Bottling a Pils

[Sjt_71]

I have some questions regarding bottling a Pils. This brew was my first Pils so I'm learning as I go. I used 34/70 yeast and fermented it at ~45-48F for 3.5 weeks, at which time I dropped the temp to ~39F. It has been sitting at 39F for 3 weeks. The proprietor of the LHBS says, "Bottle that now before your yeast falls out!" There is still considerable activity from the airlock (3-4 bubbles/min). I'd take a gravity reading but it is only a 2-gallon batch and I sure don't want to sacrifice 300ml's of what I hope to be great beer. Should I bottle it now or wait another week? And when I do bottle it, do I bring the beer to room temp before bottling or bottle cold, condition room temp? Thanks for the help!

 

[Yooper]

I have some questions regarding bottling a Pils. This brew was my first Pils so I'm learning as I go. I used 34/70 yeast and fermented it at ~45-48F for 3.5 weeks, at which time I dropped the temp to ~39F. It has been sitting at 39F for 3 weeks. The proprietor of the LHBS says, "Bottle that now before your yeast falls out!" There is still considerable activity from the airlock (3-4 bubbles/min). I'd take a gravity reading but it is only a 2-gallon batch and I sure don't want to sacrifice 300ml's of what I hope to be great beer. Should I bottle it now or wait another week? And when I do bottle it, do I bring the beer to room temp before bottling or bottle cold, condition room temp? Thanks for the help!

Without any gravity readings, you could have bottle bombs so I would NOT bottle it until I knew if the beer was finished. I'm surprised you are seeing any airlock activity, as generally yeast is inactive at those cold temperatures. That would concern me, as the beer should have been finished before lagering.

 

[sfgoat]

I would bring the temp back up for about a week to let it finish and take a couple gravity readings at that point to ensure that it is done. Then take it back down to lagering temp.

 

[Sjt_71]

Ok, last night I took a Brix reading and it was just under 5. According to the calculator on brewers friend, my final calculated gravity is around 1.008. Original Brix reading was 12, final 5. I'd say it's time to bottle!

 

[Yooper]

Ok, last night I took a Brix reading and it was just under 5. According to the calculator on brewers friend, my final calculated gravity is around 1.008. Original Brix reading was 12, final 5. I'd say it's time to bottle!

Maybe. Refractometers (even with calculators) are notoriously inaccurate when alcohol is present in the solution.

The key is not so much the gravity reading itself- it's when it's been stable and hasn't changed for at least three days. If it's still 1.008 in three days, then it's most likely finished. But if it's 1.006, it's not done.