Cheap lager kit Qs

[suitsyousir]

Hello again all

I am normally an Ale/Stout brewer and drinker, but have been considering a lager for a while and managed to get a John Bull Lager kit from Wilkos reduced from £13 to £8 as it had no yeast or instructions!! Just wanted to ask a few questions before I started with it, hope thats ok!

1) Is there anything different in the brewing/bottling process that I need to consider specifically for lager as opposed to Ales/Stouts?

2) Can I use normal Ale yeast which I have already or do I need a specific lager yeast?

3) Are there any little tweaks I can do with lager i.e. adding lime juice. I have tried stout with black treacle and dark brown sugar and ales with golden syrup, honey etc.

Thanks very much

Leigh

[cellone]

Hi. I'm pretty much sure it's a "lager style kit" and not a true lager so you can brew the same way you have been doing. Batch prime with around 160g sugar for a bit more fizz.

[suitsyousir]

OK, thank you. I was planning to bottle prime with 1 teaspoon of sugar rather than 1/2 teaspoon that I use for ale, will that still be ok?

[cellone]

That will do the trick. You could use a lager yeast and brew it a bit cooler if you can, if not treat it as an ale. If you wanted to brew a nice "lager style" beer but can't brew at a lower temperature then the Coopers Heritage Lager and Betterbrews Pilsner are good and can be brewed at around 18 to 20 C ( don't know how to type the degrees symbol).

Nick.

[suitsyousir]

I generally ferment in my airing cupboard or outbuilding whichever is warmer at the time. Perhaps Ill try the garage as it will be slightly cooler than those, but should still be warm enough! It is the John Bull and I only bough it cheap, Im not normally a lager drinker. IN fact, we had a party here for the M-I-Ls 60ths last weekend, and her other half came to collect the left over bud/fosters yesterday. Luckily for me, my OHs side are all lager drinkers, and don't care for my home brewed ale . I won't tell them about this buy tho

[cellone]

I brew because I don't like Fosters, bud or Girlsberg, Some of the lagers I brew are given the thumbs up from ale drinkers. Worth a try.

[suitsyousir]

Nice one