My first Lager?

[EndOfTheWorldBrewing]

Just brewed my first lager no luck on any fermentation that I can tell. (No activity in the blowoff tube) Current temp is between 52-54 degrees. I was thinking of moving it to a warmer area of the house to see if I could get the yeast going. Would this be wise with a lager. Should I start thinking of adding more yeast? Yeast was pitched about 36 hours ago.

Thanks

 

[Shooter]

Have you taken a hydrometer reading to see if anything is happening?

 

[EndOfTheWorldBrewing]

I was hoping to leave that as a last resort. I hate to open the cotainer. I assumed I would be able to see a little bit of activity by now. This is my first Lager so I'm not used to fermenting this cold. Maybe its just me. I have noticed sediment build up in the bottom.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Lagers do take longer to get started than ales, fwiw. I recently did my first lager and pitched roughly triple the amount of yeast that I'd pitch in an ale of that gravity. Mine took a good 36 hours get show serious signs of activity.

What sort of (and how much) yeast did you pitch?

 

[thunder]

Just brewed my first lager no luck on any fermentation that I can tell. (No activity in the blowoff tube) Current temp is between 52-54 degrees. I was thinking of moving it to a warmer area of the house to see if I could get the yeast going. Would this be wise with a lager. Should I start thinking of adding more yeast? Yeast was pitched about 36 hours ago.

Thanks

which yeast did you use?

 

[EndOfTheWorldBrewing]

Fermentis Dry lager yeast It was new stuff at the local Supply shop. 11.5g for a 5 gal batch.

 

[EndOfTheWorldBrewing]

So I did notice some activity but not much I will wait out to see what happens thanks for all the info and Merry XMAS.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

It's a Christians miracle!

 

[menschmaschine]

Next time use 2 or 3 packets of Fermentis' dry lager yeast (S-23 or W-34/70) per 5 gallons, rehydrated per the instructions on their web page. I do this on my lagers and fermentaton usually starts within 24 hours.

One packet will work for a lager, but it's really not enough for a 5 gallon batch. The lag time will be longer due to the excessive yeast growth and may cause some ester formation, not to mention giving any other "bugs" time to multiply as well.

It sounds like fermentation has started, so it should be OK.

 

[skyzo]

I just started my first ever lager a week or so ago, and it started fermenting within 12 hours with only 1 packet of yeast (s23). I do aerate alot though, and pitched a little warm at 60F, but I let it cool down to low 50's overnight and it was fermenting happily the next morning.