Brewing up a storm
Right then,
I’ve entered the ranks of the homebrewer, clearly on the unsteady rung of the novice brewer!
I was given a Coopers Lager kit as a Christmas present, which did interest me, though time and putting the carton to one side made me forget about this for a while. I found this again recently and redoubled my efforts to brew up some lager! A friend has lent me a brewing tub, and some of the other equipment required to start it up.
I spent many an hour surfing the many homebrew forums to see what I needed to do, and quickly found out that lager is supposed to be more tricky to homebrew well than ale. Only time will tell with my efforts I suppose! Luckily Lager only requires a single ferment in a large vessel then can be siphoned into bottles for a second fermentation along with a healthy dose of sugar, for carbonation.
I found time last weekend to get the brew going and set about making a yeasty, lagery smell in the spare room. I think I may have hindered the brew slightly because on one of my forum trawls I’m sure I found a note saying to sprinkle the yeast on top of the wort and not to mix in. So I did so, hesitantly. I then immediately started searching the forums for more information to ensure I had taken a correct action. I couldn’t for the life of me find the original post I had read, however I did find a cunning Coopers promo youtube video on how to brew up one of their batches. I patiently watched the video and soon saw that the yeast should have been stirred in.
I shot upstairs and made some hasty circles in the brew with my stirring rod. I think it will be ok, because on opening the tub I got a good ‘ppsssh’ of fizzy carbonation. Some of the forums I’ve seen have told tales of rescuing brews mid fermentation so I don’t think I’ve done too much damage in the hour I’d left it alone.
I have no idea how I hadn’t found the Coopers videos before I started the brew, as I did do a lot of trawling, but it may be useful again for the future!
I am also well aware that I haven’t been as clinical in my sterilisation as I could have been and this may affect the brew. I have also not got a good control of the temperature of the wort as I think I could have, as many home brewers do seem to take great care to maintain the correct temperatures. I’ve got my tub wrapped in an old sleeping bag and camping mat, and the thermometer hidden underneath always seems to show a constant 19-20 degrees, which although low for ale, should be ok for lager.
I tested the brew yesterday, checking how it was going with the hydrometer. It’s nearly ready to bottle, only a couple of more days I reckon. I also tasted it, and it’s currently like flat, fruity lager, so I think it’s going well enough!
Speaking of bottling I have been preparing for this by rooting through the recycling and digging out my old beer bottles. I’ve combined this with some plastic bottles so will have a mixture of materials to store my beer in. I may have made an error though in only buying bottle caps and a capping device after I’ve started the brew. All I can do is hope they arrive before it’s ready to decant.
I’m also a little concerned by the prospect of over priming bottles and having a glass explosion when storing the beer. Only time will tell I suppose!
So, once I get the beer into bottles, it’s only a 1-2 week wait for the beer to be stored at room temperature, and then as long as your patience can hold out in a cool dark place for the bottles to condition well!
I’m not sure I have the patience for this!
I’ve entered the ranks of the homebrewer, clearly on the unsteady rung of the novice brewer!
I was given a Coopers Lager kit as a Christmas present, which did interest me, though time and putting the carton to one side made me forget about this for a while. I found this again recently and redoubled my efforts to brew up some lager! A friend has lent me a brewing tub, and some of the other equipment required to start it up.
I spent many an hour surfing the many homebrew forums to see what I needed to do, and quickly found out that lager is supposed to be more tricky to homebrew well than ale. Only time will tell with my efforts I suppose! Luckily Lager only requires a single ferment in a large vessel then can be siphoned into bottles for a second fermentation along with a healthy dose of sugar, for carbonation.
I found time last weekend to get the brew going and set about making a yeasty, lagery smell in the spare room. I think I may have hindered the brew slightly because on one of my forum trawls I’m sure I found a note saying to sprinkle the yeast on top of the wort and not to mix in. So I did so, hesitantly. I then immediately started searching the forums for more information to ensure I had taken a correct action. I couldn’t for the life of me find the original post I had read, however I did find a cunning Coopers promo youtube video on how to brew up one of their batches. I patiently watched the video and soon saw that the yeast should have been stirred in.
I shot upstairs and made some hasty circles in the brew with my stirring rod. I think it will be ok, because on opening the tub I got a good ‘ppsssh’ of fizzy carbonation. Some of the forums I’ve seen have told tales of rescuing brews mid fermentation so I don’t think I’ve done too much damage in the hour I’d left it alone.
I have no idea how I hadn’t found the Coopers videos before I started the brew, as I did do a lot of trawling, but it may be useful again for the future!
I am also well aware that I haven’t been as clinical in my sterilisation as I could have been and this may affect the brew. I have also not got a good control of the temperature of the wort as I think I could have, as many home brewers do seem to take great care to maintain the correct temperatures. I’ve got my tub wrapped in an old sleeping bag and camping mat, and the thermometer hidden underneath always seems to show a constant 19-20 degrees, which although low for ale, should be ok for lager.
I tested the brew yesterday, checking how it was going with the hydrometer. It’s nearly ready to bottle, only a couple of more days I reckon. I also tasted it, and it’s currently like flat, fruity lager, so I think it’s going well enough!
Speaking of bottling I have been preparing for this by rooting through the recycling and digging out my old beer bottles. I’ve combined this with some plastic bottles so will have a mixture of materials to store my beer in. I may have made an error though in only buying bottle caps and a capping device after I’ve started the brew. All I can do is hope they arrive before it’s ready to decant.
I’m also a little concerned by the prospect of over priming bottles and having a glass explosion when storing the beer. Only time will tell I suppose!
So, once I get the beer into bottles, it’s only a 1-2 week wait for the beer to be stored at room temperature, and then as long as your patience can hold out in a cool dark place for the bottles to condition well!
I’m not sure I have the patience for this!
posted by Garry at 5:12 pm
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