Worried about my lager!

Hi,

Me and a few friends started our first brew of lager on Saturday 29th. After a day or so the fermentation started very nicely and we had constant bubbles coming through the airlock. No need to worry then surely, you say?

Well, after about 2 days of good fermenting it has now calmed down a lot and the bubbles are now very slow. So it appears that fermentation has slowed down a huge amount. I decided to take an S.G reading and it came to 1.010 which I thought was good but not quite there yet.

My worry is that it isn't going to reach the ideal S.G that we want (1.006 or lower). Am I worrying for no reason?!

Also, when I sampled the brew in a sample cylinder, it was incredibly cloudy and not nearly as clear and sharp as a good lager should be. Is that something to be worried about?

Thanks for reading and sorry for being a complete novice!

Alex

Your major problem is that the beer isn't done yet. What temperature did you ferment it at and what yeast did you use?

I suspect that you really are brewing an ale instead of a lager as lagers require cooler temperatures and longer ferment times. Some companies will call their kit a lager when it really isn't.

I rarely have any beers dip below a 1.010 i wouldn't worry. What was your og at? And what is your fermenting temp?

Lagers take time. It has been four days. Wait it out.

RM-MN said:

Your major problem is that the beer isn't done yet. What temperature did you ferment it at and what yeast did you use?

I suspect that you really are brewing an ale instead of a lager as lagers require cooler temperatures and longer ferment times. Some companies will call their kit a lager when it really isn't.

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I'm fermenting at approx 20-22 celsius. The kit I'm using is a coopers cerveza which came with its own yeast.

Thanks

timrox1212 said:

I rarely have any beers dip below a 1.010 i wouldn't worry. What was your og at? And what is your fermenting temp?

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My original gravity was 1.036 I believe. I am fermenting at 20-22 Celsius.

alexmet1 said:

I'm fermenting at approx 20-22 celsius. The kit I'm using is a coopers cerveza which came with its own yeast.

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20-22C? that's 68F-72F, which is in plain ale territory. You're making an ale, not a lager.

It's quite possible that it's done fermenting after 2-4 days.

Leave it be for a while.

MC

Yes. You are worrying for no reason. Let it sit for another week or two. Then Start taking gravity readings every other day. When it goes two readings without the fg changing you will be ready to bottle.

Misplaced_Canuck said:

20-22C? that's 68F-72F, which is in plain ale territory. You're making an ale, not a lager.

It's quite possible that it's done fermenting after 2-4 days.

Leave it be for a while.

MC

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Thanks for the info. However, I don't see how it can be an ale? It's a coopers kit which is labelled as a Mexican cerveza. Very strange! They also do a European lager which they recommend to ferment at 21-27 Celsius. Could it be just something that Coopers do with they kits?

It's a Lager, meant to be cold fermented and aged. It's only 6 days old, it will be cloudy and it won't taste like Lager. It may never taste like the Lager you're expecting it to be. Depending on the OG, you may be looking at a couple of months or more of Lagering. Lager isn't meant to go from boiler to belly in 4-6 weeks, unless you have the equipment to do it. Rack the beer off the goop in the primary and put the beer in a secondary below 45F and let the yeast do their thing. Don't get air in the beer. If you don't have temp control, it won't be a Lager and won't clear without finings or filtering. Lagers are fun to make, it's best to be prepared to brew them. Keep at it. It takes a while to tune everything in. Make an Ale, you'll have something tollerable to drink in a few weeks.

beaston said:

Yes. You are worrying for no reason. Let it sit for another week or two. Then Start taking gravity readings every other day. When it goes two readings without the fg changing you will be ready to bottle.

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Thanks for the advice! Ill wait until Saturday I think to see what the SG is. The instructions said to leave it for approximately 6 days so that should be enough I think. If its got constant SG readings then ill bottle it!

Thanks!

VladOfTrub said:

It's a Lager, meant to be cold fermented and aged. It's only 6 days old, it will be cloudy and it won't taste like Lager. It may never taste like the Lager you're expecting it to be. Depending on the OG, you may be looking at a couple of months or more of Lagering. Lager isn't meant to go from boiler to belly in 4-6 weeks, unless you have the equipment to do it. Rack the beer off the goop in the primary and put the beer in a secondary below 45F and let the yeast do their thing. Don't get air in the beer. If you don't have temp control, it won't be a Lager and won't clear without finings or filtering. Lagers are fun to make, it's best to be prepared to brew them. Keep at it. It takes a while to tune everything in. Make an Ale, you'll have something tollerable to drink in a few weeks.

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All this advice is very useful so thank you! However, the coopers instructions and recommendations seem to say completely the opposite! Maybe they are just a company that makes kits that are aimed to be completed as quickly as possible..? I don't know. What do you think?

alexmet1 said:

Thanks for the advice! Ill wait until Saturday I think to see what the SG is. The instructions said to leave it for approximately 6 days so that should be enough I think. If its got constant SG readings then ill bottle it!

Thanks!

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Can I be so bold as to say your beer won't be done in 6 days. Oh, the yeast will have eaten all the malt sugars by then but giving it more time will result in better flavor beer as the yeast clean up byproducts they created in the 6 days. Try waiting for at least 14 days before you even take a hydrometer sample.:rockin:

RM-MN said:

Can I be so bold as to say your beer won't be done in 6 days. Oh, the yeast will have eaten all the malt sugars by then but giving it more time will result in better flavor beer as the yeast clean up byproducts they created in the 6 days. Try waiting for at least 14 days before you even take a hydrometer sample.:rockin:

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Can that not happen when I've bottled it?

alexmet1 said:

Can that not happen when I've bottled it?

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Yes it can but it will be a much slower process without the yeast cake. It looks like the yeast cake is dead or at least dormant but it still seems to help make better beer quicker. The other issue is that a lot of yeast that should have settled in the fermenter now settles in the bottle instead and you'll have a large layer of yeast to leave when you pour.

RM-MN said:

Yes it can but it will be a much slower process without the yeast cake. It looks like the yeast cake is dead or at least dormant but it still seems to help make better beer quicker. The other issue is that a lot of yeast that should have settled in the fermenter now settles in the bottle instead and you'll have a large layer of yeast to leave when you pour.

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So if I leave it for longer will that mean that the beer will become much clearer?

alexmet1 said:

So if I leave it for longer will that mean that the beer will become much clearer?

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Yes most of that gunk will settle to the bottom if you let it sit longer. It sounds what you need to do most is find some literature on brewing and do some reading. I mean no offence when I say most of your questions are basic and could easily be answered with research. Its the best way to to alleviate any worries about your beer and end up with a great product.

beaston said:

Yes most of that gunk will settle to the bottom if you let it sit longer. It sounds what you need to do most is find some literature on brewing and do some reading. I mean no offence when I say most of your questions are basic and could easily be answered with research. Its the best way to to alleviate any worries about your beer and end up with a great product.

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Yeah thanks, although it is always good to have specific advice rather than generic advice that you might find in a book.

alexmet1 said:

Yeah thanks, although it is always good to have specific advice rather than generic advice that you might find in a book.

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True, but the questions your asking about at the moment are things which are covered in books . This isn't to knock you at all, this is the beginner forum after all. Pick up How to Brew by John Palmer and you'll be amazed at how much you learn, it's a great read for beginners (I should know, I'm one ).

One thing that isn't mentioned in books all the time though, is that the directions that come with extract kits are often crap, and shouldn't be followed at all.

Leave your beer alone for another week at least, two of you have the patience for it... Then bottle it and wait three more weeks, you'll be happy you did .

alexmet1 said:

Thanks for the info. However, I don't see how it can be an ale? It's a coopers kit which is labelled as a Mexican cerveza. Very strange! They also do a European lager which they recommend to ferment at 21-27 Celsius. Could it be just something that Coopers do with they kits?

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alexmet1 said:

All this advice is very useful so thank you! However, the coopers instructions and recommendations seem to say completely the opposite! Maybe they are just a company that makes kits that are aimed to be completed as quickly as possible..? I don't know. What do you think?

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Well, the fact is that Coopers doesn't tell you the truth about their "lagers". Their products tend to be canned prehopped extract, and their yeast is poor quality ale yeast. I'm not a fan of their products, as I think they are poor quality and don't make a very good beer in the end. They are very popular for new brewers, though, because they tend to be easy to use.

Here's the definition of a lager beer: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-5.html

In short, a lager is a beer made with bottom fermenting lager yeast (different species than the Cooper's) at cool temperatures (9C- 12C) and then given a lagering period.

An ale is fermented with a top fermenting strain of yeast, at 16C-21C or so.

There are flavor differences between lagers and ales, but in general a lager is "cleaner" and crisper.

Yooper said:

Well, the fact is that Coopers doesn't tell you the truth about their "lagers". Their products tend to be canned prehopped extract, and their yeast is poor quality ale yeast. I'm not a fan of their products, as I think they are poor quality and don't make a very good beer in the end. They are very popular for new brewers, though, because they tend to be easy to use.

Here's the definition of a lager beer: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-5.html

In short, a lager is a beer made with bottom fermenting lager yeast (different species than the Cooper's) at cool temperatures (9C- 12C) and then given a lagering period.

An ale is fermented with a top fermenting strain of yeast, at 16C-21C or so.

There are flavor differences between lagers and ales, but in general a lager is "cleaner" and crisper.

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Thanks for the info. Very annoying that coopers do that! Maybe I won't buy from them again depending on how this turns out.

I think I'll try a good ale next. Any recommendations?

KepowOb said:

True, but the questions your asking about at the moment are things which are covered in books . This isn't to knock you at all, this is the beginner forum after all. Pick up How to Brew by John Palmer and you'll be amazed at how much you learn, it's a great read for beginners (I should know, I'm one ).

One thing that isn't mentioned in books all the time though, is that the directions that come with extract kits are often crap, and shouldn't be followed at all.

Leave your beer alone for another week at least, two of you have the patience for it... Then bottle it and wait three more weeks, you'll be happy you did .

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Okay thanks! I will leave it for at least 10 days or so and see what happens!

alexmet1 said:

Thanks for the info. Very annoying that coopers do that! Maybe I won't buy from them again depending on how this turns out.

I think I'll try a good ale next. Any recommendations?

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Any ale kit from one of the major suppliers would be a good choice. You'll have a wide range of styles of beer to choose from and their rate of turnover means you will have fresh ingredients. From there on, making good beer depends on you and your process.

As a start, you should read "How to Brew" by John Palmer. You can read the first edition online for free but I'd suggest getting the later version as some new knowledge has cause him to make changes to that edition. www.howtobrew.com

VladOfTrub said:

It's a Lager, meant to be cold fermented and aged.

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No, it's an ale.

You're confusing the OP. Please ensure you fully understand the situation before commenting and confusing him. It's a Coopers Mexican Cerveza kit. I've made that exact kit myself. I assure you, it's an ale.

RM-MN said:

Any ale kit from one of the major suppliers would be a good choice. You'll have a wide range of styles of beer to choose from and their rate of turnover means you will have fresh ingredients. From there on, making good beer depends on you and your process.

As a start, you should read "How to Brew" by John Palmer. You can read the first edition online for free but I'd suggest getting the later version as some new knowledge has cause him to make changes to that edition. www.howtobrew.com

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Brilliant thanks! I think I'd like to make an IPA. Any ones you know of that are good?

Ill read the book now, thanks!

The SG has moved to approximately 1.009 - slowly but surely!

alexmet1 said:

The SG has moved to approximately 1.009 - slowly but surely!

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It has only been 7 days if you brewed on the 29th, so your beer should be close to being done with initial fermentation. Now, you need to let it sit at least another 7-10 days so the beer can clean itself up and mature a little more. You can then take a gravity reading to see if anything changed. If you are too impatient you will still have beer, but it won't be good beer or at least it won't be as good as it could have been.

It really sucks that Cooper's is claiming this kit is a lager even though you are fermenting ale yeast at ale temps. You will need to ferment lagers at 45F-55F, sometimes lower depending on the strain, and then store them at 32F-35F for at least 3 weeks. If you are this anxious with an ale, maybe you should wait before you try to lager.

BlindFaith said:

It has only been 7 days if you brewed on the 29th, so your beer should be close to being done with initial fermentation. Now, you need to let it sit at least another 7-10 days so the beer can clean itself up and mature a little more. You can then take a gravity reading to see if anything changed. If you are too impatient you will still have beer, but it won't be good beer or at least it won't be as good as it could have been.

It really sucks that Cooper's is claiming this kit is a lager even though you are fermenting ale yeast at ale temps. You will need to ferment lagers at 45F-55F, sometimes lower depending on the strain, and then store them at 32F-35F for at least 3 weeks. If you are this anxious with an ale, maybe you should wait before you try to lager.

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Haha yeah true. I'm definitely going to stick to ales! Next brew will begin shortly!