Czech/wheat Strawberry Lager (first attempt)

Grain Bill for 2 Gallons (yes its a small batch)
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3# Dark Wheat Malt
1# Light Munich
1# Briess American 6-Row

.5 oz Saaz Hops

Wyeast Pilsen Lager



Critique my work as this is my first all grain, all by myself.


Mash: Double Decoction
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Dough-In
Protein Rest 1.25 hours
Saccharification 1.15 hours
dextrinase
Alpha amylase
Beta-amylase
Sparge 15 minutes


Boil
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1.5 hr to get the excess water out. Just wanted 2 gallons. Small fermenter.



Some questions:

*I have it fermenting at around 45F. I should let this run for 2 weeks right?
*And strawberries will be added to the secondary fermentation. About 2.5 to 3 pounds. How does that sound?
*The wort looked thick, thicker than I normally seen.. Will this thin out? Or did I just mess up somewhere along the way?
*Diacetyl rest? Should I care? All the talk I seen on it, you guys really dread it. I dont know any better.. enlighten me.
*Any other tips would be fantastic!!!!!!


Thanks for reading!

48 views...so i am guessing I did a perfect job then. haha. well one more question if you guys do not mind....

I have a crap load of trub. I only have about 1.5 inches of clear liquid. Will this ever settle out? Am I going to have to let it filter through some cheese clothe to remove it??

Hey, that sounds delicious. Here are a few notes/answers:

- Keep it at 45 until you're close to your FG (like 1/3 away) then take the beer out of your fermentation chamber and warm it up to 65-70* slowly and hold it for 36-48 hours; need that D-rest.

- So you're got a half gallon of trub, that's to be expected. I suspect it's not really a half gallon, considering it probably hasn't all settled yet. I always brew 0.5 gallons more than the recipe calls for (i.e. 5gal --> 5.5gal)

- Also, if you're worried about losing liquid volume, then adding 2.5-3 pounds of strawberries to 2 gallons (well, 1.5 supposedly) of beer will make you extra sad. You will lose quite a bit more. Do less, or use strawberry extract

Hope that helps

Reno_eNVy_446 said:

Hey, that sounds delicious. Here are a few notes/answers:

- Keep it at 45 until you're close to your FG (like 1/3 away) then take the beer out of your fermentation chamber and warm it up to 65-70* slowly and hold it for 36-48 hours; need that D-rest.

- So you're got a half gallon of trub, that's to be expected. I suspect it's not really a half gallon, considering it probably hasn't all settled yet. I always brew 0.5 gallons more than the recipe calls for (i.e. 5gal --> 5.5gal)

- Also, if you're worried about losing liquid volume, then adding 2.5-3 pounds of strawberries to 2 gallons (well, 1.5 supposedly) of beer will make you extra sad. You will lose quite a bit more. Do less, or use strawberry extract

Hope that helps

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ahhhh ok.... .5 gallons would be really helpful. Its in a Mr. Beer fermenter. It was the smallest thing that would fit in the refrigerator. Its brew volume is recommended at 2 gallons it can hold about 3.25 I think.

Can I drain the fermenter when I am racking to secondary and run it through a mesh colander (lined with cheese clothe) to remove trub?

What is extra SAD?

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anyone? anyone?

So my gravity was retarded high. I cut it in half and I got 1.067. I was only planing to make 2 gallons, but I had so much trube that I would only get a gallon's worth of beer from it (if left un cut).

I had a hard time fermenting it. The temps were not right so it sat dorment for a while. May 16th is when i first notice krausen. So how long am I looking for the primary?

So took a Gravity reading. I am sitting at 1.016. Tastes pretty good. Seems thick in mouth feel.

anyone care to chime in on the last two posts?

pjewell said:

anyone care to chime in on the last two posts?

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Let me be frank: Your thing there just reads as kinda spastic. "Dark wheat," Munich, and 6-row doesn't say Czech at all, unless you know something I don't. A double decoction for your first AG, and you're only expecting 2 gallons of beer out of it?

IDK. I'm just saying if I was recommending a first AG recipe, it would not be a fruit beer, nor a lager, nor contain a majority of huskless grains, nor undergo a complex mash schedule, nor yield as little as a gallon of beer for the effort.

944play said:

Let me be frank: Your thing there just reads as kinda spastic. "Dark wheat," Munich, and 6-row doesn't say Czech at all, unless you know something I don't. A double decoction for your first AG, and you're only expecting 2 gallons of beer out of it?

IDK. I'm just saying if I was recommending a first AG recipe, it would not be a fruit beer, nor a lager, nor contain a majority of huskless grains, nor undergo a complex mash schedule, nor yield as little as a gallon of beer for the effort.

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Well frank,

thanks for the correction on the nomenclature in reference to the Czech and grain choice. Check-I understand now.

Yes, I did double decoction on it. Crazy amounts of grain husks. Too late now. Check-lesson learned.

Well, its still going to be a lager, I used huskless grains, and I still did a complex mash schedule. Oh and I did get two gallons out of it. I later cut it in half because the gravity was so high. I posted that two posts ago.

Effort was fine and worth it to me. I am learning to brew AG, so botching up a two gallon recipe isnt a big deal. Plus, its easier to handle and I can do it in pots on my stove. Just learning to do things small before I move onto bigger and better things.



If only I could go back in time...................but thanks for your insightful input.