Mexican cerveza

[Chris130993]

Hey Guys,
I’m planning to do a Mexican cerveza and after any tips.

So far I have:
Coopers Mexican cerveza
250g powdered corn cyrup/750g dextrose
2 x saflager s23

The home brew shop said to ferment at 10deg. Does this sound right?

Also I have a few leftover hop pellets, lemon drop us19 t-90 and citra us19 t90. Would any of these be worth adding?

Any tips would be appreciated.
Cheers

 

[chookherder]

I've never made one, but the temp is about right for that Saflager yeast (see pack for recommended temp range).
As for the hops, are you looking to make it more bitter or to add aroma/flavour? You would add the hops at a different stage depending on what you're hoping to achieve.

Probably best to make it once without hops, to understand what you want to change next time, it may be perfect already.

 

[chookherder]

Oh, and you should only need one of those yeast packs for 23L of beer (save the other in your fridge for next beer)

 

[shacked]

Can I suggest that you will need both packs for a lager fermented at 10C. Cold ferments need more yeast. Get your ferment going at 10C and then when you're about 75% done let the temp free rise to 16-18C (maybe day 8 - 10 but let your hydrometer be the judge). This will assist with the clean up of some by-products created in the early stages of your ferment (for more info check out vDK or this link here: 18 Common Off Flavors In Beer (And How They're Caused) - item 1)

Also for a Mexican style lager you're not going to need any hops other than what is already in the kit. If you really love hops then a small dry hop at the temp ramp phase of your ferment would be nice - either would be fine!!

 

[chookherder]

Yep, shacked is right. Ignore me, I'm too used to making ales at 18c!

 

[elmoMakesBeer]

I'd say Fermentis would know better than anybody else how to use their yeast. Have a look at https://fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/SafLager-S-23.pdf
The ideal fermentation temperature is 12-15 deg, pitching 80-120 g/hl. That is 18.4-23g (i.e. two packs) per 23 l batch. I would go with something in that range.

If fermenting colder they recommend increasing pitch up to 200-300 g/hl (4-6 packs for 23 l batch) at 9deg

 

[shacked]

Yep, shacked is right. Ignore me, I'm too used to making ales at 18c!

It's all good mate. You can [pretty much] never have too much yeast - especially with lagers!!