1st lager, wanna try Narziss spinoff but...

[aksea102]

My first attempt at lagering will be a Baltic Porter kit. The directions call for the regular lagering method, pitch yeast relatively warm, cool over the first couple days of fermentation to primary fermentation temp, warm back up for DR and then lager for four weeks.
HOWEVER, I would like to try the Narziss method spinoff as described in Brewing Classic Styles.
My question is this…what is the best way to get my wort temp down to below fermentation temps?? Yes, I have a wort chiller. But, seeing as we are still hitting temps in the 80’s, our warm groundwater temps will make getting down to 44* a serious pain in the arse. It takes long enough to get to 60ish with a fair amount of ice!
I am curious if anyone has ever cooled the wort down to 60ish, racked to a carboy, put it in the fermentation chamber, chilled it down to 44* and then oxygenated and pitched yeast?? Brewing Classic Styles also mentions racking the wort off the cold break before oxygenating and pitching, but I figure one thing at a time!!
Or I could just go for the normal lager method...
Thanks for your help!

 

[dale1038]

I've cooled the wort before pitching in my fermentation chamber and also pitched warm and then cooled. Nothing too noticeable for me. Different beers and too many other variables at play. The real test would be to split a batch and compare. Most of my lagers turn out pretty tasty.

 

[WortMonger]

What kind of chiller are you using? I use my plate chiller with tap water to get to tap temperatures while recycling back into my kettle. Then, I hook up another pump to the water side of the chiller and recirculate ice water through the chiller until I am at 45*F in my kettle. Ice can handle the lesser temperatures it needs to get to after beating it down with regular tap water first. I like to pitch cold and let it naturally ramp up to 50*F to start fermentation. This helps lessen ester production by pitching cold. I don't rack off the cold break for my lagers, but I want to get to the point I can filter it while transferring into the kettle.

 

[aksea102]

I just have a regular old IC and a utility sink!!

 

[WortMonger]

Ahh, well you could always spend a little more and get a fountain pump and some more hose to use the ice water technique.

 

[Shooter]

Ahh, well you could always spend a little more and get a fountain pump and some more hose to use the ice water technique.

Even with this technique I was only able to get my last beer, my first lager, down to about 60 degrees. It might have gone lower, but I also didn't have two hours to babysit it. I ended up putting it in the fermentation fridge and dropping it over several hours to 44 degrees. Actually, I set my alarm and woke up at 2 am to pitch the yeast and oxygenate. It seems to have worked, I hit it with a little more oxygen around noon the next day, and also slowly raised my temp up over the first 36 hours, by the time I went to bed the night after pitching I was seeing evidence of a krausen forming.

 

[WortMonger]

Shooter, did you chill it down first with tap water, then switch to the ice water recirculation? I wouldn't understand how you couldn't get tap water temperature wort down to almost 35*F if you wanted to. I use a fairly big ice chest on wheels and always have ice left over to chill down more beer if I needed to.

 

[Shooter]

Shooter, did you chill it down first with tap water, then switch to the ice water recirculation? I wouldn't understand how you couldn't get tap water temperature wort down to almost 35*F if you wanted to. I use a fairly big ice chest on wheels and always have ice left over to chill down more beer if I needed to.

Yep, I get it down to around 100-120 before switching over to ice, when the ice melts, I add a second bag. It would probably get down lower eventually, if I had the time and patience, but that's usually the point in the day where the young one is getting up from his nap and I've promised to take the family out to dinner after letting me brew all day. So, I just threw it into the fridge. I'm sure it would work, but just wanted to let the OP know that, if you can get it down to a low ale temperature, finishing it up in the fridge seems to work, as long as you've been sanitary.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Homebrewers can such Narzissists sometimes.

By all means, try the techniques out but just remember that these techniques come about because someone just made due with what they had and worked out the best way they could to use it.