Coopers European Lager

Type: Kit Brew
Sugars: 1kg Brewing Sugar (Dextrose)
Yeast: Kit Yeast
Additions:Water de-chlorinated with 1/2 Campden tablet.
Time in Primary: 3 weeks @ 15 degrees C
Secondary method: Bottle
Time in Secondary: 3 months
O.G. 1040
F.G. 1006


I've done this kit twice. The first time, it was the first kit I did after returning to home brewing after many years. I didn't do my research on this one, didn't brew it at the correct temperature, didn't leave it long enough in the King Keg, forgot to prime the King Keg, didn't De-Chlorinate the water, and generally ended up with a rather poor brew.

However, after getting a number of sucsessful kits under my belt, I thought I'd try this one again. Unlike many 'lager' kits on the market, this one ships with a proper, bottom fermenting, lager yeast. This means that it really needs to be brewed at a much lower temperature than those that ship with an ale yeast. I managed to find a spot in the house that was a nice steady 15 degrees whatever the time of day, and left it to ferment there for three weeks under an air lock. I also learned, from my online research, that using spray malt instead of simple sugars can throw the balance of this kit off a bit, so I stuck with 1Kg of brewing sugar.

As warned in the instructions, the yeast gave off a rather 'bad egg' smell at various times during fermentation, and that was still detectable at bottling time. Although I was determined to leave this for the advised (online) 3 months, I opened a bottle from time to time to check progress. After 2 - 3 weeks, it still had a rather sulphuric king of twang and wasn't nice at all. Over the coming weeks, this dissipated and gradually it started to taste like a proper lager.

After about 3 months the result was totally transformed. A lovely, crisp, Beck's like lager that has great carbonation. Not an especially complex beer, but nice and refreshing all the same.

If you like Becks, give this one a go. Just be prepared to bottle it, and wait. Oh, and don't forget the lower fermentation temps!