Dopplebock...too late to brew?

I am thinking of brewing my first lager real soon. I am thinking of a dopplebock.

If I brew soon, will it be ready by December/January? Any tips on brewing one and fermentation?

Also, any good all grain recipes?

Q2XL said:

I am thinking of brewing my first lager real soon. I am thinking of a dopplebock.

If I brew soon, will it be ready by December/January? Any tips on brewing one and fermentation?

Also, any good recipes?

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I think you've got plenty of time. Make a big, big starter (consult mrmalty.com's pitching calculator) and ferment for about 10 days in primary. I like to lager one week for every 10 points of gravity, more or less. So, that means a 1.070 beer is lagered for 7 weeks or so. I've gone up to 12 weeks for some bigger lagers, though.

I really like German bock yeast (WLP 833) at 50 degrees for fermentation. It seems to bring out the malt profile quite well. I like to lager at 34 degrees. I've find that with WLP833 that I don't even usually need a diacetyl rest. I do pitch cold, though. I always pitch my beers at fermentation temperature, even a degree or two colder. For lagers, I like to pitch a 48 degree starter into 50 degree wort.

Thanks Yooper. My small fridge will only get down to about 42F. How will that affect the lagering? Does it take longer with the warmer 42F?

I think I will be brewing one up on Labor Day.

+1 on a big starter....seriously...

michael.berta said:

+1 on a big starter....seriously...

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Mr. Malty says that I need 3.50 quarts of starter. I will make a 4 qt. starter.

Q2XL said:

Thanks Yooper. My small fridge will only get down to about 42F. How will that affect the lagering? Does it take longer with the warmer 42F?

I think I will be brewing one up on Labor Day.

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No, it'll actually go faster at a higher temperature. Beer ages faster at a higher temp. The main reason I like to lager just above freezing is because it seems to me that the lagers are smoother and crisper. I think you'll be fine at 42 degrees, but that's only about 6 degrees colder than fermentation temperature.

If you brewed this weekend with two weeks in primary and 9 in secondary (big beer right?) looks like you'd open beers at nearly 5 weeks in the bottle for Christmas.

Can you supplement your fridge with ice to get a few degrees cooler?

Ok, I just thought of this. Mr. Malty says 3.50 qts on a stirplate for a starter. I got that. Since the lager yeast will be fermenting at about 50F, do I need to ferment my starter at that same temp(50F), or can I ferment my starter at room temp?

If it should be at 50F, then I will have to place my stirplate in the fridge because without a stirplate Mr. Malty says around 9.5 qts. And to be honest, I don't want to make a 9.5qt starter.

You don't need to run your starter at 50. With lager starters, I think the rule of thumb is to try to keep it under 70F, for ales keep it under 90F.

With starters you're not worried about off flavors, you're worried about mutations. From what I've read, keeping the temps below those thresholds will keep mutations down.