sam adams dark lager for my first "real" brew

Hi

So I have now made a bunch of kit brews using the Coopers Real ale and pale ale kits with nice results.

Would now like to step up a gear and try making my own beer!

I really like the Sam Adams dark lager, so wondered if somebody could receommend me a recipe for something similar to this, which is simple enough for a beginner to follow.

Thanks!

I'm a beginner as well but based on my research Lagers are pretty tough. You'll need some serious temp control to brew a lager.

If you can do a lager, then the recipe should be easy. As was mentioned, though, the fermentation of a lager is finicky. Lagers are fermented cold, but not as cold as fridge temperatures. So, you'd need a way to ferment at 50 degrees. You'd need several packages of yeast (lager yeast) or make a starter for the yeast. After fermentation, you'd need to raise the temperature 10 degrees for about 48 hours, then rack the beer to a carboy and keep it at about 34 degrees for 6-8 weeks. It's not terribly difficult if you have a way to precisely control these temperatures, but you can see that it is often a pain even for very experienced brewers!

Are there any ales you like? Some of the easiest beginner beers are brown ales, like Newcastle for example.