Festa Brew Pilsner : Proper process

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cstacey44

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Hey All,
I've decided to take a crack at my first beer using Lager used (Saflager S-23). FYI: Festa Brew kits are basically just 23L of pre-made wort + yeast. I've been reading a ton of (sometimes conflicting) information on the net about how to treat lagers, just wanted to run through my process and make sure I wasnt missing anything.

Basically, Im planning to leave the lager in a sealed primary fermenter for the entire process, as I've read that secondaries are unnecessary. After pitching the yeast, I left the primary in a warmer room (~70F) for 2 days. Ive since moved it to a colder room, and have been using a swamp cooler to try and keep the temps <60F.

Im basically planning to leave it in the swamp cooler for a month or so (will check SG after a month), then move it to the warm room again (dicetyl rest?), before bottling.

Am I missing anything here? Is there any point racking this to a secondary.
 
There seem to be a million and one different temperature profiles for lagers. The one that I like is from the Stella Artois process. I can't find the link, but essentially you ferment for 3-5 days at 50. The low initial fermentation temps keep the flavor profile clean. Then bring it to 70 for the diacetl rest. (2-3 days or until FG is reached) This lets the yeast clean up their DMS and other flavor compounds associates with fermentation as the yeast go into hibernation. Then cold store/lager just above freezing for at least a couple of weeks.

EDIT:
Here is a great link. roll way down and look at diagram F
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fermenting_Lagers
 
Ahh, thanks for the link! According to this, I will do the Dicetyl rest in about a week (depending on SG), and then rack to a carboy for maturation. I think im going to have to do the cold-conditioning in the bottles, since I dont have any extra yeast.
 
The only thing I cant quite decide on with the pilsner, is when to bottle/carb the beer?

Should I bottle directly after the Dicetyl rest, carb for a week, then lager the bottles? Or, should I rack to a carboy after the 'rest', and let it mature for a while?
 
If you have enough bottles I would recommend using them for bottle conditioning directly after the dicetl rest. Especially for a pilsner which can taste quite nice when young. You'll have at least two weeks (likely three or four) of ageing while it carbs up.
 
So let me run this by you.

I would leave my lager in the primary for ~2 weeks (whenever target SG is reached), dicetyl rest for 2 days. Then bottle / carb for 2 weeks. After this, I move the bottles into a cold environment to cold condition them for a month?
 
They may benefit from a month of cold conditioning, but they should be very drinkable before that. I would carb at about 60-65 for two weeks, then move them the the fridge for 1 week, and then give one a try. You could leave them in the fridge, or take them out to condition longer if you want.
 

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