I brewed my first lager last night. Everything went well, I aerated it well and got it cooled down to 50°F overnight. I pitched an appropriately sized starter (per mrmalty.com) of wlp833 this morning.
Now...at the risk of sounding noobish (sorry, noobs!)...I just realized that I have NO idea what to expect from this fermentation. Should I expect a long lag? Should I get a big krausen like I do with my ales? How long should a healthy fermentation take? Can I assume since it is fermenting colder than all the other beers I have ever done it will be a less active fermentation? Or will the lager yeast rip through it like an ale yeast would at normal ale temps?
I haven't felt this anxious about a beer in quite some time! I know I should RDWHAHB, etc...and I'm not really that worried about anything...I'm just, well, "concerned". I'm not quite at the "Why isn't my airlock bubbling" stage yet...but I'm close
Now...at the risk of sounding noobish (sorry, noobs!)...I just realized that I have NO idea what to expect from this fermentation. Should I expect a long lag? Should I get a big krausen like I do with my ales? How long should a healthy fermentation take? Can I assume since it is fermenting colder than all the other beers I have ever done it will be a less active fermentation? Or will the lager yeast rip through it like an ale yeast would at normal ale temps?
I haven't felt this anxious about a beer in quite some time! I know I should RDWHAHB, etc...and I'm not really that worried about anything...I'm just, well, "concerned". I'm not quite at the "Why isn't my airlock bubbling" stage yet...but I'm close