Heineken Lager (2A) - EXTRACT Homebrew Ingredient Kit

Gaylord R. I cooked up this brew on 25 June, and racked it into the secondary fermenter on 4 July. It took a little longer than expected before I noticed the bubbling after I put it in the primary however it started up and seemed happy. It stayed in the secondary till 8 July at which time the SG registered at 1.011 so I bottled it. OSG= 1.062-1.011 FSG=.051X131=6.68. I am going to guess that the higher OSG was due to the alcohol boost that I added. I refrigerated some this A.M. 31 July, it said best after 3 weeks or more. Well I tried some with lunch and it wasn't bad however it more closely resembles Heineken dark than regular Heineken. The color is dark and it has a hoppy more bitter aftertaste, however it is smooth and quite drinkable. It pours a great foamy head with lots of staying power but it is not overly carbonated. I really pushed the drink date because I ran out of store bought Heineken and was eager to try it. It should become more mellow with age, if it lasts long enough, and I am sure I will do some more. The beer has not cleared as well as expected, guess next time I will use a clearing agent at the end of the boil and see if that helps.

After 3 weeks in the fridge for lagering in the keg, it became quite clear. You can watch the yankees through it!. A very good easy to drink beer. I still have to do the taste test, but it looks the part. Surprisingly since before this I had no idea how to lager. I put outside for cool temps , while it was in the primary--5 days maybe. Well then I copped on and kept in the basement ~50 for 5 weeks, did the daicytl rest for 3 days ~62, and then kegged for 2 weeks. At 3 weeks it's much better than 2, and I expect it to get better. I'll give a follow up with the taste test.

Allow this fine lager to age 5 months or more at 34 to 45 degrees. An aquaintance was visiting from Europe, and was so impressed with it's "authenticity" that he accused me of re-bottling the commercial version. Thanks for a GREAT "clone" to all the guys at AHS!

Well, it's all gone sad to say, and it never really closely resembled the real Heineken but it was gone before it had really matured so my guess is it would have come closer if it would had half a chance to age a while longer. I do not discourage anyone from trying this brew kit; it was quite drinkable 4 weeks after bottling but at that time Heineken it is not.