Ahoy! Questions about my first 'lager' AND secondary

[Gorosaurus]

I have been lurking around here for a few months, but haven't really posted until now. I have made a few brews in the past (all ales), but I decided to take a baby-step toward lagering. Because this is my first outing of such, I went with a package of Brewer's Best - Munich Helles. It contains a yeast which it claims will perform well at ale temperatures. That sounds perfect for me, because I don't really have the proper equipment to lager properly.

Basically, I have a house that has areas of poor insulation. The closet off of my room is currently around 46F, while my room is 60-70F.

The included directions tell me that, if I am lagering, I should ferment the wort at 53-59F. Then, after moving to secondary, the temp should be lowered 1 to 3 degrees a day until it reaches 35-42F. Seeing as I do not have that equipment, I can not follow those directions precisely.

If brewing as an ale, it tells me that I should ferment at lower-ale temperatures, and then rack to a secondary for two weeks.


My question is: seeing as I have access to colder-than-ale temperatures, should I move the wort/beer there for any particular parts of its fermentation?


ALSO, as this is my first time actually using a secondary, I do not have a clear system in place. I just got a new 5 gallon glass carboy, and I am eager to try it out. I have read through a number of threads for opinions on techniques, but little consensus seems to have been reached. What tricks/tips do I need to know to get the brew from my bucket into my carboy? I understand that we are not supposed to 'suck' the siphon line, and Palmer has his suggestion of using a siphon line filled with cleaner, then hooking it to the cane to create suction, but I'm having difficulty visualizing that. Any rules of thumb?

Haha, and finally my latest airlock has a cap for the top, whereas the ones I used in the past did not. Is there a purpose for the cap? Perhaps I dodged some potential bullets when I didn't use it in the past.



Thank you very much for your advice. I have been charged with creating 3 homebrews for a wedding many months away, and so now I am cramming to get as much experimenting done as I can!

 

[pkeeler]

My question is: seeing as I have access to colder-than-ale temperatures, should I move the wort/beer there for any particular parts of its fermentation?

Do you know anything about the yeast you got with the kit? It is probably similar to Wyeast 1007, German Ale. It is an ale yeast that can work 50-68 and will give a clean lager type beer at the lower end and a fruity ale type beer at the top. I would suggest you just ferment the lager at 46, if the closet temp is steady enough. But I don't know if your yeast can do it. Maybe a space heater, if you have one, could keep the closet at 50-52, a perfect lager 'cave'. As for the Lagering phase, you can just do it at the 46, unless there is room in your refrigerator. Maybe 46 for two weeks, then use an ice bath for one week nearer to 38. But...I don't know if your yeast would be viable anyway, so I would just leave it at 46 for a bit, then bottle.

You could go get a real lager yeast and use that. 46 would be a good temp for several strains for a 3 week primary.

If the closet fluctuates between 46 and 65 or something over 24 hours, that won't be good for primary.

What tricks/tips do I need to know to get the brew from my bucket into my carboy? I understand that we are not supposed to 'suck' the siphon line, and Palmer has his suggestion of using a siphon line filled with cleaner, then hooking it to the cane to create suction, but I'm having difficulty visualizing that. Any rules of thumb?

You can fill your siphon with water (I wouldn't fill it with anything else in case you do something wrong and end up siphoning it into the beer; hard, but why chance it). Put the intake end in the beer, put the other end over a jar, open the clip and watch until the beer fills the hose. Close clip, move end to carboy, open it up. Now, once you open it, slide the clip up and the hose down into the carboy. Get it all the way to the bottom and try and avoid splashing (a little won't kill you).

Now, that is how I did it for two decades. Then I got an auto-siphon a couple months ago and I wonder what I was thinking lol. You can suck on the end, but the water is easier. But if it stalls, you won't kill anything sucking on it. Your beer at this point has alcohol, no sugar, and a low pH.

Find some shims. Once the siphon is going, shim one end of the carboy so the end without the siphon intake is higher.

Since your primary has to be above your secondary; but is currently probably on the floor, move it 12-24 hours in advance to a higher (but sturdy) location. When you move it, the trub will be disturbed, but it will settle again. If light is an issue, put a towel or shirt around it.

 

[Gorosaurus]

I wish I could be more specific about the lager yeast, but this particular packet did not have a clear yeast name on it. Just some general directions (I expected better- most kits at least go name brand).

Unfortunately, the homebrew store around here is only open on wednesdays and saturdays. Do you think that buying a new yeast and mixing it in on Saturday would be a good idea? I would imagine that would be the Wyeast 1007 you mentioned earlier, but perhaps a true lager might work.

The closet does not fluctuate in temperature more than a few degrees in a week (up or down according to the outside temp). 3 weeks is no problem.


Thank you very much for the racking description! The heads-up for the 24 hour advance movement is a great one that I wouldn't have considered.

 

[pkeeler]

It is possible the supplied yeast is a lager yeast. The Bavarian strain can work as high as 68. It is hard to know. If you started the beer, see what happens. It can't hurt the beer to put more yeast in on Saturday. Just your wallet ;-) Safale makes a dry lager yeast, but I don't know much about it. Sure it is discussed on this forum though.

 

[Sleep]

I've actually have the exact same batch going right now in a secondary fermentor. You're right the yeast is completely unmarked.

I am having the problem though that the airlock seems to not be moving at all and seemed to stop completely while it was in the primary about 6 or 7 days in. I'm hoping things have picked up in the secondary though.