Lager Temp Rollercoaster question.

Here are my temp readings over the past month,

Day 1 & 2 - 60'F - (told this from lager beginner wiki part to kick start yeast)

Day 3 & 4 - 43'F - (thought this was right until forum member said 50'F would be better for my yeast strain)

Day 5 - 27 - 50'F - (Held it until last weekend)

Day 28 - 29 - 60'F - (storms came and tossed GFI causing temps to creep up, left it and just called it my diacytle rest. )

Day 30 & 31 - 55'F - (secondary delayed so I had to buy some time, brought it back down some.)

- Rack to Secondary - Tomorrow Evening (BB will be delivered then) now not sure on how long and cold I should go.

Since its been in the Primary for a freakin month, and my temps weren't optimal like they should of been do you guys think this will mess up the batch really bad? Extended time in the secondary warrented at this point, maybe it could help?

Just looking for a few pointers to try and make this salvagable!

Oh and the yeast was - White Labs American Lager WLP840

TYVM!

Now you know why us lager brewers use a fridge. I think that your yeast will still do the job as long as the temperature never got too warm. A test with a hydrometer would be nice and do taste it. You should be close to being done with any major conditioning by the yeast and it should taste like a lager at this point. You could minimize the temp variations by an insulated fermentation chamber and some ice now and then. Lagers do require even temperature for the yeast to be happy.

WBC said:

Now you know why us lager brewers use a fridge. I think that your yeast will still do the job as long as the temperature never got too warm. A test with a hydrometer would be nice and do taste it. You should be close to being done with any major conditioning by the yeast and it should taste like a lager at this point. You could minimize the temp variations by an insulated fermentation chamber and some ice now and then. Lagers do require even temperature for the yeast to be happy.

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Sad part is, I had this in a converted freezer with ranco temp controller. The actual freezer didn't change on its own. Only when the power was lost to it! The first week was me making adjustments by following guys on here and the wiki. The last part my GFI flipped after some severe storms. It still smells funny when I open the lid. The better bottle comes in tomorrow so I will check gravity, taste, then rack over the next few nights. Just wondering what I should do at this point with the secondary temps and length.

Thanks for the help!

That was one nasty storm wasn't it! I'm in the Renaissance Festival out in rotary park and the lake there was close to topping its levee.

At this point, I'd rack to secondary and lager it for a month at 33-34dF. After a month, the yeast will have done all they're going to do, unless it's a big beer. Bring the temps down slowly (5dF per day) to avoid shocking the yeast. You might also think about adding a little yeast (e.g., a dry lager yeast) at bottling, if you plan to bottle it... since it will have been fermenting/lagering for that long, but some have gotten away without after 8+ weeks, so I'm really on the fence on that one. I guess it can't hurt as long as you only add a little... no more than half a pack per 5 gallons.

For future reference:
-Diacetyl rests are recommended to be done when the beer is 2/3 its way to final gravity. For me, this is usually around the 10-day mark, give or take. Missing this begins to defeat the purpose of a diacetyl rest the closer you get to terminal gravity.
-"Kick-starting" lager yeasts with warmer starting fermentation temps will produce more diacetyl (which can be gotten rid of), but will also produce more esters, which can't be gotten rid of. Your lager might have some level of fruitiness to it.

All in all, depending on outlying variables and your recipe, I think your beer will be alright. It should definitely be drinkable!

Brian: Yes it got pretty insane over night. I am heading the the Ren fair this weekend on saturday. We go every year, I love tossing a few back and taking in everything! I hope they don't shut it down, as I know it got cancelled monday didn't it!

Menschmaschine: Will do, don't have much choice now anyways but to cross my fingers. Honestly as much as I like Ales I doubt I will be making another Lager this year. It would be fine to mess with, but now I will need my freezer for the kegs once this one is done. And I didn't have much confidence in the entire process. Just not seeing how its worth the dedication and trouble.

Don't feel that a lager is not worth the trouble. It has it's advantages too. I primary in the fridge using a Ranco controller. I then can slowly raise for a diacetyl rest(only if necessary). I put the beer in kegs and then purge with CO2 and put them in the serving fridge at 36F for the lagering. Just before the end of lagering I put CO2 on them so they are ready for serving when the time comes. It is very good beer.

Yeah, I make lagers as a primary brew with ales to fill in the gaps.

Don't get me wrong. I love ales also and have quite a few on tap
and in bottle. I do love me a Hobgoblin and APA's, stout, porters...
You get the drift. I love beer.

I love session beers, and to me that is basically, clean
crisp lagers. My lagers have more flavour than BMC type
beers, primarly because I brew German lagers with a higher
degree of bittering and keep them on the dry side with a
low mash temp.

Making lagers can be as simple as you want to make it.
Just be patient and do the best you can.

Good luck

BOOBOO, +1 on the Lagers and low mash temps. I hop generously too so I guess we like the same beer. I do brew more ales than you but I guess it is because over here we have a lot of microbrew resturants and they have lots of very good ales which keeps me inspired. I just love German beers too and so I keep trying to make my House Lager better all the time.

Taipans said:

Honestly as much as I like Ales I doubt I will be making another Lager this year. It would be fine to mess with, but now I will need my freezer for the kegs once this one is done. And I didn't have much confidence in the entire process. Just not seeing how its worth the dedication and trouble.

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That's OK... take a break from lagers. Don't sign them off all together, though. I don't think it's really much more difficult than ales. Just a bigger starter, temperature control, and time. If you do all-grain... there is something quite satisfying about brewing a nice grainy/malty, clean, crisp lager. I brew lagers every other batch and find it rewarding to drink these after putting in that little extra effort.

WBC said:

I just love German beers too and so I keep trying to make my House Lager better all the time.

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Same here! I've been working on my house Helles... trying different grain combinations (with Munich/without, more CaraPils/less) and different yeasts (WLP830, WLP838). Maybe one day I'll get crazy and brew a German Pilsner:cross: