Lagering temps???

Today I bought a Black Lager kit. I assumed it was an Ale like the Octoberfest kit I bought. No this is a true Lager, comes with lager yeast and lagering temps in the instructions. So what happens if I ferment at my normal 60 F?

Next week the cooler I use to carb my kegs with frozen bottles of H20 in H20 would be free. Should I wait and use that to get the fermenter down to true Lagering temps? And if so how long do I gotta keep the temps down for?

Lagers should ferment around 50 F. I like to keep it there for at least two weeks. After that it gets chilled, or depending on my pipeline, it might sit in the low 60's for a couple weeks until space frees up in my lagering chamber.

Well, the fermentation won't be too bad, but most lagering phases take about 2-3 months and should be appx. 10 degrees cooler than fermentation.

This may be helpful:

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-5.html

60F is awfully high for primary lager before lagering. It will possibly ferment at 60F but it will not taste what it is supposed to at all!

So with the ice bath I should be able to keep the temp at 50 or lower. So itshould be fermented at 50 for two week then it should be taken lower? Should I transfer to a secondary after two weeks or leave it in primary? I should be able to pick up a used fridge before the 2 weeks is up and then move it to colder than 50 degrees.

akthor said:

So with the ice bath I should be able to keep the temp at 50 or lower. So itshould be fermented at 50 for two week then it should be taken lower? Should I transfer to a secondary after two weeks or leave it in primary? I should be able to pick up a used fridge before the 2 weeks is up and then move it to colder than 50 degrees.

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Actually, for me primary fermentation on lagers takes about 4 weeks, sometimes more (I ferment at ~46F), then we do a diacetyl rest usually for a week (~68F), then its down to ~36F for lagering up to 3 mo's, again you should probably read up on lagers, here's another link to palmers book and specifically to starters/diacetyl rests for lagers: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-4.html

Brew on

Never rely on a calendar to guide your ferments. Yeast can't read.

Your yeast will guide you. They communicate with you through your hydrometer. I find most of my lagers - I brew Classic American Pilsner, mostly, with an OG ~1.048 - take at least two weeks in primary, then a few days diacetyl rest, then a couple months of lagering. I use my hydrometer to see when the primary ferment is complete by taking hydrometer readings, cross-referencing the reading with the apparent attenuation I can expect from my yeast (plus past experience with my "house" lager yeast strain), and the length of time I've recorded from past batches.

Cheers,

Bob

Yikes well I didnt expect this to be so complicated. I may look into turning this kit into an ale?? Do I just need a different yeast? I really think I need refridgeration of some sort in place before I attempt something this complex.

akthor said:

Yikes well I didnt expect this to be so complicated. I may look into turning this kit into an ale?? Do I just need a different yeast? I really think I need refridgeration of some sort in place before I attempt something this complex.

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Yes, if you make an ale you will want an ale yeast. Lagers aren't hard, but are definitely more temperature finicky. Usually, there is some required racking and lagering.

If I had a fridge for brewing it would be a no brainer but I haven't gotten one yet.

akthor said:

Yikes well I didnt expect this to be so complicated. I may look into turning this kit into an ale?? Do I just need a different yeast? I really think I need refridgeration of some sort in place before I attempt something this complex.

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It does not have to be complicated at all. Most lagers will do very well with 2 weeks in primary at 50F and another 3-6 weeks in secondary (lager) at 40F. In the meantime between primary and secondary, if you can, bring it to 60F to get rid of the diacetyl. Very simple.

Now, I realize you don't have a fridge with a temperature controller, but you live in ME, so maybe you have a garage or some protected area outside that is getting around 60F at this time of the year and will get colder for lagering later as winter approaches. Believe or not but I have a friend who lager once or twice a year just taking advantage of the fall and winter cold. It's not perfect because the more constant the temperatures the better but his lagers taste pretty decent, better than our commercial crap anyway.

By the way, since you live in Bangor, I must ask this. Is there a city called Derry near there somewhere? Do you know what Derry is famous for?

I meant not having a fridge as the complication. Controlling temps with a cooler and ice bottles and water would be hard.

Plenty of brewers make do with swamp coolers or some such for primary. Having a dedicated fermenting 'fridge is probably the best bet; you can often pick up perfectly functional (if a bit fugly) 'fridge for nothing on Craigslist. Then it's the addition of a temperature regulating apparatus - available for ~$50 from the major online brewing-supply houses - and you're set to lager like a ... er ... lagering thing. That's what I do.

Brewing lager beer is a bit more finicky than brewing ales. But the rewards are definitely worth it!

Cheers,

Bob

akthor said:

I meant not having a fridge as the complication. Controlling temps with a cooler and ice bottles and water would be hard.

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See my edits above...

I am on the hunt for an old fridge just haven't scored one yet.

akthor said:

I am on the hunt for an old fridge just haven't scored one yet.

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Just be patient... I have been looking for stuff I need to upgarde for AG in craigslists for quite some time. Finally something came up... I'm going to check it out today. This guy also has a temp. controller and a whole bunch of other things I wasn't really looking for but he is willing to cut his price nearly half if I take the whole lot. Problem is I don't want to take the darn 15-year old fridge, just the temp controler because I would have to trasnsport it on its side and it may damage (well, the chances are not that great really), besides I have a small chest freezer to install the controller. The thing is, he won't sell the lot or the controller if I don't take the fridge, so I might just take the risk anyway... my point being... if you are patient, people usually get rid of old fridges for a few bucks just to be rid of it!