Mexican Cerveza

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Mexico is known for its arid lands, dusty conditions and oppressive heat. So it’s not surprising that the people of Mexico are expert at quenching a thirst.

Coopers DIY Beer Mexican Cerveza emulates the style of the finest quality beers exported from Mexico. This premium beer is light in style with a fresh clean taste, ideally served ice-cold with a wedge of lime or lemon.

A specifically selected 7g Coopers Yeast is supplied with this Brewing Extract.

Recommended to be brewed with (23L):

1 x Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 (1kg)
1 x Coopers Carbonation Drops (250g)

PRINT RECIPE

MIX
20 Mins

BREW
7 Days

BOTTLE
40 Mins

ENJOY
2 Wks

MAKES
23L

*Approx.

ABV*
4.5%

Ingredients

1 x Mexican Cerveza (1.7kg)
1 x Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 (1kg)
1 x Coopers Carbonation Drops (250g)

Preparation

Check best before date on the base of the Brewing Extract can.
Ensure you have access to water suitable for drinking.

Hint: If you don't plan to make the brew straight away, store the yeast in the fridge.

Clean & Sanitise

A major cause of failure when brewing is infection due to poor cleaning or sanitising. All equipment that will come in contact with your brew must be cleaned before your first brew and sanitised before subsequent brews.

FIRST TIME USE

Rinse the Fermenting Vessel (FV), Krausen Kollar, Brew Kit Lid and Spoon in hot water – don’t use a cloth as this could introduce infection. For your first brew rinsing is sufficient, for future brews it is important to sanitise using an unscented household bleach.
Disassemble the two-part Snap Tap and rinse in hot water.

CLEANING & SANITISING FOR FUTURE BREWS

Rinse or soak all brewing equipment in water until caked on residue is softened.

Note: Avoid any forms of detergent or soap unless specifically made for brewing.

Remove residue with a soft cloth and rinse thoroughly.

Note: Do not use any cleaning aid that may scratch the plastic.

Remove the snap-tap and separate into its two main pieces, clean any residue then reassemble and refit.
Ensuring the Tap is inserted, add ¼ cup of unscented household bleach to the FV.
Place all equipment in the FV, fill with cold water and let soak for at least 30 minutes.
Rinse out with hot water to remove all traces of chlorine odour.

Wet Run

When pitching your Yeast, getting your brew temperature right (approximately 21°C) is important, the first time you brew we recommend you do a “Wet Run” without ingredients.

Using cold water, fill the FV to the 15 litre mark and make a note of the temperature. Your Thermometer Strip may show colour in 2 or 3 panels, the middle of this range is the temperature of your brew.
Continue filling to 23 litre mark, using either hot or cold water so that you achieve an 18°C - 21°C water temperature. If your tap water is over 21°C, chill 3 or 4 PET Bottles of water in the fridge for a few hours to use in your brew.

Mix

Remove the label and place the Mexican Cerveza Brewing Extract can in warm water for 10 – 15 minutes. This will make the Brewing Extract easier to pour.
Open the brew can with a can opener, ensuring cutting end is clean.
Add Mexican Cerveza, Brew Enhancer 2 and 2 litres of water to the FV and stir using the Spoon. Be careful not to scratch the bottom of your FV. You may wish to add a small amount of warm water to the can to get the remaining extract out.

Note: Don’t be concerned if lumps form when adding the extract and enhancer, they will dissolve and ferment over the coming days.

Following the procedure used in your wet run, top up with hot or cold water to 23 litres, targeting 21°C.
Add (pitch) Yeast by sprinkling it over the top of the brew. Original Gravity (OG) will be 1038 +/- 2. There is no need to measure this.

Important: Even if the brew temperature is outside of the 21°C - 27°C range, but within the range of 18°C-32°C (64°F-90°F) add the yeast. At this point prompt addition of yeast is more important than ideal temperature.

Insert the Krausen Kollar and fit Brew Kit Lid with Lid Clips.
Leave brew to ferment.

Brew

SIGNS THAT FERMENTATION HAS STARTED INCLUDE: foam on the top of the brew, sediment forming on the bottom of the FV, a sample drawn from the tap is cloudy and foamy or the SG is less than 1032.

While your brew ferments try to keep the brew temperature consistent and at the lower end of 21°C - 27°C.
Once the foam has subsided (usually on day 3 or so), remove the lid, then remove the Krausen Kollar for cleaning and replace the lid.

Note: You can place the Krausen Kollar in the dishwasher.

On day 6 measure the Specific Gravity (SG) of your brew. Specific Gravity is a measure of your brew’s density relative to water.
Remove the Hydrometer and draw 30ml of beer into the Sample Flask from the tap, discard this first sample, then fill to within 3cm of the top of the flask then float the Hydrometer. It’s best to do this over a sink.
Taste your sample. At this stage it should taste like warm, flat beer – YUM!
Take the SG reading; the Hydrometer is read at the point where the graduated scale on the stem meets the level of the liquid (meniscus).

Note: If your sample is too gassy to get an accurate read, then you can de-gas by passing the sample from one glass to another several times.

Repeat the process for consecutive days until the SG reading is stable over 2 days. This indicates Final Gravity (FG) and means your brew is ready to bottle!

Bottle

Rinse your Bottles with cold tap water. For your first brew rinsing is sufficient, for future brews it is important to sanitise using an unscented household bleach.
Insert the Bottling Valve into the Snap Tap.

Note: You may wish to soften the end of the tube by sitting it in hot water for a minute or so before firmly pushing the tube into the tap and allowing to cool.

Pull the Snap Tap handle to the “on” position.
Place a bottle under the Bottling Valve and raise it until the base of the bottle touches the valve & beer starts flowing.
Fill bottle to the brim; when it is removed you will have the correct amount of headspace.
Add two Carbonation Drops to each 740ml bottle.
Screw caps onto bottles tightly.
Store the bottles away from direct sunlight at or above 18°C for at least 2 weeks.

*WARNING – GLASS BOTTLES MAY EXPLODE IF BEER IS INFECTED, OVER PRIMED OR FERMENTATION IS INCOMPLETE*

Enjoy

After a couple of weeks check the PET bottles feel firm, if so, they can be chilled as desired for consumption. We recommend serving your beer from a glass. For ease of cleaning, rinse out PET bottles while the contents are still moist.

Hint: Your beer will taste great after two weeks. However, storing (conditioning) your beer beyond two weeks will improve the aroma, flavour, mouthfeel, clarity and help to produce a finer bead (smaller bubbles) to produce a more persistant, creamy head. The appropriate conditioning time in the bottle can also depend on your personal preference.

Calculating Alcohol Content

Your hydrometer is used to measure Specific Gravity (SG) or density with respect to water.

To calculate the approximate alcohol content of your brew:

Measure the SG at the beginning of your brew - Original Gravity (OG).
Measure the SG upon completion of fermentation – Final Gravity (FG).
Remove the decimal points (eg. 1.038 is expressed as one thousand and thirty eight).

Formula: (OG – FG) / 7.46 + 0.5 = approx. % Alcohol By Volume (ABV)

Note: 0.5 is added to allow for the extra alcohol produced through fermentation in the bottle. eg. (1038 - 1010) / 7.46 + 0.5 = 4.5% ABV

Approximate Original Gravity (OG) and Final Gravity (FG) readings range for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 x Mexican Cerveza (1.7kg)
1 x Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 (1kg)

Made To: 23L

Approximate OG: 1038

Approximate FG: 1008