new brewer

[hailtotheale]

hi all i have done three brews (lager) and have noticed they all have a similer taste, kind of a twang, is this the case with homebrew. i have a coopers brewmaster pilsner kit to do and i am hoping it will taste better than the previous (coopers australian lager, mexican cerveza and muntons pilsner. any hints or tips to brewing a good kit lager would be most appreciated, thanks.

[KevP]

Interesting about a Campden tab not working in the wort, I dont doubt that, but I seem to recall doing a Woodfordes kit, a Wherry I think, and it supplied a Campden tab to put into the wort before pitching yeast.

[garwatts]

KevP wrote

I seem to recall doing a Woodfordes kit, a Wherry I think, and it supplied a Campden tab to put into the wort before pitching yeast.

Funny I didn't get any campden tablet with my Woodfordes kits.

Chris-x1

Regarding sugar, particularly in some Coopers kits, they suggest using 500g of spray malt and 300g spray, i'd just go ahead and use 1kg of spray malt for ales and 750g spray malt + 250g dextrose (glucose/corn sugar/brewers sugar) for lagers.

"

Surely by the time you bought a 1kg of spray malt to add to your ale you might as well have bought a better kit?


I have just bought some spray malt and it was £3.75 for 500g. Beer enhancer was the same price for a 1kg. I have two Geordie kits (a Bitter and a Yorkshire Bitter) and plan to user the enhancer with one and the 500g of spray malt and 500g of brewers sugar with the other? have also bought some Fuggles and Goldings (Morgans) finishing hops to try with them?

Bear in mind I am a novice.....What do you think?

[brysie]

seems to me that what you get out is largely to do with what you put in.

if you use the cheapest refined sugar you can get, while this may well produce a satisfactory beverage, it cant compare with
one brewed with lme/dme.

a lot of these posts recently seem to be from us newbys trying to make decent lager from cheap kits and then after the excitement of having
made beer for ourselves, feeling a bit let down that its not as good as the lager we usually drink.
when you think that a decent bottle of something like say peroni or kronenbourg is nearly 2 quid and the cost of a pint of home brew
lager is probably more like 25 pence, its hardly surprising that one better.
ive had much better tasting results using all dsm over refined white sugar.
ive also found that bitters and ales seem to yield better results than cheap lagers.

still its fun learning.

[garwatts]

I can't complain. Everything I have made so far has been excellent and better than some of the rubbish that certain pubs can dish up. I am looking forward to getting my AG kit made up and experimenting with the various brews.

[brysie]

nice one.

i havnt looked at the all grain forums much but ale and bitter seem to be more successful than lagers.
do you know of any uk microbreweries that do a lager?

[garwatts]

brysie wrote

i havnt looked at the all grain forums much but ale and bitter seem to be more successful than lagers.
do you know of any uk microbreweries that do a lager?

conditioning woodfordes wherry with extra 250g dark muscovado

No but will ask my guy to see if he knows. Why do you ask? What did the Woodfordes Wherry turn out like with the muscovado added

[Garth]

do you know of any uk microbreweries that do a lager?

Durham Brewery do a Cask Conditioned lager, I can't remember the name but we had it at the festival last year.

[Dill]

Surely by the time you bought a 1kg of spray malt to add to your ale you might as well have bought a better kit?

I have just bought some spray malt and it was £3.75 for 500g. Beer enhancer was the same price for a 1kg. I have two Geordie kits (a Bitter and a Yorkshire Bitter) and plan to user the enhancer with one and the 500g of spray malt and 500g of brewers sugar with the other? have also bought some Fuggles and Goldings (Morgans) finishing hops to try with them?

Bear in mind I am a novice.....What do you think?

Beer enhancer is usually 50% DSM and 50% glucose. So effectively you have made both your kits using a Beer enhancer, One redy made and one you made yourself

[garwatts]

Dill wrote

Beer enhancer is usually 50% DSM and 50% glucose. So effectively you have made both your kits using a Beer enhancer, One redy made and one you made yourself

Thanks Dill, told you I was green. So economically better just to use beer enhancer as they are both the same price

[brysie]

garwatts i wondered because none of the local breweries i know of do lager.
badger for example, just up the road seem to stick to the bitter/ale route as do sharps and blackawton.
now is that because the lager market is so competitive or the beers much more expensive to produce? or is it
because from my limited experience of kit brewing, ales seem easier/ more successful to brew, given our climate etc.

i suppose badger isnt what you could call micro really, but they seem to have stayed well away from lagers.

[garwatts]

No I guess they feel lager is too well catered for by the big boys. It's funny but I can remember years ago saying if all there was to drink was Badgers I would be teetotal! Now I find it's one of my favourites, especially Golden Glory and Champion.