Lager help please !!

[RLGMIlson]

Hi all

New year brew ideas rattling around me head

Wanna do a cheap lager but potentially chuck the yeast and replace with something better like saflager maybe and add a coopers number 2

Standard lager kits to be honest are rubbish and weak

I am sure there are lots of tips from you lads to offer

I want to ferment indoors though outside just kills lagers in winter weather , so will saflager yeast help or not

Cheers !

 

[terrym]

Hi all

New year brew ideas rattling around me head

Wanna do a cheap lager but potentially chuck the yeast and replace with something better like saflager maybe and add a coopers number 2

Standard lager kits to be honest are rubbish and weak

I am sure there are lots of tips from you lads to offer

I want to ferment indoors though outside just kills lagers in winter weather , so will saflager yeast help or not

Cheers !

Wot I did with a Coopers Euro lager....
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=664572&postcount=224
Turned out OK.
Comes good after 3 months.
I will be doing it again soon, but with more lager yeast to ferment at low temperatures.
Apparently CML kolsch yeast is a good substitution to brew a 'pseudo lager' at ale fermentation temperatures, but I have yet to try it.

 

[Alside101]

Mangrove jacks m54 yeast is a good fake lager yeast i used it on my first ag lager and fermented between 22c and 24c ish. Iv just ordered the stuff to do a cali common with the same yeast and will be fermenting at room temps

 

[Pirate_Pete]

Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 - 50% dextrose, 25% maltodextrin, 25% light dry malt
From the Coopers site

1. The yeast supplied with Coopers European Lager is a true lager strain. Lager yeast behaves differently to the normal Coopers Yeast.
   
2. Avoid using too much simple sugar (white sugar, dextrose, etc.) as this will cause the lager yeast to ferment more thoroughly causing the beer to lack in body.
   
3. Preferred brewing temperature is at the low end of the recommended range (i.e. 21°C). However, Coopers European Lager yeast will ferment as low as 13°C.
   
4. Lower ferment temperatures extend the fermentation period. Ensure fermentation has finished before bottling.
   
5. It is common for lager yeast to produce a smell like eggs when fermenting. This should dissipate as the beer conditions in the bottle.
   
6. Coopers European Lager may require conditioning for 12 weeks in the bottle before consuming.

I made one of these a few months ago. I used 1.5kg of Light Dry Malt. No dextrose or sugar.

Also I used two packets of yeast and brewed at 12-13C. For some unknown reason I only put 25g of Hallertau hops in.


I cracked open the first one on Christmas Eve, a little over 3 months in the bottle. It proved quite popular.
Next time I'll only use a kilo of malt and I'll up the hops. I've also grabbed some grain to steep too.
Pilsener grain I think.

Really and truly if you want to make cheap you get what you pay for.
I bought extra yeast and used malt and hops, so the price goes up, but this is the best lager I've made.
I've got another one on the shelf behind me ready to go.

 

[LarryF]

The cheap lager kits take a hop tea and a dry hop really well, because there's not much to them they're a blank canvas and the sky's the limit. I always bump up the ABV as well, I've used Lyons Golden Syrup, honey and I'm currently using dark brown sugar.

 

[Pirate_Pete]

I should have mentioned that if you buy extra proper Lager Yeast, you can also use it again.
I tried cleaning/rinsing it once and it didn't work. So I go the easy method of leaving a touch of wort in the fv.
Swill the wort and the yeast until it's all liquid. Then pour into a mason jar.

Talking of cheap Lager. I was gifted an out of date by three months Mangrove Jack's Czech Pilsner and 100 grams of Magnum hops.
I used the kit and 50 grams of the hops and the same yeast I'd saved from the European Lager. I'm going to dry hop with the other 50 grams of hops. We'll see what happens.

 

[Dutto]

I did this one for friends ...

COOPERS LAGER KIT (HOPPED)
Started 17th June 2016
Only 500 grams of DME added
Racked off to 2nd FV 22nd June
Cold Hopped with 20gm Cascade Pellets 23rd June
Bottled (blue caps) 2nd July 2016
OG 1.037
FG 1.013
ABV 3.15%
Kcal per litre = 360Kcal

It was "nice" and the visitors enjoyed it in August so, as they were due to return at Christmas, I brewed this one ...

COOPERS LAGER
Started fermentation on 23rd August 2016 with addition of 950g Golden Syrup and 50g of Fuggles hop pellets.
Youngs lager yeast pitched at 23 degrees.
Fermenting at 21 degrees in fridge.
Racked to second FV on 1st September 2016.
Lagering at 10 degrees in fridge from 1st September to 8th November.
Bottled in flip-tops 8th November 2016
OG 1.042
FG 1.010
ABV 4.2%
Kcal per Litre = 404Kcal

By Christmas of the same year this was a superb brew that changed my thinking on Lager.

I have now brewed quite a few AG Lagers (with and without the "lagering" process) and none of them have tasted like the stuff they sell in supermarkets and pubs as "lager"; which I can't abide.

Enjoy. :thumb:

 

[LarryF]

I should have mentioned that if you buy extra proper Lager Yeast, you can also use it again.
I tried cleaning/rinsing it once and it didn't work. So I go the easy method of leaving a touch of wort in the fv.
Swill the wort and the yeast until it's all liquid. Then pour into a mason jar.

Talking of cheap Lager. I was gifted an out of date by three months Mangrove Jack's Czech Pilsner and 100 grams of Magnum hops.
I used the kit and 50 grams of the hops and the same yeast I'd saved from the European Lager. I'm going to dry hop with the other 50 grams of hops. We'll see what happens.

I'd be very interested to see how that turns out Pete, I'm getting quite a taste for the hopped lagers these days. To the point where I'm doing lager, ale, lager,stout, lager dark ale etc.

 

[Aleik]

Are we adding priming sugar when bottling? I was given a tin of this without instructions. Thanks.

 

[Pirate_Pete]

Are we adding priming sugar when bottling? I was given a tin of this without instructions. Thanks.

Yes you should be adding priming sugar when bottling.
Personally I use dextrose, but loads of people use sugar.
I normally put 8g dextrose per litre. That would be fine for lager.
I'm not sure how much sugar you'd use though.

 

[Pirate_Pete]

I'd be very interested to see how that turns out Pete, I'm getting quite a taste for the hopped lagers these days. To the point where I'm doing lager, ale, lager,stout, lager dark ale etc.

I've got this one sat on a shelf in my beer cupboard with a note saying bottled February, drink in July.
I don't think I mentioned previously that I steeped some pilsner grain too for this one.
It's very dark for a lager.

 

[Aleik]

Yes you should be adding priming sugar when bottling.
Personally I use dextrose, but loads of people use sugar.
I normally put 8g dextrose per litre. That would be fine for lager.
I'm not sure how much sugar you'd use though.

Thanks. It would never feel right bottling without priming, but then again there's a lot that doesn't feel right about the instructions I could find about this, via website and forums. 6g sugar probably advised per litre, but I don't like anything hellishly fizzy so will knock it down a bit.

 

[LarryF]

I've got this one sat on a shelf in my beer cupboard with a note saying bottled February, drink in July.
I don't think I mentioned previously that I steeped some pilsner grain too for this one.
It's very dark for a lager.

That sound gorgeous Pete and I am full of admiration for your patience, a month in the bottle and I'm galloping at them.