Fermentation Temp for a Lager (WPL810)

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mandyvb6

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Good morning! I was hoping someone could steer me in the right direction. I just brewed a Red Lager (all-grain) this weekend and used WLP810. On the bottle of the yeast it said to pitch at 70 degrees which I did. My beer started fermenting about 24 hours and it is going pretty good (I actually almost had a big mess and had to add a blow off hose last night). I have read that lagers should be fermented in the primary at lower temps (around 50 degrees). Is this true or should I keep the beer fermenting at 70 degrees? Also I have read conflicting info as to how long the beer should stay in the primary. Anyone know the typical length for the primary and/or secondary?

Thanks so much for any advice! :mug:
 
the last beer i made with wlp810 got up to 68 for a while when i was at work. it ended up fermenting the rest of the way at 65. i then lagered it for 6 weeks at 34. i emailed white labs regarding the temp range, here is the response i received from john carroll.

"No, you shouldn't expect a lot of "off" flavors. You may get more esters than you expect, but if fermentation was only at 68 for 12 hours, then you probably won't even notice a difference. Let it go to completion and then taste it. If you get some flavors that you aren't entirely happy with, give it some conditioning time and see if the beer matures and mellows out.

The temperatures on our chart are recommendations, not rules, so if you stray outside them you shouldn't worry too much. Just try to keep your fermentation as close as you can, but also try to keep the temperature steady. Yeast can deal with temperatures a bit higher or lower pretty easily, but they have a harder time with temperature swings, so a constant temperature will make them happy."

not sure if this helps but my beer turned hoppy yet lager-ish. took all 10 gallons on a camping trip.

oh, i did 3 weeks primary(reached termal gravity with hydrometer readings) then transfered to 6 weeks lagered in secondary.
 
That info is extremely helpful tabing! Thanks! I will give that a try. I now have my primary at around 60 degrees so hopefully I didn't change the flavor of the beer too much.
 
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