As much info as possilbe wanted on doing a corona rip off

[SimonH]

I'm going to do a partial extract. I've seen a Mexican Cerveza style extract at TWOC for about $14. Thinking of using that with one of their brew pacs as my Irish Ale (Deliverance) turned out well at first taste- after only 2 weeks secondary fermentation.

Wanting to know as much as possible about how to go about this ie temperatures, is it worth racking (haven't done that yet and only have one fermenter at the mo), and storage/ageing . Am hoping to get a nice thirst quenching beer ready for summer.

Cheers.

[Kevnlis]

Honestly with this style there is no point in doing a partial. It is just light malt, lots of sugar, and extremely clean balanced hop bitterness. The point of these beers is to be tasteless and the kits do an excellent job of it. Chuck in a kilo of dextrose and send it on it's way!

[Chris]

Yep. I heard the Coopers Mex with a kilo of dex and a few galena hops get pretty damn close.

[SimonH]

ah ok sounds good. I did a straight coopers lager from the kit and can't say that was toooo great, it had that really honey this is a home brew flavour to it (before ageing tho). Maybe the Mexican one is different though. Do you think it's worth buying a second fermenter and racking it? I'd like to drink it on a hot day straight from the bottle so little yeast sediment would be good.

As i've looked into doing a Corona i've learnt how little respect this label has from home brewer's! Not sure why tho, not buying all that skunky taste thing either. Can't beat an ice cold one on a hot day. The blandness and flatness is what makes it so refreshing, IMO.

[Chris]

Racking will reduce the amount of yeast in the bottle- obviousy, there still will be a fair amount, but less than if you bottle straight from primary.

I'm assuming that this'll be a summer beer, which works well, as the longer the beer is in the bottle, the more it attaches itself to the base of the bottle- hence even less yeast sediment.

And Corona is what it is- a light, flavourless beer. If that is all you want, then go for it. HB is all about making what you want to drink.

[Lachy]

HB is all about making what you want to drink.

Very true.

If you're looking to make something like a Corona, now is probably the optimum time to do so. Corona is a very lightly flavoured lager, and to brew this without getting funky flavours that overpower the light malt flavour requires a cool ferment and decent yeast.

If I were looking to make a Corona-style beer I'd probably start with the Coopers Mexican Cerveza kit. It's relatively inexpensive, so I won't be too sad if the thing doesn't work out. I'd ditch the kit yeast (I belive it's an ale/lager blend... easy to ferment, but not what we're looking for) and replace it with something like Saflager S23. Others here will suggest just adding a kilo of pure dextrose to the brew to bring the SG up to what we want. I'd suggest trying something like 500g of dextrose and 500g of LDME, or if you can get it, some extra light liquid malt, of which 600-700g would be fine instead of the LDME. I'd boil the malt with a few litres of water (say, 5l), and I'd throw in some Galena hops, probably around 10g. I'd give this lot a boil for 10 minutes, strain out the hops and add the liquid to the fermenter, along with the kit-o-goo, the dextrose and enough water to bring it up to 23l, and then finally pitch the yeast.

I'd then try and find the consistently coolest part of the house and stick the fermenter there. Oddly enough, I find the laundry works fine for me and I've had no problems maintaining a fermentation temperature of about 12-13 degrees. A mate of mine uses, of all things, the toilet at the back of the house. More sensible and/or married brewers are usually asked to use the garage for this. I'd let the beer ferment for two weeks, and then rack for another week just for optimum clarity, and then bottle as normal. However, if you don't have a second fermenter to rack to, just allow a three week primary fermentation and bottle then. The result should be pretty clear, as S23 tends to flocculate out pretty well. However, you'll probably want to let the beer condition for some time before drinking... lager yeasts often generate hydrogen sulfide, and that is very detectable in lagers that are opened young. If you can, let the beer sit in a cool dark place for at least three months before getting stuck in.

[drsmurto]

ah ok sounds good. I did a straight coopers lager from the kit and can't say that was toooo great, it had that really honey this is a home brew flavour to it (before ageing tho). Maybe the Mexican one is different though. Do you think it's worth buying a second fermenter and racking it? I'd like to drink it on a hot day straight from the bottle so little yeast sediment would be good.

As i've looked into doing a Corona i've learnt how little respect this label has from home brewer's! Not sure why tho, not buying all that skunky taste thing either. Can't beat an ice cold one on a hot day. The blandness and flatness is what makes it so refreshing, IMO.

And this is different from a glass of cold water how exactly?

[KEG]

erm... not quite so bland and flat?

[drtom]

And this is different from a glass of cold water how exactly?

Well, it costs more so it must be better.

Mind you, with the price of bottled water, I could be wrong there.

T.

[gregb]

In terms of recipes though, a glass of water doesn't present any where near the challenge of a Corona.

Cheers,
Greg

[warra48]

Buy an Aus megabrewer lager.
Half fill the glass with water. Top up with the megabrew.
There you have it at half the price.

However, all joking aside, I'm prepared to accept anyone brewing any style they like, if that's what they want. That's the beauty of homebrewing.

I don't brew lagers, because I brew for body, maltiness, flavour and hoppiness, so I'm no help unfortunately. The advice from Kevnlis, Chris, and Lachy seems to be sound.

[drsmurto]

apologies for the misleading advice

I should have mentioned the slice of lemon...

[StuTee]

Can't beat an ice cold one on a hot day. The blandness and flatness is what makes it so refreshing, IMO.

You've got my support, besides, water has no alcohol.
Someone on here said to chuck a door-stop or something similar under your fementer (elevating the tap), so all the sediment sits away from it = less into the bottles when bottling.
Was very very good advice for me.

[Tipsy]

Can't beat an ice cold one on a hot day. The blandness and flatness is what makes it so refreshing, IMO.

You've got my support, besides, water has no alcohol.
Someone on here said to chuck a door-stop or something similar under your fementer (elevating the tap), so all the sediment sits away from it = less into the bottles when bottling.
Was very very good advice for me.

+1 on a 30 odd degree day it's great, don't let the beer snobs put you off

[Chris]

I don't brew lagers, because I brew for body, maltiness, flavour and hoppiness, so I'm no help unfortunately.

You are brewing the wrong kind of lagers warra!

[Kevnlis]

Mexican Cervezas tend to be light struck and have high levels of DMS. There is nothing about not liking this that makes one a beer snob, just a person with a nose and a tongue!

These flaws are somewhat hard to pick up in such a tasteless beer... which is normally served as near to freezing as possible... with lime just to be sure to be sure...

[SimonH]

drsmurto, StuTee nailed my thoughts. Haven't got a problem with you comparing it to another lager but how many times are you sending a Corona back for a water? That's 15 years in some countries.

[drsmurto]

I'll drink a West End before i drink a corona, at least i know its fresh and not skunked and doesnt require a piece of lemon.

As Kev said, not drinking Corona isnt because I'm a beer snob, drinking a beer that has BEEN DELIBERATELY exposed to UV light to give it its characteristic flavour (skunked) requires me to disconnect my nose and taste buds from my cerebral cortex.......

If anyone wants a lesson in the organic chemistry behind this travesty i am more than willing to get back on my soap box.....

Drinking Corona in my bar doesnt get you 15 years, its a life ban

[gregb]

...If anyone wants a lesson in the organic chemistry behind this travesty i am more than willing to get back on my soap box.....

Be a handy bit of info, but in a separate thread.

Cheers,
Greg

[drtom]

Drinking Corona in my bar doesnt get you 15 years, its a life ban

Strong words! I used to like Corona, so be nice! Of course, now I know that every Corona is a missed opportunity to drink something better. Forgive them, for they know not what they do.

dT.