# The Brew House Mexican Cerveza



## Pablo

I started my Mexican Cerveza kit this weekend. I'm usingWyeast 2112 yeast. It was slow to start. The little pack inside did not break when I smacked it. I massaged the pack and thought it had opened. I cut the package open and found the error. I cut it open and mixed the two together and then pitched it into the wort. Maybe by summer I'll have a nice brew to beat the Texas heat.


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## Scott

Please keep us informed Pablo that sounds like a thirst quencher!


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## Dean

this one is certainly a house favorite here! Sounds like you are doing it right and I'm sure you will enjoy this very much. Every time I keg one of these up, friends always find excuses to come over. I rarely have a keg last a weekend.


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## smurfe

Did you dump after you mixed them together? If so, that is probably the slow start. Didn't have time for the little starter to get going. If you don't have capabilities to lager, that was a good yeast to use. Still need to keep it on the cool side at the low side of ale yeast temps but overall, it is a pretty good yeast.


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## Pablo

I waited 30 minutes or so to pitch after I mixed the packets. I have a lager fridge. It's at 59 degrees right now.


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## smurfe

Pablo said:


> I waited 30 minutes or so to pitch after I mixed the packets. I have a lager fridge. It's at 59 degrees right now.










If you have a lager fridge see if you can find some WLP940 Mexican Lager Yeast for a MexicanCerveza batch. I see it is a Platinum strain now and may be hard to get as they only release them for a month or two but it would make you a close to Corona beer. I have used it for other lagers as well. The best beer I ever made, a Honey Lager used this yeast. Absolutely fantastic.


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## Pablo

I rackedmy batchto a secondary carboy today.


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## Pablo

I washed, sanitized, filled, and capped 64 bottles today. Tasted and smelled good. I'll wait at least 4 maybe 6 weeks to try a bottle.


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## uavwmn

Pablo, this was my first beer kit and it was pretty darn good. Let it sit for awhile in the bottles. You won't be dissappointed.


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## Travisty

Pablo said:


> I washed, sanitized, filled, and capped 64 bottles today. Tasted and smelled good. I'll wait at least 4 maybe 6 weeks to try a bottle.




Hope you primed them too!


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## Shorttdogg

I just picked up a Brew House Mexican Cervesa kit today. I won't be able to start the kit for 6-7 weeks or so, and I do plan on purchasing a liquid lager yeast from WYeast (Activator, not Propagator).

A few questions:

1) I don't have a 10 gallon fermenter. I was planning on fermenting in two 6 gallon glass carboys. This would mean I'd have to do my best to split up the pH adjuster, water, etc. Assuming I did a good job of that, any concerns?

2) I've never made a beer kit before, and don't really know how to "lager". I just so happen to have a regulator for my chest freezer to cold ferment my white wines so I'm set from an equipment standpoint. How do I differ from the instructions that come with the kit? 

-Do I pitch the liquid yeast at room temperature, wait until the fermentation gets going, and then put the carboys in the 55F chest freezer?

-Do I pitch the liquid yeast at room temperature, let the fermentation proceed at room temperature until the foam blows off, and then put the carboys in the 55F chest freezer?

-Something else?

Also, how do I know when the lagering is complete? Do I check w/ a hydrometer and wait until the SG is .994?

Finally, I assume that once the foam has blown off I should rack both carboys to a single vessel to prevent oxidization.


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## Travisty

Here's what I would do: 


1) I wouldn't really worry about two separate fermenters. I would just use a 6.5 gallon carboy or one of the 7.9 gallon buckets. Just rig up a blow off tube using the main body of a three-piece air-lock, a 1/2" hose, and a jug half filled with water or sanitizer. This way you don't have to worry about getting the additives split up exactly equally. If you absolutely have to use two fermenters, I would still mix it up in one and then split it equally into two carboys so you know everythings is homogenous.


2) I haven't made one of the brewhouse kits, but I imagine the big differences will be fermentation temps and times.


-Ideally, for a lager you want your wort to be at least at fermentation temps before you pitch your yeast. I've also heard to pitch with the wort a few degrees cooler than ferment temps and let it rise naturally to your ferment temps. If you pitch at room temp the yeat will create a lot of esters and/or phenolics you don't want in a clean lager. They can also produce fusel alcohols


Also, with a lager, you should really be sure to pitch plenty of yeast. That activator pack will not be enough on it's own. You can either purchase multiple pack of the yeast or you can make an appropriate sized starter. Check out www.mrmalty.com for info on how to make a yeast starter and for a pitching rate calculator.


The lagering phase doesn't actually technically start until after fermentation. Your going to ferment to completion in your primary, then rack of the yeastto a secondary and drop the temps much closer to freezing. That is the lagering (cold conditioning) phase.


Also, your never going to get a beer down to a SG of 0.994. In beer you're going to always have some unfermentable sugars. I would guess a mexican style cervesa will have a target final gravity of around 1.008-1.010.


All of that to say, with this being your first beer, a lager may not be the best way to start out. There's a lot more involved than there is with an ale. My sigguestion would be to just follow the instructions for now, and then after a few ales when you're nice and comfortable with brewing, you can move to lagers. You can still use that chest freezer though. Use aclean american ale yeast like Wyeast's 1056 or White Labs WLP001 and ferment it somewhere around 62 degrees or so and you should end up with a very nice clean tasting ale. No, it won't be a lager, but I bet it will still be very nice!


If you do go the route of an ale, I would even suggest not doing a secondary. Most experienced homebrewers have given up doing secondaries on ales unless you're dry-hopping or using fruit or wood. Just let it ferment out and sit for a couple weeks or so to let the yeast clean up after itself.


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## Pablo

I used a single 6.5 gallon glass carboy. I pitched yeast at 59 degrees. I let it go 2 weeks in primary and then racked to secondary for 1 week. It cleared a lot in that final week. I could see through the carboy. I did not experience much foam. I used a blowoff tube as the other kits foamed like crazy but did not need it. 
















The Wyeast 2112 yeast acts like a lager yeast but is an ale yeast. Use it at the low temperature of the scale. 
http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=131


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## Jackie

I love this beer in summer. I use a true lager yeast (never saw the WLP940 though) with a quart starter, a 6 gallon better bottle carboy with a blowoff tube. I've always pitched at room temp and so far no off flavors that I can detect.I ferment at about 48 degrees for2 weeks.After racking to secondary,I lager at about 30 degrees for a month or more before clearing/bottling. This is a real crowd pleaser around here.


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## Shorttdogg

Jackie said:


> I love this beer in summer.  I use a true lager yeast (never saw the WLP940 though) with a quart starter, a 6 gallon better bottle carboy with a blowoff tube.  I've always pitched at room temp and so far no off flavors that I can detect.I ferment at about 48 degrees for 2 weeks.  After racking to secondary, I lager at about 30 degrees for a month or more before clearing/bottling.   This is a real crowd pleaser around here.



What lager yeast do you use?


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## Jackie

I normally use WLP830-German Lager Yeast because it's just a clean (neutral) tasting yeast. I realize there are probably more authentic ones to use. I save the yeast slurry and reuse several times so this works well for different beers. I have to order everything and to order a small item like yeast, the shipping can cost as much or even more than the product. Even though I reuse it, I have a mental problem with the concept of doubling the price to get it shipped so I order it when I'm ordering something else. Unfortunately George doesn't sell liquid beer yeast. 


I forgot to mention, I do letit sit at about 60 degrees for2 daysafter racking from the primary before starting the lagering (they call it a"diacetyl rest" to avoid butterscotch flavor).


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## Shorttdogg

Thanks much for the tips!

Hopefully last question...you mention you save the yeast slurry. Meaning you save the "lees" (I'm a winemaker so I'm using that vocabulary) at the bottom of the carboy? If so, how do you store it (container, temps, etc) and how long can the yeast survive in this environment?


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## Jackie

All I do is pour up the sediment at the bottom of the primary into sanitized mason jars (I kinda shake it up to loosen it; sometimes add a little distilled water if it doesn't want to pour), put the cap on loosely then put in fridge (loose at first to let out CO2--don't want any chance of broken glass but I tighten it up later). When it settles, I pour off the beer on top. 

I store in the fridge. I always make a new starter with it before using though some people don't. It's rarely more than 2 months before I start another one but I keep reusing it about 6-8 times. I think you can do that indefinitely but the yeast will alter over time. I've done it up to a year. If making a different style of lager, I add some chilled distilled water to the yeast cake, shake it up to mix, then pour it off after settling to kinda wash the yeast. I often have 2 lagers going at once (making the most from my fridge) so I just make a double starter. I don't use the yeast from a dark lager to make a light lager but I know the other way around works just fine. 

I'm a winemaker too (right now have white wine fermenting in the fridge) but I started with beer (the sediment is called "trub" in beermaking). If making beer that's not a kit, I pour the wort (ok "must" for wine) though a strainer to get out any hops and have a cleaner yeast cake.


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## Pablo

I popped open a few brews. It's mighty tasty. This may not be around long. I'm happy with this batch.


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## Scott

Thanks for the update, making me thirsty. Have to try it one of these days


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## nursejohn

Hey Pablo, I've been thinking about trying that kit myself. It sounds pretty straightforward. Glad to hear that it turned out good. Thanks for the update, been wondering how it would turn out.


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## Pablo

It gets better with every bottle.


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