German bock lager temp

I am following a recipe for a miabock which says I should ferment at 65 F. For the first 7 days.could that be correct. I am using white labs German bock lager yeast.

excaptn said:

I am following a recipe for a miabock which says I should ferment at 65 F. For the first 7 days.could that be correct. I am using white labs German bock lager yeast.

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After 7 days I will raise to 70 for 3 days and then 35 for 8 weeks

that doesnt sound right. it should be around 50F til fermentation is nearly complete, then raise to 65F

well darn, I am on day 3 of the fermentation, I am dropping the temp down to 50 but I am sure that the yeast have been eating away like crazy already... from my limited knowledge, higher temps = faster fermentation including off flavors? I also want to do a Diacetyl rest at 70 for 3 days. Should I even bother dropping the temp just to bring it back up in a 4 days?

has it been actively fermenting for the 3 days? if it has, the damage has been done. however, the 'damage' is likely just becoming more ale-like since it'll produce esters, so its not a huge problem. the lagering process should clean up some of this tho

hard to say without taking a reading. My ferm. chamber is a old fridge in the garage with a ceramic heat light with a 2 stage ranco. I have only checked to see that the temp was steady and that there was some fermenting going on, few bubble from the blow off tube, and the wonderful smell of fermentation had filled the fridge, but not as much as I had expected...if that makes any sense.

That is my favorite Lager strain to use. Yeah, you should be pitching that one around 45-50 and holding at 50 for most of the ferment. How much yeast did you pitch? What was the OG?

2 vials OG was 1.065...just checked temp down to 52 and the blow off tube is still bubbling.

2 vials OG was 1.065...just checked temp down to 52 and the blow off tube is still bubbling.

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According to pitching calculator you should have had 4-5 vials depending on production date or an appropriate culture. I would make sure to warm that one back up in a couple days or you are going to have a ton of diacetyl.

Yep, I should have used more yeast, maybe it was a good thing I started at the higher temp? well except for the whole taste thing...

MachineShopBrewing said:

According to pitching calculator you should have had 4-5 vials depending on production date or an appropriate culture. I would make sure to warm that one back up in a couple days or you are going to have a ton of diacetyl.

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I brought the temp up for 4 days for the diacetyl rest, any advice on bringing back down to 35 F. I can drop 5 degrees a day, or set my ranco and be down in a few days?

Have you tasted the beer yet? Is there any diacetyl?

I am going to check the gravity and taste tonight. What am I tasting for a buttery taste

excaptn said:

I am going to check the gravity and taste tonight. What am I tasting for a buttery taste

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Also if I do have a lot of buttery taste should I wait on bringing the temp down

Yeah, buttery. You will know it for sure if it is there. If it is buttery you should leave it for a while. I generally leave my lagers for 4 weeks unless I am really trying to bang them out. You pitched on 3-1? I wouldn't think you would be ready to do any lagering yet. I would give it at least 14 days and then only bring it down if it is cleaned up.

MachineShopBrewing said:

Yeah, buttery. You will know it for sure if it is there. If it is buttery you should leave it for a while. I generally leave my lagers for 4 weeks unless I am really trying to bang them out. You pitched on 3-1? I wouldn't think you would be ready to do any lagering yet. I would give it at least 14 days and then only bring it down if it is cleaned up.

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I brewed on 2/28, so today is day 10. I'll post the taste results as soon as I get home.

Final gravity should be 1.019 I am at 1.020. I can't tell if I taste butter or think I taste butter cause I am expecting it. Wife says no butter taste.

Sounds good. I would still let it sit for a few more days before you do anything though. I never really think about dropping it into lagering until at least day 14.

I am going to take your advice and wait until this weekend to rack into my primary and start to larger, thank you. Plus this will give me time pick up some supplies to try washing the yeast. Last question... When you lager do you drop down to 35 right away or do you take steps to get down to the desired temp?