Lagering temp

So I'm on my first Lager... Oktoberfest. Currently in the fridge but my fridge won't get below 39-39 w the high temps we've been having... and its been mostly at 40... How will this impact the lager?

Not as clear? tastes not as clean?

sok454 said:

So I'm on my first Lager... Oktoberfest. Currently in the fridge but my fridge won't get below 39-39 w the high temps we've been having... and its been mostly at 40... How will this impact the lager?

Not as clear? tastes not as clean?

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I assume you are past fermentation and diacytl rest. I bottled my Bock on Saturday with a similar situation. I waited 6 weeks during lagering and it seems to have turned out fine. Temperature ranged from 35 before all this ugly heat to 42 during the height of it. I tried a sample during bottling (like God intended) and it still had the lager characteristics with the malty bock flavor. You should be ok. How long are you planning on lagering?

39 will be fine for an O'fest...

That's totally fine. While ideal lager temp is right around 30-32F, warmer temps work, it just might take a bit longer for the beer to be ready. Really, the whole purpose of lagering is to allow as much of the particulates to settle out of the beer as possible- I "lager" all my ale at 38F for 5-10 days before serving.

Thanks guys. I am past ferment etc. I did start my fermentation at the high 40's and slowly warmed it to the mid 50's. Took a bit longer to finish up. Finally let it raise up to about 67-68 for 24 hrs and rest. Then dropped it back. I do need to rack it though... as its still sitting in the fermenter for the last 2 weeks at the 38-40 temp.

I'm hoping to let it sit for 6 weeks and then bottle so its ready in oct.

sok454 said:

Thanks guys. I am past ferment etc. I did start my fermentation at the high 40's and slowly warmed it to the mid 50's. Took a bit longer to finish up. Finally let it raise up to about 67-68 for 24 hrs and rest. Then dropped it back. I do need to rack it though... as its still sitting in the fermenter for the last 2 weeks at the 38-40 temp.

I'm hoping to let it sit for 6 weeks and then bottle so its ready in oct.

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You'll be fine. Rdwahahb. I got my own oktoberfest fermenting now. I hope to be ready by mid October. What yeast did you use? I used WY 2308 Munich lager.

Actually used2 diff dry yeasts. Seemed to have no problem.

Should be fine.

You might check the temp ranges of the yeast you used for future reference.

Do you have an external thermostat for you fridge?

No thatsthe prob. Just set it to high.

sok454 said:

No thatsthe prob. Just set it to high.

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If you plan to brew more lagers then I suggest getting one. Temp control is very important and some lager yeasts have very specific ideal temps.

I have the fermentation chamber set to 47 F. I'll diacytl rest at 62 for a few days until I read Fg. I will try and lager in the low 30s, but my fridge fluctuates from 34-39 depending on the garages ambient temps. It read high 30 s low 40s during the heat wave . I love my thermostat!