Mexican Cerveza brew queries

Rickster · Apr 8, 2016

Hi all, my first attempt at a cerveza kit, with some tweaks, any tips and comments appreciated.

Steep 15g sterling hops (in muslin bag) in 100ml water
500g dextrose/brewing sugar
Box Brew enhancer 2
250 Light malt extract
Add all to fv with boiling water
Top up with.cold to 21litres
Use saflager W34 yeast
Leave in shed in temp range of 13-6 ish to ferment for 3 weeks
Add finings 2 days from end?
Bottle directly into 500mls
Leave in same shed (note changing uk weather) to condition for a month.

Do you think this would work? Should I stick with kit yeast and ferment indoors instead either at 18, or 20-22? I've never used finings (will be Wilkos). Any help appreciated!
Thanks.

Rickster · Apr 9, 2016

Hoping to get this going today if anyone can suggest any further changes please or confirm good to go? Thanks

flash · Apr 9, 2016

I'd probably leave out the extra LME and only use 250g of dextrose if your using the BE2. Too many extra fermentables and you may well be waiting 5-6 weeks if your fermenting with lager yeast at lager temps also to many unfermentable sugars can leave your finished beer with a little background sweetness which your probably not aiming for with a cervasa.I always boil additional fermentables for ten minutes before adding to the kit extract in the fv it's just easier to dissolve them in 3.5l of boiling water in a pan first.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.

MyQul · Apr 9, 2016

My worry would be the fluctuations in tem in the garage, although plenty of people just lager outside when it's cold enough to do so. Id definately go with the lager yeast as you can brew with it at ale temps it just wont be as clean. I'm planning to do this with my next pseudo lager

Rickster · Apr 9, 2016

Temp is my concern, the sheds pretty full so will give a little insulation, worse case I bring it in and add back the kit yeast. Re finings, worth using to clear? I've seen some comments say it strips too much yeast which can affect carbing...

stevie123 · Apr 9, 2016

Rickster said:
Temp is my concern, the sheds pretty full so will give a little insulation, worse case I bring it in and add back the kit yeast. Re finings, worth using to clear? I've seen some comments say it strips too much yeast which can affect carbing...

Finings are ok to use:thumb:

MyQul · Apr 9, 2016

Rickster said:
Temp is my concern, the sheds pretty full so will give a little insulation, worse case I bring it in and add back the kit yeast. Re finings, worth using to clear? I've seen some comments say it strips too much yeast which can affect carbing...

It's not the low temps that would concern me but the temp flucctuations. Yeast can kick out some off flavours if they get stressed by large temp fluctuations

Rickster · Apr 24, 2016

Took everyone's advice on board with this, and brewed on the 11th April. Went with kit plus BE2, 250g dextrose, S23 yeast, and short to 21L. I simmered 15g citra for 5 mins and added liquid to FV. Dry hopped on day 10 with 10g of cascade. FV left in shed, and looks to have stayed under 12 degrees. We're around 1020 now (started at 1042), should I bottle up then bring in to carb when around 1010? bring in now if it struggles to get down to around 1010 then bottle? I'll be batch priming this one (first time) with either 300g brewing sugar or 300g Caster sugar. Any advice appreciated on the next steps! I want this well carbed and clear, with as little sediment in the bottle as possible, be great to be able to drink straight from the bottle at summer BBQ's but not sure how realistic this is with Homebrew?

Rickster · Apr 25, 2016

Bump bump :)

IainM · Apr 25, 2016

I don't think you can go wrong with just waiting until the OG has stabilised and putting it in the coldest place you can find to cold crash, which should get the sediment to drop and compact as much as possible.

Rickster · Apr 25, 2016

Thank you. Do you recon regular sugar or brewing sugar is best, along with the quantities? I'll leave the FV in the shed for now as the yeast still seems active, in a week or so I'll see where the gravity is at, then bring in for a bit, or go straight to bottle.

IainM · Apr 25, 2016

300g is waaay too much priming sugar. You can calculate the amount of priming sugar for any particular style here:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

Alternatively, for a decent fizz appropriate for a lager, I use 1tsp per 500ml bottle. There is so little, that I wouldn't worry about which type of sugar to use, as it will have a minimal effect on the final drink. Brewing or regular are equally good, but regular is a bit cheaper. Ideally you would want to cold crash it from the same place you plan to bottle it from, to minimise movement and the possibility of disturbing the sediment. If you do batch prime, you will need to rack to another vessel with the sugar in (dissolved in a small amount of water, otherwise you'll end up with the sugar staying at the bottom). If you can rack from the place you have left it to settle, this would be good.

Rickster · Apr 25, 2016

The part I'm struggling with that calc is the temperature. The FV is in the shed at present, at around the 10-12 degree mark, but for carb'ing once bottles will go in the house at around 22 degrees. So it's showing 133 or 107 grams of sugar. Am I best just going in the middle? My last semi drinkable brew was a Pilsner where I used carb drops, which was way under primed.

IainM · Apr 25, 2016

Personally I would go with 130g, as that is in line with what has worked for me in the past. 1 carbonation drop per 500ml would be too little for a fizzy style like pilsner.

Rickster · Apr 30, 2016

Brought this inside today, it's had 19 days at around 10 degrees in the shed, and sits at 1010. Unfortunately it's still 'fizzy' in the FV, so not looking good for bottling tomorrow. Bringing the ambient temp to around 18 will hopefully speed up the last bit of fermentation. Will aim for 130-160g sugar for batch priming, there's about 20L left, so likely go for nearer 130g as per IanM's suggestion.

IainM · May 1, 2016

Let us know how it turns out.

Rickster · May 16, 2016

Hi. So I primed this with about 130g sugar and have left it inside for a few weeks at about 20 degrees to carb. Should I now fridge it to condition (if so, for how long?) or just put it in the shed for a month to condition. Any advice appreciated. Cheers!

IainM · May 17, 2016

If you have enough space to put them in the fridge for a couple of months, that would be perfect. Otherwise the shed is fine though. Just pop them in the fridge a couple of days before drinking to harden up the sediment. Either way, I don't think it will make that much of a difference.

Rickster · May 17, 2016

Recently invested in an eBay fridge, so will stick a few bottles in there. I bottled the bulk of these in coke glass bottles- not recommended as the sediment looks to be sitting on the sides as well as the bottom

Rickster · Jun 5, 2016

Well cracked a few of these open today, and they were lovely, taste, feel and aroma of a good lager. Definitely recommended. Tempted now by a coopers lager kit and make use of the new fridge for lagering properly!

Mexican Cerveza brew queries

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