Lager fermentation ?

I started 2 Lagers and I need to know wen to rack them to a secondary.

I pitched them at 75* and in 24hrs I started cooling them down to 53*
10 days after I pitched I took them out of the refrigerator for a 2 day Diacetyl rest .
The Question is are they ready to rack?
one had a SG of 1.043 and is now at 1.014 and the FG is to be 1.008
This one is pretty cloudy

The other had a SG of 1.052 and is now at 1.018 and the FG is to be 1.011
This one has started to clear up but I can still see "activity" inside.


So what do you think , are they ready to rack?

I would let them go for at least three weeks.

Also for future reference you should pitch around 45 deg and ramp up to 50 deg and hold it there for 3-4 weeks. You will not need a diacetyl rest then and you will have a much cleaner lager.

So you keep a Lager in the primary in the primary for 4 weeks and then rack ?

Mine has been doing the Diacetyl rest for 36hrs now and is at 67*

What should I do?

Does anyone know of a good Link to lager info?

HI_SALENITY said:

So you keep a Lager in the primary in the primary for 4 weeks and then rack ?

Mine has been doing the Diacetyl rest for 36hrs now and is at 67*

What should I do?

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Well, I wait until I'm at 75% of the projected FG, then do the diacetyl rest if it's needed. You don't want to rack until your beer is finished- because the lagering will stop the fermentation if it's not done.

Pitching a lager so warm (that's even too warm for ale yeast pitching temperatures!) will mean that you may have quite a bit of fruity flavors.

If it was me right now, I'd wait until FG is reached, then rack and lager. I'd suggest lagering for quite a while, due to some possible issues with the high temperature pitching. So, if the SG doesn't change in the next couple of days, go ahead and rack the beer then lager at 34 degrees for at least 8 weeks or so. That might smooth out any off-flavors you may have.

Ok, I got my log book out and I pitched at 72* and I checked both vials of White Labs yeast and they say to pitch at 70-75*

I have heard of pitching at cold temps but I can't find a lot of info on Lagers and what I had was conflicting so I followed the directions on the kit

So now just keep it at around 68* until it hits FG ?

Both of them are more than 75% done now?

I picked up a German Bock Lager yeast and the label said 68-75° F. So I made my starter at that temp, brought it to the basement (which is 45°) and let it go for 36 hours. I brought it (the starter) back up and pitched it into my ScwarzBeir at 70, then moved the whole thing to the basement again. That was Sunday (brew-day) it's still bubbling away at 55°F as of this morning.

I hope I don't get off flavors in my lager due to having followed the direction on the yeast label (White Labs).