First lager questions

Prior to brewing my first lager on saturday, I spoke with one of the head guys at Keystone Homebrew (one of the larger LHBS) in the Philly area. This guy was answering every question that other customers had and every call that came in on the phone. I figured he was the man to ask my basic questions. I went through a slew of them and found out he said he does not do a starter for 5 gallon batches. He is also the head brewer at a small brew pub. I figured that if he didn't I shouldnt.

So I went on with the brew.

I got it down to the pitching temp of 50 degrees and pitched my smack pack or munich lager yeast. Now heres my issue, I do not have a temp regulator in the fridge. I thought I could get the fridge to maintain 50 degrees, but it will not go above 42, but it does hold at that temp. The Munich is said to work from 48-55 or so, but 48 is the low end. How bad is the 6 degrees here? Also, is the no starter and colder temp preventing a fermentation? There has been no airlock activity. And with Lagers, does the krausen form like in ales?

What yeast are you using?

Exactly?

That would help in determining this.

Cheers,

knewshound

The yeast is:
Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager Yeast. A unique strain, capable of producing fine lagers. Very smooth, well rounded and full-bodied. Benefits from temperature rise for diacetyl rest at the end of primary fermentation. Flocculation - medium; apparent attenuation 73-77%. (48-56° F, 9-13° C)

This is a double whammy- low pitching rate and cold temps. I doubt it will ferment successfully. If you can't warm up your fridge to 50ish, take the beer out and sit it somewhere cold- basement, garage etc.

At worst you'll be making a cream ale instead of a lager whih is an excellent brew in it's own right.

Lagers do form a krausen, sometimes thinner than ales.

He probably don't make starters but I'm willing to bet he does
pitch the right amount of yeast.

As for your tempertures....try removing the plug and let warm up to 50ish
and by plugging in and unplugging you'll get your temperture. Or you can get a
temperture controller and set it and forget it.

Yeah, until you can find a solution (temp control unit) I would unplug the fridge and check the temp often. Plug the fridge back in when it reaches the top end of the ferment temp (56-58). Check again and unplug when down around 48. Should be able to maintain a reasonable temp (better than 42!) until you can get a control unit.