Bohemian Pilsner - to rack or not to rack

[Barkingshins]

I brewed my first batch of Bohemian-style Pilsner (all-grain) earlier this month and it has been in primary fermentation at 50º since 9/8. There was a lot of activity for a week or two but now it definitely seems to have wound down. Burps from the airlock are down to about 1 every 2-3 minutes and I feel like it is ready to be racked to secondary to begin lagering but the krausen still hasn't fallen.

Should I take a gravity reading and rack it if it's down to my target FG or should I give it more time? Also, with this style, is a diacetyl rest recommended before lagering?

I'm still very new to brewing lagers so any help would be much appreciated.

-Brian

 

[sagnew440]

I would take a reading and check for diacetyl and go from there.

 

[AmandaK]

^^+1

Check, then decide.

 

[Barkingshins]

Ok. Gravity is at 1.019... still about 5 points above where I'd ideally like it to end up. Should I give it another week or so at 50º and see what happens? Should I raise the temp a little? Maybe 55º? Rack it and trust that a diacetyl rest will drop it down to where I'd like it? In my mind, any of these options are reasonable. Again, any insight you can provide would be welcome.

-Brian

 

[Barkingshins]

Oh and, BTW, I'm extremely pleased with how it's coming along aroma and flavor-wise. Once fermentation is complete and it has been lagered for a couple months, I think it's going to be fantastic!

 

[passedpawn]

I'd raise it to 55 like you said. It should be done by now. Do a 2 day d-rest at 60, then bring it down to 32. I'd give it a shake after the d-rest and get that krausen to fall.

I've got a a couple of bopils finishing fermentation right now. Brewing up another batch this wkend. Repeat until I get it right

 

[Barkingshins]

The jostling that comes with moving the carboy out of the fridge for a gravity reading seems to have done the trick for getting the krausen to fall. By the time I got it back into the fridge much of it had already sank to the bottom. Gonna let it sit at 55º for a couple days and then take it up to 60º for a 48-hr d-rest before racking to secondary for lagering.

Thanks again for the help. I'm very excited about this one. BoPils has always been my favorite style and I spared no expense with this first attempt. I followed John Palmer/George Fix's mash-schedule recommendations for under-modified pilsner malt (half-hour rests at 122º, 140º and 158º) and used nothing but RO/DI water with a calcium addition to approximate that soft Pilsn water. So far, so good!

-Brian

 

[passedpawn]

The jostling that comes with moving the carboy out of the fridge for a gravity reading seems to have done the trick for getting the krausen to fall. By the time I got it back into the fridge much of it had already sank to the bottom. Gonna let it sit at 55º for a couple days and then take it up to 60º for a 48-hr d-rest before racking to secondary for lagering.

Thanks again for the help. I'm very excited about this one. BoPils has always been my favorite style and I spared no expense with this first attempt. I followed John Palmer/George Fix's mash-schedule recommendations for under-modified pilsner malt (half-hour rests at 122º, 140º and 158º) and used nothing but RO/DI water with a calcium addition to approximate that soft Pilsn water. So far, so good!

-Brian

Good luck. I did half RO/DI also, but I skipped the calcium chloride. I think this week I'll test my water and consider using the calcium this wkend.