Norselord
Well-Known Member
I wanted to bottle my first lager yesterday but when I pulled it from the fridge and prepped everything for bottling, I noticed that fermentation had resumed.
So back story:
recipe: 1lb carapils, 4lbs of extra light DME, 2lbs of pilsener LME, hops, and Budvar Lager yeast (WYEast #2000)
Timeline: fermented at 54F for 4 weeks (until gravity went from 1.05 to 1.02), did a 62F diacytel break for 3 days, and then ramped temp down by 2F every day until I got to 34F. Let beer lager for 4 weeks at 34F.
Pulled gravity sample yesterday: 1.005 (temperature adjusted, triple checked reading this is all legit and measured correctly)
Meanwhile back in my brew room:
The carboy looks like it has champagne in it, the airlock is bubbling once per second.
My initial suspicions:
1) The beer needs to ferment more -- although how much further can it go down from 1.005?
2) At 34F there are a lot of dissolved gases in the beer which are becoming more insoluble as temperature increases -- the beer is not fermenting, but any dissolved CO2 is coming out (Henry's law)
My questions:
- do I let the lager sit at room temperature and then bottle, regardless of activity?
- do I put the beer back in the lager fridge?
- should I bottle now, and adjust my carb sugar to the low end?
- generally, what is going on?
This is my first lager and have almost 10 weeks invested in it, and don't want to mess it up.
Thanks in advance for all your useful feedback and constructive criticism.
So back story:
recipe: 1lb carapils, 4lbs of extra light DME, 2lbs of pilsener LME, hops, and Budvar Lager yeast (WYEast #2000)
Timeline: fermented at 54F for 4 weeks (until gravity went from 1.05 to 1.02), did a 62F diacytel break for 3 days, and then ramped temp down by 2F every day until I got to 34F. Let beer lager for 4 weeks at 34F.
Pulled gravity sample yesterday: 1.005 (temperature adjusted, triple checked reading this is all legit and measured correctly)
Meanwhile back in my brew room:
The carboy looks like it has champagne in it, the airlock is bubbling once per second.
My initial suspicions:
1) The beer needs to ferment more -- although how much further can it go down from 1.005?
2) At 34F there are a lot of dissolved gases in the beer which are becoming more insoluble as temperature increases -- the beer is not fermenting, but any dissolved CO2 is coming out (Henry's law)
My questions:
- do I let the lager sit at room temperature and then bottle, regardless of activity?
- do I put the beer back in the lager fridge?
- should I bottle now, and adjust my carb sugar to the low end?
- generally, what is going on?
This is my first lager and have almost 10 weeks invested in it, and don't want to mess it up.
Thanks in advance for all your useful feedback and constructive criticism.