lager brew, how much action should I be seeing in the airlock?

jerly · 02-21-2006, 02:10 PM

Hi, I'm on my second batch, and I am trying a lager. I think I should have stuck with ales a little longer. My question is how much activity should I be seeing in the airlock. It started the first visible signs of fermentation about 36 hours ago. about one bubble every fifteen seconds. I brewed it about 50 hours ago. I'm a little worried, because the first ale I did, the airlock was very active, almost nonstop. I imagine lagers would be a bit lower, but I was wondering what I should be expecting?

Regicider · 02-21-2006, 02:35 PM

I have a batch of lager in my secondary right now. I brewed it and left it at room temperature until I saw the first signs of fermentation -- that took about 18 hours, and the airlock got fairly active. This activity dropped quite a bit as I lowered the temp. I'd say maybe two bubbles a minute for two-three days before slowly petering out to nothing.

Even though the (absolute) bubble rate can't really be used to compare different batches (too dependent on differences in setup, atmospheric pressure and the like), I'd think you have nothing to worry about. Open up a can of patience.

Rusty · 02-21-2006, 02:46 PM

Take a gravity reading........

jerly · 02-21-2006, 04:23 PM

Thanks for the replies. Just wanted to be sure because I tasted it before adding the yeast and it was excellent. I want this batch to come out good. It's a pilsner, all malt with liquid lager yeast. I now have it in my basement at about 60 degrees. I will not be able to properly lager it, no fridge. Anything else I should be doing?

Kaiser · 02-21-2006, 05:34 PM

Even though lagers are slower than ales, I think 4 bpm is to slow for a lager during high kraeusen. Did you use a starter?

I assume that you have to little yeast, here is what you can do: Ferment near the upper end of the term range for this yeast. Most lager yeast work fine up to 56-58F.

Additionally, you could grow some fresh yeast in a well aerated starter seeded with some of the yeast from the primary and add this sediment to your primary. But that would be an advanced step.

At the end of the primary fermentation you want to do a diacetyl rest (search for it).

Kai

jerly · 02-21-2006, 06:43 PM

The yeast I used was a liquid pitchable yeast from whitelabs. The guy at the homebrew store said it was ready to go, I just had to pour it in. Would it be a good thing to add some dry yeast to boost it? I didn't do anything to the liquid yeast but mix it around, open it, then pour it in. I have a plastic primary so I can't see into it to tell if I have a lot of foam or not. If I open it up will I be ok on not contaminating it? What is a "normal" primary fermenting time under ideal conditions for a pilsner lager? Thanks for the info.

Kaiser · 02-21-2006, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerly

What is a "normal" primary fermenting time under ideal conditions for a pilsner lager? Thanks for the info.

7 days to get it within 4-6 gravity points of the FG. And about 10 -12 days to ferment it out completely.

My first lager, took 3 weeks and I did the same thing you did: pitched only the package. It came out decent and turned out to be a good dark Bock after 2 months, but not as good as my later lagers, which fermented more cleanly.

My tip for brewing lagers: become friend with the yeast and understand it better.

"The brewer makes wort, But the yeast makes Beer".

Adding dry lager yeast may not be a bad idea, since it should be ready to go immediately and lager yeasts are fairly interchangeably.

Kai

jerly · 02-21-2006, 08:53 PM

One more question.

If i were to add some dry yeast, should i first try to raise the temp of the bucket? It is sitting in my basement at 60 degrees. would raising it do anything to the yeast already there?

Kaiser · 02-21-2006, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerly

If i were to add some dry yeast, should i first try to raise the temp of the bucket? It is sitting in my basement at 60 degrees. would raising it do anything to the yeast already there?

Don't raise the temp for the fermentor any further. If you do this the fermentation will speed up but it will start producing these unwanted esters/fusels. Just rehydrate the yeast in some sanitary 60F water according to the instructions and pitch it. Then you may want to get it back to about 54-56 (in case you can control the temp that well)

Good luck,
Kai

jerly · 02-28-2006, 07:49 PM

Since I am about to(I think) rack this to my secondary, Kai, you mentioned that I do a diacetyl rest. After reading up on that a bit, it calls for bringing the temp up to about sixty degrees for a bit, before or after racking. Am I right?

I have been brewing the whole time at sixty degrees because I have it sitting on my basement floor. Should I raise the temp to 65-70, or will it make a difference, since I'm not fermenting at the right temp in the first place.