Coopers 86 Day Lager kit - How to use hops.

[Neilos1988]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to home brewing, just finished up a Coopers European lager which I bottled on the 9th, I understand the longer you leave it the better, however I've tried a few and they are very drinkable. I used washed out Budweiser bottles with the Twist caps so when I'm sampling it's only a small amount if it doesn't take great now. I used 500g of Muntons Dry malt Extract and 500g of good old Silverspoon granulated sugar, I added a couple of extra spoons of sugar just for good measure, how much is unknown. The OG was 1.048 and FV was 1.008. which gives me a % 5.25.

Now moving onto the Coopers 86 Day Lager. I have been lurking on the forum and it is advised to add hops to the brew to enhance the flavour.

So I plan on using the same fermentables as my first brew and I have also purchased 100g of hops (Motueka) to add to the brew. I like the sound of the extra flavours that Motueka brings to the table.

My question is how and when do I add these hops, do I boil them first and then add, and at what point?.

Any help much appreciated.

Cheers Neil

 

[terrym]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to home brewing, just finished up a Coopers European lager which I bottled on the 9th, I understand the longer you leave it the better, however I've tried a few and they are very drinkable. I used washed out Budweiser bottles with the Twist caps so when I'm sampling it's only a small amount if it doesn't take great now. I used 500g of Muntons Dry malt Extract and 500g of good old Silverspoon granulated sugar, I added a couple of extra spoons of sugar just for good measure, how much is unknown. The OG was 1.048 and FV was 1.008. which gives me a % 5.25.

Now moving onto the Coopers 86 Day Lager. I have been lurking on the forum and it is advised to add hops to the brew to enhance the flavour.

So I plan on using the same fermentables as my first brew and I have also purchased 100g of hops (Motueka) to add to the brew. I like the sound of the extra flavours that Motueka brings to the table.

My question is how and when do I add these hops, do I boil them first and then add, and at what point?.

Any help much appreciated.

Cheers Neil

When you boil hops in water with or without any malt present you extract bitterness. The longer you boil and/or the higher the %AA of the hops the more bitterness you extract.
In this case I suggest you don't want to boil the hops. Coopers put enough bitterness into the kit to suit the style.
However you can improve the flavour and aroma of a beer by either using hop tea or a dry hop. Hop teas are often used by kit brewers where you steep hops in hot water (not more than about 85*C) and then either add the liquid alone, or both tea and hops to the brew. I use 10g hops to 100ml water. A dry hop is more about aroma and this is covered here.
A Newbies Guide to Dry Hopping Your Beer - The HomeBrew Forum
If you add hops to the brew you will need to consider how you stop the bits going forward into your bottles but the Guide linked above mentions that.
And I used Motueka in a Coopers Euro lager and it worked well. My records show I used 40g as a dry hop.
Finally bear in mind its a pilsner you have not an AIPA. So you don't want the hops to completely dominate your beer. I thought the 40g I used were about right for me.

 

[Neilos1988]

Nice one thanks Terry, I'll take a look at that link.
Think I'll take your advice and I'll go with 50g and see how it turns out. Save the rest for another brew.

 

[Neilos1988]

This is my coopers Euro Larger about 5 days after bottling, obviously couldn't wait. Had nice clarity and plenty carbination. Deffinatly worth a try. Will sample again tomorrow at the 2 weeks stage. Also going to kickoff the coopers 86 day lager today.

 

[terrym]

Its very tempting to start drinking your beer as soon as it clears.
But waiting usually brings its rewards in better beer to drink.
In your case I suggest you put a few bottles away somewhere then try to forget all about them until the end of July then open them and find out how they have improved.
You might find its been worth the wait. But you might not. But you wont know until you have done it.