Coopers European Lager (Mini Kegged)

So I've had a European larger mini kegged and conditioning in the fridge at 2c for just short of 2 weeks now and after work today I couldn't resist opening a keg up and having a few pints,,,,,,,,,,,,OK not a few pints as I'm currently still drinking my keg and I'm on my 5th pint already and I can see no slowing up until I'm 1 keg down. Anyway, concidering its very young, its god dam beautiful, such a great sessionable lager, I'm very very impressed, I only used the standard ingredients but next time I think I will use 500g of dextrose and 700g of light sprey malt, iv not got a very good head retention but I put that down to using only dextrose and no sprey malt. other than that I personally wouldn't mess with it as it tastes great. One more thing the carbonation in my mini keg is OK but its not great, its not flat nor isit spot on so idI'd use 4 tsp instead of 3tsps of sugar for priming next time. Maybe the carbonation will have improved after several more weeks of conditioning, I'll keep you informed. As for taste I can taste hops and a slight caramel note, at the moment their is a suttle smell of sulpher but that will completely diserpate with more time conditioning, having said all that it really does taste great, what a kit, I would definitely brew this again, one more note to add is I fermented it at around 14 and 15 c as it contains a true lager yeast. If added a couple of pics, let me know your thoughts people. Brew on!!!!!!!!

Howdo Rob, I also use the mini kegs and I'm guessing with your location you bought them from Leyland homebrew? I bought mine from there and was told no more than 3 t-spoons of sugar and agree it's not enough and in my experience it doesn't get better if left any longer. Fortunately I bought a party star tap and it's worth every penny ( i've seen your wanted ad and you're not having mine ;-) ) gives a really good pint right down to the bottom and the gas cannisters do about 3 kegs so work out at pennies per pint extra. for my needs the mini keg system and tap is great but they don't seem to have much of a following on here

Cheers, Mick :

sausagefingers said:

Howdo Rob, I also use the mini kegs and I'm guessing with your location you bought them from Leyland homebrew? I bought mine from there and was told no more than 3 t-spoons of sugar and agree it's not enough and in my experience it doesn't get better if left any longer. Fortunately I bought a party star tap and it's worth every penny ( i've seen your wanted ad and you're not having mine ;-) ) gives a really good pint right down to the bottom and the gas cannisters do about 3 kegs so work out at pennies per pint extra. for my needs the mini keg system and tap is great but they don't seem to have much of a following on here

Cheers, Mick :

Click to expand...

I did indeed get my kegs from Leyland, I tend to take a visit their every payday (weekly : /) next Monday I'll be purchasing the party star deluxe. I wonder why people on here don't use them? I think their great. How much sugar do you use to prime then? I mainly brew lagers and blondes, with a blushing blonde to be my next, I'll be using a true lager yeast with it fermenting at 14c. I'm going to be making a portable tap system for the mini keg using a cool box (you may have seen them online) if you want to have an input on it fire away.

so I went over to leyland homebrew today and bought a party star deluxe. I absolutely love it. its a great piece of kit with fantastic build quality. I cant believe people on this forum dont use mini kegs!!!! crazzzzy. anyway ill be uploading some pics soon

RobsHomebrew said:

. I cant believe people on this forum dont use mini kegs!!!! crazzzzy. anyway ill be uploading some pics soon

Click to expand...

Would love to but haven't got the room to keep em anywhere. Plus all my bottles were free from them LHBS/microbrewery

great stuff, I got my kegs and tap from leyland as well , love mine. I have 9 mini kegs on rotation so there's always a good sesh ready to go in the fridge :grin:
When a brew is ready I usually use 2 kegs and bottle the rest, I use 3 tspoons of sugar in the keg as it's only helping second fermentation and the tap does the rest, lovely creamy pint every time ( although the 1st pint is a bit lively to say the least ). It's a piece of cake to clean and works a treat. i think people on here prefer the corny keg set ups but i prefer the mini kegs as i store all my beer in the garage and just bring them in the house when I need them - ideal.
Keep this thread updated as I'll be interested to see what you do with the cool box

Cheers :drink:

MyQul said:

Would love to but haven't got the room to keep em anywhere. Plus all my bottles were free from them LHBS/microbrewery

Click to expand...

thats a fair enough reason. :)

sausagefingers said:

great stuff, I got my kegs and tap from leyland as well , love mine. I have 9 mini kegs on rotation so there's always a good sesh ready to go in the fridge :grin:
When a brew is ready I usually use 2 kegs and bottle the rest, I use 3 tspoons of sugar in the keg as it's only helping second fermentation and the tap does the rest, lovely creamy pint every time ( although the 1st pint is a bit lively to say the least ). It's a piece of cake to clean and works a treat. i think people on here prefer the corny keg set ups but i prefer the mini kegs as i store all my beer in the garage and just bring them in the house when I need them - ideal.
Keep this thread updated as I'll be interested to see what you do with the cool box

Cheers :drink:

Click to expand...

uhmmmm interesting. so you still use 3tsp. I was going to add 4 to my next batch (blushing blonde with lager yeast 500g dextrose and 700g light sprey malt and a touch of head retention liquid) but you say the tap helps it???? indeed I will keep the thread open for the coolbox. iv already bought a tap off ebay for the box. just need the box and all the bits and pieces for the actual tapping system.

so I couldn't resist tapping into a keg of the European lager after realising how much different and better a beer taste using a co2 tap with these kegs. amazing and this beer still needs weeks to condition.
URL=http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/purplerain1200/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150717_220457_zpsbft1yjr8.jpg.html] [/URL]

Nice looking pint you have there, Rob. Loving the new avatar too :thumb:

MyQul said:

Nice looking pint you have there, Rob. Loving the new avatar too :thumb:

Click to expand...

Cheers Myqul. I couldn't resist tapping into a keg early. tasted great apart from a sulphury touch but its 2 months early of it conditioning time so im pretty confident that the sulphur smell will die down. great head retention. I put it down to the tap

Do these hold enough pressure to carbonate? If so how do u carbonate? With suger or cool and inject co2?

Alex

I definitely intend to get a hold of the mini keg & party star deluxe kit, would make 'bottling day' a whole lot quicker and easier! How long does it last in the keg after the first pint has been drawn? I'd probably be going through one per weekend (Thursday-Sunday :p) so hopefully it wouldn't go off in that time.

http://www.leylandhomebrew.com/item2993.htm

hi all.i've just received my keg kit from Leyland.i've no idea how to clean/use kegs at the mo.any tips you could give would be appreciated

@ wheezy joe. I crack one open on a saturday and if there's anything left it gets finished on a sunday. Initially there is enough pressure in the keg for the first few pints then just give it a quick blast with the co2 when pressure drops and every pint tastes just as smooth as the first, so I'm fairly sure the beer will taste just fine if it's started and then left for as long as you like.

@ houndeye. All I do to clean mine is give it a good swill with hot water as soon as I've finished it and then bit of a soak with some sanitiser in it, never had a problem with any infection or anything.Did you get the party star tap? if so it's a great piece of kit. Bottle up as normal and fill the keg, don't forget the priming sugar ( I use 3 t-spoons per keg ) I forgot once and had to swill the lot away as it hadn't second fermented and tasted rank, brought a tear to the eye that did. when it's time to use stick the tap in and as I mention above there will be enough pressure for the first few pints, if anything it's a bit too lively but soon calms down.when it's time to add the co2 just give it a quick blast, less is definitely the way to go, too much and it's a few pints of froth. practice makes perfect and theres nothing better than beer to practice with

Cheers and all the best

@ alside. yup they hold pressure perfectly, just add your priming sugar when bottling up ( kegging up?? ) and there will be enough pressure for a few pints then just a blast of co2 and you're good to go again. a co2 cartridge probably does 2-3 kegs for me so it only adds a few pence per pint and it's worth every penny, makes a great pint

cheers

thanks for the info sausagefingers.sorry but another question.how full do the kegs need to be.full to the brim or do I need to leave a little space?.not allowed to use kegs at mo.xmas present but sitting in my garage waiting to be wrapped.got a larger to do so that's 1st brew for the kegs

I usually leave it about an inch short and have never had a problem.
Get 'em out the garage and fill 'em up, your brew will be ready to drink christmas day - what better present could a man ask for :p