Lager rest time

Ok, so last saturday i brewed my Munich Dunkle. Everything went off with out a hitch and i acheived a higher than expected Eff. Pitched a starter and 3 hours later had about a bubble per 10 seconds and 8 hour later 2 every second.

After 5 days a vigorous fermentation it started to slow and now, day seven has stopped all together.

My questions is being a lager, do i let it sit on the yeast cake for another 7 days to allow the yeast to clear the liquid of acetaldehyde, the green apple taste? or has it already happened?

This is my second attempt at a lager, the first did not go to well (infection). Not only that but this brew will be entered into a local contest 2 months from now.

thanks

7 days is quick for a lager. I assume you're fermenting at around 50*F?

What's your gravity? If it's within 20% of your final, it's time for either a diacetyl rest or racking to secondary depending on what your prefer.

In either case, no need to rush anything just yet.

Nope, i am fermenting around 65. my first attempt at a lager i tried it around 55 and it was horrible. did not ferment, yeast stalled, batch went bad. I did some research and what i was able to find was that lagers were fermented in the mid to lower 60s and the term "lager" is actually a cold storage term. after the beer went through primary fermentation it was then allowed to continue to ferment but at the back of a deep cave were temps were in the 50s. this long rest at cooler temps is when the beer was allowed to clear of sediment and the yeast that was still alive worked at a slower pace to absorb all of the off flavors and allow the cripsness of the malts to shine through.

Now, i could be wrong about all of this, but i am attmpting it this way and we shall see how it pans out.

I think i will leave it in the primary on the yeast cake for another week and then transfer to a spare fridge and keep the temparound 50 for 2 weeks and then drop it to 36 for the remainder of the time. the competition is feb 18th. that should be just enough time to produce a good lager, if all of my assumptions from above are correct.

Most folks call lagers fermented in the upper 50s or lower 60s a steam beer.

Anchor then made a copyright claim on the descriptor steam for brewing and now they are called "California common" beers.

You'll probably have a much different beer than a traditional lager but it could still be an excellent beer.

I would rack in another 5-7 days and then start dropping the temperature for lagering.

Each lager yeast has an optimum range for fermentation. Check the type of yeast you used against this chart http://www.beersmith.com/Yeasts/Yeasts.htm to see the temperture your yeast is better fermented at.

That's true boo but only SF lager yeast (i.e. steam) is recommended for 65 degrees F.

Reverend JC said:

I did some research and what i was able to find was that lagers were fermented in the mid to lower 60s and the term "lager" is actually a cold storage term.

Click to expand...

Where did you get that from? As the others say, this only applies to the california common and true lagerts are fermented in the upper 40s - lower 50s. Otherwise you will get more esters and fusel alcohols.

Your fermentation probaply stalled because of an isufficient pitching rate and/or low oxygenation.

Kai