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marcelo · 12-10-2010, 08:27 AM

Any updates?

DrinkDR · 12-14-2010, 06:23 AM

I did a batch of this tonight, my first all-grain brew! I'll let you all know around new years how it's going. Color, gravity, and taste is all on-target so far; my OG was 1.06. Only issue with my first go-round is that I didn't sparge enough... ended up a little short of 5gal (maybe 4.5 ish).

Anyway, I'll keep this updated.

CanadianNorth · 12-14-2010, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmason1623

I'll probably be making this on Monday. I will be using 5# each of German Pilsner and Belgium Pilsner along with 1# of rice flakes. I will make a starter on a stir plate of Wyeast 2124. I will primary for 12 days then do a diacetyl rest for 2-3 days. Then secondary for 2 weeks. After the secondary I will keg and lager for 6 weeks. Here's my question, do I add priming sugar to the keg and allow it to prime/lager during the 6 weeks? Or should I lager for 6 weeks then force carb it? TIA.

this is a bit late coming, but you should lager and then force carb if possible.

Lagering should occur at 0-4 degrees celcius, normally, and the yeast will be nearly inactive during that time. The colder the beer the longer the lager, I have read. i usually lager 4 weeks at 4 C.

What was your ferment. temp? for a clean lager it should be around 11C or so, diacetyl rest around 16-19C.

**bmason1623** · 12-14-2010, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadianNorth

this is a bit late coming, but you should lager and then force carb if possible.

Lagering should occur at 0-4 degrees celcius, normally, and the yeast will be nearly inactive during that time. The colder the beer the longer the lager, I have read. i usually lager 4 weeks at 4 C.

What was your ferment. temp? for a clean lager it should be around 11C or so, diacetyl rest around 16-19C.

my ferment temp has been around 45F +/- 3 degrees (7C +/- 1.5C). I plan on doing a diacytel rest tomorrow at 65F (18C) for a couple of days then racking to a secondary for another week or so. then kegging for 6 weeks or so at 36F (2.5C). Making lagers take a long time. I can hardly wait. Thanks.

**bmason1623** · 12-31-2010, 09:19 PM

all rightey now. I just kegged my "Stella R-Toyz". It tasted nice and crisp with a touch of sweetness. More importantly, no butterscotch flavors. I hooked up the CO2 and set it for about 10 PSI @ 36F in my fridge. I'm going to let it lager for about a month or so. Maybe I can break it out and start drinking it around the Superbowl...and hopefully the Bears will be in it! I'll update later.

**dlester** · 12-31-2010, 09:36 PM

It looks to me that your starting gravity is too high. Cut back on the base malt so your SG is around 1:055 and keep the rice for the light dry taste. If its too sweet try mashing near 149F for 60-90 min to bring out mostly fermentable sugars. Make sure you double the amount of yeast. I think you have a keeper here.

JoeBob · 01-12-2011, 12:32 AM

New Info:
White Labs has just replaced the Copenhagen Lager yeast with a "Belgian Lager Yeast", WLP815. This has to be Stella yeast and it is a Platinum strain available Jan/Feb. Good Luck everyone!

PS ever thing of add candi sugar like a real Belgian instead of the rice?

**bmason1623** · 01-12-2011, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeBob

New Info:
White Labs has just replaced the Copenhagen Lager yeast with a "Belgian Lager Yeast", WLP815. This has to be Stella yeast and it is a Platinum strain available Jan/Feb. Good Luck everyone!

PS ever thing of add candi sugar like a real Belgian instead of the rice?

Too bad my LHBS only sells Wyeast. I thought that candi sugar was mainly for Belgian ales and not lagers? But i am a newbie...

**bmason1623** · 01-27-2011, 02:03 AM

I'm sampling my stella clone tonight for the first time. It's been lagering for about 4 weeks now. First thing I noticed is that it's not carbonated enough to my liking. I had the co2 pressure at about 11 pounds at about 36 F. I increased it to about 15 and will let it lager for another 2 weeks or so.

The taste is not stella artois already not to me. It has a malty taste with very, very slight diacetyl (buttery) taste. Again very, very slight diacetyl. The hops flavor is very subtle. Could probably use just a little more hops addition. The after finish is surprisingly crisp and smooth with a nice mouth feel.

Would I brew this again and would I change anything? I can't answer that yet. I'm my own worst critic so I want my buddies to try it. If they drink it faster than usual (which is pretty damn fast!) then I'll brew it again. Overall, not bad for my first lager attempt.

Anyone else try brewing their own version? Please post your results.

Maarten · 01-28-2011, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeBob

New Info:
White Labs has just replaced the Copenhagen Lager yeast with a "Belgian Lager Yeast", WLP815. This has to be Stella yeast and it is a Platinum strain available Jan/Feb. Good Luck everyone!

PS ever thing of add candi sugar like a real Belgian instead of the rice?

According the description from white labs, wlp815 orriginates from west belgium. This probably means it's either the yeast from Bavik or Bockor. Stella is from Leuven, which is in the north