#6 - Coopers European Lager [Kit]

I tried this brew as I was looking to make some kind of light beer that didn't need the lime slice like brew#1 and wasn't as heavy as brews #3 or #5. I didn't like how mainstream it looked (I'm the type that judges a book by its cover) but I was willing to give it a chance. I made the brew at one of my beer tasting sessions with a load of friends. They were all curious to see the process so it made sense.

There was nothing out of the ordinary to report during the fermentation process of this beer.Although there was plenty to talk about from the bottling stage. I had previously primed all my bottles with 1 carbonation drop each while being aware that 1 drop is actually suited to 330ml bottles. For this batch I chopped a load of drops in half and put 1.5 drops into each bottle thinking it would be fine. It was fine.....kinda.... The beer was definitely over carbonated in the end which I didn't expect. I genuinely thought I was putting the perfect amount of sugar in and I had read in several places of others doing the same with positive results.

Instead I noticed that there had been "seepage" on some of the Grolsch bottles that I had stored the beer in. The pressure had obviously built up to such a degree that it had vented out through the swing top. I found this worrying and interesting at the same time. I did some searching around and found that it was indeed rare for Grolsch bottles to explode and this 'self venting' feature commonly noticed. I enjoy the 'POP' when opening a normal Grolsch bottle but opening the ones containing the lager was unbelievable. It was shocking how loud it was, it makes a room full of people go quiet!  :)  

I did let it age for much longer than I normally had done for previous beers.This was partly due to fear that a bottle would explode in my face if I disturbed it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the taste which was very refreshing and a little sweet which was a good thing. I don't know if I would bother brewing another Lager as I don't have any space or equipment to store it in cool temperatures for several weeks. I would probably make a pale ale instead. 

Stats:

Started - 4.6.11
Racked - NA
Finished - 11.6.11
Bottled - 12.6.11
Code - 1006
Yeast Brand - Coopers Lagar 
Yeast Code - 1011
Y-Temp - 20
Beer/Product Type -  Coopers European Lager
Malt/Sugar Type - 1.5kgCoopers Extract Light
Volume -  23L
OG - 1045
FG - 1013
Proof  - 4.8% (Including 0.5% for priming)

#1 - Coopers Mexican Cerveza [Kit]

This brew was my first foray into home brewing. It came with the older type of Coopers Beer Kit which has since been replaced with the newer, more simple design. I chose to go with this kit as it reduced the chances of forgetting something when starting your first brew and the instruction videos, both from Coopers and from Craig were a great start.

Coopers Home Brew Kit & Brew #2

Naturally being a complete beginner I simply followed the instructions and applied a lot of the tips from Craig's videos which document the process from start to finish very well. The only issue I had with the process was the difficulty of getting a good seal with the lid of the kit. For the first couple of days there was no bubbling from the airlock as the CO2 was being vented through the threads in the lid. With the help of SWMBO, who basically had to straddle the fermenter for grip,  I was able to tighten the lid! :)

Out of all my brews to date (13 at time of writing), this one was the only one to produce the Rhino Fart. I came home after work to find the apartment stinking of sulphur and rotten eggs. Being inexperienced, I immediately panicked thinking I had an infection! A quick search online revealed this to be a common occurrence and hence the name. This smell thankfully dissipated after a few days.

This is the image of the brew after 1 week of bottling. The lack of head, carbonation and clarity was expected but it didn't smell great. It still kinda smelt like sulphur and a bit like cider at the same time. It tasted a bit like cider too but these tastes and smells faded over time and it ended up being a great brew. I think the addition of light malt extract instead of the brew enhancer would improve this brew significantly.

I have an excel document which I use to keep track of all the brews so at the end of every post I will include this information about each brew. The names are all purposely small to save as much space as possible in the document.

Stats:

Started - 2.5.11

Racked - NA

Finished - 8.5.11

Bottled - 9.5.11 

Code - 1001

Yeast Brand - Coopers Standard 

Yeast Code - 21610W

Y-Temp - 26.0Deg

Beer/Product Type - International Mexican Cerveza 

Malt/Sugar Type - Brew Enhancer 2

Volume  - 25.0L

OG - 1040 

FG - 1012

Proof  - 4.25 (Including 0.5% Priming)