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Mexican Cerveza (fourth brew) help needed

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  • Mexican Cerveza (fourth brew) help needed

    Hi Everyone this is my first time posting here. Me and my dad brew together, we're still beginners and know nowhere near as much as we'd like about brewing. I'd like to ask if anyone can give us a few tips for our next project.

    We got a kit of Mangrove Jack's Mexican Cerveza malt as a gift, so that's what we're going to brew next.
    We're going to use the provided kit yeast.
    A 1kg lager brew blend we bought from a local craft beer shop
    50g of SAAZ hop pellets with an AA of 3.4%

    We're also going to add steeped grains, it's a mixture of 500g Carahell light crystal grain and 100g of Carapils (dextrin) malt.
    The temperature we're going to try and keep low (shouldn't be to much of a problem this time of year) somewhere between 17°C and 20° ?

    If anyone has thoughts on what we could change up for a better end result or if someone has brewed this kit and would like to give their thoughts on it, that would really be appreciated. Thank you.
    Franz
    Junior Member
    Last edited by Franz; 28 June 2019, 10:40.

  • #2
    I don't know much about kit brewing, but from what I can tell, get fresh yeast. I've seen many posts where the included yeast is a dud

    Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

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    • #3
      Yeah fresh yeast is a must. Those kit yeasts work (and probably will still work now), but proper style-specific yeast is a lot better. If you can't ferment cool, get the Mangrove Jack's M54 Californian Lager Yeast. You can ferment it warmer in a lager without off flavours.

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      • #4
        Just in terms of process what's your plan? Are you making a hop tea and dumping it into the fermenter with the tins contents? How are you adding the grains? No need for a mash with those grains since they won't do much starch conversion, how are you integrating them?
        Lastly 50g hops? Why add any the MJ already has 10ibu what are you aming to create btw?
        What style are you creating

        Sent from my SM-A750F using Tapatalk

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        • #5
          This was my process back in the day
          (and if you go watch a couple of YT vids, you'll notice plenty a homebrewer still doing it this way) :


          Crush the grain and add to a grain bag

          Fill a pot with about 3L water and apply some heat. (about 3L per 1Kg grain is fine)

          Add bag with grains while the water heats to about 65ºC ... then turn off
          (you can also add the grain directly to the water just stir enough and then strain afterwards)

          Cover with lit and let it sit for ±20min

          Remove bag with grains and re-apply heat to bring to a boil (you can sparge the bag with some kettle water if you feel the need)

          Once boiling add hops and boil for ± 10min ... this should add some flavour and aroma and no more than about 10 IBU's max with that specific hop

          After 10min kill heat and add this liquid into the fermenter and mix in the brew bend till dissolved and then mix in the Cerveza kit ... mix well

          Top up with pre-cooled fridge water to the 23L mark as per instructions ... or 21l for a slightly better tasting version

          Check temp and pitch yeast ... I've never had problems with kit yeast in the first 1½-2 years of my brewing hobbie, so I would just let it rip with that.

          Check if it's bubbling the next day and if it is, leave if the fnck alone for about 2 weeks

          The rest you know
          JIGSAW
          Senior Member
          Last edited by JIGSAW; 28 June 2019, 16:59.
          The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

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          • #6
            Originally posted by jannieverjaar View Post
            Just in terms of process what's your plan? Are you making a hop tea and dumping it into the fermenter with the tins contents? How are you adding the grains? No need for a mash with those grains since they won't do much starch conversion, how are you integrating them?
            Lastly 50g hops? Why add any the MJ already has 10ibu what are you aming to create btw?
            What style are you creating

            Sent from my SM-A750F using Tapatalk
            Process wise we're basically using the same method as the one JIGSAW posted with a few differences (Thank you very much JIGSAW).

            I forgot to mention that we're only going to use half of the hops and not the entire 50g packet. We read up that it's better to add the hops 3days after fermentation started, though JIGSAW mentioned he would add the hops to the biol:
            Originally posted by JIGSAW View Post
            Once boiling add hops and boil for ± 10min ... this should add some flavour and aroma and no more than about 10 IBU's max with that specific hop.
            Is this a better way of doing it or will we be fine adding the hops 3days after fermentation started ?

            Another question I have is you said to boil for ± 10min, why such a short period of time as oppose to boiling for an 30min-60min ?

            Style-wise we have no idea, we just want to make it as good a craft beer as we possible can

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            • #7
              You can boil as long as you want, but the longer you boil, the more bitterness you'll get and loose some flavour. .... so your idea of adding it to the fermenter is also a good idea (Dry hopping).

              The kit already contains enough IBU bitterness, so there is no need to boil the hops for a full 60min and secondly the wort from those specialty grains also dont need to boil for that long... 10min to sanitize is fine.
              The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Franz View Post
                Process wise we're basically using the same method as the one JIGSAW posted with a few differences (Thank you very much JIGSAW).

                I forgot to mention that we're only going to use half of the hops and not the entire 50g packet. We read up that it's better to add the hops 3days after fermentation started, though JIGSAW mentioned he would add the hops to the biol:
                Is this a better way of doing it or will we be fine adding the hops 3days after fermentation started ?

                Another question I have is you said to boil for ± 10min, why such a short period of time as oppose to boiling for an 30min-60min ?

                Style-wise we have no idea, we just want to make it as good a craft beer as we possible can
                JIGSAW has basically covered it all.
                Just one point on the yeast, when I used to do extract brewing I had varied success with yeast supplied with kit.
                By all means use the kit yeast, but it is a good idea to have a spare packed of yeast on hand, just in case, so if no fermentation after about 36 hours pitch the spare yeast.
                Everyone must beleive in something, I beleive I'll have another beer

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