My experiences so far..

Since I first registered and posted here, I've made a Coopers Lager kit which turned out pretty terrible. I followed the instructions included with that kit, 1 week in the fermenter and 2 weeks in the bottles. This was a terrible brew. I've got a few bottles of that first batch left, they've been in the fridge about 2 weeks now (for a total of 4 weeks in bottles) and they haven't improved at all.I just don't know why it turned out as bad as it did, maybe I didn't sanitize properly or something. After the Coopers kit was out of the fermenter and into the bottles, I followed it up with a Festa Brew cream ale kit. This one turned out pretty good, but still a few bottles weren't much good. I again followed the directions included with the kit, 1 week in the fermenter and 2 weeks in bottles. Once that kit was consumed (which occured rather fast ), I started a Festa Brew dry kit. I decided to try leaving this particular one in the fermenter for 2 weeks this time. I also bought a carboy because I thought priming the batch would be easier that way. I siphoned off the brew from the fermenter into the carboy, poured in the priming sugar (i used dextrose because I was feeling cheap), gave the mix a good stir then bottled it. That was 4 days ago now, and I opened one bottle to check earlier today. No carbonation detected, but I suppose that's to be expected after only 4 days. I'm hoping this current batch turns out even better than the Festa Brew cream ale. I'm still feeling a little letdown after the failure of my first brewing experience.

the problem with kits is that the instructions base brewing on a calendar. 1 week in primary and 2 in bottles is nowhere near enough to make beer. your hydrometer should the the judge of when your brew is ready for bottling, and it should sit in the bottles for a good 2-3 weeks before it's conditioned and ready. but the kits don't want you to do that, they want you to brew fast, buy more, drink sub-par beer.

neosapien said:

the problem with kits is that the instructions base brewing on a calendar. 1 week in primary and 2 in bottles is nowhere near enough to make beer. your hydrometer should the the judge of when your brew is ready for bottling, and it should sit in the bottles for a good 2-3 weeks before it's conditioned and ready. but the kits don't want you to do that, they want you to brew fast, buy more, drink sub-par beer.

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That's exactly right. The best thing you can do is read as much info on brewing as you can. (not just the generic instructions with the kit.) Then you'll start to be able to judge on your own when your beer is ready. Oh and I know its tempting to be impatient, but opening a beer after only four days in the bottle is just a waste. Don't feel too bad though. It's a learning process.

I'm a newbie brewer as well, but I do have some advice from what I've personally experienced, read in books, and read on here.

(Sidebar: this site is immensely helpful to new brewers. Everyone here is very accepting and willing to lend a hand. While there may be differing opinions, they all help shed light on brewing.)

A few notes: 1) Don't go by the kits (I use them too) to time your fermentation. Let your hydrometer be your guide. If you don't have one, use patience and go conservative, e.g. let it sit 3-4 weeks. 2) Get a bottling bucket. It makes the process much easier. 3) Did you dissolve the priming sugar in boiling water before adding to carboy? 4) Lagers ferment differently than ales, so maybe that explains the poor first batch?

Good luck with future brews and welcome to the obsession, er, hobby. Yeah, hobby.

Don't forget temperature control, when brewing ales (I do 64-66*) can make a big difference, but even more so in lagers. Using a different strain of yeast than came with the kit can yield different results as well.

Valentini said:

Good luck with future brews and welcome to the obsession, er, hobby. Yeah, hobby.

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it's only an obsession if you start going to meetings!

neosapien said:

it's only an obsession if you start going to meetings!

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I go to one monthly and have dreams about brewing, but I'm not obsessed...

I just started yesterday. It's difficult to say where I am in terms of experience, but I bought my kit from a small company of experienced brewers and it came with instructions separate from those in the beer kit.

So far things look to be on pace. I know primary fermentation can take a few days but it's already looking good. I may have overfilled the airlock and I'm nervous about moving it because of suck-back. I also should have used vodka.

I'm expecting this batch to be not so good because it's just a primer for me. I'll almost certainly be brewing more after this, so hopefully now I'll figure out the mistakes so that I don't make them a second time. Secondary fermentation will start either Sunday or Monday and I'm excited. Nice to be part of the forum here

I'm only five batches in myself. I assumed first 20 or so batches was learning. First batch tasted off after 2 weeks in bottles but now is pretty good. Second batch was stellar right away. Third is pretty mossy so I'll let it sit a while. 4th was great my first time kegging. 5th is in bottles now but showed promise at bottling.

While I struggle with the patience that is required, I just love the process itself and the learning experience (OK, and the drinking too). And the collegial atmosphere on here, at my LHBS and at online stores is amazing.

Cheers!