Morgans Blue Mountain Lager.

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YoungGun

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G'day all, YoungGun here.

24/03/2020, I Put down a batch of MBM-L. I followed the instructions on the extract tin and included 1kg of dextrose, pitched my yeast at roughly 26°c. (as i couldn't get it lower fast enough)
It was bottled on the 31/03/2020 and let to sit in a cupboard for 2 weeks.
I tasted my first bottle yesterday and it tasted very bitter/green. smelt great and was well carbonated. How long should i leave them to Lager for & did i do anything wrong?

Have since run a batch of Coopers Lager. Currently also conditioning.

cheers.
 
Hi Young gun.

I put one of these down last brew. I remember when reading about it that the tin actually uses Ale yeast not larger yeast so I treated it as such and tried to keep Fermenter between 18-22 (was hard as was in the hotter months the fermenter probably got up to 24 or so which would have effected the flavour) then left bottle conditioning at room temp for a few more weeks. I also chucked in some US 05 extra yeast when pitching as I was unsure about how the kit yeast was. I have been buying the extra yeast lately as unsure of yeast expiry's with the kits and also they seem to have a lot less in than the ones from my LHBS (7 grams vs 11.5 in the US 05)

I think this one benefited more than others from the extra bottle conditioning, I also did a mini mash and added some hops which I think helped with the flavour. My mate made this and wasn't too pleased with it but I have read good reviews on this tin just with dex. My mate just left in his shed (temps varying wildly) so that definitely effected his batch. I just tried a bottle or two every week and it got better as it went along.
 
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Hey CarroBrew,

I live in Victoria so temps here lately have been chilly.
I had some troubles keeping the temps low. It averaged 25°c. I had kept it on a heat mat for when it got very cold.. like 7°c cold.
Im only fairly new to HB, so i don't understand the whole yeast/hopping etc.. (I need a damn Homebrewing class).

Because my temperatures were wild from 20°-28°c, would my brew be crappy?
I don't even know how to read the SG scale on my hydrometer to be able to run perfect tests.
 
I'm relatively new to this as well. Only put down about 4 so far but am becoming quickly obsessed.

Keep in mind I am by no means an expert so I may be wrong with some of the below.

What I have read is that the most important things for homebrewing are
  1. Cleaning/sanitisation
  2. Temperature control
  3. Everything else (lol)

Cleaning and sanitising for the risk of infection, the temperature control effects how your yeast behaves, two high (above 30) and it dies (every yeast is different so may vary from strain to strain) too low and it goes dormant and does not effectively convert the sugars into alcohol.

Each yeast has a ideal temp range (roughly 18-22 for ale yeast but this varies and larger yeast is completely different) when you get too high above this it can produces fussel alcohols (different to ethanol and has a different flavour and can cause headaches) and also different byproducts like fruity esters in larger quantities. This is not necessarily bad in some amounts (Coopers pale ale has pear esters as a signature flavour) but in large amount is generally undesirable (extra buttery flavour I had in one brew was not great)

I think the main thing is having consistency in temperature as this will not stress the yeast (even if it is at 24 if it stays there the yeast is happier than if it changes a lot)

Also what the conditioning phase does (outside the initial 5 or so days where it is fermenting vigorously) is it cleans up and eats a lot of the byproducts it made in the first phase, if this was done at too high a temp there is too much for the yeast to eat/clean up and you are left with too much of these in your final bottled product. Bottle conditioning again mellows it all out but can only do so much.

I have no temp control at the moment so am just keeping in a relatively stable temp cupboard in my house and wrapping a wet tea towel around on the hotter parts of the day and putting a fan on it to remove heat and wrapping in a blanket or something to insulate on cold nights, not ideal but has helped regulate the temp somewhat. Next investment will be to solve this issue.

I would recommend reading How to brew by John Palmer (free online version) It helped a lot with learning how it all works. Keep in mind he talks more about using un-hopped extract but the yeast and temp stuff is the same for kits.

http://www.howtobrew.com/
The other thing I have done to elevate my brews was do a partial mash. I just followed the guide here (linked below) but did more of a boil and added more hops. Last time I also steeped some crystal grain which is another step/layer of flavour again.

https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/pimping-a-coopers-kit-with-a-partial-mash.72607/
Hope this isn't to rambly and some of it helps.

😁
 
Hey carrobrew!
Are you in Carrington, Newcastle NSW? I regularly cruise past Carro on my way to Newcastle from my place in the Bay.
If you are, there is a really active brewclub in Newcastle. Highly recommend you check it out. They meet every 3rd Friday each month at Hamilton North Bowling Club at 6:15pm for a 6:30pm start. Easy peasy for you to get to. You will get all the technical help and inspiration you require, regardless of how and what you brew.
Obviously, we need to await gumment clearance with all the social distancing while the C-19 crisis is on but, when that's relaxed, it will be back on.
https://aussiehomebrewer.com/forums/hunter-united-brewers-hub.60/
 
Hey carrobrew!
Are you in Carrington, Newcastle NSW? I regularly cruise past Carro on my way to Newcastle from my place in the Bay.
If you are, there is a really active brewclub in Newcastle. Highly recommend you check it out. They meet every 3rd Friday each month at Hamilton North Bowling Club at 6:15pm for a 6:30pm start. Easy peasy for you to get to. You will get all the technical help and inspiration you require, regardless of how and what you brew.
Obviously, we need to await gumment clearance with all the social distancing while the C-19 crisis is on but, when that's relaxed, it will be back on.
https://aussiehomebrewer.com/forums/hunter-united-brewers-hub.60/
Hey philrob.

Sure am, great spot. Where abouts in the bay are you?

This is great news, I was wondering if there was anything like this locally, would love to get involved! Right now no one I know around here brews so no one to swap brews with or shoot the shit. I used to live in Georgetown so I know that bowlo quite well.

Thanks for letting me know! Once we're allowed to leave our houses I'll be sure to head down.
 
I'm in Corlette.
Been brewing now for 14 years or so, most of it All Grain, although I did a quick kit brew recently to build up stocks. My regular supplier is Brewman in Brandy Hill. He posts on here as Brewman.
I can't brew at present as I was recently in Lingard for shoulder surgery, and can't do anything heavy such as lifting fermenters, but I'll get back to it when I get clearance from my surgeon.
 
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