Wilko light golden lager

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This was one of the first kits that I made - brewed to 23 litres with 1.7kg dextrose (didn't have a clue what I was doing). After 2 weeks in the FV, 2 weeks to carbonate and 3 weeks cold-conditioning it was pretty great. I say specifically after 3 weeks cold-conditioning because, once I had started learning what I was doing with brewing, I assumed it was going to be rat piss, so just drank it along the way having a pint every few days. Initially it was consumable straight from the FV. But, after 7 weeks in total, it got very good - if a little thin.

Today I am about to bottle the second batch - brewed to 20l with 500g medium DME and 1kg dextrose. SG 1053 FG 1008 5.9%. Tastes very drinkable already. Big thumbs-up to Wilko.
 
Just started drinking this after bottling 12 July.

Brewed with 500g DME, 1 kg sugar and some boiled up Saaz hops liquor.

This was done during the warm temperatures and has some off-tastes, including, for the first time, the legendary "cidery taste from table sugar". I quite like this taste and it is much better than my failed efforts on brewing cider per se.

Main issue seemed to be a huge amount of CO2 in the 2L PET bottles. Seems to give an acidic and unpleasant after-taste. Once the excess gas was vented off over a few days, the result is very quaffable indeed. It scarcely seems to touch the sides, as it were. Exactly what is required of this style, I feel. Though I suspect that better and more stable brewing temperatures would have made it OK much earlier. :cheers:
 
Just brewed this as my third venture into making my own beer.

1KG Brewing Sugar
500g Light Spraymalt
Short to roughly 18 Litres

SG 1054

Looking forward to this one as i have just bottled up my dark velvet stout which i am pretty sure i have ruined by putting cocoa powder in.

Now to get down my Rugby Club and encourage people to drink Koppaberg so i can have the bottles.
 
Read a few posts about over priming on this one. If i was going to use 500ml Bottles how much priming sugar would you suggest? I have a few priming drops left over and plenty of table sugar, i do like the priming drops though.
 
8g a litre for a lager is fine, so 4g per bottle. I think the drops are 4g each, but if you count out 10 and weigh them, that will give a more reliable estimate.

A lot of members here favour batch priming in a bottling bucket and it is easier to estimate the priming sugar that way.
 
I popped this on a few days back but mashed some Munich instead of using sugar. The OG was a bit high but not too fussed, will see how it goes.
 
8g a litre for a lager is fine, so 4g per bottle. I think the drops are 4g each, but if you count out 10 and weigh them, that will give a more reliable estimate.

A lot of members here favour batch priming in a bottling bucket and it is easier to estimate the priming sugar that way.

Thank you for this, been searching the forum for a figure of sugar to use. I have 23 litres ready to bottle. Would 184g be an appropriate amount of granulated sugar to use? I am hoping to pick up a secondary fermenter to batch prime, gently stir then bottle from the secondary fermenter. Does this sound reasonable? I am using a Young's lager kit, but there is no mention of sugar in the bottling stage?
 
Thank you for this, been searching the forum for a figure of sugar to use. I have 23 litres ready to bottle. Would 184g be an appropriate amount of granulated sugar to use? I am hoping to pick up a secondary fermenter to batch prime, gently stir then bottle from the secondary fermenter. Does this sound reasonable? I am using a Young's lager kit, but there is no mention of sugar in the bottling stage?

The method sounds good, i would reccomend a vessel which you can attach a little bottler on to.

The quantity of sugar sounds very high to me though but it is a larger so I don't know

last 23 ltr batch I did I used 130 dex. Now if you're using granualted you'd want a bit less than that. These were ales though
 
Right... it's been in the pressure barrel 3 days and it's not fully carbed so it naturally a little "thin" but actually no too bad. There is one or two minor off smells which I'll put down to being a young beer. Taste wise.... it taste like cheap supermarket own brand beer at present with next to no hop profile or bitterness. I can't really review it fairly at the moment as it's still young.
 
I've just put this on.

After a Canadian Blonde, which was much more like ale than expected, I have brewed this to 22 ltr to get a lager taste/thinness but I still want some flavour.

I used 1kg brewing sugar and 500g Muntons light spray malt. Had an SG of 1.042

Question is, should I add a dry hops (SAAZ) which I think helped the blonde?

Any updates from recent brewers?
 
Yes,dry hopping will do nothing but good things to any brew,
This kit needs it but in my view it's just as good a base as Coopers Canadian blonde or Cerveza,all benefit from additions although I would still brew it shorter but each to their own.
Good luck:hat:
 
Cheers pms.

I would normally brew shorter (he says, an expert after 3 brews :nah:) but
i wasnt sure it was right this time. I am aiming for a light summer lager to sup by the bucket load as I frazzle the burgers on the barby.

I will add the hops to get extra aroma/flavour and hope the LSM does the rest.

:cheers:
 
Consider other aroma hops, for a change - Motueka (NZ Saaz), Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo, Sterling (USA Saaz), Citra, First Gold, Challenger, Wakatu, Bobek - all good options.
 
Motueka or Citra. I think you would love either of these, they both make a really pale summer beer into something really wicked, IMO. They both have the a yellow citrus zing, if that makes sense. Amarillo is great too, but more of an orange citrus. If you can't get those, Bobek, Wakatu, Sterling and Centennial will all do a fantastic job too.
 
Brewed short and dry hopped. Begging was a nightmare, anything that could go wrong did, but secondary is going along and I've dropped the conditioning temp. First indications suggest that it is going to be a bit like an 'Export' lager (the Germans do it well, Dortmund Union Export is a favourite).
 
I brewed this in early Dec 2016 as it came with a brew kit I bought second hand to get me back into brewing. It was just a test brew to refresh my memory before doing the better quality America IPA that is fermenting as we speak! I followed the instructions and fermented it for the specified time and then racked it off into my King Keg (Top tap). I tested it after racking and it was still very yeasty but has improved week by week and is now a clear larger colour with half decent head. No great taste but not unpleasant home brew flavour as I used to remember getting!
 

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