Which kit do you advise?

[Dutto]

I have the following kits in my garage:

o Woodforde's Wherry

o Festival Golden Stag Summer Ale

o Muntons Gold India Pale Ale

o Muntons Premium Gold Midas Touch Golden Ale

o St Peters Ruby Red Ale

o Coopers Australian Lager

I want to start ONE of these kits at the beginning of September and leave it in the brewing fridge for the ten weeks that we will be away in France.

I fancy doing a nice long fermentation (at 4 degrees) with the Coopers Australian Lager kit but I have a number of questions:

1. Will the yeast provided with the Coopers kit work at such a low temperature?

2. Will the long residence time in the FV cause any problems with the finished brew?

3. Would any of the other kits be a better option?

Many thanks in anticipation. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[sdt7618]

Would do the coopers, simply because if it goes pear shaped over the ten weeks it's the least £ to replace.

 

[Covrich]

I think you are getting fermentation temps and lagering a bit mixed up.

Problem is you will want a diactly rest so if you want to lager it you will need time to ferment at 8-13 then it will want time to clear up.. diactyl rest and then you can do a long lagering.

It will cause debate but 10 weeks on the trub is a long time.. I think it is genereally not recommended and for that time scale you would ideally want to rack it into a glass secondary.

No to say it wouldn't be fine for 10 weeks but I think you take more of a risk

 

[Dutto]

I think you are getting fermentation temps and lagering a bit mixed up.

Problem is you will want a diactly rest so if you want to lager it you will need time to ferment at 8-13 then it will want time to clear up.. diactyl rest and then you can do a long lagering.

It will cause debate but 10 weeks on the trub is a long time.. I think it is genereally not recommended and for that time scale you would ideally want to rack it into a glass secondary.

No to say it wouldn't be fine for 10 weeks but I think you take more of a risk

Okay (I think).

Plan is to leave for France on 7th September when all the little darlings are back at school and ferry prices plummet! :thumb:

I'm lucky to have a garage that has managed to stay reasonably cool in the last few weeks (23 degrees max if I keep the door closed) so I'm hoping that I will only need the fridge for the lager after the 21st August.

In view of this, Plan "B" is:

o Start lager on 21st August.

o Ferment it in the fridge at 13 degrees for 12 days until 2nd September.

o Cold Crash to 4 degrees for 2 days until 4th September.

o Rack brew into a second FV on 4th September and leave in the fridge for at 4 degrees until end of November.

Does this sound any better?

PS "Many thanks!" of course!

 

[IainM]

You'll have to sub out the Coopers Australian Lager yeast, because its an ale yeast.

 

[Dutto]

You'll have to sub out the Coopers Australian Lager yeast, because its an ale yeast.

Bugger!

Better order a lager yeast then. :thumb:

Any recommendations?

 

[IainM]

Bugger!

Better order a lager yeast then. :thumb:

Any recommendations?

No, I've never brewed one, though I've just bought W-34/70 and Mangrove Jack's Bohemian, to test weekend after next - will be using a friend's cellar at a nice 13C.

 

[Dutto]

Many thanks.

Having checked out ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00L66M7K8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

... I finally ordered ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00O8PNE5G/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

... on the basis that it was better value, could be fermented rapidly at 20 degrees and then lagered at 10 degrees for the period I was looking for ...

*****************************/catal.../beer/youngs-lager-yeast-sachet-5g-517-detail

Plan "C" is therefore:

o Begin yeast starter (5g of Youngs Lager Yeast - 400ml water - 200g brewing sugar) on 28th August.

o Start fermentation of kit in fridge at 20 degrees on 29th August for 5 days.

o Drop brew temperature down to 10 degrees over the two days 2nd-4th September.

o Rack brew into a second FV on 4th September and return to the fridge at 10 degrees until the end of November.

In November taste then make "bottle or bin" decision! :thumb: (It will have to be terrible for me to throw it away! :lol:)

Plan "C" gives me a bit more time in the brewing fridge to knock out the +/-46 litres of beer to take to France. I already have 20 litres conditioning as, thanks to the Brexit Brigade, the Euro (and French beer) is now 8% more expensive than pre-referendum! (€1.15 per GBP as opposed to €1.25 per GBP)

The good news is that I am quite looking forward to November to see how the Coopers lager brew turns out; especially as I have a hopped Coopers Lager on the garage shelf for a comparison. :thumb: :thumb:

Many thanks. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[sdt7618]

I went with the s-23, as it has a larger temperature range because at the time i did not have a brew fridge, however now I do:smile: I will be able to use it at the lower range, mind you can get a good few uses out of it if you harvest it when the first one finishes and use in another or store for a few weeks.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=64114

 

[Dutto]

I went with the s-23, as it has a larger temperature range because at the time i did not have a brew fridge, however now I do:smile: I will be able to use it at the lower range, mind you can get a good few uses out of it if you harvest it when the first one finishes and use in another or store for a few weeks.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=64114

I reuse my trub to make bread ... :thumb: :thumb:

... but so far I just haven't got up the nerve to reuse it for a brew! :whistle:

It's the thought of all that work maybe going down the drain because of wanted to save £2 on a packet of yeast ...

... on the other hand, it will be nice to reuse a specialist yeast so I will give it a whirl in November when it gets cooler! :thumb: