I’ve just brewed my first batch ever. For my first time I went with the Cooper’s European Lager kit.

FG was stable for 3 days (due to some personal stuff I couldn’t bottle it on day 2) and the FG matched the expected end ABV as advertised.

The beer tasted pretty good on sampling before bottling.

So far so good.

One thing I am surprised by, however, is how dark this lager looks. Not sure if this will get lighter during the 2 weeks that it’s suggested to leave it in the bottle, it’s something that can happen to this different batches, or it’s just how this beer looks?

Thanks for any tips/advice anyone can offer :)

  • breakfastmtnEnglish
    5•4 months ago

    Congrats on your first brew!

    You end up with darker beer using extract instead of grain because of Maillard reaction during processing. It may end up looking a bit lighter once it clears though.

    • @[email protected]OPEnglish
      3•4 months ago

      Thanks!

      As I’m new to this I wanted to confirm something. When you say grain do you mean making your own wort?

      • breakfastmtnEnglish
        3•4 months ago

        Yep, exactly!

        Recipes are usually described as all-grain, partial grain, or extract. Partial uses extract for the heavy lifting but you steep specialty grain for flavour and colour.