Cooper's European Lager Review

[Davmcgoo]

2 days? You'll be waiting another while yet

Wasn't quite sure how quickly they carbonate. Slowly starting to get a bit stiffer now. Hopefully after a couple of weeks they will be ok.

[Davmcgoo]

2 weeks since I bottled this so I have sampled a bottle just now after work. Overall I am pleased with it. Only my second kit. Taste is good but I am a little disappointed with the carbonation. Absolutely no head retention and kind of flat. Unsure how to fix this on my next batch. I put 2 carbonation drops into each 750ml bottle and left at the same temperature it fermented at which was about 14-15 degrees. I have read that adding carapils can help with head retention. Any other tips? This is the first drinkable beer I have made so I am still very pleased and excited but plenty of room for improvement.

[La brewski]

had the same problem with my first brew followed instructions 100% and they never carbed i used pet bottles, done another batch in glass bottles turned out perfect i wont use pet again i dont trust them

[molc]

The pet bottles will carb fine but those carb drops are a little annoying. In 500ml 1 is too few and 2 is too much. Also the Cooper kits seem to give terrible head retention - steeping with some oats might help or move onto the other kits. I used to have decent results with the craft range and brewferm ones before moving onto extract, which gave a decent step up in quality.

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[LordEoin]

yeah, steeping some grains and replacing sugar with DME/LME will all improve quality and head retention.
Don't be tempted by 'brew enhancers'.
about 250g of crystal or carapils in every kit.

re PET bottles... i don't think anyone likes them apart from the convenience of a screw-top.