Cloudy Coopers Australian lager

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Holland on Sea, Essex
Right, 3rd brew, Coopers Australian Lager.
10/02/14. 22 litres. Pitched yeast at 23c. SG 1048. 500g Brewing Sugar,500g Light Spraymalt, 454 Golden Syrup, 1tsp. Yeast Nutrient, Water treated with 1 Campden Tablet.
It was fermented at between 17/20c in my spare room.
First couple of days it bubbled through the airlock like a vindaloo.
After 4 days it slowed down and then there was no activity through the airlock. Checked the gravity and it was 1.022.
Two days later and the same reading 1.022.
Stirred it up and there was slightly more activity through the airlock and then after a few hours, nothing.
Left it for another 3 days, checked the gravity and it was 1.006. Got the same reading for 3 days.
Moved into the garage to cool down for 5 days and it is very cloudy. Tastes nice quite nice though.

But its really cloudy. Looks like scrumpy.

Now my question is: Do you think its ok to bottle, bearing in mind that the SG was constant for 3 days. Im not bothered about the cloudiness, it tastes fine and thats ok by me. Is there anything I can do about the cloudiness?

Any advice, Chaps?

:wha:
 
Hello mate

I just bottled my second lot of coopers Australian lager today. Was exactly 1 week in the FV. 1.038 down to 1.005.
I added 500g light dry malt extract and 500g dextrose.

In my experience, you want to keep the brew a bit higher than 17c. I can imagine that sticking in the garage at this time of year in the UK didn't do it much good either. If your beer goes 15c or under your yeast will stop working.

Saying all that.. your FG sounds great. I'd bottle it with just over half a teaspoon of dextrose and sit them inside at the same temp as ur FV was at for 2 weeks. After this time move in to your garage and try not to drink for at least another week, 2 if you can wait!

It will clear a bit after a week in the garage and only improve from then on.

Good luck!!
 
Leaving it in the cold garage is the best thing for it at this stage. It probably will clear in another few days. Some would advise only bottle when completely clear, but in my experience if you bottle when cloudy it will still clear, you just end up with more sediment in the bottle.

Give it a few more days in the garage, if it still doesn't clear then bottle with sugar for the carbonation and leave the bottles in the warm for a couple of weeks to carbonate, then back into the garage for a couple of weeks to condition before drinking. My money is on it clearing within 3 days of being in the bottles...
 
davecullen86 said:
Hello mate

I just bottled my second lot of coopers Australian lager today. Was exactly 1 week in the FV. 1.038 down to 1.005.
I added 500g light dry malt extract and 500g dextrose.

In my experience, you want to keep the brew a bit higher than 17c. I can imagine that sticking in the garage at this time of year in the UK didn't do it much good either. If your beer goes 15c or under your yeast will stop working.

Saying all that.. your FG sounds great. I'd bottle it with just over half a teaspoon of dextrose and sit them inside at the same temp as ur FV was at for 2 weeks. After this time move in to your garage and try not to drink for at least another week, 2 if you can wait!

It will clear a bit after a week in the garage and only improve from then on.

Good luck!!


Two weeks ??????

Listen I've just started home brewing, two weeks ain't gonna happen!

Anyway thanks for the advice.

Cheers mate.

:cheers:
 
winelight said:
Leaving it in the cold garage is the best thing for it at this stage. It probably will clear in another few days. Some would advise only bottle when completely clear, but in my experience if you bottle when cloudy it will still clear, you just end up with more sediment in the bottle.

Give it a few more days in the garage, if it still doesn't clear then bottle with sugar for the carbonation and leave the bottles in the warm for a couple of weeks to carbonate, then back into the garage for a couple of weeks to condition before drinking. My money is on it clearing within 3 days of being in the bottles...

Yea, I'll do that. I don't think its going they are going to get any clearer. The FG looked ok so I think they'll be ok I was just slightly concerned that they might decorate our spare room and she ain't gonna be too happy! I'm supposed to be decorating our house and I'm getting an ear bashing about " right, you've got time to do that, but you haven't time to finish off the kitchen!

:lol:
 
If you want to get clear beer out of a bottle it needs to be clear going in.

Since you have got a consistent reading and the FG is low we can assume that iut has finished fermenting. So you need to clear it. A cold concrete floor is what you need. If that fails then get a cup of boiling water let it cool to 85c (very important) and add a leaf of gelatine or a tsp if you have granulated, but make sure it is the cows hoof variety and not the vegetarian option. give it a quick stir until it dissolves and add it to your beer again giving a gentle stir. It should clear with in 48hrs then ready for bottling.

:thumb:
 
graysalchemy said:
If you want to get clear beer out of a bottle it needs to be clear going in.

Since you have got a consistent reading and the FG is low we can assume that iut has finished fermenting. So you need to clear it. A cold concrete floor is what you need. If that fails then get a cup of boiling water let it cool to 85c (very important) and add a leaf of gelatine or a tsp if you have granulated, but make sure it is the cows hoof variety and not the vegetarian option. give it a quick stir until it dissolves and add it to your beer again giving a gentle stir. It should clear with in 48hrs then ready for bottling.

:thumb:

Thanks for that. I'm tempted to just bottle it as it is. As I say it tastes ok.

Any idea where I can get the gelatine from if I decide to go down that route?

:cheers:
 
I'm right there with you mate. I'm talking about an ideal world where you an I obviously don't live!!

Just opened one I bottled up yesterday and its already carbed up a little and cleared slighty (just put another in the freezer hahahaha)

Enjoy!!!
 
The reason why i say to clear before it goes in the bottle is to avoid inches of **** in the bottom of your bottles which unless you are planning on aging for 6 months will run the risk of clouding your beer when poured. For the sake of leaving it a few more days in my mind its not worth not doing it.

Gelatine can be found in the baking isle at the supermarkets but as I said go for the Carnivorous version made with hooves, the vegi one is not the same and won't work. :thumb:
 
Totally agree there, but this coopers lager seems to clump the sediment up so well in the bottle that you can get away with pouring the whole lot in your gladd. Anyone else had the same? Been like this for both batches I have done.
 
Thats fine if the yeast flocs well but not all yeast is the same, you wouldn't be saying that if you used US05.

Its just good practice to wait until it clears. What works for you with one yeast won't necessarily work for someone else. :thumb: :thumb:
 
graysalchemy said:
The reason why i say to clear before it goes in the bottle is to avoid inches of **** in the bottom of your bottles which unless you are planning on aging for 6 months will run the risk of clouding your beer when poured. For the sake of leaving it a few more days in my mind its not worth not doing it.

Gelatine can be found in the baking isle at the supermarkets but as I said go for the Carnivorous version made with hooves, the vegi one is not the same and won't work. :thumb:
graysalchemy said:
If you want to get clear beer out of a bottle it needs to be clear going in.

Since you have got a consistent reading and the FG is low we can assume that iut has finished fermenting. So you need to clear it. A cold concrete floor is what you need. If that fails then get a cup of boiling water let it cool to 85c (very important) and add a leaf of gelatine or a tsp if you have granulated, but make sure it is the cows hoof variety and not the vegetarian option. give it a quick stir until it dissolves and add it to your beer again giving a gentle stir. It should clear with in 48hrs then ready for bottling.

:thumb:

Hmm, decisions decisions!
I think Ill pop down to Tesco's and see if I can get some gelatine. If not, its straight in the bottles tonight.

Thanks for the advice chaps.

:cheers:
 
davecullen86 said:
Hello mate

I just bottled my second lot of coopers Australian lager today. Was exactly 1 week in the FV. 1.038 down to 1.005.
I added 500g light dry malt extract and 500g dextrose.

In my experience, you want to keep the brew a bit higher than 17c. I can imagine that sticking in the garage at this time of year in the UK didn't do it much good either. If your beer goes 15c or under your yeast will stop working.

Saying all that.. your FG sounds great. I'd bottle it with just over half a teaspoon of dextrose and sit them inside at the same temp as ur FV was at for 2 weeks. After this time move in to your garage and try not to drink for at least another week, 2 if you can wait!

It will clear a bit after a week in the garage and only improve from then on.

Good luck!!

graysalchemy said:
The reason why i say to clear before it goes in the bottle is to avoid inches of **** in the bottom of your bottles which unless you are planning on aging for 6 months will run the risk of clouding your beer when poured. For the sake of leaving it a few more days in my mind its not worth not doing it.

Gelatine can be found in the baking isle at the supermarkets but as I said go for the Carnivorous version made with hooves, the vegi one is not the same and won't work. :thumb:
graysalchemy said:
If you want to get clear beer out of a bottle it needs to be clear going in.

Since you have got a consistent reading and the FG is low we can assume that iut has finished fermenting. So you need to clear it. A cold concrete floor is what you need. If that fails then get a cup of boiling water let it cool to 85c (very important) and add a leaf of gelatine or a tsp if you have granulated, but make sure it is the cows hoof variety and not the vegetarian option. give it a quick stir until it dissolves and add it to your beer again giving a gentle stir. It should clear with in 48hrs then ready for bottling.

:thumb:
winelight said:
Leaving it in the cold garage is the best thing for it at this stage. It probably will clear in another few days. Some would advise only bottle when completely clear, but in my experience if you bottle when cloudy it will still clear, you just end up with more sediment in the bottle.



Give it a few more days in the garage, if it still doesn't clear then bottle with sugar for the carbonation and leave the bottles in the warm for a couple of weeks to carbonate, then back into the garage for a couple of weeks to condition before drinking. My money is on it clearing within 3 days of being in the bottles...

UPDATE: Left it on the garage floor for 6 days and it cleared up quite nicely. Didn't have to use gelatine. :thumb:
 
UPDATE: Left it on the garage floor for 6 days and it cleared up quite nicely. Didn't have to use gelatine. :thumb:

2nd Update:
Having tried a few bottles now, I really don't like this at all. After drinking about half a bottle, it has a really bitter/unpleasant aftertaste. I'm finding this hard to drink and believe me when I'm offered a beer, I will drink it, even if I don't like it! Aromas fine, very clear and carbonated nicely.
Just can't work out what I did wrong. :confused:

Never mind Iv'e still got:
3 x Coopers Stout (all with 475g Black Treacle, bottled)
2 x Coopers English Bitter (bottled)
1 x " " " (kegged)
1 x Coopers Dark Ale (bottled)
2 x Wherry (bottled)
1 x Wilcos Delicate Pilsner (bottled)
1 x Coopers Wheat

In FV:
Coopers English Bitter, which Iv'e had a fiddle about with.

Should last a few weeks
:whistle:
 
2nd Update:

Never mind Iv'e still got:
3 x Coopers Stout (all with 475g Black Treacle, bottled)
2 x Coopers English Bitter (bottled)
1 x " " " (kegged)
1 x Coopers Dark Ale (bottled)
2 x Wherry (bottled)
1 x Wilcos Delicate Pilsner (bottled)
1 x Coopers Wheat

In FV:
Coopers English Bitter, which Iv'e had a fiddle about with.

Should last a few weeks
:whistle:

This is why I'm envious of people with garages. I just can't fit more than two brews in my flat :cry:
 
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