Best temp for brewing lager?
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Most of my lagers I ferment at 50 degrees. Biggest thing to remember is you'll need at least double the yeast as an ale. Mr. Malty is your friend.
Some good threads
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/please-check-my-lager-procedure-142578/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/e...ering-adventure-please-help-round-2-a-190053/
Some good threads
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/please-check-my-lager-procedure-142578/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/e...ering-adventure-please-help-round-2-a-190053/
I stick with one yeast and ferment at 50º also.
Pitch a lot a lot a lot of yeast (two packs of dry yeast rehydrated or a starter of a gallon or more, fermented out then chilled and decanted). As noted above, use the Mr. Malty pitching rate calculator and you won't go far wrong.
Ferment cool; I usually go at the bottom of the temperature range; something like 48 degrees for most of the yeasts I use.
When your SG hits 1.020 start your d-rest at 60 degrees or warmer (I do room temp). Some folks skip the d-rest but I always do one.
After d-rest rack to a secondary and chill (some people do 3-5 degrees per day, I just crash it) to lagering temperature, 32 degrees or just over. Lager 1 week per 8 gravity points.
Enjoy the fruits of your labour!
Ferment cool; I usually go at the bottom of the temperature range; something like 48 degrees for most of the yeasts I use.
When your SG hits 1.020 start your d-rest at 60 degrees or warmer (I do room temp). Some folks skip the d-rest but I always do one.
After d-rest rack to a secondary and chill (some people do 3-5 degrees per day, I just crash it) to lagering temperature, 32 degrees or just over. Lager 1 week per 8 gravity points.
Enjoy the fruits of your labour!
LandoLincoln
Well-Known Member
That's OG, not FG, correct? Just want to be sure.
Right. So, for a 1.060 lager, I will lager for one week for every 8-10 points of OG. So in that case, I would lager for 6-8 weeks.
Germelli1
Well-Known Member
I would brew it around 212 degrees, give or take a few 
Like recommended, 50 is a great starting place!
Like recommended, 50 is a great starting place!
LandoLincoln
Well-Known Member
Jesus. Probably about a week to ferment, 2 days for a diacetyl rest, 8 weeks to lager, 3+ weeks to bottle condition...my Oktoberfest is going to take FOREVER before I drink any...
It'll make for a nice Christmas / New Year's beer.
Hmmm, more like 14 days to ferment, 3 days for a d-rest, a couple of days to drop to lagering temps, 8 weeks lagering and 4+ weeks of bottle conditioning.
Lagers are a labor of love, and not for the impatient.
Oktoberfests are called Marzens because they are traditionally brewed in March for consumption during Oktoberfest.
LandoLincoln
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I don't know if I'll ever lager in the summertime. My basement gets mighty cold in the winter, so I think that will be my lagering season. Maybe for next year I'll make 10 gallons of Oktoberfest and 10 gallons of some other high-gravity lager in January, finish lagering them in mid April, and then just condition the bottles until September 16th. They'll still be good, right?
thought i would throw this out here,while in a lagering discussion. Ive noticed on a brewing calc because of the temp that you prime alot less, well i did this as suggested because of a ending temp of 45 degrees ,but am worried about it not carbonating enough. Do you really need this adjustment to bottle prime/, because ive seen tons of recipes saying to bottle prime just the same as you would any ale.Using a brew calc with these temps says to use alot less.
Germelli1
Well-Known Member
It is really just taking into consideration the C02 dissolved in the beer depending on highest temperature the wort/beer ever reached once fermentation began. If you are bottling it, just let it warm up to room temp before bottling. You have to bottle condition at room temp anyway so that would take all the guessing game out of those overcomplicated (and unnecessary) calculators.
You don't have to warm it up, you can bottle it cold.
But don't use 45 degrees, or 34 degrees! Use the highest temperature the beer reached at or after fermentation. If you did a diacetyl rest, for example, the beer was at 68 degrees (or whatever your rest temp was) and lots of co2 would have come out of solution.
For the most part, I ignore the "temperature" part of any calculator and use 1 ounce of priming sugar per gallon for American and German beers, and more or less for other styles depending on what I'm making.
But don't use 45 degrees, or 34 degrees! Use the highest temperature the beer reached at or after fermentation. If you did a diacetyl rest, for example, the beer was at 68 degrees (or whatever your rest temp was) and lots of co2 would have come out of solution.
For the most part, I ignore the "temperature" part of any calculator and use 1 ounce of priming sugar per gallon for American and German beers, and more or less for other styles depending on what I'm making.
crap! I might be re carbing these,its too good to be flat.Ill give mine 2 more weeks then recarb. I was afraid of this altough i thought this through while botteling it i kept it in its ice bath and it racked slower,i noticed. But i just figured the colder the more co2 would be in it but dont know how fast it dissapates or whatever,they usually sit about a half hour with the cap on before i seal them also. I just dont want to do all that work to have a gravity sample tasting beer,ya know.
You think i should just re carb now? I planned on adding a half teaspoon dry sugar or corn sugar and immediatly recapping.
You think i should just re carb now? I planned on adding a half teaspoon dry sugar or corn sugar and immediatly recapping.
