Saflager dosage

Just checking the Fermentis guidelines and if my metric conversions are correct I think at 50F or less they are saying I should pitch 50g of Saflager. That's almost 5 packets! What do you think, bag it and use wyeast liquid and save money? Makes no sense. My last Lager with saflager (1 packet) fermented crazy slow. Is this the reason. I assumed 1 packet was typical.

Sorry, my awesome computer prowess doesn't let me give a link to what I'm reading but:

"80-120 g/hl for pitching at 12C-15C, increase below 12C up to 200- 300 g/hl for pitching at 9C" (paraphrased from Midwest supplies Saflager Yeast more info tab)

lagers generally ferment slower than ale yeasts....not sure though on the dosage though

Lagers always ferment slow.....this isn't about speed, it's about low and slow in the cold. I use saflager all the time, and never needed more that one pack. I come back after a month and it's finished fermenting then I rack it to a secondary for a couple more months.

Lager means "to store," there's really nothing about getting done fast in the name.

Try this out http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

also they seem to recommend a 53F temp. I would just pitch a bit warmer and stick with 2 packets of yeast for 5 gallons. Rehydrate at 69-77F for lager yeasts according to the Tips & Tricks pdf.

If the Saflager you have is S-23 I'd recommend pitching it....in the trash!

My basement is my designated brew spot. The winter temp down there hovers around 48-52F. It seems too cold for any kind of ale yeast. I'm planning to brew up a Marzen soon that I hope to be ready by the end of April. Would you recomend something like a Wyeast Octoberfest or Bohemian Lager? I've got no refridgerator to lager in. Also I want to dry hop on this brew. I wonder if that is affected by my mid range temps.

Denny said:

If the Saflager you have is S-23 I'd recommend pitching it....in the trash!

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What do you usually recommend for lager yeasts Denny?

I've used saflager S0-23 (the source is the VLB institute in Germany) with good results, each to his own. I pitch a lager yeast around 70F and cool it down over 24 hours or so. This speeds the growth phase, so you don't need huge amounts of yeast.

S-189 is pretty good.

GOOCHY said:

What do you usually recommend for lager yeasts Denny?

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For dry, S-189. For liquid, I find WY2206 to be a good, easy to work with, allaround strain.

I like S-23.

And I always pitch two sachets for lagers, 3 if I am over 1.060.

I have a 5 gallon batch of lager in primary right now. Brewed on Sunday morning and pitched 2 packets of Saflager S23. It's fermenting very actively.

The w-34/70 is a great dry lager yeast. Comes in a 11.5g packet.
It's Weihenstephan's yeast in dry form... I think there is a wl and wy liquid version though. But with a lot of places charging upwards of $6 for it, it's about the same price as liquid.

I just used 34/70 for the first time. Two sachets pitched at 65 F and cooled down to 52 F. It was a very vigorous fermentation. I did a d rest, but I couldn't detect any diacetyl to begin with. It hit final gravity at about 2.5 weeks.

I tasted the gravity sample a couple of times along the way, and I was shocked at how good it already was. Time will tell, but I'm very excited to tap this keg in a couple of months.

tjp68 said:

I just used 34/70 for the first time. Two sachets pitched at 65 F and cooled down to 52 F. It was a very vigorous fermentation. I did a d rest, but I couldn't detect any diacetyl to begin with. It hit final gravity at about 2.5 weeks.

I tasted the gravity sample a couple of times along the way, and I was shocked at how good it already was. Time will tell, but I'm very excited to tap this keg in a couple of months.

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I've used it a lot to, but I find that you do need a D-rest. I ferment the lagers at 50.. well temp controller set at 51 with a 3* differential. Since I could never detect the slightest bit of Diacetyl with it, I though well I'll just skip one and see what happens. What happened was butter beer. Repitched and left at 70 for like a week... which cleared most of it, but it was still detectable.
So, in short... do that D-rest.

z987k said:

I've used it a lot to, but I find that you do need a D-rest. I ferment the lagers at 50.. well temp controller set at 51 with a 3* differential. Since I could never detect the slightest bit of Diacetyl with it, I though well I'll just skip one and see what happens. What happened was butter beer. Repitched and left at 70 for like a week... which cleared most of it, but it was still detectable.
So, in short... do that D-rest.

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Thanks for the tip...I'm looking for a reason/recipe to brew another batch with 34/70 while my basement temps are favorable. I'll make sure to do the d rest to avoid a butter bomb.