After a successful ferment at cooler temps with an EDME lager I really pushed the boat out with my next brew.
I got a liquid yeast for Christmas so decided to use it with a Coopers Pilsner and instead of the usual brew enhancer I bought a tin of malt extract.
The yeast was a Czech Pils WYeast which is a weird 'smack pack' - there's a little nutrient parcel inside which you locate and give a clout :P
This kick starts the yeast and the packet swells indicating the yeast is working - cut off the top and pour into your wort. It smells disgusting, like stale sick!
Thomas Coopers Pilsner 1.7kg
Coopers light malt extract 1.5kg
WYeast Czech Pils
OG 1042
FG 1012
Price per bottle - 80p
This worked out the highest price per bottle I've done so this had to be good to justify the expensive ingredients.
The finished drink is very very smooth and after only 2 weeks the sediment doesn't move from the bottom of the bottle.
Last edited by a moderator: May 29, 2015Started one of these on Sunday. 1Kg of Munton's BKE and 500g of Light Spraymalt. Got it sat at around 17C at present and will aim to move it into the garage next week to continue. Aiming to leave this in the FV for around 3 and a half weeks, dry hopping with Saaz for the final week. Has anyone a suggestion as to how much hops to use for dry hopping this? I'm thinking perhaps 40g?
Just bottled this on Friday after nearly four weeks in the FV: 2 at around 16C and then the remainder at about 13C or perhaps lower. Dry hopped with 30g of Saaz in the end. The bottled product was phenomenally clear, more so than any other brew I've ever seen at such an early stage. Looking forward to this spending a few months lagering in the garage in the hope that the 43 bottles it yielded are something a bit special!
Thought I'd try one out of idle curiosity. At barely 5 weeks in the bottle, it is still a bit green. Good carbonation, nice head on the pour and it looks and smells like a Lager should. Taste though needs some improving. At present, it tastes very similar, maybe even identical to the Coopers original series'lager' that isn't actually a lager. Given that this kit contains some Saaz aroma and I then added an additional dose of dry hopping, I expected a bit more. I'll give it another month Lagering and see how it develops.
Just ordered one of these and hope to get it on the go this week.
Coopers Pilsner Kit
1kg Brewing Sugar
500g Hopped Light Spraymalt
20l Tesco bottled spring water (25p stuff)
Will brew to 21/22l, hoping for around 5-5.5% ABV :whistle:
After reading the instructions and not wanting my pilsner too "thin", I actually made it up with:
500g hopped light spraymalt
400g dextrose (instructions call for 300g)
1tsp yeast nutrient - yeast pitched at 21degs
brewed to 20l to try and achieve higher %ABV
If I get 4.5% after priming, I'll be happy :hmm:
Not keeping this temp controlled, spare room, window slightly ajar and heater off in room. 2 weeks in the FV then get it bottled.
Got this Coopers Pils on the go! Only my 3rd brew, first one of this kind, it smells good, just following the packet instructions for now, see how it tastes when it's ready! 1kg brewing sugar, 500g light Muntons spraymalt and the 1.7L kit, been in for 5 days now at around 20 degrees, hopefully it will work out ok!
I am worried, though, about having sediment in the bottom of the bottles when ready to drink, like I have found in my two pear cider kits I have bottled. Has anyone got any hints or tips for a newbie like me to help my brews work? With my second pear cider, after fermentaion was complete, I put it into a second bin and left it for another three days for the sediment to settle, then put it into a third bin where I added the pear flavoring and extra sugar, I then bottled it near enough straight away, and after just one day in the bottles in a warm environment there is still a bit of sediment in the bottom, any reason for this? I thought I might have got most of the sediment out during this process!
Any help or advice will be gratefully received!
Many thanks in advance,
After reading the instructions and not wanting my pilsner too "thin", I actually made it up with:
500g hopped light spraymalt
400g dextrose (instructions call for 300g)
1tsp yeast nutrient - yeast pitched at 21degs
brewed to 20l to try and achieve higher %ABV
If I get 4.5% after priming, I'll be happy :hmm:
Not keeping this temp controlled, spare room, window slightly ajar and heater off in room. 2 weeks in the FV then get it bottled.
Just took a sample from the FV
Cloudy, but don't care about that. It'll clear up a bit in the bottle. NO off flavours or smells. :thumb:
Put the hydrometer in. Came back at 1006.
As I noted earlier, I left this in the FV for about 4 weeks. On bottling, it was by far the clearest beer I've bottled yet.
As I noted earlier, I left this in the FV for about 4 weeks. On bottling, it was by far the clearest beer I've bottled yet.
I can't "lager" mate, don't have the equipment or the room for it.
I'm not expecting it to be great, but as long as it's drinkable, looks and (vaguely) tastes like pilsner and gets me ****** now and then, then I'll be a happy wee chappy! :drink:
My point was not regarding 'lagering', merely that if you leave it in the FV a bit longer than the 2 weeks you propose, you might get a much clearer end product than what you've described. I tried a bottle recently at about 8 weeks old and it was OK, nothing super special, but definately drinkable and will achieve the aim of getting ****** easy enough! :
My point was not regarding 'lagering', merely that if you leave it in the FV a bit longer than the 2 weeks you propose, you might get a much clearer end product than what you've described. I tried a bottle recently at about 8 weeks old and it was OK, nothing super special, but definately drinkable and will achieve the aim of getting ****** easy enough! :
No worries mate! It's getting bottled on Saturday, regardless. That'll be almost 3 weeks! It'll not get touched until middle of May. :shock:
THat's it bottled.
Total outlay for ingredients, inc water, was £23. Therefore, works out at around 70p per pint.
Still cheaper than any pub pint.
Edit: 04/03/2014 - moved downstairs to the cooler cupboard in the kitchen after two weeks in the warm.
Taste test booked in for 1st/2nd April, which will be just over 6 weeks in the bottle.
Thought I'd open a bottle of this for some pics. This is one of the ones drawn from the very bottom of the FV and hence may be less clear than the others. It's also been kept in a cupboard in the utility room rather than out in the garage like the rest. Anyway:
Halfway down, having consumed a pizza and put my youngest to bed (30 mins since pouring maybe?):
Kit plus mini mash 31/05/14.
Kit:
1 can Coopers Pilsner (1.7 kg)
1 can Light LME (1.5 kg)
Mini mash (65c for 60 mins):
Marris Otter 700g
Crystal malt 150g
Wheat malt 150g
Tettnanger 30g @ 30 mins
Bramling Cross 30g @ 20 mins
Cascade 20g @ 10 mins (20g dry hopping for 7 days)
Yeast: 2 x Coopers Pilsner Yeast pitched at 20c
I'll let you know how it goes; I'm expecting a steam beer rather than a true lager as I'll be fermenting at 20c of there abouts.
Cheers - Louis MacNeice
This is my 4th or 5th kit and used:
The Coopers Pilsener malt extract
300 grams of brewing sugar
750 grams of LSM
Two priming drops per 500ml bottle
I was about to give up with homebrewing but this kit and the wherry I have also finsihed give me new hope
I had this in the FV for just shy of two week at 18 - 20oc (but mainly the lower end) then bottled and left at around 22oc for a week and a half and transferred to the garage. Now they have only been in the garage for a few days. but I couldn't resist :whistle: and even at this early stage its very drinkable. even my wife who likes larger but not ale is drinking it, shes not complaining now but she was when the spare room was stinking of rotten eggs from the yeast :lol:
I also split my brews with a friend who also homebrews (albeit he does AG) and he has also opened one at this relatively early stage and is very impressed and thinks it tastes like a pilsener. Can't wait to see what a few more weeks does for it, the instructions say to leave a few bottles for a couple of years. that wont be happening.
So how is it possible I can make nice tasting larger with largering?
