tomagetti

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Hi

I recently finshed my first brew. I have the coopers starter Kit and I got the Mexican lager kit with it. I followed all the instructions and wednesday was 2 weeks from bottling. i opened my first bottle and poured it out. The beer is very cloudy, more like a pale ale in appearance. Would this be because the yeast that comes with the coopers kits is more of an ale yeast?
Also there was not much carbonation to the beer. I used the 500ml Pett bottles that came with the kit and put 1 of the carbonation drops that also came with the kit into the each bottle yet there is very little fizz to the drink. Would this improve with time or would 2 drops per bottle be better, and would using 2 drops cause bottle bombs?
I have my next brew going already which is the Muntons Pilsner kit. What would be the best way to carbonate this brew? I will be using the same type bottle.

The First Brew still tastes good but reminds me alot of Boddingtons and nothing like a Mexican lager.

Thanks for any help in advance.

KeystoneHomebrew

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One drop should have done it. Have you stored the bottles at room temperature the entire two weeks? Also, it is an ale yeast. All the "Lager" kits include ale yeast as it's just easier to work with. Two drops wouldn't have given you bombs, as those bottles can take the extra pressure, but the beer would have been really spritzy for lack of a better term.

The "Lager" kits leave something to be desired, as a true or even hybrid lager needs more TLC than those instructions provide.

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aiptasia

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Sounds like you're opening the bottles too soon. Let them sit another week or two, then chill them for a full 48 hours prior to serving. This will do two things:

1) cold crash any yeast out of suspension to the bottom of the bottle and...
2) force more CO2 into the liquid. Water based liquids absorb CO2 better the colder they get.

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tomagetti

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The bottles where in a cupboard in the Kitchen.

So Just leave the brew longer in the bottles? Guess patience is a virtue!!!

Are the carbonation drops any good?

Calder

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At 2 weeks it is a crap shoot as to whether beer will be carbed. General rule used around here is 3 weeks at 70 F. Sometimes it can take longer.

Cloudy: Could be a couple of things. 1) Some yeast takes a long time to flocculate, or 2) chill haze (if it is clear at room temperature, but cloudy when cold, you have chill haze - doesn't affect taste.

I've never used them, but carbonation drops are just plain sugar. I don't know what the right number to use is. I believe there are a couple of types, and of course they are not standardized, so with 1 type, you use 1 per bottle, and with he other you use 2 or 3 depending on how much carbonation you want. If you say what drops you have (and the size of your bottles), maybe someone can tell you how many you should be using per bottle.

tomagetti

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Im using the coopers starter kit. And its the 500ml bottles that came with it and the coopers carbonation drops.

Beerbelcher44

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My coopers kit came with 750ml bottles and they needed 2 of the carb drops.

Ste

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Hi all I've used the same kit and I just opened a bottle and it completely flat. Can anybody help. It's been 2 weeks today from first bottling