Another Lager Question...

[gsmith12]

So I started my first lager on 3/4/11. It's been sitting in the primary for 6 days now. I live in an apartment which makes it difficult to ferment at temperatures below 65 degrees (My place stays at 62-67 throughout the day). My local brew shop recommended Saflager S-23 yeast to brew at temperatures up to 75 degrees.

Today I had an idea to lower the temp of my lager by sticking it in cool water in the tub. It's now at <55 degrees and holding. Is it too late to finish primary fermentation at this temp and have any impact on the lager. I would then raise the temp back to 65-70 to give the lager a diacetyl rest. I'll be able to put the secondary in the refrigerator I'm clearing out and keep temps low, but I couldn't for the primary.

I guess my question is..is it too late to consider my beer a true lager?
Thanks for any help.

*This is my recipe, idk if it matter or not but here it is.
(5 Gallon)
1lb Crystal Malt
3.3lb Munich Malt Extract
3.3lb Pale Malt Extract
1 tsp Irish Moss
1.5 oz Cascade
Dry Lager Yeast

3lb Oregon Raspberry Puree
1-1.5lb honey
I'll rack the beer on top of the honey and raspberry when I transfer to the secondary in 7-14 days.

O.G. 1.050
I checked my hydrometer yesterday (3/9/11) and it was at 1.013

 

[Revvy]

Get the most recent copy of BYO magazine....It's all about lagering, and James Spenser of Basic Brewing radio does a whole article about Low tech ghetto lagering. He also touches on it in one of his programs....but get the issue asap.

February 24, 2011 - Lagering Alternatives
James and BYO Editor Chris Colby get together to chat about different ways to keep your lagers chilly during fermentation.
Click to play mp-3

 

[brewit2it]

So I started my first lager on 3/4/11. It's been sitting in the primary for 6 days now. I live in an apartment which makes it difficult to ferment at temperatures below 65 degrees (My place stays at 62-67 throughout the day). My local brew shop recommended Saflager S-23 yeast to brew at temperatures up to 75 degrees.

Today I had an idea to lower the temp of my lager by sticking it in cool water in the tub. It's now at <55 degrees and holding. Is it too late to finish primary fermentation at this temp and have any impact on the lager. I would then raise the temp back to 65-70 to give the lager a diacetyl rest. I'll be able to put the secondary in the refrigerator I'm clearing out and keep temps low, but I couldn't for the primary.

I guess my question is..is it too late to consider my beer a true lager?
Thanks for any help.

*This is my recipe, idk if it matter or not but here it is.
(5 Gallon)
1lb Crystal Malt
3.3lb Munich Malt Extract
3.3lb Pale Malt Extract
1 tsp Irish Moss
1.5 oz Cascade
Dry Lager Yeast

3lb Oregon Raspberry Puree
1-1.5lb honey
I'll rack the beer on top of the honey and raspberry when I transfer to the secondary in 7-14 days.

O.G. 1.050
I checked my hydrometer yesterday (3/9/11) and it was at 1.013

55 should be fine for lager yeast, just leave it there for awhile. How are you maintaining that temp, frozen water bottles? If it is just a tub of water it is just going to stay at ambient temp so dont know how it is holding at 55?

If you are going to rack on top of all that sugar you need to keep it at fermentation temps, not refrigerator temps unless you have an ETC on your frig.

And you can consider it whatever you like, call it a stout if you want, it's your beer

Personally honey and rasperry are pretty low on the list of ingredients I think of for a lager though.

 

[gsmith12]

Revvy, I'll definitely look for that issue and read the article, thanks for the suggestion!
Brewit2it, I have 1 frozen two liter soda bottle in there now. It's still pretty cold here in Nebraska so our pipes are sending out pretty cold water which is helping. I have a thermometer in it now and since 9 am today it's held 52-55 degrees. I let some water out then filled it up again with the same reading shortly thereafter. I don't have a ETC on the frig either, so I'll try to ferment at the cooler temps in the tub after I rack it, till the gf gets mad at least! In most cases I wouldn't consider raspberry honey a lager either, I'm trying to clone a raspberry lager from a local pub here in town, very clean beer. I know it won't be perfect, but thank you for your help and suggestions!

 

[brewit2it]

Revvy, I'll definitely look for that issue and read the article, thanks for the suggestion!
Brewit2it, I have 1 frozen two liter soda bottle in there now. It's still pretty cold here in Nebraska so our pipes are sending out pretty cold water which is helping. I have a thermometer in it now and since 9 am today it's held 52-55 degrees. I let some water out then filled it up again with the same reading shortly thereafter. I don't have a ETC on the frig either, so I'll try to ferment at the cooler temps in the tub after I rack it, till the gf gets mad at least! In most cases I wouldn't consider raspberry honey a lager either, I'm trying to clone a raspberry lager from a local pub here in town, very clean beer. I know it won't be perfect, but thank you for your help and suggestions!

Cool, hope it turns out great. You should be able to maintain the temps with the frozen 2 liter bottle. I'm bumping you so maybe someone familiar with "fruit in secondary" fermentation can chime in as to whether you would want to maintain the 50's temp or if it would be better to let it come back up into the 60's.