My first post & my first brew

By 'things are working away' do you mean you have yeast bubbling activity?

Is your pitch temp (71 F) what was recommended by the recipe and does it agree with the yeast specs?
Is the fermentation temp (66 F) also what was called for by the recipe? Usually lagers are fermented somewhere around 50 F. You need to look into this possible issue.

 

Well, I've never used the cooper lager kits, so with that said;

Was any of the extract you used, hopped? If it wasn't then you will not be happy with the results, as the beer will be all malt and no bitterness to balance the sweetness.

I'm not sure what brew enhancer is however, assuming it's a sugar packet to boost the abv of the beer.

That said, pitching at 19C wasn't ideal. Thats around 71-72, and a bit high. You should rather pitch cooler, allow to rise to your desired temp and have it held there. After fermentation slows, you can allow the temp to rise.

Which begs another question.. Lager kit, ale yeast.... You aren't making a lager here with those temps and yeast, so don't be looking for it to taste like a lager, or be a lager.

Have fun with it. Check the gravity with a hydrometer in about a week, and see where you are at. Don't bottle without making sure it's done.

 

I was going to say the same things, but then paused to look up the "brew enhancer", got distracted by "breast enhancer" (ok, kidding), so the above beat me to it.

It appears to be unhopped. You'll end up with fermented malt, and no bitterness. Of course, some lagers are very lightly hopped anyway, but hops still serve a purpose. Back in the old (really old) days they didn't use hops, but they flavored with other things instead. You could add some hops to "dry hop", but that won't add any bitterness, just aroma.

It seems to me that your fermenting temp needs to be double checked. The pitch and ferment temps are high for lagers, even for "steam beers". For perspective and context, some people don't ferment ales that warm.

I don't want to be a pessimist... You'll get beer, it'll likely taste unique compared to what you may be expecting. However, you made it, by yourself, and that counts for something.

Edit: This isn't all bad. You'll learn what malt tastes like and will taste the flavor impact of the yeast, as well as flavor impact of technique errors without the "distraction" of hops. You can then make the same exact recipe with some hops and taste the difference.

 

It may be that the Coopers Lager kit the OP used is hopped. See this.

 

That would be awesome for him. He said "no hops this time around" so I assumed it was not hopped.

 

To the original poster: I forgot to say: "Welcome to the hobby!" (how insensitive of me)

 

Pretty piss poor directions to tell you to pitch that warm.

I'd suggest pitching it around 60-65 next go around.

 

well there COULD be lots of questions here, and some have asked them already. But if you're already using a fermentation vessel with a controller, you're covering one of the fundamentals right there (control of fermentation temperature is huge). Sanitation is also big, and if you're already using starsan, that's another check mark in the fundamentals list.

For future batches, hopped extracts may in fact be good or even great, but I wouldn't know because I haven't tried them. However, I have tried brewing with hops, and you'll want to keep using them from here on out (and you will see why when you smell them, both from the package and when you add them to the boil). For extract brews, use unhopped extracts and add hops to the boil. Find a good recipe thread here and you'll find the proportions and amounts aren't that hard to determine. As for varieties, the sky's the limit* on which ones you choose to use.

19C sounds pretty close to the right temperature for US-05, which is an ale yeast. I ferment at 64F for ales, and get fine results. That's why you'll get questions on your use of the word "lager." Lager yeast is a different beast, and technically you've made beer, but haven't made a lager.

And yes, pitching temperature for ale yeast should be below 70F. If you're not there yet, a wort chiller (and possibly a pre-chiller if your tapwater is typically warm, like it is in the south most of the year) should be at the top of your list. A pre-chiller is essentially another wort-chiller inline with your wort chiller, but you submerge the pre-chiller in ice. Once you've got the setup, we can discuss the optimal usage. The pre-chiller I have isn't as big as my wort chiller (I made it out of some spare copper tubing I acquired, so it doesn't have to be expensive).

Has your reading included how to brew?

*as a digression, I really want to try those experimental chocolate hops, but I resisted, albeit with difficulty. I'm NOT buying any more hops till I use up the ones I have.

 

Glad to hear your first effort turned out well. If a hopped extract kit produced beer better than most store beer, you're really going to love the results with more advanced kits/DIY recipes.