So I'm drinking my American Premium Lager kit now, bottled on Jan 31. I made it with 1056 American Ale yeast which I washed and put in a fridge in November; about 50ml of yeast slurry in the jar. I took that yeast and made a 1L starter with 100g DME boiled for 15 minutes. I used RO water to make up the 8L required and left it undisturbed in the primary for 3 weeks. No airlock, just the snap on lid.
Cleanest tasting beer I've made yet from these kits. And so much less work than doing a secondary. I'd highly recommend this method!
I'm excited to have some of my friends and family try this batch.
Glad to hear that you tried it just with the primary with the snap on lid and it turned out okay. I have been hesitant to try this as I wasn't sure how sanitary it would be for a longer period of time. I'd love to not transfer to a secondary but I can't make it past 10 days before I get too worried and transfer it so I can put an airlock on it.
And just as an update, I'm getting more and more impressed with these kits;
I have the Cream Ale that's been in bottles for about 5 weeks and it's really good. I used Wyeast 2565 (Kolsch) and am very happy with how it turned out (having one right now actually )
I also just bottled what I hope to be nice brown ale. I used FlyGuy's recommendation and steeped 3/4lb of crystal and added it to a Munich Dark Lager kit. I pitched Wyeast 1028 London Ale and fermented for 30 days. I'm excited for this one
And I'm also a week away from kegging my first beer! Finished my keezer and a Prairie Wheat is almost ready to go in. I did a Prairie Wheat as my first brew and thought it would be a good idea for it to be the first in a keg too. That way I can compare the two a lot easier.
If I keep liking these kits I fear it's going to be a while before I go to extract.......well, at least until I've gone through all the styles....