees for 3-4 weeks certainly helps to smooth out the flavours and results in a clearer beer - after all, lagers traditionally undergo this sort of process anyway.

Defintely go with more malt - you will get far more body to the beer. Hops and or steeping some specialty grains can really elevate the brew beyond the 'kit' taste.

I wouldn't write the kit off just yet - plenty that you can do to improve it.

Give me a yell if you want to chat about it more - you know how to find me.

Cheers,

Brendo

Ooh, hello...

I have to admit that part of the move away from the Coopers Lager is my wife's distaste for it. She's got a great sense of a good beer and low tolerance for mediocrity.

I just set up my first hopped beer yesterday. It's a big step, because it's not the standard lager, but a brown ale.

I'm keen to check out what you're doing, because you seem to have got your head around the variations really quickly, while I'm still trying to find a consistent process that gives consistent results, before doing too much experimentation.

 

[brendo]

Ooh, hello...

I have to admit that part of the move away from the Coopers Lager is my wife's distaste for it. She's got a great sense of a good beer and low tolerance for mediocrity.

I just set up my first hopped beer yesterday. It's a big step, because it's not the standard lager, but a brown ale.

I'm keen to check out what you're doing, because you seem to have got your head around the variations really quickly, while I'm still trying to find a consistent process that gives consistent results, before doing too much experimentation.

That definitely makes sense... I take copious notes, which I then refer back to and modify for similar styles - I reckon that is the key. I can definitely say that expanding with the use of hops and different malts is well worth the small amount of extra effort.

My process can still certainly take a fair bit of refinement - I am sure, but I have been pretty happy with the results so far, and have had nothing but good comments from those who have tasted them - even a few beer connoisseurs :0)

I am starting to make the move into extract brewing (so forgoing the kits altogether). have brewed a couple and initial tastes of one (a Porter) show some promising signs.

When we catch up, I will take you through my recipe book and you will get a sense of my progression.

Brendo

 

[antains]

When we catch up, I will take you through my recipe book and you will get a sense of my progression.

Brendo

I'm looking forward to it. Did you start this year? Or just join the forum?

 

[brendo]

I'm looking forward to it. Did you start this year? Or just join the forum?

I only started in May - in which time I have put 15 brews down - so not a bad run.

I had been looking into it for a long time and had a pretty fair idea of what I wanted to do and how to do it.

Since I started though I haven't looked back...

Brendo

 

[antains]

I only started in May - in which time I have put 15 brews down - so not a bad run.

I had been looking into it for a long time and had a pretty fair idea of what I wanted to do and how to do it.

Since I started though I haven't looked back...

Brendo

Marvelous. Because I've moved several times since I started (3 years ago?) and haven't always had a place to brew, I'm feeling like I've started from scratch since last year. Especially after finding this forum and seeing just what I didn't know.
I reckon I'm behind on you, so you're making my pending, possible visit seem like more of a necessity.