Salvaging a Pilsner

[Hollywoodpete]

I brewed an all-grain pilsner 2 months ago. I used a dry yeast Saflager S-23 Lager Dry Yeast, fermented in my wife's wine cellar at 55 degrees for 2 weeks. I transferred to a secondary for 2 weeks. I then bottled with carbonation drops and left the bottles at room temperature to carbonate. I then put it in a refrigerator to lager. I opened one tonight to test. It was extremely sweet and had no carbonation. Should I pull it out and warm it to room temperature to try and re-activate the yeast? Should I lager it in the wine cellar? Should I give up and pour it out?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Yes, warm them up. They will carbonate at fridge temperatures, but very, very slowly.

 

[Hollywoodpete]

Yes, warm them up. They will carbonate at fridge temperatures, but very, very slowly.

Thanks for the quick response. Should I warm it to room temperature or wine cellar (55 F)?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I'd go with room temperature - they'll carbonate much faster than at cellar temps.

 

[day_trippr]

In the future, include a 12 ounce plastic soda bottle in the mix. As conditioning progresses that bottle will get harder to squeeze. When it's pretty much rock hard the batch is ready to chill. Otoh, if the bottle remains easily pliable after a reasonable time you know not much is happening and can do something about it without popping a top...

Cheers!

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

My bottled lagers take at least 3 weeks to carbonate.

 

[madscientist451]

Sierra Nevada used to bottle condition everything at 80F, for 2 weeks. Don't know if they still do it, but it worked for them for many years.
Best thing to do with lagers is bottle condition for at least 3 weeks, then chill one down and crack it open to make sure its carbed up before moving the whole batch to lager.
Also, you can skip the transfer to secondary, just move the fermenter to a warmer spot to make sure its finished, a few days (once it warms up) should be plenty of time, but check your progress with gravity readings.

 

[Lefou]

My bottled lagers take at least 3 weeks to carbonate.

Mine, too.
During winter we keep the house at 58F-60F. Makes for great cool-brewed beers but is sorta slow for the bottle carbing when the temps drop.
The general method for me is three weeks in the primary no matter the yeast or starting gravity. A gravity check before bottling to verify, and no less than three weeks at ambient for carbing. I'm in no hurry.

 

[Hollywoodpete]

Thanks for all of the help. The recipe I followed said to bottle condition for 2 weeks. I guess I should have gone longer. The gravity is 1.020. I guess it has a little more to go. This is my first attempt at a Pilsner. The color is nice but it is way too sweet. I really like the plastic bottle idea and will try it in the future. I'm just hoping the yeast wakes up. I am still concerned about the temp since the package says it ferments best between 50-57 F. I am in no hurry but was hoping it would be ready for Christmas. Easter would be fine also

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Bring them into a room temperature (~68-74 degrees F.) area for three weeks and they should fully carbonate. Then after full carbonation has been confirmed, lager (the word 'lager' means 'store') them at ~34-35 degrees F. for a few additional weeks (or longer), then enjoy.