Coopers Mexican Cerveza OG too low

nightman26

hi new to forum and new to brewing so hope to learn a lot anyway first question

this is only my second attempt at a home brew, the first was a Coopers Australian lager which came out fine,
mixed as the instructions and OG was 1042 which i think is about right
this brew the Mexican Cerveza came out at OG 1030, way too low, i even only made 20 liters as i heard it would give it more body!
i mixed it well enought, the only thing i can think of is i used 1kg of brewing sugar instead of the brew enhancer Cooper's recommend,
i just made it yesterday, and its started fermenting  but can anything be done to improve what i think is going to be a disaster! (weak brew with little body) can i add sugar or anything else to it,
i was thinking of dissolving a cup or 2 of sugar and adding it,or is it too late to bulk it up with the coopers enhancer but not sure if this will work i dont want to totally wreck the fermentation
anyway any help appreciated

HBO_Staff

The reading is low, but just bear in mind that often the readings are wrong for various reasons, and that it is the reading that is wrong and not a problem with the brew. It would be intersting to know the current gravity reading, as this can sometimes help to highlight a rogue reading. By reducing the volume to 20 liters this will increase the strength and flavour, but brewing sugar will not cause you any problems and is perfectly good to make the Cerveza with. We always recommend upgrading to the enhancer whenever possible as this will improve the flavour, body and head of the finished brew, but we appreciate it adds to the cost so quite a few people don't use it for that reason.

If you have already added 1kg of brewing sugar we don't recommend now adding anything else at this later stage, it could cause problems and you can be confident it was a rogue reading and you will end up with a decent strength lager, stronger than what Coopers say for the full 40 pints (23 litres), as there is practically nothing to go wrong if the volumes are right. You may find brew enhancer might not dissolve properly and clump up as it is normally added when the liquid is warmer at a much earlier stage.

If you think there was a problem with the quantities then you could add more sugar and it will ferment, but it is best not to interfere with it if the reading was just suspect

nightman26

thanks for the reply, the reading was not suspect, i gave it a good stir and made sure it was mixed properly, i took a reading from the top of the wort then about 5 minutes later took a reading by drawing some out of the tap, i also tested the hydrometer  with tap water which came out at 1.000 at room temperature, so i think i might draw about 500ml out of the tap and dissolve  a cup of sugar  in it then slowly add it.
Does that sound about right? 

HBO_Staff

What is the current hydrometer reading?

nightman26

current reading is 1012 and thats  after just  48 hours

HBO_Staff

If you decide to add sugar then as you say perhaps dissolve it first, 500g should be fine, and just make sure it keeps fermenting

nightman26

well its done! put about 500ml of wort into a pan added some cooled boiled water to make it up to about a litre added 500g of sugar, gently added it and my reading is now 1020, i expected it to be a bit higher
but it will have to do.
now i will just wait and see what its like 

HBO_Staff

Hope it turns out well for you, let us know.

davemorton

This might be a stab in the dark nightman but did you buy the starter kit from Coopers?

I am also new to homebrewing and like yourself my first brew went without a hitch, however, on my second brew I got false hydrometer readings with the Coopers supplied plastic hydrometer!! It was saying it was correct in water (1.000) one time I tested and the next it was out.

To solve this I forked out the sum of £3 something to the good folks at HBO for a glass hydrometer and that works brilliantly.

I am now on my fifth brew and for the last 2 brews I have used a HBO fermenting vessel (again a very reasonable price round the £10 mark) with NO tap and an airlock in the lid, when fermentation has stopped and is steady for 24 hours I then syphon from the FV into the fermenter supplied by Coopers (with the tap at the bottom) and bottle from this using the little bottler. It seems to be working well for me.

Let us know how your Cerveza turns out.

sine_nomine

Dave Morton: Keep your Cooper's plastic hydrometer as a backup. My StevensonReeves glass hydrometer has just rolled on to the floor and smashed.

marko

Ooops. Easily done, i've broke plenty, usually drop them when they're wet.  ~X(

nightman26

Dave you got it spot on, yes as i had said the hydrometer was reading 1.000 in water the first time, so
i just presumed it would still be ok, but as with you it now reads about 12 points down!
Yes it was a coopers starter kit,the brew is now clearing will let you know the results, but dont forget i added an extra 500g of sugar, think its gonna be a strong one

luisiher

I am just making this and the OG is 1035. a bit low too but will see

davemorton

That will turn out fine at 1.035 I think. Let us know