Question about FG and Lagering

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Hey All

I am Attempting my first Lager beer a Munich Dunkel. I am using wyeast 2308 Munich Lager yeast. I made a 1500ML Starter and let sit on stir plate for a day before pitching. Brewed on Wednesday the day before thankgiving, and then went out of town for the holiday now i'm back and checked on the beer and it looks like it was fermenting but now looks like its done so i took a gravity reading. OG was 1.058 now its 1.016 which would suggest thats it done. Does this sound to fast for a lager? it taste good a little harsh at this time but i think the lagering process should help that. How long should i lager for?
 
I just bottled my first lager yesterday. It was a brewers best kit. After the primary ferment I racked it to a secondary then dropped the temp 2F daily until it got down to 34F then held it there for 1 month. I'm sure there are other ways to lager but that is what the kit instructions said so I followed them. I'll know how it tastes in 3 more weeks.
 
Around 50 to 55 f I don't have a fridge so I am just using the naturally occurring weather for this. I know that's not the ideal way to do it but hey there's more than one way to skin a cat
 
If you want to lager I highly recommend getting a used chest freezer or fridge then using an external temp controller to control temps. Lagering is all about temp control.
 
Well I just don't have the funds for a fridge or a place to put it right now. My house has a crawl space so when I lager it that's where I'm gonna put the Carboy. This should give me a pretty consistent temp, even if I can't regulate what that temp is
 
swamp coolers are easy too if you ever have a problem with temps. all you need is a cooler that fits /water / and rotating frozen water bottles. And a thermometer,switching them out a few times a day.
 
Around 50 to 55 f I don't have a fridge so I am just using the naturally occurring weather for this. I know that's not the ideal way to do it but hey there's more than one way to skin a cat

Well I just don't have the funds for a fridge or a place to put it right now. My house has a crawl space so when I lager it that's where I'm gonna put the Carboy. This should give me a pretty consistent temp, even if I can't regulate what that temp is

Well, if you can't lager, you won't have a clean, crisp lager. That's just the way it is.

You can do it in a cooler, if you have to. I put my carboy in a cooler in the basement, and add cold water and a couple of frozen water bottles to keep the temperature at 34 degrees. The time is usually about 6-10 weeks. You should lager for 1 week for every 8-10 points of OG. So for example, for a 1.060 beer, you should lager for 6-8 weeks.

If you need to, you could bottle after the diacetyl rest, and then let the beers carb up and then stick them in a fridge and lager in the fridge for the 8 weeks.
 
Good ideas and advice. It's 32f in my crawl space as we speak. I think if I can keep bags of ice around the Carboy I will be able to lager enough to get the job done. Gonna bring it inside tomorrow to start the diacytal rest
 
A couple of things you might note for future reference: (1) you underpitched but got away with it because of relatively warm fermentation temperatures. (2) your d-rest should have been done around 1.020 or something like 6-8 points over expected FG.
 
osagedr said:
A couple of things you might note for future reference: (1) you underpitched but got away with it because of relatively warm fermentation temperatures. (2) your d-rest should have been done around 1.020 or something like 6-8 points over expected FG.

I knew I underpitchee because the flask that I hAve is to smell. I didnt know about the drest before the fermentation. What's the reason behind that?
 
I knew I underpitchee because the flask that I hAve is to smell. I didnt know about the drest before the fermentation. What's the reason behind that?

For your next lager, consider dry yeast. I am a big fan of Saflager W-34/70. If you pitch two packs rehydrated at fermentation temperature, you are guaranteed to have enough cells for effective fermentation (maybe three packs for a huge doppelbock).

Active yeast consume diacetyl. By the time your fermentation is nearing completion, you will not harm the flavour of your lager by raising temperature. But you will accomplish two things: (1) you still have plenty of yeast activity to ensure any diacetyl that is present will be consumed by the yeast, and (2) you will ensure a strong finish to your fermentation at the warmer temperature (i.e. you are less likely to get "stuck").

Not every lager requires a diacetyl rest, in fact most don't. But after having a few d-bombs early in my lager career due to underpitching, I always do a rest now. It costs me nothing but prevents a potentially huge PITA.
 
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