Brewed first beer. Secondary Fermentation Questions...

[brewmaster91]

Hello,

8 days ago I brewed my first beer. I used a can of Coopers Draught and enhanced it with a recipe I found on the internet. Here is the recipe and brewing method

BAVARIAN PILSNER
A beautiful beer with medium malt characteristics and the
unmistakable aroma and flavour of Saaz hops.
1 can of Coopers Lager or Draught
500g Dextrose
300g Light Dry Malt Extract
20g (0.7 Oz) Saaz Hop Pellets

-Brewing Method
1. Gently boil the hop pellets in 1 litre of water for 10 minutes.
2. Mix the boiled hops and water with other ingredients in the brew pot with another 2 – 3 litres of water. Heat and stir the mixture to ensure everything is dissolved. Pour contents in the fermentor
3. Add cold water up to the 23 litre (6 gallons) mark and stir well.
4. When the temperature is below 30 deg.C. add the yeast and make your beer the usual way.

I used distilled water and a carboy. I kept the temperature in the low 60's the entire time.

Today I racked the beer into a secondary carboy. I tasted the beer and it seemed more bitter than I expected.

I thought that Saaz hops didn't add much bitterness. Is this just a result of the beer being too young? I planned on adding the small amount of hops I have left (0.3 oz) to the secondary to add aroma. Will this increase the bitterness?

The beer also didn't seem to have much body, so I added the small amount of DME I had left (around 3-4 oz) to the secondary. I know this won't make much difference but I didn't have a use for such a small amount anyways. After I read online that I should have boiled it first. With such a small amount of DME will not boiling cause a problem?

Currently it is a copper color. I used Northernbrewer's pilsen DME. Is it just darker because of using a kit and my brew pot only holding 1 gallon of water?

How long should I leave the beer in the secondary fermentor and is temperature control as important as in the primary fermentation?

Thanks,
Robert

 

[eastoak]

dry hopping will not add bitterness. as for adding DME for body the yeast will ferment the DME and i doubt it will add much body. carapils, malto dextrine, crystal malts etc, will all add body. at this point there is not much to do but wait it out and see what happens.

 

[beng]

Sounds like you just need to get a quality kit from somewhere like northern brewer or midwest supplies.

Personally I wouldn't mess with this one anymore, write it off as a loss(drink it still) and get a better kit.

 

[agentEhrman]

Sounds like you made a beer to me. Let it sit in the bottle for a few weeks and then drink it. Enjoy it, its your first beer. Next time you will know more about how to tailor your brew to your tastes.