You can't really do a lager from a kit, the problem is lager takes time with such a low temperature and in this time with tap water you are likely to get infection, with a larger every thing needs to be boiled and everything keeping really clean, and in this weather clearly a brewing fridge is a must. Larger needs a special yeast and temperature is around the 12 degs C or less other wise it is not a lager. Lager refers to brewing method not the taste or colour you can get dark lagers.
However you can brew light ales using yeast which requires around 20 deg C which taste very like a British lager, German lagers can be dark which is why I say British. But again it does need the brew to be kept at max 24 degs C which without refrigeration is a problem.
There are yeasts which will work at hotter temperatures without giving off tastes, but since I do have refrigeration I have not tried them, I like bitters so it is Sottish heavy near every time for me. I did in early days try many different kits, but at that time I had no temperature control, so tasting good or bad was more likely to be because of temperature than to if a good kit or not.
The problem with many of the reviews is people buy the kit then don't follow instructions so the beer does not really taste as the kit was designed but often better because the sugar has been replaced with some other fermentable medium like dried malt, so the ã12 kit really costs ã17 so needs comparing with other two can kits rather than a simple single can kit. Nothing wrong with using sprayed malt and special sugars but then it is no longer that kit.
I have had some good accidents one time I used an old orange squash bottle which clearly had not been washed out well enough, the brew was lovely, however my attempts at adding orange simply did not work, not a clue why but what I am saying is to rate a kit you really need to make it up at least 3 times as things which we don't consider can effect the taste both good and bad.
So I used mainly youngs harvest range and Geordie range mainly bitters, Yorkshire has a really bitter taste, the simple bitter is slightly smoother, and the Scottish heavy the least bitter of the three, and with youngs range Scottish heavy has more sugar so has a higher %ABV.
Best I have brewed was a Scottish heavy (Youngs) with just 1/2 kg sugar and I used a Geordie lager kit to replace the missing sugar, they were going cheap when Morrisons stopped doing beer kits. I have heard how others have used two kits instead of sugar and also got really good results.
But what you really have to do is return to school science lessons, and carefully note method, and conclusions for each kit tested and try to only alter one thing at a time. What I have tried is start a kit in the fermentor for 2 days, then transfer into 6 demijohns each with some thing different in them. Example is one with Ginger, one with Orange, one with licorice root etc. Then you can really compare as all have same conditions except for what is added, of course one with nothing as a control.
So step one is find one kit you like, step two is experiment with it. But always one step at a time. I have been experimenting with temperature, until I have selected the best temperature range no point in also trying different kits, up to now I have found 18.5 deg was really too cool, 19.5 deg works better, also found I can split into two stages first 10 days at 19.5 and second 10 days at 22 degs C. I have found swapping the fermenter for a clean one after first 10 days reduces the sediment when bottled, I have found how important it is when siphoning beer to have the tube into bottom of fermenter or bottle you are filling. I have found 2 litre pop bottles make bottling easier, and quicker, plus if you make an error an bottle too early you can test without opening and easy release excess pressure without needing to recap. It is all a learning curve. Even putting labels one with Selotape so slugs and snails don't eat off the labels when stored in the shed.
Once you find the beer you like then it becomes so much easier, as I said I used Scottish heavy and with temperature control I have no need to use hydrometer (although I do just to check) I know 10 days at 19.5 and 10 days at 22 and it is ready to bottle. It is in garage in a fridge/freezer with temperature controllers keeping freezer at 19.5 - 20 and fridge at 21 plus only heating in fridge no cooling and each brew is looked at 3 times, start, transfer, and bottling, bottles have first 10 days in fridge with fermenter with next brew to bottle, after 10 days moved to shed. The watching air lock bubble are things of the past. Except for experiments, norm is two stand brews then an experiment, at the moment the experiment is Orange Brandy kit claims ABV of 20%.
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