lagering problem...help

so I had a question. I've been brewing all-grain for a few years and this was my first attempt at a lager. I made a mistake and pitched my yeast at 70 degrees and then put the pail in the refrigerator to bring the temp down. Well my temp got screwed up and dropped it down to like 44 degrees. This has been in the primary for 4 days now and nothing...not one bubble in the airlock. My question is did I kill the yeast with dropping the temp that low before primary fermentation started. Should I get another pack of yeast or just keep waiting for something to happen? I used Wyeast 2206. Any help would be great. thanks

Certainly didnt kill the yeast

How much yeast did you pitch?

Get it warmed up to around 50 and it should get going.

Give it a diacetyl rest (warm it up to room temperature) when you get to around 60% attenuation

Your yeast are fine, but perhaps just a little cold. If you did not do a starter then you will have a long lag time. Lagers need larger starters than ales. You just need to warm it up and wait. I am sure everything will take off in time.

Ed

I did the same thing and panicked and threw in some ale yeast and continued @ the lower range of ale temps. The beer tasted okay, certainly not lager worthy. I didn't make a starter though. If I made a starter I would have been more patient.

babalu87 said:

Give it a diacetyl rest (warm it up to room temperature) when you get to around 60% attenuation

Click to expand...

Why do you diacetyl rest at 60% attenuation? I am in the process of fermenting my first lager and had planned for a diacetyl rest when fermentation was complete. Should I do it sooner?

Thanks!!

Jsta Porter said:

Why do you diacetyl rest at 60% attenuation? I am in the process of fermenting my first lager and had planned for a diacetyl rest when fermentation was complete. Should I do it sooner?

Thanks!!

Click to expand...

Diacetyl rests are typically done 6 to 8 points shy of expected FG. For most average beers, this is when fermentation is about 80-85% complete. The temperature is increased by about 10°F for a day or 2.

When primary fermentation is dying down, yeast are running out of sugar to eat and look for other things to consume, including their own by-products produced earlier in fermentation (like diacetyl). This increase in temperature gives them a "boost" to eat up those by-products and consume as much of the sugars as possible, resulting in a clean, well attenuated beer.

After the diacetyl rest, the beer should be slowly brought down in temperature (5°F/day) and then racked to secondary and lagered. (I know some believe that cold-crashing lagers is perfectly fine, and it may be in most cases. However, several of the technical brewing texts I've read indicate a gradual lowering of the temperature is essential for a lager yeast.)

Thanks to everyone that replied. Thats kind of what I thought happened but of course the state of panic set in. I did not make a starter (which I now know I have to do for next time). I also only pitched 1 packet of yeast. Thanks again, I have it around 60 degrees now... hopefully it takes off.

menschmaschine said:

Diacetyl rests are typically done 6 to 8 points shy of expected FG. For most average beers, this is when fermentation is about 80-85% complete. The temperature is increased by about 10°F for a day or 2.

Click to expand...

Thats a better way of putting it.

I do the fast ferment test (search Kaisers posts) and just use the attenuation numbers.

Warm it up to room temp and wait till you start to see action and then start dropping the temp to the temp you want to ferment at.

Stunna980 said:

Warm it up to room temp and wait till you start to see action and then start dropping the temp to the temp you want to ferment at.

Click to expand...

This is a common instruction in homebrewing lagers and if the yeast is underpitched, this may be a viable measure just to get fermentation going (risk of microbial contamination taking off). However, the result will be increased diacetyl, esters, sulfur compounds, etc. Ideally, in a lager pitched with yeast at a reasonable cell count, it's better to start fermentation at the same temperature (or slightly colder and allowed to warm up) that the whole of the primary fermentation will occur.