Lazy Lagering?

[Gravity]

I'm gearing up for some Octoberfest festivities and want to do some german brew - ie pilsner, weissbier, bock, helles...etc..and alot of these recipes call for them to be lagered for at least 1-2 months, and quite frankly i can't be bothered.

I'll be using the saf-lager 23 —mainly cause i have a few dry packs i want to get rid of — and my question is, do you reckin i can ferment for 2-3 weeks at lager temps? I'd like to tap the cornies the last week of September. I'm working on my Pilsner recipe now, and will look at the helles and bock later today

this is the recipe for a 10 gal batch —other than the dry yeast being a downside, is there any reason why i couldn't quick lager for about 2-3 weeks?

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 11.69 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 10.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.054 SG
Estimated Color: 3.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 57.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.6 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
20 lbs Pilsner (Weyermann) (1.7 SRM) Grain 1 100.0 %
6.00 oz Hallertau [4.50 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 2 52.6 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 3 -
1.00 oz Hallertau [4.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 4 4.1 IBUs
1.50 oz Hallertau [4.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 5 0.5 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafLager 23 West European Lager 6 -

Any thoughts?

 

[jdauria]

Just an FYI, for a 1.054 beer, using a yeast calculator (Brewer's Friend) you would need 76 grams of yeast, or about 6.6 packs for 10 gallons. So if you want to push a lager quick, pitch the right amount of yeast, otherwise it could take a long time to ferment out. Besides that, yes you can quick lager, check out the Brulosophy quick lager method...http://brulosophy.com/methods/lager-method/ You will most likely need gelatin to clear the beer since you will not really lager. Some yeasts are better at quick lagering than others, not sure how much sulfur S-23 gives off though.

 

[Gravity]

Just an FYI, for a 1.054 beer, using a yeast calculator (Brewer's Friend) you would need 76 grams of yeast, or about 6.6 packs for 10 gallons. So if you want to push a lager quick, pitch the right amount of yeast, otherwise it could take a long time to ferment out. Besides that, yes you can quick lager, check out the Brulosophy quick lager method...http://brulosophy.com/methods/lager-method/ You will most likely need gelatin to clear the beer since you will not really lager. Some yeasts are better at quick lagering than others, not sure how much sulfur S-23 gives off though.

Thanks for that - I usually do a 5 liter starter even with dry packs. I was using Beersmith and only put down the 1 pack, but not the starter; thanks for catching it

I"ll check out the quick lager method, what about whirfloc for clearing the beer?
I'll do a little research on the sulfer out put

Thanks

 

[jdauria]

Ah, a 5 liter starter will definitely work! Happy brewing!

 

[Gravity]

Ah, a 5 liter starter will definitely work! Happy brewing!

the Brülosophy resources is helpful — thanks again

 

[Sammy86]

Ferment at 60 degrees, bump to 68 for Diacetyl rest, cold crash, hit with gelatin before packaging and you should have some clear beer by the end of September!

 

[anteater8]

My lagers are usually ready in 4 weeks. 2 weeks to ferment at 50 degrees, ramping up to 65 towards the end. And then 2 weeks to lager and carb at the same time around 38 degrees. It might come down to the yeast though... I haven't used S-23, but I have noticed that 34/70 takes about a week longer than my usual strain, Imperial Harvest.

 

[Beermeister32]

There are a lot of threads here on fast lagering methods for last-minute Oktoberfest batches. There are many methods to get a beer done fast.

The tried and true methods are still the best IMHO. I typically lager at 34F for a minimum of 3 months before bottling or cracking the keg. These lagers really do improve considerably in that time period. Marzens go longer. Remember Marzens are traditionally "March" beers to be brewed around March to lager until the Oktoberfest season. So you have about 6-8 months on a typial Marzen. I have a few bombers from my 2019 batch left lagering in my reserve, and they are fantastic.

So, once we get past the emergency batch which will be drinkable, but probably not quite as good as it could be, my suggestion is to get organized and start working on you pipeline. When I did that, I became not so focused on brewing and drinking some specific batch, rather you have a set of 4-6 batches lagering and your work is on the ones coming out of the lager period.

We spend much time on recipes, mash profiles and fermenting. Also important is the aging. There is a reason we call these lagers, which means "storage" beer. There truly are few shortcuts. If you want a perfect fast traditional Oktoberfest for your party, go down and order a commercial keg from a reputable brewery, we are getting too late in the year for a true lager schedule prior to Oktoberfest festivities. Today is September 1, Oktoberfest festivities usually start around the 3rd week of September.

 

[Beer666]

I ferment mine at 9c for a week to ten days and raise it either slowly or fast up to 18c for a rest. After 3 weeks i cold crash for a week adding isinglass half way through. Keg and drink straight away or leave a few weeks if you can. I cant to be fair but its always clear when i drink it. I use MJ Bohemian mostly.

 

[Gravity]

My lagers are usually ready in 4 weeks. 2 weeks to ferment at 50 degrees, ramping up to 65 towards the end. And then 2 weeks to lager and carb at the same time around 38 degrees. It might come down to the yeast though... I haven't used S-23, but I have noticed that 34/70 takes about a week longer than my usual strain, Imperial Harvest.

thanks , looks like I only have S-23; i'm tweaking the recipe now, should mash-in today

 

[Gravity]

There are a lot of threads here on fast lagering methods for last-minute Oktoberfest batches. There are many methods to get a beer done fast.

The tried and true methods are still the best IMHO. I typically lager at 34F for a minimum of 3 months before bottling or cracking the keg. These lagers really do improve considerably in that time period. Marzens go longer. Remember Marzens are traditionally "March" beers to be brewed around March to lager until the Oktoberfest season. So you have about 6-8 months on a typial Marzen. I have a few bombers from my 2019 batch left lagering in my reserve, and they are fantastic.

So, once we get past the emergency batch which will be drinkable, but probably not quite as good as it could be, my suggestion is to get organized and start working on you pipeline. When I did that, I became not so focused on brewing and drinking some specific batch, rather you have a set of 4-6 batches lagering and your work is on the ones coming out of the lager period.

We spend much time on recipes, mash profiles and fermenting. Also important is the aging. There is a reason we call these lagers, which means "storage" beer. There truly are few shortcuts. If you want a perfect fast traditional Oktoberfest for your party, go down and order a commercial keg from a reputable brewery, we are getting too late in the year for a true lager schedule prior to Oktoberfest festivities. Today is September 1, Oktoberfest festivities usually start around the 3rd week of September.

Thanks for all that – I agree, and normally I do things as they should be done, but time got the best of me on this one. I may wind up putting some beers off to the side to see how the quick lagering worked, then plan accordingly for the next batch.