Greetings & Fermentations!

[BeaverBeer]

First time brewer (well nearly) long time lurker.

I purchased a Cooper's kit a while back. I tried and failed with the kit brew for some reasons that have come to light by my studying of this site. Namely: I was impatient and bottled the brew before the recommended SG was reached after 10 days. And there were 2x7g satchels of yeast in the kit lid, which I duly dumped in the fermenter. Something else may have gone astray, but I was careful to follow the instructions to the letter. Everything else I did right AFAIK, but the resulting brew tasted like the weak proverbial in the bottle even after a month. So I tipped it all down the sink and waited for warmer weather, as this winter was pretty harsh!

I sat the fermenter in a large tub of water heated with an aquarium heater to keep the original brew at 20-22*C, but I have since purchased and tested a heat band. It's keeping a fermenter full of sanitising water at 19*C in an insulated cupboard as we speak.

So here is what I have at hand:

1 can of Cascade Golden Harvest Lager (with 1 sachet of yeast )
Cooper's Light Dry Malt - 500g
Cooper's Brew Enhancer 2 - 1kg
Cooper's Brewing Sugar - 1kg
Plenty of sugar drops and the rest of the kit essentials.
1 can of Cooper's Ginger Beer for the follow up brew.

I also have approx 40 Bundy ginger beer bottles cleaned and lined up as well as a bottle capper. I intend on designing my own faux-Bundaberg labels, as my surname happens to be "Beveridge" and fits the label nicely. And yes, I'm an alcoholic *hic* :chug:

I'd appreciate any advise on how to make these following 2 brews successful as they'll be my b'day party supply. And I'll probably look into moving into more advanced methods if they're successful.

Cheers in advance. :beer:

 

[microbe]

Welcome BeaverBeer,

19C is a pretty good temp to brew at but the fermentation action will raise the temp a couple of points also.

I would suggest using the Cascade Kit with the BE2 and the 500g LDME for the first and look through this thread for ideas for the ginger beer. I've found though that even the basic 1Kg raw sugar and nothing else with that kit will turn out pretty good.

You may want to put your location in your profile to assist in personalising advice particular for your area.

cheers,

microbe

 

[BeaverBeer]

I would suggest using the Cascade Kit with the BE2 and the 500g LDME for the first and look through this thread for ideas for the ginger beer. I've found though that even the basic 1Kg raw sugar and nothing else with that kit will turn out pretty good.

You may want to put your location in your profile to assist in personalising advice particular for your area.

cheers,

microbe

Exactly what I had planned. And will do on the profile thing.
I think I used Brew Enhancer 1 instead of the Brewing Sugar for the Cooper's Kit Lager, nothing wrong with that, was there?

 

[microbe]

Exactly what I had planned. And will do on the profile thing.
I think I used Brew Enhancer 1 instead of the Brewing Sugar for the Cooper's Kit Lager, nothing wrong with that, was there?

No, just a different makeup of fermentables. IIRC BE1 has some dextrose but BE2 doesn't. To get a better idea of how it affects your beer, try two identical kits - one made with 1Kg dextrose and one with BE2 - and taste the difference.

 

[BeaverBeer]

Upon reading another post, it isn't good to disturb your brew? Hence my "fermenter in a tub" wasn't such a good idea, as I lifted it out several times to get readings?

BTW got temps down to 16*C at night with a revision of the insulation and loosening the heat band. Will check during the day. Lower is better for a lager? Damn, should have started a week or 2 ago.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Upon reading another post, it isn't good to disturb your brew? Hence my "fermenter in a tub" wasn't such a good idea, as I lifted it out several times to get readings?

BTW got temps down to 16*C at night with a revision of the insulation and loosening the heat band. Will check during the day. Lower is better for a lager? Damn, should have started a week or 2 ago.

Nah... your tub is a fine idea and a fair few brewers do it just that way. I suspect you will get a more "even" temp with that than with the heat belt in a cupboard. You have a lot of thermal mass in the tub/fermentor system, and it isn't going to go up or down in temp in any screaming hurry.

Nothing wrong at all with moving your fermentor around a bit and disturbing the brew. You might just want to avoid shaking the hell out of it or anything. A bit of jiggling here and there isn't going to do it any harm at all.

BUt, both things will work for you, you just have to give em a go and decide which one you prefer to use.

Happy brewing

Thirsty

 

[wildschwein]

If we're talking about Coopers BE1 and BE2: BE1 is made up of dextrose and maltodextrin and is a bit cheaper. BE2 has dextrose, dried light malt extract and maltodextrine (dextrose is 50% of the complete contents in BE2).

BE2 is much better because it has some malt in it and is only about $1 more expensive. For newbies a Coopers can + a 1kg bag of BE2 usually makes a very reasonable/drinkable beer if you get all the basics right; like sanitation and stick to a steady temperature (18c) for fermenting.

I have read someone talking about BE3 in one of the forum's threads but I have never seen it before.

 

[BeaverBeer]

Nah... your tub is a fine idea and a fair few brewers do it just that way. I suspect you will get a more "even" temp with that than with the heat belt in a cupboard. You have a lot of thermal mass in the tub/fermentor system, and it isn't going to go up or down in temp in any screaming hurry.

How about:

1. drill a hole in the fermenter top big enough for a big rubber bung
2. drill a hole big enough for a power cord through the bung
3. thread through the heater power cord and seal it with silicone
4. suspend the aquarium heater inside the fermenter?

Same same, except for the extra water mass you mentioned?

Well the heat band failed to deliver low steady temps for lager, it rose up to 22*C by this morning. I'll just go with ambient temps and hope for the best, then switch to higher temp brews.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

How about:

1. drill a hole in the fermenter top big enough for a big rubber bung
2. drill a hole big enough for a power cord through the bung
3. thread through the heater power cord and seal it with silicone
4. suspend the aquarium heater inside the fermenter?

Same same, except for the extra water mass you mentioned?

Well the heat band failed to deliver low steady temps for lager, it rose up to 22*C by this morning. I'll just go with ambient temps and hope for the best, then switch to higher temp brews.

This is exactly what do with all my beers. I dont use silicone (although there would b no reason not to use the food grade stuff. I just drill a hole in a bung and "split" one side of the bung. Then I can get the cord in and out without having to pull off the plug end. I make the hole pretty smal, so that when you squish the bung inot the hole in your fermentor lid, everything seals up again and you get no leaks.

A bit of camping mat wrapped around the fermentor for insulation and I get dead on accurate, steady as a rock temps from 19-30 every single time.

But some people dont like the idea of putting the heater directly inthe tun, because they worry about sanitation..

Thirsty

 

[BeaverBeer]

Jeez this site is a wealth of info!

Well the lager brew went well (I think) I'm currently brewing the GB (with a bit of grated ginger for good measure) and a Cascade ale after that. I'm already over bottling. <_<

I did the recommended lager recipe:

Cascade Lager
1kg Brew Enhancer 2
500g LDME (which I put in last and it all clumped :angry: )

Anyway, I was a bit concerned about my OG: 1062 (I thought I got a faulty reading) but it settled down to 1012 come bottling time.

Should come out to 6.5%, right? Jeez that's going to take my taste testers by surprise.

Oh, and the last couple of bottles got the dregs when I tipped it, and those particular plastic bottles have firmed up quite quickly and have a whole lot of sediment in them. Which leads me to wonder:
a) should I have stirred up the fermenter at the start of bottling time to get a bit of that stuff in each bottle?
B) are those dreg bottles going to go "BOOM"?
c) if not, are they drinkable or should I use them for cooking or the dog's bowl?

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Oh, and the last couple of bottles got the dregs when I tipped it, and those particular plastic bottles have firmed up quite quickly and have a whole lot of sediment in them. Which leads me to wonder:
a) should I have stirred up the fermenter at the start of bottling time to get a bit of that stuff in each bottle?
B) are those dreg bottles going to go "BOOM"?
c) if not, are they drinkable or should I use them for cooking or the dog's bowl?
[/quote]

a) NO
B) NO providing you don't let the beer sit somewhere too hot for too long.
c) YES. Drink em

The dregs are just yeast & other sentiment that will fall to the bottom of the bottle when you condition them. Stirring the barrel before bottling will just give you more dregs per bottle which don't improve flavour no matter how long in the bottle. If the beer is too warm, the yeast in the bottles will keep working and the brew will still be fermenting. That's why they say after bottling have the bottles sit quietly at 18 degrees (or so) for up to two weeks (?)- this let's the yeast in the bottle ferment the sugars you added at bottling to carbonate the beer. Then they say put the beers somewhere cooler to sit - this makes the yeasts dormant. Leave somewhere hot for a long period, then you risk over carbonation and explosive bottles (same as if you bottle the beer way before you should).

That help at all ?

 

[Noxious]

Hi BeaverBeer,
Just curious....is ur first name "Brendan"??

 

[BeaverBeer]

That help at all ?

Yup, sure did. They're in a cool cupboard out of direct light, and I'll just pour those dreg ones slowly.

Hi BeaverBeer,
Just curious....is ur first name "Brendan"??

No, and not part of my clan afaik.