Side By Side Brewing Test

[Aus_Rider_22]

Hi fellas.

I've done about 6 AG brews to date and am enjoying the step up in method of brewing beer. They have all been tasty minus 1 brew which I believe to be oxidised. Has a sweet sort of aftertaste and paperish taste which I believe to be oxidisation.

Anyway I have decided to do a little test to coincide with needing to have a couple of kegs of easy drinking beer for Aus day for mates who drink commercial stuff. I am going to brew a "cerveza" style beer. Not much chop about it but an easy drinker for the XXXX/Tooheys/Corona crowd.

I am going to have 1 fermenter with a simple K&K recipe and the other fermenter with an All-Grain brew of mine. They will both be aimed at 5%, both using S-189 at 12degrees and both CC'ed for a week with finings and polyclar. I know its not a perfect test as the recipes will have different malts used and hops but I will be able to report back on the differences between AG and KK for this style. Here's the following recipes I will be going with.

All Grain Cerveza to 5%:

Weyerman Pilsner Malt
Carapils
Galena hops bittering only to 25 IBU
S-189

K&K Cerveza to 5%
Coopers Mexican Cerveza
LME
S-189

Any comments on the recipes? Will I be fine pitching rehydrated yeast at 18degrees then dropping it down to 12 after an hour?

This isn't a AG is better than KK thread but rather a compare and contrast so I can tell the differences and report back so that the newbie brewer can get an idea of the variances. I plan to kick this test of by next weekend as I am waiting for some items but I thought I would put this up here for comments etc.

Cheers! :icon_cheers:

 

[jbirbeck]

drop the carapils and add maize, or rice or heaven forbid a bit of sugar to dry it out a bit. perhaps knock the IBU's back to about 20

No problems pitch at 18 and dropping the temp.

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

drop the carapils and add maize, or rice or heaven forbid a bit of sugar to dry it out a bit. perhaps knock the IBU's back to about 20

No problems pitch at 18 and dropping the temp.

Cheers mate. I actually had dextrose in there to thin it out and dry it a touch.
Only added the Carapils for foam/head.

:icon_cheers:

 

[MarkBastard]

Definitely need adjuncts in both.

 

[Bribie G]

+1 with M^B - With just the malt, you would end up with something German -ish crying out for more hops, and quite different to a New-World lager. I'd hazard a guess and say that Coopers or Morgans might well mash in other grains such as rice, or add some sort of syrup, to their light cans to thin out the body. Corona would use a shedload of rice. I normally use 4kg pale Malt (use the Wey if you have it already otherwise it's like casting pearls to swine, just use JW or BB which are more 'muted' for this style) - and a kilo of rice or maize depending on whether it's a Cerveza or a Cream Ale I'm doing.

If you put in a heap of adjunct then in that instance, Carapils is ok as it gives a bit of extra head and lacing, and I use a fair whack of Carapils, but not in an all malt beer. Interested to hear the results. :icon_cheers:

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

+1 with M^B - With just the malt, you would end up with something German -ish crying out for more hops, and quite different to a New-World lager. I'd hazard a guess and say that Coopers or Morgans might well mash in other grains such as rice, or add some sort of syrup, to their light cans to thin out the body. Corona would use a shedload of rice. I normally use 4kg pale Malt (use the Wey if you have it already otherwise it's like casting pearls to swine, just use JW or BB which are more 'muted' for this style) - and a kilo of rice or maize depending on whether it's a Cerveza or a Cream Ale I'm doing.

If you put in a heap of adjunct then in that instance, Carapils is ok as it gives a bit of extra head and lacing, and I use a fair whack of Carapils, but not in an all malt beer. Interested to hear the results. :icon_cheers:

Cheers MarkB and BribieG.

I will sub in 500g of rice as per recommendations.
Is it as simple as measuring the half kilo, cook up with water to a mush, place it in with the pale pilsner grain at dough-in?

 

[MarkBastard]

I would just use Dex in both if I was you, that way it's a more fair comparison.

Maybe 500g dex + LME to make up your desired 5% in the kit, and 500g dex in the all grain.

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

Here's what the recipes will be;

K&K Cerveza:
1.7kg Coopers Mexican Cerveza
1kg LME
0.6kg Dextrose
S-189

IBU: 16
EBC: 4

AG Cerveza
5kg BB Pale Pilsner
.6kg Dextrose
15g Galena 60mins
S-189
Mash for hr at 64 degrees. NoChill. (Can't see nochill having an affect on IBU as there is only a 60min addition.)
IBU: 18
EBC: 6

Went with the BB Pilsner as most Corona/Aussie Lager use it.

 

[MarkBastard]

I made a very similar brew recently and it was surprisingly nice.

Bloody thing had a slow leak though and made a 2cm thick layer of beer in the bottom of my chest freezer. So I lost more than half a bloody keg. SPEWING.

 

[mckenry]

No problems pitch at 18 and dropping the temp.

I disagree here. Not a huge problem, but not ideal. Try to pitch at 12C otherwise, def do a D-rest.

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

Just a quick update. Things not going as smoothly as planned.

The Cerveza tin kit is fermenting away at 11degrees. Put it down last Wednesday. Haven't got the AG Cerveza into the fermenter yet due to an accident.

While giving my urn a good cleanup/wash I have managed too accidentally break the liquid level indicator on the side. I should have been more careful as I snapped it at the base as I was giving it a scrub and holding/maneuvering it with the other free hand.

I am going to try and super glue it back and have a test boil but I have a feeling it may not seal like new. I have thought about just keeping it off and somehow plugging the little hole as I have the markings on the side of the urn for volumes.

Any recommendations?

 

[dent]

Put a small bolt in the hole with a couple of washers and an o-ring. You can fix it properly later on.

 

[MarkBastard]

You can buy replacement ones easy enough too.

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

You can buy replacement ones easy enough too.

Good call, MB.

I have sent them an email tonight asking about it. Unscrewed it this afternoon, very simple bit of gear but I anticipate it will be around $20ish to replace if not more. Also after having a closer look where it snapped I don't like my chances of getting it to seal properly so the new part will be the way to go.