Coopers Pilsner

[SMICKSMICK]

Hello there so on my second ever brew and starting sg was 1.045. I used 1kg of brewing sugar and 1kg of enhancer which is 50/50. I started it last Tuesday and took a reading there now which came out at 1.014. Still a lot higher than I thought it would be... Too high to bottle I think. Anyone done this Pilsner with similar readings in their notes...
Any thoughts/input greatly welcomed. Prob leave it until the weekend for another reading. Looks and smells nice a little sweet tastes quite good so far too tho a little sweet. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1454371621.152995.jpg

 

[Subdivisions]

Give us the full recipe. 1 Kg of sugar and 1 Kg of enhancer sounds like adjuncts to me. Those should ferment out completely and just add alcohol. What was the base recipe? Give us an idea of what the 'enhancer' is.

 

[SMICKSMICK]

Give us the full recipe. 1 Kg of sugar and 1 Kg of enhancer sounds like adjuncts to me. Those should ferment out completely and just add alcohol. What was the base recipe? Give us an idea of what the 'enhancer' is.

Sorry it's just the youngs Pilsner and enhancer plus the 1kg of brew sugar View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1454425662.179183.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1454425674.260473.jpg

 

[Kharnynb]

those kits have a bad reputation for instructions, generally they tend to tell to bottle too soon.

leave it for at least 2 weeks before doing a gravity test, then a day or 2 and second gravity test. if they are the same, bottle.

That beer will probally be very dry and low on malt flavour though, a better way to make those kits is replacing the sugar with dme or lme

 

[SMICKSMICK]

Thanks for the info.i made the Canadian blonde using just 1kg of enhancer and it turned out really nice so thought I'd try making this one a little stronger by adding the extra kg of sugar and made 23ltrs instead of the 25 it said on tin. I'll leave it until next Tuesday and that will be 2 weeks. Temp has dropped a little we're I keep it compared to last batch so I've wrapped it in a big warm coat to try keep it a little warmer.

 

[Kharnynb]

what temp are you fermenting it at? it's a lager, should be quite cold, especially compared to a blonde ale.

 

[SMICKSMICK]

Bout 18degrees c but it's dropping sometimes down to 17.5 at times. Limited on we're I can keep it out of the way of the kids etc.

 

[Kharnynb]

that's rather high for lager yeasts, which should be in the 10-15 degrees C range, won't matter so much any more, but i'd let it sit on the yeast a bit longer to clean any off-flavours by the initial too warm fermentation.

18 is good for ales though.

Worst case scenario, you'll have a steam beer instead of a lager.

 

[SMICKSMICK]

Well you learn something new every day ha ha.said on the instructions tho I've heard they are bin worthy to store between 18 and 24dc.sure see what happens next week. I've am ipa to try next aswell

 

[Kharnynb]

a good basic set of rules with cooper's and similar kits is:

Ale yeast, 17-19 degrees C for 14-16 days, then bottle.

Lager yeast, 10-15 degrees C for 21-30 days, then bottle.

Replace any sugar with light dry malt extract on a 1-on-1 basis, or half dry malt, half brew enhancer.

 

[Kharnynb]

oh, and the coopers wheat kit is great with 1 kg wheat dry malt extract and 500 grams honey.

 

[SMICKSMICK]

So what's the difference then if I'm fermenting at 17-18 instead of 10-15. Have heard of a steam beer but what is it. Sorry completely new to this cheers

 

[Kharnynb]

the warmer you ferment, the more the yeast will produce extra flavours, these can be wanted, such as the banana flavours in wheat beers, or unwanted, getting a lot of ester style flavour in your lager.

Lager yeast is "bred" for lower temperatures, where ale yeast works better at higher temperatures.

Steam beer, or calefornia common beer is a beer made with lager yeast, but brewed at ale temperatures, traditionally because refridgeration was expensive back then. it will be "fruitier" most likely.

 

[SMICKSMICK]

Well that would explain the slight fruitiness of my Canadian blonde then. Tho was quite subtle was a very nice beer. Much prefer to drink it instead of commercial beers.