Brew # 1 at one month

It's been a month since my first brew (lager) was bottled, so I thought I'd write an update.

The beer has definitely improved since the first few I drank. Time has removed a lot of the excess sweetness that was there initially, and there is definitely more carbonation.

It's nice enough to drink, but the bubbles die off quickly, and the taste is still not quite there.

There's plenty left, and I have some of this brew in the new incubator, although I wonder if it was added too late (4 weeks after bottling). I'll leave it there for a couple more weeks, anyway, and see if there's any difference.

Current timeline:

• Primary fermentation started 19th April
• Bottled 2nd May (+13 days)
• Temperature has been steadily dropping since then to around 17C now
• Some bottles added to the makeshift incubator (+7 days) (temp. ~20C)
• Some bottles transferred to the new incubator (+7 days) (temp. ~20C)
• Other bottles are now in ambient temp of ~17C

Total time = 44 days
Conditioning time = 31 days

Note: Whilst I'm doing relatively small batches (~30 bottles) and treating them so differently, I should probably number each one and track it through the process. I've had one bottle of this brew that was outstanding, but I have no way of knowing what made it so.

Also, I've been reading John Palmer's book, How to Brew. I think I'll be making my own wort in the near future. Or, at very least, doing more with my yeast. Some of what I'm experiencing with the lager could be explained by having bad yeast.