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**BeerBrent** · 01-29-2013, 10:31 PM

i like to leave the primary for 4 weeks. then rack to kegs, force carb. and lager for 4 more weeks. when i make lagers i make a ten gallon batch and keg it into one 5 gallon keg and two 2.5gallon kegs. this is really nice b/c once i crack into that last 2.5gallon keg its been lagering for 2 plus months at that point and is usually the best of the batch.

**barhoc11** · 01-31-2013, 10:24 PM

I brewed 8 gallons of this on Christmas Eve day, no decoction but used melonoiden malt. After primary, I put 3 gallons directly into a keg which sat for less than a week to lager before putting it on tap. I am a tad over 5 weeks after brewing this and its very clear and the taste is getting better each day. I can only imagine how the 5 gallons that are still lagering will taste! I think the minimum time from grain to glass is 5 weeks so if you want to make a relatively quick lager, try this recipe out. I love that its an easy drinking lager that has actual taste to it, perfect for those people who do not like anything too dark. I plan to bottle up a growler of this to take to a super bowl party.

I highly recommend!

austintxeric · 02-02-2013, 02:57 PM

Here I am 15 days after brewing this up. After 7 days at 51 degrees, my air lock activity had nearly stopped and checking my gravity showed me a reading of 1.028 so I raised the temperature to 62 for a diacetyl rest for 4 days and then I began lowering the temperature over the past 4 days to cold crash. I made a mistake by not taking a gravity reading after the 4 day diacetyl rest I guess. Today I pulled the carboys out to prepare to transfer for lagering for a month. I took a gravity reading today and it was at 1.021. The expected FG should be 1.012. Should I let the carboys warm up to the mid 60s and see if I can get the gravity to drop? It tasted good, although a tad sweet. I couldn't detect any buttery or off flavors. It actually tasted quite clean. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

**dlester** · 02-02-2013, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by austintxeric

Here I am 15 days after brewing this up. After 7 days at 51 degrees, my air lock activity had nearly stopped and checking my gravity showed me a reading of 1.028 so I raised the temperature to 62 for a diacetyl rest for 4 days and then I began lowering the temperature over the past 4 days to cold crash. I made a mistake by not taking a gravity reading after the 4 day diacetyl rest I guess. Today I pulled the carboys out to prepare to transfer for lagering for a month. I took a gravity reading today and it was at 1.021. The expected FG should be 1.012. Should I let the carboys warm up to the mid 60s and see if I can get the gravity to drop? It tasted good, although a tad sweet. I couldn't detect any buttery or off flavors. It actually tasted quite clean. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Lagers are slow, and 7-days are not enough time, especially if you didn't have enough yeast. Don't confuse lager yeast with ale yeast. The airlock will slow, but give it time. Sometimes Some yeast is highly flocculant and may have fallen out and is dormant. My Lager did the same once, but I left it at 50F longer and rousted the yeast every day. It took a while, but it came down to 1.012. Check out my yeast rouster below. If you don't have a conical, get to the bottom with a sterilized object to stir up the yeast every day.

Roust your yeast:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/rousing-up-sleepy-yeast-portable-co2-charger-348505/

austintxeric · 02-02-2013, 04:38 PM

I pitched a decanted 1 gallon starter split into to carboys so hopefully I had enough yeast. Do you think gently stirring after I get it back up into the low 60s will kick start the yeast again, even after I had cold crashed them for the last 4-5 days?

austintxeric · 02-08-2013, 10:16 PM

I just took another reading after nearly 7 days at 63 degrees and my gravity has dropped to 1.019. Do you think I should give it more time at this higher temperature or do you think it is probably as low as it will go?

**borden** · 03-04-2013, 01:26 AM

I brewed a slight variant on this 4 weeks ago. I used Wyeast 2565 (Kolsch) at a controlled 61F, letting it rise for the second week to 68F before crashing to 36F for two weeks.

Bottled today and the sample was amazing. I look forward to trying this after it's carbed to get a better idea of its final profile... but very excited based on the crisp, clean, and malty sample I had today.

**Barleyman** · 03-07-2013, 04:53 AM

I brewed this beer on 2-17-13. On sunday i am gonna put temp up to 69 degrees but my ? is how long at that temp. How long should i put it back at 51 Degrees b4 I cold crash? This is my 1st lager so any advise would b helpful. thanks.

**Joe Dragon** · 03-07-2013, 04:41 PM

Barleyman,

You don't necessarily have to do a diacetyl rest. Open the fermenter(s), check the gravity and see if you can smell, taste or sense diacetyl in the sample. No butter= no problem and you continue on with the lager fermentation.

I always perform a D-rest but many don't. For me it's approximately one week at the primary temeperature (49-52 for a lager) and then one week at basement temps.

After that you can return the beer to a lager temperature or rack to secondary and age it for as long as you like.

**TacoBrew** · 03-08-2013, 12:08 PM

So, in retrospect, this beer turned out very clean flavor and clarity-wise, but accidentally using the whole pound of melanoiden has made this thing a malt bomb.