coopers cerveza kit plus wyeast lager yeast

I have a coopers corona kit that I want to use up (it was free) but the yeast is expired. I was thinking I would use a proper lager yeast and use the BE2 and can 'o LME to try to make a really neutral cerveza for my wife to drink, has anybody done this?

I haven't done the Cerveza but have done the Traditional Draught, Australian Bitter and Heritage lager using WLP 0830 German Lager yeast. Used them with sugar, sugar + malt extract and mini-mashes. They all turned out to be good lagers. Without out additional grains or hops they make for some easy crowd pleasers.

thanks, that's perfect!

I like to add a flavoring hops to cooper's kits. They work well though with partial mashes.

i ended up just pitching the coopers yeast because it turns out to be a their european lager yeast kit and give instructions to ferment at cooler temps. Fermentation has started, but there is a bit of white foam in the krausen which has me thinking it's infected...We'll see, I wouldn't be surprised if it were infected, I had trouble keeping everything sanitized when I didn't have a big brew bucket to keep starsan in...

Coopers Cerveza comes with a lager/ale yeast blend. The Euro Lager comes with a lager yeast. I've used their lager/ale blend down to 50F though you need more than just the 7g packet to do it. You can wait for fermentation to start then bring the temp down. It will come out with lager characteristics but not like it would if using a pure lager strain.

The white foam is what you get when fermentation just starts to take off. Then when activity picks up you get the bigger bubbles.

cool thanks. I am going to keep it in my closet upstairs at about 73 degrees (packet says to ferment at 70-80) for 2 weeks and then move it to the basement which is at about 52-53 and leave it there for a couple months. Would it be ok to leave it in primary that long? Do lagers usually get racked before going down in temps to lager?

Generally 70+ degrees is too high for primary fermentation. I don't exactly know why Coopers puts it in their instructions. I speculate it makes their kit more marketable to other parts of the world and allows the beer to finish quicker.

If you want more esters, ferment at 68. To mute the esters, ferment in the low 60's. Or, after it gets going put it in your basement to ferment. For a simple light lager I'll leave it in the fermenter for 4-6 weeks before packaging. I do crash it down to 34 degrees for the last couple weeks.

I see on here all the time to ferment at 60-70, when I did my last brew (first one I ever did) it said to brew from 71-86...I accidentally started at 84, then slowly brought it down to 73, and it stalled, I had to get it over 75 to get it to ferment at all. I can't imagine it going at all at 65 degrees...but I will try it. The room my band practices in is in the mid 60's I will put this cerveza in there and see if I get any action...

9am53 said:

I see on here all the time to ferment at 60-70, when I did my last brew (first one I ever did) it said to brew from 71-86...I accidentally started at 84, then slowly brought it down to 73, and it stalled, I had to get it over 75 to get it to ferment at all. I can't imagine it going at all at 65 degrees...but I will try it. The room my band practices in is in the mid 60's I will put this cerveza in there and see if I get any action...

Click to expand...

You can thermal shock yeast just as much by going too high,& then bringing it down fast as the opposite way. Always try to get the fermenter temp within the range where the yeast is at it's best.

unionrdr said:

You can thermal shock yeast just as much by going too high,& then bringing it down fast as the opposite way. Always try to get the fermenter temp within the range where the yeast is at it's best.

Click to expand...

The issue is that the temp range on the yeast packette is way outisde what usually is recommended...so what do you go by?

We'll see, I will post results when I get home tonight...it's at about 73 right now, which is the bottom of the packets range, then I will move it to the colder room which is in the 60's and report whether it stalled or kept on going.

ok, I got home and everything was going great, I took the beer and put it into the music room and left for a while. Several hours later the beer is now at 66 degrees, and the airlock is popping every second, looks good.

ok, sorry to bring this one back, but I have a couple questions. The temp has actually settled down to 63*, and has been going strong for the past few days (almost a week). I thought I would keep it here for 2 weeks. Here is my question though...Since I am fermenting at 63 which is much higher than lagers usually primary at (it's coopers lager yeast) do I need to do a diacetyl rest? secondly, after the rest (or not) do people generally rack into secondary before they throw it into the cold to lager or do they just keep it in primary? Or is this just another primary vs. secondary question?... LASTLY, my kegerator conversion thermostat is in the mail, so I will have a dedicated fridge soon, should I try to lager the beer in the fridge, or since it is a cheap coopers yeast should I just do it in the basement at 55 ?

so do I keep it in primary? or rack and then try to take it down to 55?

When you say you used the Coopers yeast, was it the one with the kit? Generally I don't bother giving the full lager treatment when using Coopers lager/ale blended yeast. I'll ferment at 60 or so for a couple weeks and then crash the primary to 35 degrees for a week or two before packaging.

Yeah, it was the cerveza kit yeast. In the instructions they say that it is the coopers european lager yeast, and is a true lager strain...I assume it's the lager/ale blend people have mentioned though. I will just keep it in primary for another week, then see what happens in the basement, if it keeps on rolling along at 55 I will leave it there for a couple, then crash it in the fridge before kegging. Draft corona seems kind of weird though...

unionrdr said:

Just started listening to Pantera doing Planet Caravan (Black Sabbath) while re-reading this...meeeellooow... But 2 ounces of Willamette to the OS lager kit with brewing sugar should be real close to the Sam Adam's summer ale. Gunna try that.

Click to expand...

I just went back and realized i missed this, Pantera rule! :rockin: I wish I got to see them. I have seen Down with Rex though, so that was close...sort of, but not really.

9am53 said:

In the instructions they say that it is the coopers european lager yeast, and is a true lager strain...I assume it's the lager/ale blend people have mentioned though...

Click to expand...

Paul from the Coopers brewery posted on the Coopers forum the different strains of yeast that comes with each kit. The Cerveza is listed as using the ale/lager blend. Coopers could have switched since then. An easy way to tell is look that the dried yeast. There will clearly be 2 different types of granules if it's a blend. If I ever get hold of a kit I'll have to check.