Better Brew Export Lager review

[darwenbrew]

I found this kit in my LHBS and thought I would give it a go as the guy at the shop said they were good kits.

I brewed the kit with 500grms of Light DME and 500grms of dextrose. The instructions state to leave the kit in the fermentor for 10 days. It had stopped fermenting at 10 so got it bottled and conditioned it for a week before tasting.

The taste test was a real success, the beer has a nice floral characteristic from the hops. It's a very clear and clean. Its only a young beer but I have drunk about 10 pints of it already. Don't think this one will last very long.

This is probably the best beer kit I have done, the only one that comes close is the cooper euro lager.

Having read a lot of the reviews of better brew kits they seem to be a good range. Think I might give the others a go.

Overall score for the beer 8/10

 

[NewbieBrewer]

Ive Just ordered this with a kilo of muntons brew enhancer hope its as good as the reviews say :drunk:

 

[Monte Cristo]

This was my first experience at home brewing so I don't have anything to compare it to at the moment but here goes!

I did the kit as the instructions with a 1kg of brewing sugar, I didn't take the sg as I didnt have a hydrometer at the time. It said 10 days on the package but mine took around 14 as I had it at a lower temperature it finished at 1010 (had bought a hydrometer at this point).
I batch primed and bottled it but used 180g instead of the stated 150g as I had seen someone on the net doing the same kit and he had use that amount. The brew carbonated up nicely and I stored it 2 weeks before trying it.

The first bottle I tried had a good frothy head and had cleared perfectly with a lovely colour, the taste was better than expected although it did still have a slight home brew tang to it.
After another 2 weeks the home brew taste has all but gone and it has made a very drinkable brew, it's not the most flavoursome but i'm sure a bit of tweaking could alter that.

So overall very pleased with my first attempt and would probably do again.

 

[BollingBrew]

Having done the Better Brew Czech Pilsner, dry hopped with Saaz pellets, a couple of times with great success I decided to have a crack at the Export Lager.
Started it on 3rd of May, brewed to 20l with 1kg BKE @1042.
Racked on 12th @ 1014. On 22nd added 30g Tettnanger pellets.
Bottled on 1st of June & just tried 1st bottle. Not bad at all, very pleasant lagerish drink with a lovely subtle hop bite

 

[Becklee]

Having done the Better Brew Czech Pilsner, dry hopped with Saaz pellets, a couple of times with great success I decided to have a crack at the Export Lager.
Started it on 3rd of May, brewed to 20l with 1kg BKE @1042.
Racked on 12th @ 1014. On 22nd added 30g Tettnanger pellets.
Bottled on 1st of June & just tried 1st bottle. Not bad at all, very pleasant lagerish drink with a lovely subtle hop bite

HI

I am new to brewing (done 2 so far) and not yet ventured into adding hops and trying different sugars. I have just bought a Better Brew Czech lager and seen you have used Saaz hops. Could you please tell me when you added them, how much you used and how long you soaked them for. I have bought the 2.1 Kilos 40pint/23L kit.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[clibit]

You can boil hops for a few minutes or add them in the fermenter about 5 days before bottling or kegging.

Rather than use Saaz, you could try using a variant of Saaz like Sterling or Motueka, which are bred from Saaz but are grown in hotter climates and have a fruitier flavour. But you may just want a traditional style lager with a straight Saaz flavour, obviously.

 

[Becklee]

Thank you for the advice. I will look at the hops you suggested.

As a Newbie and lager drinker, any Brews you have made or advice you can pass on would be great.

 

[clibit]

I don't drink lagers often or make lagers ever. To make true lager you need lager yeast and lager fermentation temperature, 12-14C. A lot of people use US05 yeast to make a pseudo lager at ale temperatures, around 20C.

If I was a lager drinker I would experiment with hops and jazz them up that way. Add some Cites hops, for example, and you have a beautiful flavour, a new type of lager.

 

[MyQul]

Thank you for the advice. I will look at the hops you suggested.

As a Newbie and lager drinker, any Brews you have made or advice you can pass on would be great.

I'm not a lager drinker or maker either but from the small amount of reading making lager I've done, to make a proper lager you need two things, 1)lager yeast and 2) cold fermentation and conditioning temperatures

1) I see your a kit brewer, be aware not all lager kits contain lager yeast. I'm not sure which one do and which ones don't but if you ask on this forum there's usually someone who will know if a kit that you have in mind contains lager yeast or ale yeast. If you brew a lager kit with ale yeast you'll end up with a pale ale (pseudo lager, as Clibit has pointed out) .

2) If you a really into lagers and want to make them all year round you really need a brewing fridge as lager require much colder fermentation and conditioning temps than ale does. I'm not sure of the required temps as it's not a style I make but a quick google will tell you, also the techniques (as AFAIK there quite specific) on how to brew lagers. You can 'make' a brew fridge by finding an old domestic fridge on ebay/freecycle/whathaveyou and re-purposing it. Here's a very informative thread on doing it http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51855
The other way to do it is to brew seasonally - brewing lagers in the winter, fermenting and conditioning in the coldest part of your house/garage/ etc

 

[Becklee]

Clibit suggested using proper lager yeast and brewing at lower temperatures, I will definately try doing this. I only started brewing a couple of months ago so thought kit with all ingredients in would be better. I have tried 3 different ways of 2nd fermentation fro my 1st brew to see which comes out the best.

I am going into my LHBS tomorrow so will seek advise and no doubt come out with arm fulls of supplies

The ready made kit ones brew at 20 degrees so that is not to bad at the moment but I have bought a fridge for the garage to store my brews in.

Thank you for all you information, very much appreciated.