should I be worried

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Col_klink

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I brewed up my first lager this past saturday. by sunday night I had a good amount of airlock activity. I have it fermenting at 48* in a temp controlled fridge. anyway on tuesday it was bubbling about every three seconds. I checked it last night and now I get a bubble every 10 seconds. significantly slower. now I know the real answer is going to be take a hydro reading which I plan on doing tonight. but the suspense is killing me! should I be concerned about this significant drop in activity on day 4 of fermentation? I am limited to a bucket for primary right now so I can't see what's happening. anyway, do u think I'm ok?
 
When you hear folks say an airlock isn't in indicator of fermentation, you can double down that statement when it comes to a lager, they take time plain and simple. You have a stable temp which is good, so as long as you pitched the correct amount of yeast for a lager it will finish almost completely in 7-10 days and how you choose to condition it will determine how that last little bit goes.
 
I would think so. Checking your activity is like watching a pot ready to boil -stop worrying and let the magic happen! Your only real concern would be if the fermentation was stuck 48h past inoculation, which may have indicated that you pitched too little yeast cells. Sounds like you done good.

I'm unfamiliar with most lager strains (what yeast are you using? did you make a starter?) but 48F sounds pretty good to me, if a little bit on the cold side. Maybe bump it up to 50F after a week or so to help that yeast clean up its own waste products - that's what I do with my all of my ale fermentations.
 
thanks for the reply. I feel a little better now haha. I used wyeast munich lager 2308. I made a big 4L starter in two steps that seemed to come out good. I guess I will wait until the 7 day mark to take a hydro reading and see if I'm ready for a diacetyl rest.
 
thanks for the reply. I feel a little better now haha. I used wyeast munich lager 2308. I made a big 4L starter in two steps that seemed to come out good. I guess I will wait until the 7 day mark to take a hydro reading and see if I'm ready for a diacetyl rest.

Good to hear that you pitched a decent amount of yeast on that batch. At this stage, I'd be inclined to let it climb up on its own to 50-51*F, give it another 9-10 days, check gravity and then bump it up to 61*F for a 3-day diacetyl rest before cold crashing.

Don't you just love that new fermenter fridge?

Next project - a stir plate so you won't have to do such big starters.:D
 
hey floyd, yah I am loving this fridge! But now I want a bigger one hahah.

question for ya, when should I rack to secondary? I am currently planning to cool back down to 50* or so after diacetyl rest, rack to secondary, then lower down to 38* to lager. Does that sound right?
 
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