heiniken extract attempt 1

[clinthem26]

Hey,

I am looking to attempt a heiniken clone using a recipre found at Aussiehomebrewers.com.au website. please forgive me if i dont make much sense, i am a little new to the homebrewing scene.

products are as follows.

1.7kg Thomas Coopers lager
1.0kg Light dried malt extract
250g Dextrose
1 x tea bag hops - Hallertau
15g brew cellar european lager yeast

fermentation (12 - 15) degrees celcius

I have a fermentation fridge that is cabaple of keeping the correct temp steady, so this should not be a problem.

brew plan is to boil ingredients for 60 mins then cool wort in pot immediately after, add to glass carboy for 8 - 12 days, rack to another glass carboy for secondary fermentation of approx 3 days, then bottle.

so far this all seems fairly straight forward, however i have a few questions i hope some experts can answer.

1. in regards to the hops, instructions on packet is to add in boiling water, let infuse, then add liquid and bag to fermentation vessel. is this the correct way, or should i make hop addition during boil at say 15 mins then remove bag before adding to carboy?

2. do i know what i am talking about?

3. Is there anything i have missed?

any info is greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Clinthem26

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Boil your hops with the malt for best results

 

[RelaxedBrewer]

A couple of things.
1) Don't boil the coopers lager tin. These tins are pre hopped and boiling it will mess up the bittering/flavour.
2) There is no need to boil any of your ingredients for 60 min. A 60 min boil is used in all grain brewing and many bittering hop additions require a 60min boil. The longer you boil hops for the more bitterness you get and less flavour or aroma.

What I suggest you do is
- boil 300g of LDME in 3 Liters of water
- add your hops and boil for 15 min
- use this boiled wort to melt all your other ingredients into
- then top up to desired volume with cold water
- use 2 packs of a quality dry lager yeast (s23 or something like it)

RB

 

[clinthem26]

Thanks RB,

guess i will have a bit of room left in the 50lt s/s brew pot i just bought!

any suggestions on the fermentation side of things?

Clinthem26

 

[timmi9191]

Imo.. Ditch the coopers lager and use the euro lager or if you have access, go the Thomas cooper selection heritage lager..

Boil 4l of water, add hops and boil for 10 mins. Add all to fermenter..

I think hersbruker hops will give you more of a heinekin flavour..

 

[timmi9191]

S23 yeast, 10c and a d-rest..

 

[clinthem26]

cheer Timmi,

10C sounds a little low?

unsure on the d-rest will have to do some research.

 

[timmi9191]

Diacytl rest - do a search. It's a by product of lager yeasts, tastes like butterscotch.. Warming the wort before finishing gravity is achieved while yeast is till active will help to remove this flavour.

My d-rest schedule is:

Ferment 50% OG to fg.

Raise 1c a day to 18c, chill 1c a day back don to 10c.

Lagers are quite labour intensive and maybe not something you want to jump into if you are new to brewing..

You can produce beers very very similar to lagers using ale yeasts, without the extra effort

 

[timmi9191]

Clone brews book has a heinekin recipe.. Have a look at it

 

[RelaxedBrewer]

If you can, I also recommend lagering at ~2C for 2 weeks before bottling.

Also agree that a lager is more complicated for a first brew.
The most annoying thing about it for a first brew would probably be the time between brewing and drinking.

RB