First Lager

[Greydog]

Hi All,

I am wondering how critical temperature control is for a lager brew.

With winter on it's way, I thought I'd try a lager in my garage. I have a heater that keeps things from freezing but, temperatures can vary relative to the ourside temp.

In the past, I've tried to maintain about 55-60 degrees and I seem to be able to maintain that.

For the lagering process, I though I could bottle finish in a cooler part of the garage.

Any thoughts? Thanks,

Greydog

 

[blowmax10]

Hi All,

I am wondering how critical temperature control is for a lager brew.

With winter on it's way, I thought I'd try a lager in my garage. I have a heater that keeps things from freezing but, temperatures can vary relative to the ourside temp.

In the past, I've tried to maintain about 55-60 degrees and I seem to be able to maintain that.

For the lagering process, I though I could bottle finish in a cooler part of the garage.

Any thoughts? Thanks,

Greydog

I would build an insulated box and put my carboy inside with the heater and try and maintain my temp as close as possible

I would Primary for two weeks at 55 or so and then secondary for a month at 40 or even 35

If I was going to bottle, I would think about making a very small yeast starter to pitch back in because I would worry about having dropped out too much of the yeast

Also - I would go ahead and bottle condition at 70F because the yeast won't through off any off flavors with that small amount of priming sugar

I think this is pretty much the standard method of doing a Lager

 

[waldoar15]

Interesting. Once the temps get a little cooler here I have a room that has it's own thermostat and I can keep it at 55* for most of the winter if I want too.

My only concern would be lagering in the garage after that.