I'm going to make Papazian's Crystal Honey Lager. Bought the ingredients last night so I can brew this weekend. My LHBS had wyeast smack packs availiable, I've had good results with those, so I got one: American Lager 2035. "Smacked" the pack last night (14 hours ago), and left it next to my other fementing beer where it is 64-68 deg.
As of 8:00 am, there was no swelling. My other two smack packs looked ready to burst after 12 hours, but not this one. If I shake it and put it to my ear, I can hear it crackle, so something is alive in there. The date on the pack is June 14th, not the freshest ever, but it's all they had.
The store is 40 minutes away, so running up there to get more/different/dry yeast is out. I'm hoping that this SP will swell soon, so I can make a starter and get this beer going.
Does lager yeast need cold conditions even at this early stage, or is the 64-68 area OK to incubate?
Once it's in the primary, does it go into the cold area to "lager", or do I wait till it's in the secondary?
As of 8:00 am, there was no swelling. My other two smack packs looked ready to burst after 12 hours, but not this one. If I shake it and put it to my ear, I can hear it crackle, so something is alive in there. The date on the pack is June 14th, not the freshest ever, but it's all they had.
The store is 40 minutes away, so running up there to get more/different/dry yeast is out. I'm hoping that this SP will swell soon, so I can make a starter and get this beer going.
Does lager yeast need cold conditions even at this early stage, or is the 64-68 area OK to incubate?
Once it's in the primary, does it go into the cold area to "lager", or do I wait till it's in the secondary?
