New to home brewing. Have tried the Mr Beer American Classic Lite(comparable to Bud Lite, Coors Lite etc…) 3 or 4 times, still getting slight aftertaste. Mr Beer recommend 1) allow wort to cool 1 hr before adding to keg 2) use a different brand of sanitizer 3) use a different brand of purified water. Still a slight aftertaste. After brewing, keg is kept in a dark closet for about 7-10 days at a constant 70-72 degrees; bottled in dark glass bottles and kept same as above for 3 weeks. The beer is not undrinkable but not what I’m after. Maybe some different refill kit suggestions, brewing/bottling ideas, not sure; like the home brewing just frustrated! Thanks in advance!
Fermenting in a closet at 70-72 may be too high.
There’s no way you are going to be able to duplicate an American Lite Lager without good temp control and a good understanding of yeast and fermentation. For any lager, German, American, etc. you will need to ferment the beer in the 48-52 range with a true lager strain for at least 48-72 hours. You could make a great ale as well with the same recipe and use dry yeast but even then fermentation will need to be kept under control, low 60’s high 50s.
I brew commercially and it is certainly not impossible to make a Lite American Lager but for beginners it is a fairly mighty challenge. Those beers have almost ZERO flavors to begin with, any fermentation mistake is going to show up very easily.
+1
I recommend that you take your beer to a local Homebrew Club. They can help you identify the aftertaste, how it got there and how to remedy it.
Welcome to the hobby. Learning is an exciting adventure!
It is probably temp related but can you tell us what the aftertaste tastes like? Metallic, cardboard or some other flavor?
As an example; I noticed a metallic aftertaste from my American wheat last night but only in the first glass. My second was clean. In my case it is either oxidized due to old age or I need to clean my beer lines (or both). Different flavors mean different causes, usually.
We;come to the fun!
Paul
Besides Majorvices spot on advice, I’ll bet that extract twang or old malt extract is a component of what your tasting.
The 70-72 is probably still too high, but just to clarify (since I started on this exact same recipe as well) the “American Lite Lager” from Mr Beer uses Ale yeast. I assume the “lager” is the style they are trying to replicate (B/M/C type beers) but it’s not an actual lager. It was very confusing talking to people about it, especially early on when I didn’t know as much as I know now.
In theory, sanitizer shouldn’t affect flavor, but what are you using? Bleach or iodine might leave a flavor if it was too strong. I’d recommend something like StarSan that doesn’t require rinsing.