So, I wanted a new hobby. I'm home from school wanting to save up cash before heading back. I roamed though youtube and saw people brewing from LME kits and thought hummm I could do that. So not wanting to be dissapointed I purchased a LME kit Brewcrafts Dutch Lager. Thinking uhmm lager is a easy drinking beer so how hard can i mess it up. I just used tap water through the whole process (my tap water gets up to 117f). It was amazingly simple not a single fermentation issue or anything maybe begginers luck. I bottled it saturday and tried it today monday. I know, I know let it carbonate in the bottle for 1 week but I just wanted to make sure it came out good. I poped open one of my 30! groslch bottles and heard that perfect sound "pop" poured the mildly cloudy golden brew. It was lightly carbonated a little flat to the tounge but still crisp enough to taste it. Is it just me or is everyone's first taste of home brew a moment of euphoria its like "damn, I can't believe i made this it taste better than 99% of the bottled beer i've tried." Maybe i just had great luck and good fermentation (lager was fermenting at a steady 70 degrees) I don't care what people say about LME kits its amazingly good. Don't judge i'm a noobie
Holy Wow! Tasted my first batch ever
- Thread starter tenchu_11
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Good to hear you are enjoying the hobby. However, lagers typically ferment in the 50s before enjoying a few weeks or months near freezing (hence lager, which means "to store"). Ales are much easier to make and ferment in the mid 60s usually. What kind of yeast came with this kit?
JOHN51277
Well-Known Member
Does it taste like nanners?
I believe a lot of packaged commercial "lager" kits are really lager-ish tasting ales (light colored, clean tasting ale yeast).
Nothing wrong with that, it just takes some re-education about what a lager is and whatnot, but the beers are probably just fine.
Nothing wrong with that, it just takes some re-education about what a lager is and whatnot, but the beers are probably just fine.
You're lucky your first batch turned out so well. It wasn't my experience when I started homebrewing. My first beer was an extract pale ale and ended up chock full of acetyldehyde. It never quite recovered. But congratulations, when your first turns out so well, it's quite encouraging. Let me also add that as you get more experience, your beer will continuously get better. 
LOL. Depends on how you conduct yourself.
Homebrewing can save money... it did for me when I was in college. But back then I just had a carboy, bucket, airlock, hose, bottle capper, and a 3 gallon pot. I recouped those costs pretty quickly and was in the black after that.
But, it's an entirely different story these days.
Homebrewing can save money... it did for me when I was in college. But back then I just had a carboy, bucket, airlock, hose, bottle capper, and a 3 gallon pot. I recouped those costs pretty quickly and was in the black after that.
But, it's an entirely different story these days.
I can see that, if you're a beer drinker. For me, if I wasn't brewing I'd probably be buying 2 six packs a month. Now instead I'm spending about $25-40 a month on ingredients. I love beer, but I'm not a "beer drinker" so this hobby saves me nothing really.
A homebrewer who does not consider himself a beer drinker. That's kind of interesting.
At any rate, with the kind of beer I like to drink, just buying a couple of 6-ers at the grocery would cost me $20-25. To be honest, my wife drinks more beer than me! I'll have at least one beer a day, usually with my dinner. Maybe another one later in the evening. SWMBO is the same, but the 2nd evening beer is almost a guarantee and not a "maybe" for her.
Between the two of us, we go through probably 100 pints per month, and neither of us ever puts a buzz on at that rate. At $1.75 a glass (average commercial price for what we like to drink), we'd be spending $175 per month on beer at the grocery! I probably spend 1/3 of that making the beer @ a rate of 5 gallons every two weeks.
At any rate, with the kind of beer I like to drink, just buying a couple of 6-ers at the grocery would cost me $20-25. To be honest, my wife drinks more beer than me! I'll have at least one beer a day, usually with my dinner. Maybe another one later in the evening. SWMBO is the same, but the 2nd evening beer is almost a guarantee and not a "maybe" for her.
Between the two of us, we go through probably 100 pints per month, and neither of us ever puts a buzz on at that rate. At $1.75 a glass (average commercial price for what we like to drink), we'd be spending $175 per month on beer at the grocery! I probably spend 1/3 of that making the beer @ a rate of 5 gallons every two weeks.
IBENAK
Well-Known Member
Congrats on your first brew. I hope you continue to do well in the hobby.
Nick
Nick
OP
OP
tenchu_11
Well-Known Member
I let it ferment at what I thought was mid 70's but then i put a thermometer at ground level next to it and it fermented perfectly at 58f. After a week I decided I didn't want to kill the yeast (i'm a noob so 58 was probably perfect for a lager). I let it sitt at 70 for a week to age then in the secondary for 2 days at 58F to let some of the junk settle before bottling. As for yeast i'm not sure what type of yeat i'd have to do some research it was just stock dried yeast that came with it.
I'm sure it'll be fine. Congrats!
I remember my first batch I did with my 2 roommates in college. 2 weeks in a carboy, 2 weeks in the bottles, and then 2 days to drink the whole damn batch.
We decided to start a pipeline at that point and the madness began....
I remember my first batch I did with my 2 roommates in college. 2 weeks in a carboy, 2 weeks in the bottles, and then 2 days to drink the whole damn batch.
We decided to start a pipeline at that point and the madness began....
KFBass
Well-Known Member
My first was a Christmas gift. A mr beer kit. I've been a bit of a foodie for a while and craft beer was nothing new to me so when I tasted that Mr Beer (I believe it was a west coast pale ale) I remember thinking "okay, yes it's beer, but how can I make it better?"
Thats when the long hard road began. I like the citrus smell some beers have..oh that's some American hop varieties? Well I should get some commercial examples, then try to brew one (result, a citrusy grapefruit almost aroma from my KFBass brand Pale Ale). Tried a maple porter, now want to replicate ect...ect... Like I said. Long hard road. hard on the wallet sometimes.
To the OP: I've probably got 10 batches under my belt (both figuratively and literally). My advice to a beginner is stick with ales. They are a bit more forgiving. Get a second carboy and start some apfelwine. Move to partial mash asap. The difference will be noticeable and delicious. There is nothing wrong with kits, don't let anybody tell you there is. It's worth it to use liquid yeast. Don't ever go back to mass produced crap beers (though I know the states has both more crap, and more craft then Canada at times). You will notice you pallet developing, and probably hate beers your friends all agree are "premium".
Above all else and often repeated, but hard to practice. RDWHAHB
Thats when the long hard road began. I like the citrus smell some beers have..oh that's some American hop varieties? Well I should get some commercial examples, then try to brew one (result, a citrusy grapefruit almost aroma from my KFBass brand Pale Ale). Tried a maple porter, now want to replicate ect...ect... Like I said. Long hard road. hard on the wallet sometimes.
To the OP: I've probably got 10 batches under my belt (both figuratively and literally). My advice to a beginner is stick with ales. They are a bit more forgiving. Get a second carboy and start some apfelwine. Move to partial mash asap. The difference will be noticeable and delicious. There is nothing wrong with kits, don't let anybody tell you there is. It's worth it to use liquid yeast. Don't ever go back to mass produced crap beers (though I know the states has both more crap, and more craft then Canada at times). You will notice you pallet developing, and probably hate beers your friends all agree are "premium".
Above all else and often repeated, but hard to practice. RDWHAHB
glad to hear you like the hobby and beer. now don't let the secret out, there are already enough of us 
OP
OP
tenchu_11
Well-Known Member
I felt bad opening poping the first bottle after only 2 1/2 days after bottling. But after reading post of people having contaminated beers and what not, I couldn't help but taste it. I was worried that after all my efforts I would..get crap i've had the ungrateful pleasure of tasting home made wine with a wild strain in it.... not palletable. But like i said beginners luck and the only reason i said it tasted better than the 99% of bottled beers i've ever tried instead of 100%, is because I love widemier's hefenwiezen. I will attempt a hefenweizen next see if i can change taht 99% to a 100%. I'll be sure to brag about it here Thank you all for the positive feedback.
Thank you all for the positive feedback.Dr_Gordon_Freeman
Well-Known Member
My first beer was awesome IMO... who knows how much of the opinion is due to the fun of brewing it myself
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