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mcleanmj · 01-11-2013, 10:22 PM

Tomorrow I am brewing my first lager, homebrew store was out of all liquid lager yeasts, so I went with a safale dry lager dry yeast packet and I put it in a 4 pint (1 cup dme) starter for about 16 hours at room temp them moved to the fridge.

Tomorrow going to brew a Vienna lager (1.053 planned OG) 5 gallon batch. I was thinking I would ferment it 1 day at room temp then move it to my cold garage (52 degrees F) where I would leave it for 10-14 days in an ale pail, then rack it to a carboy. Once I have it in the carboy I am wondering how long I can lager it for? I was thinking the longer the better, why not 2 months in the carboy before bottling? Maybe even 3-4?

Is there a point where there is no more benefit to lagering the beer? Is longer better, or what is a good amount of time?

Thanks for the help folks!

**eastoak** · 01-11-2013, 10:41 PM

more is not better, i lager for 6-8 weeks depending on the gravity.

**Jdaught** · 01-11-2013, 10:43 PM

I wouldn't recommend letting it ferment at room temp for the first day. During this time u will get the most off flavors and diacetyl precursors that u don't want in a lager. Start the ferment with the wort in the low 50's. U will still get diacetyl which is why when there is about a third of attenuation left to go u need to bring the temp into the mid to upper 60's for a day or two, d-rest. This lets the yeast clean up the diacetyl. Then lower the temp a few degrees per day to about 40. Transfer to secondary and continue lowering temp a few degrees per day to your lagering temp. Usually lager for about a week for every .008 of OG. This is what I usually do based on info from a couple different texts, "New Brewing Lager Beer" and "Yeast". It's worked pretty well for me. Good luck and hope this helps. Cheers!

mcleanmj · 01-12-2013, 01:18 AM

The guy at the homebrew store told me to let it ferment at room temp for a day, I thought it was weird. So 2/3 of the way into fermentation you bring it up closer to room temp for the diacetyl rest? Maybe 9 days into primary? Then bring it back down and rack to secondary? If I follow correct. Thanks a lot much appreciated!

**Jdaught** · 01-12-2013, 01:34 AM

Yes. That's how I would recommend doing it. Just check your OG and figure the expected FG and about 2/3 of the way through do the d-rest. U just want to make sure they are still active to do the cleanup. If they have already finished then they will just take longer to clean it up during the rest.

McCuckerson · 01-12-2013, 01:53 AM

Pitch a lot of yeast cold (45f) let it rise to 55f, ferment for 4 weeks, keg/bottle and enjoy. If you pitch plenty of yeast and temps are regulated you do not need to lager.

Now if you are talking about clearifying, that's a different story.... good luck

**eastoak** · 01-12-2013, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcleanmj

The guy at the homebrew store told me

you will always want to double check anything the homebrew store guy says. always.

Dave37 · 01-12-2013, 04:06 AM

I have a similar question. Hope the OP doesn't mind the slight thread jack. I plan on brewing jamils traditional bock soon and was reading in the book that if you get your yeast and wort down to around 44F, rack the wort off the cold break before pitching or aerating, and slowly warm to 50F over the first 36-48 hours after pitching yeast you can avoid the need for a diacetyl rest completely. I was planning on attempting this method for my first time at a lager and was wondering if anyone has had success or... miserable failure with this style of fermentation and lagering. He also states that very generally that for an 8% ish lager around 6 months of lagering or more is needed at near freezing temperatures to get the flavor where you want it to be. My recipe numbers for little barnabus (JZs traditional bock) is going to come in at ~7.0 with an OG of 1.071 if I can hit my numbers like I hope to. I read earlier that a week is recommended for every .008 grav points. Is this for every .08 above 1.000 or every .008 between my OG and expected FG? (1.018) if this was clarified before my post I apologize I must've missed it. Thanks and I hope i was able to stay somewhat on topic and my questions can help with some of the OPs

Thanks

Dave

**Jdaught** · 01-12-2013, 04:50 AM

Above 1.000

I tried the keep it cold and avoid the d-rest method on my last batch of pilsner. Turned out to be a horrible butter bomb that I dumped into my garden. I never let it get above 55 and lowered it as stated. Don't know if I messed up somewhere or what but it didn't work for me. Might try it again after some research but for now I'm sticking with the d-rest.

**eastoak** · 01-12-2013, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave37

I have a similar question. Hope the OP doesn't mind the slight thread jack. I plan on brewing jamils traditional bock soon and was reading in the book that if you get your yeast and wort down to around 44F, rack the wort off the cold break before pitching or aerating, and slowly warm to 50F over the first 36-48 hours after pitching yeast you can avoid the need for a diacetyl rest completely. I was planning on attempting this method for my first time at a lager and was wondering if anyone has had success or... miserable failure with this style of fermentation and lagering. He also states that very generally that for an 8% ish lager around 6 months of lagering or more is needed at near freezing temperatures to get the flavor where you want it to be. My recipe numbers for little barnabus (JZs traditional bock) is going to come in at ~7.0 with an OG of 1.071 if I can hit my numbers like I hope to. I read earlier that a week is recommended for every .008 grav points. Is this for every .08 above 1.000 or every .008 between my OG and expected FG? (1.018) if this was clarified before my post I apologize I must've missed it. Thanks and I hope i was able to stay somewhat on topic and my questions can help with some of the OPs

Thanks

Dave

what book is this in? it seems to be saying that diacetyl comes from fermenting on the break material which is not true at all. maybe i'm misunderstanding.