Oktoberfest lagering time

I want to do an Oktoberfest this year. Realistically I probably should have started about a month ago. How long do I need to lager the brew?

Theoretically, if brewed this weekend, could it be ready by mid-October?

How do you feel about "cheating" and doing an "Octoberfest style" ale?

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f63/biermunchers-oktoberfast-ale-ag-39021/

chrishanson said:

How do you feel about "cheating" and doing an "Octoberfest style" ale?

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f63/biermunchers-oktoberfast-ale-ag-39021/

Click to expand...

I have no reservations but I'd prefer to do a mini-mash...taking a break from AG for a while.

well if you brewed september 1, primary should be done by september 13. lager until october 4 and then bottle/keg for mid-october consumption.

you better be working on that yeast starter

I routinely do mash to serving of lagers in 8 weeks, and often can push that to 6 weeks when I get everything dialed in right. Make sure you pitch plenty of yeast an you'll be fine.

I'm brewing two O'fests this weekend and then two more in two weeks. However, my party won't happen until early November - I play in an Oompah band so my weekends are pretty well filled up from late Sept. to the end of Oct.

Good to know. I have a fermentation fridge and can do a big starter if I get my stir plate ready this weekend. How big of a starter are we talking? 1000ml?

You need to use a yeast calculator to find out the correct starter size. Yeastcalc.com or mrmalty.com.

The lagering period depends on the mash method, gravity of cooled wort and primary time/temp.

In general: Based on "New Brewing Lager Beer" by Greg J. Noonan
Light beers and beers from decotion can range from 3-12 days. Very strong beer can be lagered for 6 to 8 months.

sa1126 said:

Good to know. I have a fermentation fridge and can do a big starter if I get my stir plate ready this weekend. How big of a starter are we talking? 1000ml?

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it's usually about a 2L starter on a stir plate

sa1126 said:

I want to do an Oktoberfest this year. Realistically I probably should have started about a month ago. How long do I need to lager the brew?

Theoretically, if brewed this weekend, could it be ready by mid-October?

Click to expand...

Realistically, you should have made it in March ... that's why it's called Marzen.


The quick Oktoberfast recipe is really good, but not quite traditional tasting. I'd make that if you're looking for an Oktoberfest.

I did my first lager (oktoberfest) last month (7/5/13), pulled it out of the primary in about 3.5 weeks and slowly crashed it down to 36F and it's been sitting there since 8/2/13. I plan on letting it sit another month (2 months) I hooked it up to the taps last weekend though and tried some. It was very smooth. I don't know how much better it will be in a month but it tastes good now!

If I didn't have stuff on tap already I'd be drinking it.

The reason Oktoberfest is brewed in march is that it ended the traditional brewing season when the air warmed up and the bacteria was more likely to get into their beer. They held festivals in Oktober because they needed to empty out their kegs so they could start brewing and have somewhere to put their beer.