First Lager

Ok, I'm trying to make a Brown Lager and I'm using Wyest 2007. Questions:

1. I want to ultimately ferment at 50F but can I pitch at 72F, and wait for activity before I drop it or will I get activity at 50F to start with?

2. Can I still single stage ferment for 21 days and then gas it up for a few weeks and drink or do I have to do something else w/it?

THanks for help!

1. Pitch at 50. Warm it up later for the D rest.
2. You'll want to lager your lager before drinking it. Keg it and store it cold for a month or more.

Here's the basic lagering technique:

1) Ideally, pitch at the fermentation temp. You don't want the yeast to start fermentation at 72, and you don't want the yeast to be shocked by a drastic temperature change by crashing frmo 72 to 50 quickly. This shouldn't be a big deal - you are going to ramp down from 72 to 50 anyway, just dump the yeast in AFTER you ramp down to 50 instead of BEFORE.

2) You want to ferment in primary until you are at 75% of expected FG. For example, if you have a 1.05 OG, and an expected 1.01 FG, then you want to primary until you reach 1.02 (1.05-1.01 = 0.04.....75% of 0.04=0.03.....1.05-0.03=1.02).

3) At 75% FG, you want to do a diacetyl rest for 48 hours at ROOM TEMP. Just take the fermenter out of the temp control and put it in a room/closet for 48 hours. This will also wax off the final 25% of gravity points.

4) At the end of the D-Rest, rack to secondary.

5) LAGER at 32-36F for 6-8 weeks. This is the step that really defines the lager. This is where it clears and crispens!

6) After the lagering period, if you keg you are all good to force carb. If you bottle, take the fermenter out of the temp control and let it warm up to room temp (6-8 hours) before you prime and bottle. This gives the yeast a chance to slowly rouse from the low temps and be ready to go by the time you introduce new sugars for the carb.

That's it! Don't skimp on the lagering time, that's what makes a lager a lager!!

I agree with Mongrel. Here is some info I got when I was looking for info on best practices for Lager beer although I can't remember who I got this info from:

Lagering Time - How long to lager is a matter of some discussion. Light American lagers are typically held near freezing for 10–20 days, while some strong German doppelbocks are lagered as long as six months. For medium to high-gravity beers, Greg Noonan — brewpub owner and author of “New Brewing Lager Beer” (1996, Brewers Publications) — recommends 7–12 days per each 2 °Plato of original gravity. (One degree Plato is roughly equal to 4 specific gravity “points.&#8221. For lower gravity lagers the time is reduced to 3–7 days. According to those guidelines, a 1.064 O.G. German bock should be lagered for 112–192 days, while a 1.040 American lager would be lagered 15–35 days. The correct temperature for Lagering should be between 33–35° F (0.6-1.7° C). This temperature range is the same for lagers or ales and should last for 1 month minimum.

Fortunately, brewer’s yeast is capable of reabsorbing the diacetyl and reducing it to a related compound (2, 3 butanediol) that has a far lower flavor threshold. However, this requires warmer temperatures, around 60–70 °F (16–21 °C, than the optimum conditions for clean lager fermentation. The solution is to raise the temperature for a brief period (24–72 hours) after the yeast has nearly finished fermenting the beer.

Diacetyl Rest - For homebrewers this typically means letting the fermenter warm to room temperature for a couple of days. Not all lager strains produce significant amounts of diacetyl, but unless you have previous experience with the yeast you are using, it is best to perform the rest anyway, as it does no harm. Conduct the rest in the primary fermenter in order to maximize the yeast population and quickly reduce the diacetyl. Raise the temp of the carboy and then bottle. I typically raise the temp toward the end of fermentation anyways to help the yeast clean up a bit. Raising the temp will also wake up the yeast a bit so when you rack on your priming sugar, they are ready to go to work

Excellent write up TopherM!

What brewing process are you using, before you get into the fermentor?

Same as any other beer, everything up to the point where you chill the wort is exactly the same whether its an Ale or a Lager. With Ales you'd chill it down to around 65 and with Lagers it goes down to 50. Thats where the different yeasts take over and make it a Lager or Ale. Did that answer the question?

When you say. "Same as any other beer." Do you mean a single temp infusion?

I think that depends on what is in the Lager... if you have flaked rice recipes call for a protein rest at 122ish so that means it could be a two step temp process... to answer Vlad...

My next Q is, being that I really don't like to open a fermenting fermentor does any have experience with Wyest 2007 at 50 degrees... I'm starting at about 1045 ... my ales usually bubble for 4-5 days at 65, I raise after just about done to 71 to clean up sometimes depending upon brew, definitely with my Stouts... so, at 50 can I expect a longer period of fermentation? Can I just warm it up after 3 days of bubbling for the D rest? Or should I quit being a lazy ass and just check the gravity Not being lazy so much as rather not expose the fermenting wort to the outside air.

Lagers will ferment much slower. What an ale yeast does in a few days can take a few weeks with a lager. You really need to take hydro samples along the way.

Thanks for all the info. I'm always interested in maybe a different way to make Lager. For the past 30 years, I've been using tri-decoction method for Lager and Pilsner. Every so often, I'll use white rice or flaked corn. I haven't used flaked rice. I boil white rice seperately and add it to the main mash. To go from dough in temp, to the acid rest temp. Flaked corn, I dump in the main mash at dough in. Then, fire the mash tun to hit acid rest temp.

Back to my original question. What process are you using? Lagering phase is the end of the process. That's the easy part of the process. Lager isn't made the "same as any other beer." The process isn't based on whether there's corn or rice in the recipe, either. Since you're really not sure of the brewing process. You're probably far from attempting a decoction. So, that leaves the step mash method. Follow through with that method. It's easy. The quote from Noonan's book doesn't include the other 200 pages that get you to the Lagering part of the process. The parts about pH and water chemistry weren't included. You already have the wort in the fermentor before you have the process to get it there, down. It takes experience to make a 1045 Lager. Any imperfection in the process are going to stick out after Lagering. Maybe use Munich. The malt flavor will cover up many sins. If you're going to get into Lager, read Noonan's first book. It's more to the point than the 2nd. George Fix has a few good books, too. After you read their books. Buy Siebels. It will set you back about 200 bucks.... You'll do fine at your first attempt. Don't get discouraged if everything doesn't work out like a book says it should. With time, you'll fine tune things and progress.

I don't use a hydrometer to let me know when it's time for a Diacetyl rest. It only measures density. Not, whether the sugar left is fermentable or non-fermentable. I use a Glucose test kit.

VladOfTrub said:

What brewing process are you using, before you get into the fermentor?

Click to expand...

Oops, I misunderstood your question when you asked about the brewing process. I guess it would really depend on the recipe. If I were making a light Lager with lots of Pilsner/pale malt, I'd probably do a double decoction and and a 90 minute boil to boil off the DMS. If I were doing something like a 80 Shilling I'd just mash in at 154, drain, sparge, and start the boil.

Is it possible to lager in bottles?

I've never heard of lagering in bottles. Most people like to lager in kegs because there has to be some yeast in suspension to continue to work on the beer as it's being lagered. People like the convenience of being able to sample right from the keg during the lagering process.