coopers mexcican Creveza

[maxy007]

I like corona and am trying to make a sort of clone using basic kit recipies. I have bottled 2 brews so far with another one fermenting now.

The 2 bottled are coopers mexican creveza kits.
For the first batch (23 litres) I used the kit yeast and 1kg of coopers brew enhacer (BE)2.

I used safale-04 yeast, 1kg of brew enhancer 2 and 1kg of dextrose on the second batch.
It will be interesting to see the difference in each brew.

The one in the fermenter at the moment has 1kg of
BE 2, Safale-04 yeast, 500 grams of dextrose and 500grams of dry malt.

I used the dry malt cause it says it adds to head retention and my first brew didn't have a head on it for longer than 30 seconds.

If I use one of the combos above how would I go about adding lemons to the fermentation? if so, how many? Is there a lemon flavoured hop that I could use instead?

Cheers,

Maxy

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I personally would only add lemons as you're drinking. You could add some lemon zest to the secondary if you'd like, but you won't have control over it if you go to far. If you lemon a beer as you drink it, you can get it exactly where you want it.

Also note that lemon is often used to disguise skunky off-flavors in clear-bottled beer that hasn't been stored properly...make sure to try your beer without any additives before deciding you "need" it.

 

[Whelk]

I agree with Baron--the flavors given off by lemons in the secondary (or zest in the boil) will be different from those given off by a fresh lemon put into a beer right as it's served. The most important thing is to brew a good Mexican lager, then I'd experiment with the fruit and things like that.

 

[maxy007]

Thanks groovers (not to be confused with Grovers)!!
I'll work on making a fantabulous (is that a word??) Mexican then try adding hops etc later when I'm a bit more confident

Cheers,

Maxy

 

[Whelk]

Thanks groovers (not to be confused with Grovers)!!
I'll work on making a fantabulous (is that a word??) Mexican then try adding hops etc later when I'm a bit more confident

Cheers,

Maxy

Just to be clear, you did add hops for your previous brews, right? Or used pre-hopped malt extract? Or were you talking about trying to use a more cirtrus-y hop?

 

[Mikey]

If you're trying to make a Mexican lager clone, then you'll also need to start using lager yeast. Safale -004 is an ale yeast.

 

[maxy007]

Just to be clear, you did add hops for your previous brews, right? Or used pre-hopped malt extract? Or were you talking about trying to use a more cirtrus-y hop?

I used a coopers can of goo and brew enhancer 2. yes I was just trying to get it a bit more citrus-y. I've never used hops before.

 

[maxy007]

If you're trying to make a Mexican lager clone, then you'll also need to start using lager yeast. Safale -004 is an ale yeast.

Seriously??? Far out I thought the mexican kit was an ale oh well ya live and learn.
Will it matter if I use a lager yeast and ferment it at around 18 degrees. I can't seem to get the temp lower than that at the moment.

 

[RoaringBrewer]

Hrm... they are going to be odd beers with no hops...

Hopefully the coopers 'can of goo' was prehopped extract...

 

[Whelk]

Seriously??? Far out I thought the mexican kit was an ale oh well ya live and learn.
Will it matter if I use a lager yeast and ferment it at around 18 degrees. I can't seem to get the temp lower than that at the moment.

You can use lager yeast, but it won't taste anything like what you expect--much fruitier, tons of off-flavors. An easy way to lager is to put your fermenter into a garbage pail and put ice and water into the pail until the fermenter has a nice layer of cold around it (but not over it).

 

[Mikey]

Seriously??? Far out I thought the mexican kit was an ale oh well ya live and learn.
Will it matter if I use a lager yeast and ferment it at around 18 degrees. I can't seem to get the temp lower than that at the moment.

If you want to make a lager, you must use lager yeast and lager 'process'. That means fermenting at about 10 degrees and then storing (lagering) the finished beer for a few months at around 0 degrees.

If you can't follow these procedures, you're back to making ales again.

 

[maxy007]

Hrm... they are going to be odd beers with no hops...

Hopefully the coopers 'can of goo' was prehopped extract...

I just checked a can I have and it has hops in it.

 

[veggiess]

Yeah, it's a prehopped extract, and the yeast they put on the can is meant to be fermented at ale temps with a lager taste. Even the coopers lager can comes with yeast meant to be put at low ale temps. That is their way of making it easier to brew the beer. I tried the Mexican cervesa kit once with the yeast that came with and the beer enhancer 2, and it turned out great. Tasted similiar to Pacifico and my friends (who appreciate good beer) loved it. It's the best non-boil brew I've ever had. In fact, next time I decide I want a "Mexican" beer I just may use this kit again.