Helles Lager Fermentation Low Attenuation

[Mcquill1]

I am fermenting my first Lager, a Munich Helles, with Omega 114 Bayern Lager and have some questions about my fermentation.

I pitched a 3L decanted starter to ferment roughly 6 gallons of 1.053 OG wort. Pitched at 49 and fermented around 51-52 for 9 days and then slowly raised the temp to about 64 for a D-rest when the ferment was about 75% complete. Held the beer at 64 for a week to let it finish. After about 16 days in the primary, I decided to keg the beer to begin lagering as all activity from the airlock had ceased.
It wasn't until after the beer was kegged that I realized my beer was at 1.018, about 5 gravity points high from what it should be. I know I am in the ballpark, but I'm disappointed because it's sweet for the style and I wanted a drier finishing gravity.

Is there any chance that if I hold the temp of the kegged beer in the mid 50's that it would continue to ferment a few gravity points over time, or should I just begin to lager and hope for the best? I was also considering pitching a packet of dry yeast into the keg to see if that would help the beer dry out a bit, but I have read mixed reviews on this method.

I suspect that oxygenation of my wort is contributing to my fermentation woes as I only aerated for 5 mins with an aquarium pump. Obviously there could be any other number of variables impacting the fermentation, but as this is my first lager fermentation I am looking for advice on whether to try and drive the fermentation to a lower finishing gravity or just to hope it mellows out during the lagering process. Thanks!

 

[apache_brew]

Sounds like you gave it a good go for your first lager. Not sure if the existing pitch has anything left to chew it down. What was your mash temp? 16 days seems quick for a lager. Perhaps you could have let it ride out another week or two. I think my first lager (also a Munich Helles) finished around 1.018 too. I’d drink it and start planning the next batch.

 

[Mcquill1]

Sounds like you gave it a good go for your first lager. Not sure if the existing pitch has anything left to chew it down. What was your mash temp? 16 days seems quick for a lager. Perhaps you could have let it ride out another week or two. I think my first lager (also a Munich Helles) finished around 1.018 too. I’d drink it and start planning the next batch.

Thanks for the reply! I am still a relatively new all grain brewer so I knew I'd learn a lot on this first lager and gave it my best shot.

In hindsight I should have left it on the yeast longer and also should have simplified my mash. Mashed in at 127 for 20, stepped to 147 for 15, single decoction to raise my temp to 160 for 30 mins and then mash out at 170. This process was based on a recipe for Dovetail's Helles, one of my favorite beers, on BeerandBrewing.com. My mash efficiency was through the roof and I had to dilute with RO water to get closer to my target original gravity. Even after adding water I still was a few points high.

I think I'll refrain from pitching dry yeast into the keg and begin the cold conditioning process instead.

 

[Beermeister32]

Lagers will usually continue to drop, I usually keg lagers at about 30 days.

If you mashed too hot or too short, the yeast may have done it’s job already and you are stuck with a too sweet young beer. To fix, I’d add a half teaspoon of dry amalyse enzyme and a packet of W34/70 to the keg. Flush it with CO2 and let it continue to drop. I wouldn’t even mess with it for a couple months, let it do it’s thing and move onto another batch.

 

[Mcquill1]

Lagers will usually continue to drop, I usually keg lagers at about 30 days.

If you mashed too hot or too short, the yeast may have done it’s job already and you are stuck with a too sweet young beer. To fix, I’d add a half teaspoon of dry amalyse enzyme and a packet of W34/70 to the keg. Flush it with CO2 and let it continue to drop. I wouldn’t even mess with it for a couple months, let it do it’s thing and move onto another batch.

I appreciate the advice. I'll chalk this batch up as a learning experience and most likely begin lagering as I'd rather brew another batch than have it hog my fridge up for more than a few months.

Open to any and all lager brewing keys to success that people have discovered over the years.

 

[Sammy86]

My mash efficiency was through the roof and I had to dilute with RO water to get closer to my target original gravity. Even after adding water I still was a few points high.

I'm a firm believer in not diluting wort...why you might ask? Because the beer gods blessed you with sugary wort goodness...patience is definitely a virtue when it comes to lagers...I however have very little patience and warm ferment my lagers with 34/70 and have Crystal clear delicious lagers in 4 weeks.

 

[Mcquill1]

Haha I know I should have just rolled with it! I'm still getting used to my system's quirks and have to accept that I won't get exactly as planned for some time.

Me too man, "the waiting is the hardest part." What temp do you ferment the 34/70 and what differences, if any, do you perceive between a cold and warm fermented lager?

 

[Sammy86]

I've literally fermented it as low as 60° to as high as 66°. I'll admit my pallet isn't the best but I have noticed it does take a little longer lagering to get that crisp lager taste when I ferment at 66°.

My sweet spot is 60°-62°. Just did a Helles Bock that was fantastic after 4 weeks lagering.

 

[Gusso]

Just did my first lager after years of strictly ales. I don't have temperature controlled fermentation, so I did pressure. My OG was higher than I aimed for (1.064) but it finished at 1.006. A big lager! Cold crashing now. Will do pressurized transfer in a few days. Just one pack of 34/70 yeast.

Also, complete fermentation in about 7 days.

 

[Bilsch]

Mashed in at 127 for 20, stepped to 147 for 15, single decoction to raise my temp to 160 for 30 mins and then mash out at 170. This process was based on a recipe for Dovetail's Helles, one of my favorite beers, on BeerandBrewing.com. My mash efficiency was through the roof and I had to dilute with RO water to get closer to my target original gravity. Even after adding water I still was a few points high.

I think I'll refrain from pitching dry yeast into the keg and begin the cold conditioning process instead.

For a helles you should be looking for a starting gravity in the 1.045-1.048 range and a FG in the 1.007-1.009 range. This kind of low bitterness beer is flabby and insipid if not well attenuated. This is not the right beer for floor malted grain, just use any good German pneumatic pils. Keep the grain bill simple. 95% pils 5% carahell, or thereabouts.

You have the right idea doing a step mash and is what you need to help the malt enzymes do their thing. Protein rests are not necessary or desirable with today's well made malt. Best to start closer to beta range and shoot for strike of around 140F and raise immediately to 147-148F then hold for at least 30 minutes. Next jump up to 160-163F alpha rest for 30 min which is also the glycoprotein temp to help develop good foam. Then on to your mash out temp.

Keep your boil to a minimum to avoid heat stress, no late hops, chill quickly, use finings and try not to transfer any break material to the fermenter. Oxygenate the wort well. If using an air pump, your going to need to do an hour or more of injected air. Use a big pitch, at least 1.5 million cells/ml/ºP, better 2.5 million cells/ml/ºP, of healthy yeast. Ferment in the correct range for your yeast, better on the colder side. At this proper pitch rate fermentation will happen relatively quickly as it should. Within 5 to 7 days you should be 2-3 points above terminal gravity. Diacetyl is not an issue at these (proper) pitch rates so do not do a D rest. Transfer to your keg with fermentable extract remaining and naturally carbonate to avoid oxidation while handling on the cold side. Continue to hold at at ferment temp until the ferment has ceased and the beer is carbonated which should take an additional 3-5 days. Finally start lowering the temperature for cold conditioning.

Helles is a delicate beer so be careful of oxidation both on the hot side and cold since this beer style does not suffer staling well. And lastly there are three more important things you need to think about: attenuation, attenuation and attenuation.

That's all there is to it.

 

[day_trippr]

Out of all ^that^, I would key on the pitch rate. ~2 million cells/ml/ºP (or higher - though I haven't gone there yet ) makes a huge difference hitting a dry FG with bottom fermented lagers and the like...

Cheers!

 

[Bilsch]

Out of all ^that^, I would key on the pitch rate. ~2 million cells/ml/ºP (or higher - though I haven't gone there yet ) makes a huge difference hitting a dry FG with bottom fermented lagers and the like...

Cheers!

Remember though, you can pitch all the yeast in the world but if you haven't done a good job with your mash in the beta range, it's not going to make any difference.

 

[day_trippr]

True, but conversely - and likely more common - one could follow the whole mash profile thing but then underpitch and end up with a problematic beer...

Cheers!

 

[Mcquill1]

For a helles you should be looking for a starting gravity in the 1.045-1.048 range and a FG in the 1.007-1.009 range. This kind of low bitterness beer is flabby and insipid if not well attenuated. This is not the right beer for floor malted grain, just use any good German pneumatic pils. Keep the grain bill simple. 95% pils 5% carahell, or thereabouts.

You have the right idea doing a step mash and is what you need to help the malt enzymes do their thing. Protein rests are not necessary or desirable with today's well made malt. Best to start closer to beta range and shoot for strike of around 140F and raise immediately to 147-148F then hold for at least 30 minutes. Next jump up to 160-163F alpha rest for 30 min which is also the glycoprotein temp to help develop good foam. Then on to your mash out temp.

Keep your boil to a minimum to avoid heat stress, no late hops, chill quickly, use finings and try not to transfer any break material to the fermenter. Oxygenate the wort well. If using an air pump, your going to need to do an hour or more of injected air. Use a big pitch, at least 1.5 million cells/ml/ºP, better 2.5 million cells/ml/ºP, of healthy yeast. Ferment in the correct range for your yeast, better on the colder side. At this proper pitch rate fermentation will happen relatively quickly as it should. Within 5 to 7 days you should be 2-3 points above terminal gravity. Diacetyl is not an issue at these (proper) pitch rates so do not do a D rest. Transfer to your keg with fermentable extract remaining and naturally carbonate to avoid oxidation while handling on the cold side. Continue to hold at at ferment temp until the ferment has ceased and the beer is carbonated which should take an additional 3-5 days. Finally start lowering the temperature for cold conditioning.

Helles is a delicate beer so be careful of oxidation both on the hot side and cold since this beer style does not suffer staling well. And lastly there are three more important things you need to think about: attenuation, attenuation and attenuation.

That's all there is to it.

Thank you for the thorough response and the advice! I did not aerate well enough and also underpitched. I noticed my fermentation was slow to start and also progressed slower than expected which is most likely directly a result of those factors.

I will have to make a stepped starter next time to get a bigger pitch of yeast. Also open to any best practices as I have not done one of these before.

 

[jdauria]

Props on being fairly new to All grain and giving decoction a go. I have only tried that twice in 15 years of brewing. Skip the protein rest next time not needed with most of today's malts. For my light lagers I do a Hochkurz step mash...147-148 for 30, 158 for 30 and mash out for 10 at 172 and usually finish under 1.010 for all of them. I recommend using Brewers Friend's yeast starter calculator Yeast Pitch Rate and Starter Calculator - Brewer's Friend as it shows your pitch rate in millions per mililiter per degree Plato...shoot for at the least the lowest lager option on there...which is 1.5 million cells/ml/°p , or somewhere between that at 2 million/ml/°P....you will find that using that higher pitch rate, your lagers will have active fermentation within 12 hours normally.

 

[Pappers_]

Thanks for the reply! I am still a relatively new all grain brewer so I knew I'd learn a lot on this first lager and gave it my best shot.

In hindsight I should have left it on the yeast longer and also should have simplified my mash. Mashed in at 127 for 20, stepped to 147 for 15, single decoction to raise my temp to 160 for 30 mins and then mash out at 170.

Decoction if done poorly can impact attenuation, if you prematurely denature the enzymes that are working to cut the fermentables into shorter strands. In other words, you end up with a less fermentable wort. This can happen if you end up boiling a lot of the liquid, rather than the malt. I speak from sad experience LOL.

 

[eric19312]

Just checking...was that FG measurement with a hydrometer or with a refractometer? If with a refractometer are you familiar the adjusting calculation required for samples that contain alcohol? This doesn't seem likely with numbers you mentioned but always worth asking whenever someone has concerns about low attenuation. You mention the beer is too sweet...does it taste too sweet or is that based on measured attenuation?

Second what was the age of that Omega yeast? And did you use a stir plate for your starter? I've been running your recipe through the Brew United calculator and seems likely your starter was at least well into the lower end of lager range.

If really under attenuated I'd just let that keg rest in a cool room for some more time before lagering. There is bound to be plenty of yeast left in the keg to continue fermentation until it is done.