Did I use too much lager yeast for my Einbeck Bock?

[Shadowtheweak]

This is my first attempt at making a lager after making numerous ales. I essentially got a "kit" from a local brewery and it came with one packet of Saflager Lager 34/70. The OG is 1.077 and from the research I did, it didn't seem like it was going to cut the mustard, so I bought one more packet. I didn't make a starter, but re-hydrated the yeast before pitching it. I just wanted to make sure I didn't throw too much in.

Also they recommend throwing in a packet of yeast during bottling after 7-10 days primary and 2-3 weeks secondary and I was wondering if that was necessary? I was going to forgo doing that, but i've never made a lager yet.

 

[mark7347]

I think that is fine. Check mrmalty yeast calculator. It is great.

Also if its a lager aren't you going to lager it? I'd only add additional yeast if you cold lager for 2 or 3 months.

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[mark7347]

And not to beat a dead horse but you could do a starter instead of two yeast packets

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[BigFloyd]

No way you over-pitched. Big lagers require lots of cells. That means multiple packs of dry (rehydrated) or really big starters. For a 1.077 lager (618 billion cells needed for 1.75 pitch rate), I'd be pitching at least three 11g packets (which is about 600-660 billion cells).

Keep in mind that the correct pitch rate for a high-gravity lager is up in the 1.75-2.00 range. Compare that to a pitch rate of 0.75 for a medium gravity ale.

Forget the secondary for this one. You don't gain anything by it unless you're going to decide to cold lager 8-10 weeks in the carboy. You should lager this batch that long due to the high gravity. If you decide to bulk lager it for that long in the secondary, it's not a bad idea to add a small amount to neutral ale yeast (like 1/5 packet of US-05) when you prime for bottling. If you bottle first, carb it up at room temp a few weeks and then cold lager in the bottles, no yeast addition is needed.

At what temp did you pitch and begin ferment? That yeast will do well at around 50-52*F until it hits 75-80% on the way to FG. Then you'll want to raise it up to around 62-64*F for a d-rest 4-7 days.

 

[Shadowtheweak]

No way you over-pitched. Big lagers require lots of cells. That means multiple packs of dry (rehydrated) or really big starters. For a 1.077 lager (618 billion cells needed for 1.75 pitch rate), I'd be pitching at least three 11g packets (which is about 600-660 billion cells).

Keep in mind that the correct pitch rate for a high-gravity lager is up in the 1.75-2.00 range. Compare that to a pitch rate of 0.75 for a medium gravity ale.

Forget the secondary for this one. You don't gain anything by it unless you're going to decide to cold lager 8-10 weeks in the carboy. You should lager this batch that long due to the high gravity. If you decide to bulk lager it for that long in the secondary, it's not a bad idea to add a small amount to neutral ale yeast (like 1/5 packet of US-05) when you prime for bottling. If you bottle first, carb it up at room temp a few weeks and then cold lager in the bottles, no yeast addition is needed.

At what temp did you pitch and begin ferment? That yeast will do well at around 50-52*F until it hits 75-80% on the way to FG. Then you'll want to raise it up to around 62-64*F for a d-rest 4-7 days.

Yeah mrmalty recommended almost three packets for this. It was about 70ish when I pitched it and its sitting at a stable 50 in the basement. Maybe I will keep it in the carboy for longer, probably at least twice as long.

I thought starters weren't needed for dry yeast, just rehydration. I know liquids you need to do that for sure.

 

[Shadowtheweak]

I think that is fine. Check mrmalty yeast calculator. It is great.

Also if its a lager aren't you going to lager it? I'd only add additional yeast if you cold lager for 2 or 3 months.

Sent from my HTC One using Home Brew mobile app

lager in the bottles or carboy?

 

[BigFloyd]

lager in the bottles or carboy?

If you have the controlled space to keep the carboy at 35*F about 8-10 weeks, I'd do it that way.

Next time, try to get your wort chilled more, like a few degrees below initial ferment temp. It takes some time to get all that liquid from a 70 degree pitch temp down to 50. During that time, you're risking the production of flavors not appropriate for a nice, clean, crisp lager fermentation.