I'm about to brew my first lager tomorrow, so wanted to clarify one thing that I see mentioned a lot. Basically, quite a few sources say they chill the wort to 45°F, then pitch the yeast and let it free-rise to 50°F, then after 5 days or so raise the temp 2°F per day until 60°. What's not clear to me is what "free-rise" means. Does this happen in the fridge or outside it, i.e. after you pitch the yeast, do you just leave the wort at room temp until it rises to 50°F and then put it back to the fridge set at your fermentation temp?
Lager temp management
- Thread starter andreiz
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When you see the term "free-rise" it basically just means don't add heat. When I do lagers, I do it just exactly that way. I'll pitch around 45, and let it sit in the fridge, or in a pinch, outside in chilly weather until it gets to 50. I don't do that warm up to 60 step, I generally just lager for a couple months before kegging.
If you let it sit in a fridge and free-rise, is your fridge set at the desired target fermentation temp then?
