New Brewer -- What if I don't actually Lager my Lager?

[marshall_tucker]

I've bottle conditioned/carb'd my pilsner recipe a couple times, simply because it was before I got into kegging, it turned out great nonetheless. I just called it a Kellerbier and it worked fine. I kinda like the yeast essence.

I have a chest freezer so I was able to utilize more "ideal" fermentation temp, but as was already stated, the lagering phase is just to clarify and smooth things out more. Granted your yeast likes that temp range (I used 34/70 at 54F), you'll make a decent lager.

Btw, you'll certainly want to hit a temp around 67F-ish for a few days before you conclude your primary. This is where you knock out the off-flavors to be feared, i.e. diacetyl. I've done this at the tail end of a 2 week primary, the pilsner was in standard gravity range, nothing heavy.

 

[cableman]

I would like to throw my 2 cent opinion in. Just an Idea that worked for me. I had an old cooler with a broken lid. I put my fermenter in the cooler took a 55 gallon heavy plastic trash bag and cut a small hole in it for the air lock to come through. The bag would cover the primary and the top of the cooler. I then took a old throw and wrapped it over everything again with the air lock out. Kinda like wrapping yourself in a blanket with your head out. Now just put a 2 liter or milk jugs that has been filled with water and froze in all 4 corners. Every other day I put 4 jugs in and refroze the 4 I removed. Worked like a charm for me.

 

[neumeon]

Why not ferment the beer, raise the temperature to a diacetyl rest (in the house), bottle, keep at room temperature for 2 weeks to carb up, and then lager in the bottle? You must have a fridge or something to store the bottles in before drinking. Maybe you could find a fridge spot for a few bottles for a few weeks?

This is a great idea - similar to what pro brewers do who don't want to tie up precious fermenter space for months. After cold fermentation, brewers will sometimes carb & keg a lager, then put the kegs in cold storage for a month or 2.

 

[hufcat05]

First off, welcome.

Second, you didn't say where you live. It's like 10F where I am and going down to minus temps. I've had an ale in the garage (teen temps) for 3 days now cold crashing before I keg it.

Third, if you have the skills and tools search this site for the instructions for building a Son of Ferment Chiller.

Thanks for the welcome! I live in Maryland where the temperature can shift 50 degrees at a moments notice, so inside is my only option. That chiller looks pretty easy and cheap to make, but I don't really have space for that. I live in a small rowhouse with barely enough space for the bucket by itself. That's why I'm going to drop the $300 on that brewjacket heater/cooler combo. I do appreciate the advice though!

Anyways, I started my beer on saturday and so far so good! So far my tilt is showing good, active fermentation, I hit my desired temperature a little late (Pitched at 69 degrees, took 3 days to get to 56)

Here's the live status (gotta post it as a link since these forums don't allow embedded html): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wv9RO8jFj7ALeSCATMEiWJnfo30GtXJQRU3KM0ilkrY/pubchart?oid=1890832659&format=interactive

 

[hufcat05]

Just wanted to let everyone know what happened with this beer. I was reading that originally lagers were done in caves at ~50 degrees before modern refrigeration. With that said, I ended up doing a diacetyl rest, bottled everything, waited 2 weeks at room temperature for conditioning and then put all of the bottles into the closet at 50 degrees for 4 weeks. It was ready just in time for the super bowl and was so delicious me and my friends went through half of it that night.

It was so good, I entered it in the DC Cherry Blossom Homebrew Competition and it took 1st place in category! Not bad for the second batch of beer that I've ever made. So thanks for the advice everyone!