Green Neck Lager & EB kit recipes - New Guy

[Prost!]

G'day guys,

 

New to brewing so plenty to learn.

 

Been looking all through the forum and it's amazing how much knowledge is shared.

 

Greatly appreciated.

 

Just wanted to see whether I could get a YAY or NAY on the below recipes.

 

Looking at brewing the Green Neck Lager.

 

Ingredients

1.7kg International Series European Lager

1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 3

250g Coopers Carbonation Drops

 

Thinking of adding 20g of Tettnang hops steeped for around 30 min in 1 litre of water and adding before the yeast......Then around day 4 adding another 15g dry hopped....or could I add Hallertau?

 

How do you think this will turn out?

 

Could I also add 500g of light dry malt or will this make it too sweet?

 

Also looking to brew the English Bitter, seen a few posts on here that suggest 1kg of light dry malt....So thinking I'll do the same but also add 25g of fuggles or Styrian steeped for around 30 min as well.

 

With adding the steeped hops.....do I just add the strained tea or do I add the whole lot as in hops pellets and all?

 

Cheers guys.

 

P.S Just tried one of the Pale Ale brews I've had in the bottles for 2 weeks......Used BE2 and 10g galaxy hops tea bag.....OH MY! I am hooked!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very nice!

[Otto Von Blotto]

Lagers are usually better fermented around 10-12 degrees. Do you have the means to ferment at this temp? As a result, they're usually pitched with double the amount of yeast to ales as well. With the recipe as it stands, the kit yeast on its own should be enough if it's pitched around 20 degrees and allowed to sit up there for about 12-18 hours before being cool to 12ish, if you add another 500g malt then you'll need more yeast. I'm not trying to discourage you from it, just in my experience and that of a lot of others, a decent sized yeast pitch combined with a low ferment temp gives the best results (recipe formulation aside). Lagers don't have the hopping rates of pale ales or the malty flavors of other ale styles to hide any off flavours behind, so any imperfections tend to show up more.

 

If you are steeping hops in hot water before adding to the brew, strain them out. They are of no use in the fermenter once they've been steeped. If you are dry hopping you can contain them in some kind of mesh container big enough to allow expansion, or you can simply throw the pellets in loose, the choice is yours.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[King Ruddager]

I don't think adding any extra DME to that lager would be necessary. Your hop additions should be fine though and add a little more flavour and aroma.

 

I only made the Coopers European Lager once and I've done over 100 brews in between now, so I can't remember much about it all except that at the time I did like it.

 

PS. Being a true lager (ie. using lager yeast) you'll want to pay closer attention to fermentation temperature, which should be around 10-12° (although up to 15 is probably ok). Also be prepared for some funny smells and maybe a little off flavour early.

[Beerlust]

Helo Prost!, & welcome to the forum.

 

+1 to what the Otto man said.

Looking at brewing the Green Neck Lager.

 

Ingredients

1.7kg International Series European Lager

1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 3

250g Coopers Carbonation Drops

 

Thinking of adding 20g of Tettnang hops steeped for around 30 min in 1 litre of water

I've brewed a recipe almost identical to this late last year. It turned out a nice drop. The Tettnang hop works very well when used as a hop tea in conjunction with the flavours of this kit.

 

As Otto man mentioned you'll need additional yeast if you plan to add more malt' date=' & good lagers do require a lower ferment temp for best results. However, if you follow the recipe outline for the Green Neck Lager & adhere to the temperatures mentioned you should be fine.

 

P.S. Don't throw the carbonation drops into your fermenter (as one chap did!). They are for bottling day with one added to each of your bottles before capping to carbonate the beer. [img']wink[/img]

 

Good luck with the brew.

 

Lusty.

[Prost!]

Lagers are usually better fermented around 10-12 degrees. Do you have the means to ferment at this temp? As a result' date=' they're usually pitched with double the amount of yeast to ales as well. With the recipe as it stands, the kit yeast on its own should be enough if it's pitched around 20 degrees and allowed to sit up there for about 12-18 hours before being cool to 12ish, if you add another 500g malt then you'll need more yeast. I'm not trying to discourage you from it, just in my experience and that of a lot of others, a decent sized yeast pitch combined with a low ferment temp gives the best results (recipe formulation aside). Lagers don't have the hopping rates of pale ales or the malty flavors of other ale styles to hide any off flavours behind, so any imperfections tend to show up more.

 

If you are steeping hops in hot water before adding to the brew, strain them out. They are of no use in the fermenter once they've been steeped. If you are dry hopping you can contain them in some kind of mesh container big enough to allow expansion, or you can simply throw the pellets in loose, the choice is yours.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey[/quote']

 

Hello Kelsey,

 

Cheers for the reply.

 

Temp wise....probably not, I may have to save this recipe for when I get the new fridge.

 

The room I currently have the fermenters in stay between 18-20 degrees pretty much all day/night.....which I understand is good for ales?

 

All a massive learning experience for me....so I appreciate the replies.

 

Re the hops...cheers, wasn't sure whether to add the tea and the pellets together or strain out.

 

In regards to the English Bitter and using 1kg of light malt.....will I need extra yeast for that?

 

Cheers

 

 

[Prost!]

Helo Prost!' date=' & welcome to the forum.

 

+1 to what the Otto man said.

Looking at brewing the Green Neck Lager.

 

Ingredients

1.7kg International Series European Lager

1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 3

250g Coopers Carbonation Drops

 

Thinking of adding 20g of Tettnang hops steeped for around 30 min in 1 litre of water

I've brewed a recipe almost identical to this late last year. It turned out a nice drop. The Tettnang hop works very well when used as a hop tea in conjunction with the flavours of this kit.

 

As Otto man mentioned you'll need additional yeast if you plan to add more malt, & good lagers do require a lower ferment temp for best results. However, if you follow the recipe outline for the Green Neck Lager & adhere to the temperatures mentioned you should be fine.

 

P.S. Don't throw the carbonation drops into your fermenter (as one chap did!). They are for bottling day with one added to each of your bottles before capping to carbonate the beer.

 

Good luck with the brew.

 

Lusty.

 

Cheers for the reply Lusty.

 

Yeah will give it ago once I have better cooling temp controls.....I also understand that lagers need a lot longer to ferment?

 

As it stands the room I have the fermenters in allows them to stay around 18-20 degrees....so will stick with Ales.

 

Lol yeah Carbs drops are for bottling......seen a few horror stories in forums, don't want to make that mistake.

 

Glad I finally got into Homebrew, It's all exciting, rewarding and an adventure.

[Prost!]

I don't think adding any extra DME to that lager would be necessary. Your hop additions should be fine though and add a little more flavour and aroma.

 

I only made the Coopers European Lager once and I've done over 100 brews in between now' date=' so I can't remember much about it all except that at the time I did like it.

 

PS. Being a true lager (ie. using lager yeast) you'll want to pay closer attention to fermentation temperature, which should be around 10-12° (although up to 15 is probably ok). Also be prepared for some funny smells and maybe a little off flavour early.[/quote']

 

Cheers mate, yeah I think I will be waiting till I have a better temp control in place for the lager......Seen in other posts that temp can really turn a potentially good brew into a disaster.

 

With the lagers they do need a lot longer to age don't they?

[King Ruddager]

A bit longer, yes. That's where they get their name in fact - "lager" loosely translates to "put it in a cave and leave it there for a few months".

 

It is doable though to keep the temp low enough to get results during winter. I used to dress my fermenter and make 1kg blocks off ice to rest on top, swapping them each day.

[Norris!]

All good advice. Just because the can says lager doesn't mean you have to make it as a lager, you could convert it to an ale or psuedo lager. I remember how I was and I wanted to make a beer now! Try making it as an ale, with ale temps and see how it is. I made an hopped up ale with this kit that was nice, in my top 5 for sure. I used galaxy and citra hops and steeped 500g of malt in 5 liters of water with 50 grams of each for 20 minutes right at flameout. It waas bitter but beautiful with another 50g of each dry hopped.

 

The best part of this hobby is you get to choose. If you were to use the hops you listed I would try it with Nottingham or M54 and keep the temp at 18c until the gravity reads 1.25 to 1.2 and let it raise to ambient temps, this will let the yeast clean up, basically 75% of fermentation is complete then raise the temp. You should get a good drinkable beer. Or get another kit until you have temp control or can do what King Rud suggested.

 

Enjoy the journey,

Norris

[Otto Von Blotto]

 

In regards to the English Bitter and using 1kg of light malt.....will I need extra yeast for that?

 

Cheers

 

Technically yes if you're going to sprinkle the yeast on top of the wort. Another option is to re-hydrate the yeast in water first. Simply boil 100mL or so of water' date=' let it cool to about 35 degrees, dump in the yeast, let it sit for about 15-20 minutes then stir into a cream and pitch into your wort. Easy as, and much better for the health of the yeast too. [img']cool[/img]

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[Graculus]

I've made the English Bitter + 1kg of Light Dry Malt a few times.

The first two I made, I rehydrated the packet yeast.

It turned out very nice.

 

Since then I've made a couple more, but adding hops and grain.

I've followed this recipe. It's very nice. Very popular with my English friends.

 

Hop Gobbler

 

 

[Spanky1525230265]

So I know this is an old thread, but I've just put this down today

1.7kg coopers int series euro lager

1kg BE#3

7g kit yeast and 10g M84 yeast rehydrated 

Made to 18L for a OG of 1.044

11.2 EBC and 32.1 IBU

Yeast slurry pitched at 20 degrees, on its way down to 12.

My question is, dry hop with tettnang or sazz or both. All other hops I've got in the freezer are new world high alpha varieties. 

I haven't used this kit before, 

Cheers, Spanks. 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Depends what you're going for with the beer. High alpha doesn't mean anything really for dry hopping, but if you want to keep it traditional then I'd use the tettnang. Saaz will work as well but you don't want to leave them in too long or you risk introducing grassy tones. If you're after something more new worldly then you could use one or more of those other varieties.

If you wanted to keep it really traditional then you probably wouldn't dry hop it at all as those lager styles usually aren't dry hopped. 

[ZedT]

1 hour ago, Spanky1525230265 said:

My question is, dry hop with tettnang or sazz or both. All other hops I've got in the freezer are new world high alpha varieties. 

I haven't used this kit before, 

I'd use 20-30 grams of  saaz for 4 days, it compliments and boosts euro lager very nicely, a nice floral bouquet in the glass as you drink, with a bit of spice, and you do need those aromas to counter the higher bitterness due to 18 litres of wort. I think Coopers uses one of those two in their euro lager so either way, sazz or tettnang, you'll just boost a very faint noble hop aroma.

[Spanky1525230265]

30g Sazz it is, cheers zedt

 

 

[Burl]

I currently have this in my fermenter. Has been fermenting at 15c and it seems to have stalled at 1012 it has been down for 17 days should i leave it a bit longer or has it finished.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I would think that's finished rather than stalled.

[iBooz2]

@Burl  Welcome to the forum.

My Green Neck Lager hit 1.011 on BD+11 so I reckon yours is well and truly done after 17 days.  Cold crash it for a week or more then bottle it.

Cheers - AL

[Lab Cat]

Its been brewing for 17 days already, I wouldn't bother crashing it, get it in the bottles. I don't crash any of mine anymore.

[Malter White]

11 hours ago, Burl said:

I currently have this in my fermenter. Has been fermenting at 15c and it seems to have stalled at 1012 it has been down for 17 days should i leave it a bit longer or has it finished.

I made this recently but to 23 litres. My FG was 1008, so I'd say yours is done if it's at 21 litres as per the recipe. It's a really nice beer even without hop additions.

Edited April 23, 2020 by MUZZY