How to improve.

I've been brewing beer from a variety of Wilko & Coopers kits with a fair degree of success, all have produced beer which is perfectly acceptable and drinkable.

I'd like to progress, though. Specifically, a lager with more body and taste, more like the european/german style. I tried a Coopers European lager kit which was good, but I thought it a little bland.

So, is there a kit for this sort of thing, or do I have to get creative and dirty?

eldar said:

I've been brewing beer from a variety of Wilko & Coopers kits with a fair degree of success, all have produced beer which is perfectly acceptable and drinkable.

I'd like to progress, though. Specifically, a lager with more body and taste, more like the european/german style. I tried a Coopers European lager kit which was good, but I thought it a little bland.

So, is there a kit for this sort of thing, or do I have to get creative and dirty?

Click to expand...

adding a hop tea at bottling time will perk this up. for more body use dme instead of sugar

What dad of John said if you want to pimp your coppers kit, alternatively the Festival New Zealand Pilsner is stunning if you're prepared to let it condition for 3 months. It's a two can kit so you benefit from the extra body provided by the extra malt, and it has a dry hop which really makes it sing. It's truly a lovely lager once the hop charge has mellowed by conditioning.

dad_of_jon said:

adding a hop tea at bottling time will perk this up. for more body use dme instead of sugar

Click to expand...

Thanks, sounds interesting.

Am I right in thinking that I add the hop tea after fermentation has started but quietened down a few days before bottling?

And use dme as a substitute for the priming sugar at bottling?

Substitute Brew Enhancer for sugar, add a little bit of honey or Golden Syrup to bump up the ABV and add some flavour. You can add a hop tea when you brew or at bottling time or you can dry hop five days before bottling. Each of these or a combination of them will add body and flavour to you beer. You could also look at a grain partial mash instead of sugar/DME/Brew Enhancer, there are loads of threads on it on here.

eldar said:

I've been brewing beer from a variety of Wilko & Coopers kits with a fair degree of success, all have produced beer which is perfectly acceptable and drinkable.

I'd like to progress, though. Specifically, a lager with more body and taste, more like the european/german style. I tried a Coopers European lager kit which was good, but I thought it a little bland.

So, is there a kit for this sort of thing, or do I have to get creative and dirty?

Click to expand...

If you want to replicate a lager/pilsner then steep 250g (for a 5gallon batch) of dextrine malt to extract the sugars and add that liquor to your fermenter, to add a bit of body.

To keep the flavours clean your going to need to follow a lager fermentation schedule, as well as using a true lager yeast like Saflager S-23 or similar.

A traditional home brew lager fermentation schedule may look like this;

•3 Weeks in primary fermenter (@ 10-15°C) incorporating a diacetyl rest.

•Transfer to a secondary and lager(age/store) for 4-6 weeks in a cool place. Between 1 and 10°C.

• Bottle and allow to carbonate at room temperature for two weeks

•Return to cold storage and age for a further two weeks.


Also, consider making a hop tea as others have suggested. Dry hopping with 10g or so of hersbrucker or similar,four days before bottling, would give it a nice subtle hoppy aroma.


***A large number of "Lager" beer kits are shipped out with ale yeasts, and suggest fermentation schedules that will produce a mildly fruity beer.

I guess they assume that new brewers are unlikely to have the facility to maintain temperatures suitable for true lager yeasts. As well as potentially being put off from buying their product by long turnaround times.

Thanks for the advice, Certainly sounds like enough to get me improving things.

I'll follow your advice, and let you know how it goes.

Check out the Coopers site for some recipes on how to use their stuff.

http://store.coopers.com.au/brewing-info/recipes.html

Loads of ideas for lager here ...

http://store.coopers.com.au/recipes/index/list/section/lager

Enjoy.

eldar said:

Thanks, sounds interesting.

Am I right in thinking that I add the hop tea after fermentation has started but quietened down a few days before bottling?

And use dme as a substitute for the priming sugar at bottling?

Click to expand...

sugar added for fermentation time is 500g-1kg ish. sugar at priming time about 130g in comparison (of course varies on you carbination preference) so adding DME at priming time does not give as much body as you could get, better use it for fermentation. :thumb:

re: hop tea you can make it up with the priming sugar into a bottling bucket just before bottling and rack your beer onto it.

lagers are brewed from lighter malts lager malts with yeast that generally ferment at temps circa 12-14c or lower, and undergo a lagering period which is a post fermentation maturing at a veru low temperature for some weeks or months.

so getting the same sort of brew from a kit with all be it light ale extract fermented with an ale yeast which isnt then lagered, is a bit of a tough challenge.

to really brew a lager without going ag you may need to source lager malt based lme and brew an extract brew rather than a pimped kit. And be prepared to brew with a lower temp lager yeast as well as laying down for a long cold maturing period.

Thanks for the advice:)

My cunning plan...

Start with a Coopers European lager kit. My favourite so far...

Add 25g Hersbrucker hops as hop tea at the start.

Use 2/1/1 mix of dextrose/maltodextrin/light DME (total 1kg) plus a couple of tablespoons honey.

Leave to ferment for around 4 weeks at 11c - or until SG around 1006 and steady.

Bottle with 1 tsp sugar per 500ml, leave for 3 months age drink.

Sound reasonable?

eldar said:

So, is there a kit for this sort of thing, or do I have to get creative and dirty?

Click to expand...

You have NO say in that matter the dark forces will overcome you.
Then it becomes extract or even the AG

Hi!
I would ditch the dextrose and use 1kg Cooper's Brew Enhancer 2- 200g maltodextrin and 800g light DME. I would also hold back the hop tea until the beer is bottled.