MarkA8 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Hi all i'm new to brewing and would welcome everyone's advice and recipes they may have had success with, using mini mash techniques lagers and ipa's mainly, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 If your new to brewing, i would recommend that you stick with the pre-hopped cans Coopers has to offer. For the most part, they produce excellent beers. If you want some grain freshness, you can steep some specalty malts to give a new profile. Adding hops will make the world of different. Perhaps google mini mash to see whether thats something you want to get into right now, or in the future once you get the basics down. Then i would advance into partial extract, before going into a full mini mash.Upto you though, there are plenty of recipes out there to try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianS2 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Hi Mark Read this www.babbrewers.com/files/story/2003/04/Partial_Mash_Talk.pdf All about using Coopers Kits and partial mashing. Very interesting reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattH Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Partial mash is quite easy with the Brew in a Bag Technique you can do a 3-5 litre mash and 45 minute boil but keep the hops low and maybe only add 15 minute and lower hop additions if combining it with a Coopers Concentrate but if your making a beer from Coopers Un-Hopped Malt extract then add the hops at the start of the boil . Mini Brew in a Bag http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=153&p=640#p633 The Brew Mate brewing recipe designer now has a Brew in a Bag mode http://www.brewmate.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkA8 Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 Thanks everyone that has took time to post a reply I've posted on forums elsewhere and people seem keen to get on their 'brewing soap box' and look down their nose at the first time brewer, I'm not stupid just a bit of advice could go along way! thanks again. The link to the mini mash techniques was very good and I'll be using the pilsner one on Saturday with my next batch, I think I can be pretty sure now that my first batch with its 1kg of pilsner grain and 500g of crystal malt and cascade/hallertau hop combo was way wide of the mark for a pilsener, however I may have stumbled upon a pretty good ipa! Once again thanks and please keep your Pilsener recipes coming! if I can crack a Budweiser Budvar clone I'll be a happy drunk man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattH Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 The best way to make a Pilsner taste like Budvar is cool controlled fermentation temperatures and 6 weeks of lagering at low temperatures so a fridge with a temperature controller is the best way to do that for a homebrewer .Its not impossible and coopers International Series and Thomas Cooper range beers have dry lager yeast in some kits but brew the lagers/pilseners with lager yeast in winter . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkA8 Posted February 4, 2011 Author Share Posted February 4, 2011 That's interesting what kind of tempretures would you recomend for the first and sceondary fermentation? I have my set up in the garage which is cold!I have a thermostatic heater which I think goes as low as 17c.I presume after a scondary fermentation of a couple of weeks then 6 weeks lagering? Another thing i'm not sure about is the use of carbonation drops? some seem to advocate them in my first batch I just primed with 5g of dextrose are there much benefits of the drops, thanks again, Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattH Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Lager yeast fermentation temps usually are about 10-15c and lagering temps are 0-10c so thats why a fridge with a external thermostat is recommended . Fermentaion times for lagers are 2-4 weeks of primary fermentation them raise for a few days to 16-20c to let the yeast clean up and 4-6 weeks of lagering in the secondary , Most lager yeast ferment best at 12c . Fermentis Saflager W34/70 is great for lagers and pilseners and the strain comes from the Weihenstephan Institute in Germany and is used by lager breweries worldwide. As for the carbonation drop they are more accurate than measuring 5 gms into every bottle .Bulk priming is another method that can have great results but requires another sanitized bucket and scales . http://hbd.org/ddraper/priming.html You can also make Faux lagers with Ale yeasts where you start them at around 24c to get them started then after 12 hours bring them down to 16-18c to make a beer with lager style qualities .This is probably best for your current setup when winter comes , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 13C would be the average recommended temp for lager fermentation Mark. As for carb drops the main benefit is the most obvious one - they are a convenience item and are easy to use if you are using regular sized bottles (375ml/750ml). There is no measuring out sugar which makes things a lot easier. Of course if you are using irregular sized bottles bulk priming is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 The best way to make a Pilsner taste like Budvar is cool controlled fermentation temperatures and 6 weeks of lagering at low temperatures so a fridge with a temperature controller is the best way to do that for a homebrewer . This won't work too well if you plan to secondary ferment in bottles because lagering for 6 weeks will drop too much yeast out of suspension. However, it will suit kegging with forced carbonation. Matt, have you actually made beer using this method? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattH Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Ive kegged my beer for 10 years and force or naturully carbonate in a conical fermenter and counter pressure fill bottles so I forgot about bottle conditioning of lagers the old way ;). If you bottle condition and use this method you might want to add some fresh lager yeast when you bulk prime the beer as a suggestion. Do you any other Suggestions PB2 when bottle conditioning lagers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 The simplest and effective method for fermenting lager, if naturally conditioning: Ferment at the temp' of choice - W-34/70 makes very clean beer when fermented at 13degC to 15degC. Once FG is reached, leave a few more days to settle. Bottle off and prime at the normal rate then store the bottles at a minimum of 18degC for 2 weeks - during this time, funky characters like diacetyl are cleaned up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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