Looking for Temperature advice on first Lager

[Von-Wolfhausen1]

Hey I've brewed ales in the past and I'm looking to brew my first lager and looking for some advice on temperature and yeast type.

I'm not 100% sure what style yet but most likely a pilsner type lager. Something simple so I wont be too pissed if it's not perfect.

First Question: What do I start the temperature of my primary fermentation at?

From what I've breifly read in some books, it looks like I ferment at around the same temp as an ale, then after a week or so drop it down to 40-50 ish in the secondary?

Second question: How will the secondary fermentation temperature affect my beer (ex. 37 degrees vs 53 degrees)?

Third Question: how long do I ferment in the secondary?

Thanks a lot for your help. Just trying to make the brew process as smooth as this lager should turn out.

 

[boo boo]

1. I start my fermentation at 48f and hold it at 50f until finished.

2. Secondary for me with a lager is lagering at 34f for 2 to 3 months

3. You don't ferment in secondary unless you are talking about bottling and adding priming sugar to ferment out to produce CO2. Secondary is a conditioning phase after primary fermentation has finished.

 

[Yooper]

I also ferment at the yeast strains optimum temperature. Usually that's 48-50 degrees.

Once the beer is finished, I often do a diacetyl rest 10 degrees warmer for 48 hours, and then rack the beer to the carboy. Then I lager at 34 degrees for one week for every 8-10 points of OG. So, for a 1.060 lager, I'd lager for 6-8 weeks.

Fermenting at room temperature for a week wouldn't give you a lager. That would be a "steam beer". If you want to make a lager, it's imperative to ferment at lager fermentation temperatures. In the case of a pilsner strain, I like Wyeast's Pilsner Urquell strain, and this is the info on that strain:

YEAST STRAIN: 2001 | Urquell Lager™

Back to Yeast Strain List

With a mild fruit and floral aroma this strain has a very dry and clean palate with a full mouthfeel and nice subtle malt character. It has a very clean and neutral finish.

Origin:
Flocculation: Medium-High
Attenuation: 72-76%
Temperature Range: 48-56F, 9-13C
Alcohol Tolerance: 9% ABV

Styles:
Bohemian Pilsner

 

[fxdude]

+1 on Yooper's advice, that's how I run my lagers

One big piece of advice is that if you start your temp out at 48 degrees it can take up to five days to see any activity. I was worried when I didn't see anything even though I had a nice size starter and injected pure O2

 

[sonex]

the advice given was good advice. but a pilsner is not the best choice for a first lager. pilsners have a simple grain bill but because of this any slight off flaver will stand out, there is not much for a mistake to hide behind. a more forgiving lager would be a marzen, miabock or any lager with more complex flavers to help hide small imperfections.

 

[fxdude]

It's funny because I always laugh when I see first time ale brewers trying a difficult recipe yet for my first lager I tried an American Lager using extract. Luckily I had been brewing ales for a few years at that point so I was very strict with my process and it turned out fine.

 

[osagedr]

I often pitch and ferment with W-34/70 in the mid-40's (either slurry or two packs of dry). You must, must, must pitch enough yeast if you want to follow this route. If instead you decide to pitch relatively warm then cool to ferm temps, certainly don't wait a week--your fermentation will likely be done by then and you will have a California Common as Yooper noted. Instead cool to 48 or 50 as soon as you see signs of fermentation. But I definitely prefer to pitch lots of yeast cool.

As to your second question, it depends on what the goals of your secondary fermentation are. A month ago or so somebody asserted that a warmer "lagering" period meant you could get away with a shorter lagering period. That is true if the goal of lagering is to do away with sulfur, possibly diacetyl, etc. IOW a true secondary fermentation period.

If instead you wait until your beer hits about 8-10 points above expected OG (for most lagers I use 1.020 as a rule of thumb, but it can be much higher for a "big" lager) then do your diacetyl rest, you want to store it as cold as possible (without freezing) for as long as you can wait, again as Yooper notes 1 week per 8 gravity points. At that point the goal of cold storage (literally this is what lagering means) is to mature the beer and smooth it out to the greatest extent possible.

 

[Darwin18]

You will want to wait on pitching your yeast until the wort is at correct temperature for fermentation (45-50ish). If you're using a liquid yeast you will need to make a starter. If you can control your fermentation temperatures to the optimal temperature range listed on the yeast packet, then you're lager will turn out great. You really need to have your temperature control and yeast pitching down for lagers.

 

[Von-Wolfhausen1]

thanks for the help guys. I plan on buying a temperature controller for my fridge to get accurate and consistent temperatures.