Couple of Lagering questions..

OK...
I cleared out my outside fridge and am ready to roll with some ingredients arriving this weekend - my 1st lager. I have a couple of questions..

1. What temp do I need to START the lager at? I think I read somewhere that you need to start it at a higher temp until it gets going, then move it to cooler temps.

2. What is the LOWEST temp that you can lager at? I have a fridge that is now dedicated to beer. At its highest temp, it sits at about 40-42 degrees. This is at the lowest range of any lager info I've found. I don't think it'll freeze in there and I know the yeast activity will generate some heat... but I want to make sure I dont' stall it out.

Otherwise, thanks a ton for all of the advice. I've been homebrewing for 2 months and have 6 batches in various stages. I know what people are getting for xmas this year!
kahunaman is online now Report Post

You could use one of these to better control your fridge/freezer temp. Set the fridge to the coldest possible setting, then use the external thermostat to control power to the fridge so it stays just where you want it.

I'm in the "pitch at fermentation temperatures" camp. I know that some sources tell you to pitch warm and then cool, but that doesn't make sense to me. I don't pitch my ales at 85, and then lower to 65, and I don't pitch my lagers at 70 degrees and then lower to 50.

Most lager yeast strains do well from 48-55 degrees, but check the yeast strain that you will be using.

It's important to make a big, big starter with lager yeast. I like to make it about a week in advance, and step it up once or twice, then put in the fridge when it's finished so that the yeast flocculates to the bottom. I then decant the spent wort and I like to pitch the yeast when it is 46-48 degrees into wort that is 50 degrees. That seems to make the yeast happy, and encourages them to get to work. You don't want a temperature shock, so just a couple of degrees works great.

After primary fermentation is over, I've needed a diacetyl rest a couple of times. That will depend more on your yeast strain, because some yeast produce more diacetyl than others. I taste for diacetyl about 3/4 way through primary fermentation. If there is any hint at all, I do a diacetyl rest at about 10 degrees warmer than the primary fermentation temperature.

After primary (or the diacetyl rest, if doing), I rack to the secondary. I then lower the temperature 5 degrees per day until I'm lagering at 34 degrees. I stay at 34 degrees for 6-12 weeks, depending on what I'm making. The bigger beers are longered longer.

Fermenting and lagering are two different things. The fermentation will happen around 50 degrees. The lagering is the phase where the lager will smooth out, the proteins will settle out, conditioning will take place, etc, and that is done as cold as possible without freezing the beer.

I like this portion of howtobrew.com for explaining: How to Brew - By John Palmer - What is Different for Brewing Lager Beer?

I do my lager primary fermenting in a cooler, for now. With a foam plug on top and a frozen 2 liter bottle of water inside, the better bottle stays at about 49*.

I secondary and lager it in my kegerator at 38*.

I'm looking at designs for a dedicated fermentation cooler. I want two different temperatures and to get away from using ice. There are a LOT of designs out there.

This is all great feedback thank you.

So would it be safe to say that I would do the primary fermenting in a fermenter... say at 50, and then at the point when I would normally move an ale to a secondary... I rack it to a secondary and then start the lagering process?
Thank you - I'm excited for this beer.

kahunaman said:

This is all great feedback thank you.

So would it be safe to say that I would do the primary fermenting in a fermenter... say at 50, and then at the point when I would normally move an ale to a secondary... I rack it to a secondary and then start the lagering process?
Thank you - I'm excited for this beer.

Click to expand...

Yes, that would would be ideal. Don't forgot to take the SG before racking, and taste for diacetyl. Diacetyl has several presentations, depending on how much diacetyl is produced. It's know as a "butterscotch" flavor, or like buttered popcorn. But in lessor amounts, it might just be oily feeling on your tongue. If there is any slickness or oiliness, (or even just to be extra cautiouus- some people do a diacetyl rest with all lagers), make sure you do the diacetyl rest before racking. The yeast will clean up the diacetyl, but they have an easier time of it while still on the yeast cake.

After that, it's safe to rack to secondary.

I pitch my yeast while it is still warm.
Once the fermentation starts I put it in my fridge.
I start with the temp as high as I can get it, then work it down to the yeast recommendated lagering temp 45-55 degrees. Let it fermant for about a 7-10 days, bring the temp back up slowely (dieltic rest) and it usually ferments a little more, drop it back down graduially. By gradually I mean 3-5 degrees a day.