My first lager

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daz57992

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Hi all,
This is my 1st lager. I done it from whole grain and i ended up with about 12 litres in my fermenting bin. It bubbled away with some vigor for about 2 days and now it has stoped all together after 3 days.
Is in in a cool part of the house at the moment.
What would you good people advise please? Is it ok or should i be doing anything else and how long will the whole process take please ?
Many thanks all :confused:
 
It is cold in Wales at the moment and about 63f where it is in the dark in the bedroom. Is that ok for now please ?
 
63 is kind of high for a lager. I brewed one on Sunday myself and I was worried at 56f. I got it down to 52 but today in NYC it hit 60 outside. I depend on normal winter cold for my temperature control and I haven't been home yet to see how warm the beer got. Tomorrow is going to be even warmer, but I'm going to try a water bath to keep the temp down. My cold water tap is at 44 and I'll just cycle through every now and then.
 
Lagers are usually fermented in the low 50's and then 'lagered' in the 35-45 degree fahrenheit range. Do you have the ability to lower the temp of the beer?
 
My brew was back up to 56, so I'm OK. But, yea, you'll need to go lower, and have the ability to lager. But here's the trick. A garbage can that your carboy will fit in, filled with water, and ice bottles that are cycled in as often as you can. Keep about 3 or 4 in the can and the same amount in the freezer. It'll hover around 36 or so depending on the outside temp.
 
Depends on the yeast you used as well. Some lagering yeast are designed to be fermented between 58-68 degrees if you can't meet the typical cooler lagering temps.
 
I used saflager yeast. I could put it in the garage but im afraid it will freeze in there as its around 0c at the moment and forcast for colder soon.
It looks as though iv spoiled it then ? :eek::(
 
No it's not spoiled. It may or may not taste 'to style' but I'm sure it will be drinkable.
 
So iv racked it into another bin after a week. how much longer do i leave it like this please ? :)
 
daz57992 said:
So iv racked it into another bin after a week. how much longer do i leave it like this please ? :)

I'd let it sit, as cold as you can get it (between 34-45) for like, 3 weeks at least. Then bottle it and store for at least 3 more weeks. Lager means to store.
 
Daz stick it in the garage and forget about it.
In Northants it was -7C the other night and my Munich Dunkel was fine. I wouldn't go near it for a month, 2 if you can wait that long? The longer you can lager for the clearer it will look, and cleaner it will taste.
 
So when its ready will it be ok in a kingkeg or is it as some people have told me that its better to put it in a bottle? Any thoughts please ? :mug:
 
Kingkeg is a big barrel, right? Never used one myself but if it is a dunno how you would keep enough pressure for a good lager - corny would be better.
I always bottle. The lager I bottled 10 days ago was reseeded with 3gms of dry nottingham yeast, and was kept in the warm since. I opened one last night and it was fantastic - never had a decent carbonation in 10 days before :) Enjoy.
 
OK so i give up with the king keg thing as it will not hold presure. Iv bought some plastic bottles, caps and some coopers CO2 tabs. but am now reading that they work with the yeast but i thought that the yeast has died as it long finnished fermentation and has been racked twice since.
Can i just bottle with the tabs, shake and store for a few weeks or will i need to do something else please ? eg Do i need to add some more yeast ? confused:
 
Add a speck of yeast to each bottle. The lager I made at the start of this thread came out flat after bottling. I'm going to uncap each bottle and add a spec of yeast to get them going. I'm using S04 but any yeast should do as it won't add to the taste.
 
Add a speck of yeast to each bottle. The lager I made at the start of this thread came out flat after bottling. I'm going to uncap each bottle and add a spec of yeast to get them going. I'm using S04 but any yeast should do as it won't add to the taste.

What was your primary and secondary time/temp? I've read that enough lager yeast should stay in suspension to bottle carbonate after 2 months of fermentation and lagering.
 
It was done fermenting a few months ago. I started it in the house for a week or so and its been down the garage in 2nd for the last few months in the cold
 
What was your primary and secondary time/temp? I've read that enough lager yeast should stay in suspension to bottle carbonate after 2 months of fermentation and lagering.

I've read the opposite, that you don't always have enough. I've always had enough in the past, but this time I guess not.
 
So do you think it does have enough yeast in there if a add a little suger to carbonate please ?
 
The longer and colder the period of lagering, the less yeast will be left in suspension.
With a very effective bottling practice there could be next to none in the bottles, hence the need to reseed with extra yeast PLUS the priming sugar. With reseed it could be fully carbonated withing 2 wks, without you could end up waiting more like 2 months to achieve the same level of fizz. If you've a microscope and a haemocytometer you can easily count the yeast cells left in suspension, if not - I'd say it wouldn't hurt to reseed.
 
If it was out in the cold lagering for 4 weeks it could very well not have enough yeast, as mine did not. If there is a yeast cake at the bottom of the vessel, stir it a bit and you may get enough that way, otherwise add a bit of dry yeast in the bottling bucket, but make sure it stirs into suspension otherwise it will all end up in a few bottles.

With my latest lager, most bottles are flat. But when I opened a few up to add some yeast I found one that bubbled and it was fantastic. I'm going to try adding yeast again, this time I won't stop to drink one.;)
 
Thanks again,
I have put 3 coopers carbonating drops in each bottle (1 litre bottles) with just the tip of a teaspoon to measure a little yeast also in each bottle and i have left just a small space of about an inch empty at the top of each bottle.
The caps are self sealing and very tight.
Here is fingers crossed then and ill keep you posted. Many thanks again all for all your great help and advise :mug:
 
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