brewsmedic
Active Member
I had a bit of bad news the other day when I found out my fridge's compressor died and I wasn't going to be getting it fixed until after the weekend. So, I HAD to get another used fridge to hold me over...once all the squatting food is out, it's keg time and lager time which leads to my main question.
I have searched the forums and there is a TON of information about lager fermentation but it goes down paths of technique I can't appreciate yet due to total inexperience so I want to lay out my down and dirty understanding of it and make sure I'm not doing anything really stupid. I plan on getting a Maibock all grain kit from Midwest and brewing on the 21st of December provided the mayans are off and also should be into real winter temps here in the midwest since it's going to hit 70 today.
1. Brew the beer. Cool the beer to pitch and let the beer sit inside (heater set at 66, normally) until I see signs of fermentation.
2. Move beer to the Garage (hopefully 40-50 depending on the day) for 2-3 weeks.
3. Move the beer back inside for a couple of days.
4. Rack to carboy and set in my new beer fridge for 7 weeks or so.
5. Transfer to Keg, carbonate and drink.
That is my plan based on what I can pull out of the forums without the exact temp's and such. I know that there may be better results with different controls and what not but it seems that lagers were brewed long before keezers and johnson controls came on the scene. Seems a good time to learn when I can use winter to keep my fermentation cool rather then constant messing with fridge controls but let me know if you see a glaring error.
Thanks!
I have searched the forums and there is a TON of information about lager fermentation but it goes down paths of technique I can't appreciate yet due to total inexperience so I want to lay out my down and dirty understanding of it and make sure I'm not doing anything really stupid. I plan on getting a Maibock all grain kit from Midwest and brewing on the 21st of December provided the mayans are off and also should be into real winter temps here in the midwest since it's going to hit 70 today.
1. Brew the beer. Cool the beer to pitch and let the beer sit inside (heater set at 66, normally) until I see signs of fermentation.
2. Move beer to the Garage (hopefully 40-50 depending on the day) for 2-3 weeks.
3. Move the beer back inside for a couple of days.
4. Rack to carboy and set in my new beer fridge for 7 weeks or so.
5. Transfer to Keg, carbonate and drink.
That is my plan based on what I can pull out of the forums without the exact temp's and such. I know that there may be better results with different controls and what not but it seems that lagers were brewed long before keezers and johnson controls came on the scene. Seems a good time to learn when I can use winter to keep my fermentation cool rather then constant messing with fridge controls but let me know if you see a glaring error.
Thanks!