Mexican Cerveza

NTRabbit · Post by **NTRabbit** » Tuesday Oct 25, 2005 4:41 pm

Quick question, I was just about to put down a brewcraft mexican cerveza and planning on dry hopping about 10g of Cascade for aroma, noticed the can suggested i should try a Tettnanger teabag instead. Happen to have a Tettnanger teabag sitting around waiting for my Wheat beer. Should i go with the can and use the Tettnanger, or would the Cascade make something good as well? Rather use the Cascade if possible

Thanks

Stangas · Post by **Stangas** » Tuesday Oct 25, 2005 6:41 pm

dont know.. but i just put one down too..

I only used the #15 extract and the dry enzyme

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » Tuesday Oct 25, 2005 7:40 pm

To highlight my point on brewcraft brewblends/converter kits.

From Brewcraft web site

#15 BREW BOOSTER
This is a lightly malted blend of malt, glucose & corn syrup that adds flavour to your beer & at the same time improves the mouth-feel & head. It can be used instead of sugar in any kit beer.
Â®FOSTERS Make a Beermakers Lager kit with 1kg of #15 Brew Booster

Tell me what and how much of it you added???

Again from their web site

BREWBLENDS: The code numbers #10 through to #30 refer to BREWCRAFT brand BREWBLENDS.

These are mixtures of brewing sugars that will greatly improve basic beer kits.

These brewblends and converter kits can be used to make good beer however they make it hard to ajust the beer or replicate it without their kits.

The malt we use is premium quality brewing malt that gives much better results than confectionary malt as used by others.

KIT CONVERTERS: The code numbers #40 through to #74 refer to BREWCRAFT brand KIT CONVERTERS.

These are special mixtures of additional ingredients including hops & premium brewing malt that change basic beer kits into special styles of beer.

This is about as much info as you will get on their brewblends and converter kits.
These brewblends and converter kits can be used to make good beer however they make it hard to adjust the beer or replicate it without their kits.

PS Sorry NTRabbit none of this helps you with your question.

NTRabbit · Post by **NTRabbit** » Tuesday Oct 25, 2005 9:38 pm

I've used brewcraft #15 previously in a "Carlton Cold" recipe, and the ingredients inside the bag were stated on the label. As I recall, #15 is identical to a Brewiser Brew Booster and Coopers BE2. Cant speak for the more expensive converters though.

To hell with it says I, im going with the Cascade!

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » Wednesday Oct 26, 2005 1:36 pm

Yes it tells you what but not how much. With the converter kits they are supplied with hops as well but the ingredients are listed as "hops" not what type or how much.

yardglass · Post by **yardglass** » Thursday Oct 27, 2005 7:22 am

how would a bit of lemon/lime zest go in a mexican?
Would it be best in the boil or maybe rack onto the zest of say.. 3 lemons in a muslin bag?
Just thinking that maybe racking on to, instead of in the boil would lessen the head destroying oils.

cheers
yardglars

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Thursday Oct 27, 2005 7:55 am

Rather than the zest, I would use Cascade or Centennial Hops. They are pretty citrussy

Dogger

yardglass · Post by **yardglass** » Thursday Oct 27, 2005 8:02 am

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Thursday Oct 27, 2005 9:53 am

No,

The hops are pretty easy. Try the zest though if you want I would use 2 lime one lemon. You will get a lot of oil off of it though which will reduce your head and retention.

I have done both and I like the hops, only because I get the same citrus aroma with 1 additive rather than 3

Dogger

yardglass · Post by **yardglass** » Thursday Oct 27, 2005 4:20 pm

sorry DD, I meant would racking be better than boiling as far as reducing the oils, I will try some centennial with a small amount of zest from both lemon / lime in a boil.

One more thing

, i've been using very little amounts of dex in my brews lately, if I go all malt in a mex will i be missing the point as far as style goes ?

cheers
yardglass

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » Thursday Oct 27, 2005 7:14 pm

Do you really care about the style or what it will taste like?

If it is only for your taste buds I would not care if it was true to style.

Maimu · Post by **Maimu** » Thursday Oct 27, 2005 9:10 pm

Hey all, Don't mean to hijack the thread or anything, But people that have made this brew before, what were your opinions on the final outcome?

I am only a novice brewer, and only brew with the kits so far, still getting the hang of that.

I was just going to use the kit, and #15 beer improver.

So were you happy with the outcome?

Cheers
Maimu.

NTRabbit · Post by **NTRabbit** » Thursday Oct 27, 2005 10:34 pm

Not meaning to hijack the thread or anything

, but I put the Cerveza down with a brewiser ultrabrew, 500g of light DME and 15g of ground coriander seed, dry hopped 15g of Cascade (left the dry enzyme out) and used the last half of a Saflager W34/70 sachet.

Plan on adding very mild chillis to roughly half of the resulting bottles, since i want them to be spicy chilli beers but not impossible to drink.

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Friday Oct 28, 2005 2:39 am

Yardglass.

Likely the racking would be easier. I just made up a brew where I used bakers chocolate. Its all good, just a bit of an issue with the cocoa butter which I remove by racking a few times.

Dogger

yardglass · Post by **yardglass** » Friday Oct 28, 2005 6:50 am

DD,
thanks for that champ.
glassboy

Post by **Oliver** » Saturday Oct 29, 2005 3:54 pm

yardglass wrote:... One more thing , i've been using very little amounts of dex in my brews lately, if I go all malt in a mex will i be missing the point as far as style goes ? ...

Probably. The Mexican style is a light-bodied beer. Adding all malt will add body to your beer. This is not what you want. I'd be adding a little malt (maybe 250g or so), and make the balance something that will ferment out well, like dextrose, to give you a light-bodied beer.

Cheers,

Oliver

yardglass · Post by **yardglass** » Sunday Oct 30, 2005 6:02 pm

cheers Oliver,

will probably make a nice change to have a lighter bodied beer on the shelf.

yg

NTRabbit · Post by **NTRabbit** » Friday Nov 04, 2005 7:02 pm

I put this cerveza down over a week ago, and its done nothing. No airlock activity, no H2S smell, and the gravity hasnt changed a bit. I cant discern any odd smell unless im mistaken about what cascade smells like, the surface of the wort looks the same as the last lager i made and the yeast has grown like it normally would - you can see it slightly creeping up the sides of the fermenter with the Lager yeasts.

Anyone got any ideas as to whats gone wrong? I figured that even if there was an infection, there would still be some sort of airlock activity as they eat and make gas too. Squeezing the fermenter confirms that it is airtight.

I used the rehydrated second half of a Saflager W34/70 sachet which was kept refrigerated after using the first half in an Asahi clone protoype, which took about 4 or 5 days of no activity before finally starting, likely due to me putting it straight into an 11*C brewing fridge and not giving it a warm start as the web manual i found states.

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Saturday Nov 05, 2005 3:14 am

Dud yeast,

repitch and use a yeat energizer

try and keep it warm until a good healty fermentation goes

Dogger

Post by **Oliver** » Saturday Nov 05, 2005 8:26 am

Are you saying that this beer is at 11C?

If so, the immediate low temp would certainly have a lot to do with the sluggish beginning.

The yeast is multiplying, as you have noted that you can see it on top of the wort. But the cool temperature means it's doing so ever so slowly.

Let it warm up so it can start multiplying, then drop the temp when fermentation is well under way.

Pitching more yeast wouldn't hurt, either. Half a sachet in a full brew isn't much. It's a false economy as the less yeast you pitch the more chance of infection getting hold, so you end up wasting a whole batch for the sake of a couple of bucks' worth of yeast

Cheers