The first batch of 'Munich Lager' was initially sampled by co-taster Barney and I after it had been in the bottles for only nine days on Sunday 15th April. The consensus was that it had a very 'green' nose and tasted vaguely like 'cider' with an almost apple like flavour.
As it happens I was away for work last week so wasn't tempted to drink it again so on my return on Saturday (21st April) I was keen to open another couple of bottles to see if it had improved. The beer had been in the bottle for a total of 15 days before tasting and it had vastly improved on the previous tasting at 9 days. The 'cidery' taste had all but disappeared and it actually tasted like beer! Pretty dull and boring beer but it definitely tasted like beer! Here are some more observations:
1. Colour and Clarity - this would have been helped had I taken the time to add the clarifying agent to the brew before bottling it but in my impatience to get it into the bottles I wasn't prepared to wait the recommended two days. I would describe it as slightly murky with some residual brew matter in it.
The colour is best described as on the golden side of yellow whereas the Hofbrau Original poured a more yellow colour.
2. Tasting the beer - while the beer is definitely carbonated, on pouring it into the glass there was not a great deal of fizz activity and very little head. I wonder if this will improve over time? Lagers are generally described as 'crisp and clean' and on tasting the beer I can't say that there were any stand out flavours other than it tasted like a refreshing beer - utterly unremarkable in most respects but still it tasted like a beer.
I thought it would be a good idea to have a Munich style Lager available to taste at the same time to give some perspective on what flavours the style lends to the beer so I picked up a bottle of Hofbrau Original from the bottleshop. Unfortunately it was two months beyond its best before date which didn't help things at all. In fact, the home brew was a good deal more pleasant to drink.
So that concludes the first attempt at home brewing. I managed to follow the process to a sufficient level which resulted in drinkable beer. I'm looking forward to keep on tasting it over the next couple of months to see how it changes in the bottle but now my attention will turn to more home brew research and the 2nd brew.
As it happens I was away for work last week so wasn't tempted to drink it again so on my return on Saturday (21st April) I was keen to open another couple of bottles to see if it had improved. The beer had been in the bottle for a total of 15 days before tasting and it had vastly improved on the previous tasting at 9 days. The 'cidery' taste had all but disappeared and it actually tasted like beer! Pretty dull and boring beer but it definitely tasted like beer! Here are some more observations:
1. Colour and Clarity - this would have been helped had I taken the time to add the clarifying agent to the brew before bottling it but in my impatience to get it into the bottles I wasn't prepared to wait the recommended two days. I would describe it as slightly murky with some residual brew matter in it.
The colour is best described as on the golden side of yellow whereas the Hofbrau Original poured a more yellow colour.
2. Tasting the beer - while the beer is definitely carbonated, on pouring it into the glass there was not a great deal of fizz activity and very little head. I wonder if this will improve over time? Lagers are generally described as 'crisp and clean' and on tasting the beer I can't say that there were any stand out flavours other than it tasted like a refreshing beer - utterly unremarkable in most respects but still it tasted like a beer.
I thought it would be a good idea to have a Munich style Lager available to taste at the same time to give some perspective on what flavours the style lends to the beer so I picked up a bottle of Hofbrau Original from the bottleshop. Unfortunately it was two months beyond its best before date which didn't help things at all. In fact, the home brew was a good deal more pleasant to drink.
So that concludes the first attempt at home brewing. I managed to follow the process to a sufficient level which resulted in drinkable beer. I'm looking forward to keep on tasting it over the next couple of months to see how it changes in the bottle but now my attention will turn to more home brew research and the 2nd brew.
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