I just tried my first bottle from my first batch. It looks like beer, has a head like beer, and more-or-less tastes like beer... only the smell, well it smells a little like cider!
It does has a slightly cidery taste, but it's only a hint - but the main thing is the smell. Could it be that the wort was too warm?
It was a coopers lager with coopers yeast and coopers brewing sugar. You guessed it, I got the coopers homebrew kit
I mixed the wort a bit warm, about 28 degrees, but following the instructions I pitched anyway - overnight the wort temp dropped to 26, then remained at around 24 for the remainder of the fermentation.
The instructions said it should take 4-7 days, but after 7 days the hydrometer read 1011 (Not 1010 as the instructions suggested).
So I left it another day and then bottled (I now understand that 10-14 days doesn't hurt).
Now in retrospect, I realise that a temp more like 19-21 degrees would have been better for the fermentation.
Will this cidery taste disappear as the beer ages in the bottle?
...
Being an impatient sort of chap, within a few days of bottling the first batch, I was down the homebrew shop getting my second set of ingredients.
The bloke in the store was helpful, and I ended up walking out with a 3KG kit of X-tract lager, and some dextrose (to up the strength a little).
That night I sanitised, and then mixed this little lot up (3KG X-Tract kit, and 500g of dextrose). The kit comes with SAFLAGER yeast (which I hear is great), only I think I may have brewed too warm again!
This time round, I pitched into a mix that was too warm, the day before a heatwave! The wort started at 28, then hovered around 26 degrees for the first 4 days, and has been around 22-23 for the last 3. It's still bubbling so I don't have an FG reading yet.
Have I stuffed this one up?
Is a brewing fridge going to be my smartest next move?
Thanks for reading this! Looking forward to some sage advice.
Richard
