Coopers Mexican Cerveza

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henrik67

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Just brewed this and was thinking of hopping it before bottling, any suggestions as to which hops would be best.....looking for citrusy zing to it, any suggestions appreciated
 
I just did the same kit and used a hop tea of Amarillo 25g. Having read it had a Citrusy aroma to it. Its ended up making my Cerveza taste a bit bitter. Not sure if it will improve after bottling but i would say just dry hop or just add the juice of a few limes into the secondary before you bottle. That way you wont over power what you already have. I did mine to 20L as well to improve on the taste.
 
I just did the same kit and used a hop tea of Amarillo 25g. Having read it had a Citrusy aroma to it. Its ended up making my Cerveza taste a bit bitter. Not sure if it will improve after bottling but i would say just dry hop or just add the juice of a few limes into the secondary before you bottle. That way you wont over power what you already have. I did mine to 20L as well to improve on the taste.

this sounds quite nommable
 
I just did the same kit and used a hop tea of Amarillo 25g. Having read it had a Citrusy aroma to it. Its ended up making my Cerveza taste a bit bitter. Not sure if it will improve after bottling but i would say just dry hop or just add the juice of a few limes into the secondary before you bottle. That way you wont over power what you already have. I did mine to 20L as well to improve on the taste.

Thanks Ash, that might be the way to go then, silly question but the lime juice wont impact on the fermentation process will it?
 
Hi Ash, what was the final ABV after reducing to 20litres? Did you still use 1kg sugar? Thinking of doing this kit but 3.8% sucks. Cheers Sean
 
Hi Ash, what was the final ABV after reducing to 20litres? Did you still use 1kg sugar? Thinking of doing this kit but 3.8% sucks. Cheers Sean

chill ameigo, i have almost finished doing this kit and will hopefully post 2moz how the bottling went, but mine has worked out at about 6.3% and thats before batch priming and then bottling :D:twisted::whistle:
 
Hi Ash, what was the final ABV after reducing to 20litres? Did you still use 1kg sugar? Thinking of doing this kit but 3.8% sucks. Cheers Sean

Just seen the title of this thread soz, its the wilko Mexican cerveza kit that I did!
 
Hi Ash, what was the final ABV after reducing to 20litres? Did you still use 1kg sugar? Thinking of doing this kit but 3.8% sucks. Cheers Sean

Sorry for the late reply, I got mine to around 4.6% abv. I cant remember the exact figure's but OG was 1.047 and got it down to around 1.010

Mines been sat 2-4 weeks in the garage and I popped one open last week, There was a fair bit of sediment in the bottom (I didnt filter properly) and it looked cloudy in the glass. Tasted more like a lager to be honest but i guess that's down to the extra hops I added.
 
Sorry for the late reply, I got mine to around 4.6% abv. I cant remember the exact figure's but OG was 1.047 and got it down to around 1.010

Mines been sat 2-4 weeks in the garage and I popped one open last week, There was a fair bit of sediment in the bottom (I didnt filter properly) and it looked cloudy in the glass. Tasted more like a lager to be honest but i guess that's down to the extra hops I added.
Fridge it overnight before opening the bottle it'll pour a lot clearer and stick the sediment to the bottom of the bottle better
 
Cheers Ash, thinking of dropping volume to 30L and steeping some strawberries, 4.6% is a decent ABV for a lager. :drink:
 
Cheers Ash, thinking of dropping volume to 30L and steeping some strawberries, 4.6% is a decent ABV for a lager. :drink:

I like the idea of steeping strawberries, but from the last few brews I’ve done I’m finding a lot of the initial flavours get lost during the fermentation process. I did a strawberry cider recently and added over 1.5l of strawberry syrup to a 25l batch. After 2-3 weeks in the primary there's not a lot of that strawberry taste left.


I could be completely wrong but I’d be more inclined to add flavours after the primary fermentation is complete. Get it to the just below the ABV you want then pitch in flavours, which should hopefully stay and come through better. The yeast would continue to ferment the sugars but just not as vigorously as the first few days of the primary ferment.
 
Great thanks Ash, would you ferment the secondary out, then also prime bottles with sugar?
 
Great thanks Ash, would you ferment the secondary out, then also prime bottles with sugar?

Ive only ever used carbonation drops, but batch priming would be easier. I'd personally leave everything in the primary, just steep the strawberries maybe 1.5 weeks afterwards when most of the initial ferment is done. Then filter into a secondary after 2-3 weeks and bottle.
 
I've just kicked this kit off today - down to about 15 litres, rather than 22 (simply because I haven't a larger container handy).

OG was 1050 (the kit suggested that brewed per spec it might be 1038). I'll follow the excellent advice I've had on here, and make sure I leave things to run their course properly. I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out in terms of ABV (I haven't measured my first 2 kits).

Fingers crossed.

This batch will be going into PET bottles, but I think I will transfer into a secondary vessel to batch prime and let it cool off in the mancave.
 
Just brewed this and was thinking of hopping it before bottling, any suggestions as to which hops would be best.....looking for citrusy zing to it, any suggestions appreciated

I made this during dec and dry hopped with 25g of liberty, Initally it was quite tasteless but its conditioning now, so will try it end march. I have found some of the coopers kits to be lacking in some instances
 
I could do with a bit of help on this.

I kicked this off Saturday and the FV is swelling slightly and the water level in the airlock is rising but not bubbling. I have it stored at about 22 degC as the instructions state. Has me fermentation stalled or am I too impatient???

Cheers....
 
I could do with a bit of help on this.

I kicked this off Saturday and the FV is swelling slightly and the water level in the airlock is rising but not bubbling. I have it stored at about 22 degC as the instructions state. Has me fermentation stalled or am I too impatient???

Cheers....
If you read countless posts like yours on this forum you will find out that it is most likely to be a leaking lid seal. The lid may look leaktight but it isn't, so CO2 bypasses the lock. That is a common problem and all it means is you can't watch the bubbles.
Coopers yeast is usually reliable however there is a slim chance yours might be dud but I would give it a couple more days before you feel you need to intervene. It may also be a slow starter.
 
If you read countless posts like yours on this forum you will find out that it is most likely to be a leaking lid seal. The lid may look leaktight but it isn't, so CO2 bypasses the lock. That is a common problem and all it means is you can't watch the bubbles.
Coopers yeast is usually reliable however there is a slim chance yours might be dud but I would give it a couple more days before you feel you need to intervene. It may also be a slow starter.

Thanks for the reply Terry.

I have checked the lid seal and it is my newest FV and it snaps shut positively, so I am pretty sure it's not passing.

I was going to leave it another day or so and then intervene with a stir of the brew. A suitable intervention?
 
Thanks for the reply Terry.

I have checked the lid seal and it is my newest FV and it snaps shut positively, so I am pretty sure it's not passing.

I was going to leave it another day or so and then intervene with a stir of the brew. A suitable intervention?
If the lid has a slight bulge and the lock is showing a sign of positive pressure as you said in your first post, but no bubbles, that's a sign that fermentation is underway, but you may still have a leak in spite of what you think. It only takes a tiny gap to vent the CO2.
If you can see evidence of a krausen or a dark ring inside the FV by looking through the FV side (given its translucent) it's on its way so leave it alone.
If you are still not convinced have a peek under the lid (no need to remove the lid) and see what it looks like. If bubbles of any sort its going, if it's clear (unlikely) I suggest you come back for suggestions.
And if all good leave it for a couple of weeks before you open it up again.
 
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