Pilsner fermentation temp

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ConcernedFisherman

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I brewed my 1st AG pilsner last Friday. I was following the recipe and it said it should be in the primary for 30 days at 50 degrees and the secondary for 30 days at 40 degrees. The fridge I have had it in for the past 6 days is only getting to about 38 degrees. I can put in the basement and get the temp to about high 50's - low 60's. I used a Budejovice yeast. Any recommendations on what I should do? Did I ruin the batch by leaving it at a cold temp for almost a week? If not, will I ruin it if I move it to a slightly warmer area?
 
Lagers are awesome to make, but they require a little more patience, planning, and potentially more equipment. I think high 50's, low 60's is too hot for a decent pilsner. Do you have a large cooler? Something that you could put your fermenter in? If so, put the fermenter in it and fill the cooler up with water to the level of the beer/wort (I'd be cautious of this method if you use a fermenter with a spigot on it). Keep adding ice to the water to maintain 50 degrees or so. I use frozen bottles of water or frozen Gatorade bottles filled with water. The cooler is important because it gives you an insulated vessel to keep temps down. The water is important because it gives you a large thermal mass to prevent temp swings. Do this for 7-8 days, and fermentation will be winding down, you won't have to monitor it as close.

My other question is did you pitch enough yeast?
 
Thanks for the advice. I did use enough yeast and the stopper was bubbling for a couple of days but it stopped yesterday and i was concerned that the temp was too low. I have it now in a 40+ degree location and the temp on the fermometer was above 38 degrees now. I am just afraid that I killed the yeast with the temp being too low..around 34 degrees for 6 days so far. I wasn't sure if I could ruin the beer or kill the yeast with a low temp and not concerned about it being too hot for a pilsner. Should I re-pitch more yeast to it or just be patient with my first attempt at a pilsner?
 
Nah, you didn't kill the yeast at all. And at that temp, nothing else should've taken hold either. Get it a touch warmer, 45 degrees or so, swirl it a bit, and it'll be good.
 

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