First attempt at lagering

[DaveMur]

Hi Folks,

Recently finished converting a fridge in to fermentation chamber so thought I'd try a bock to get me going.

Having never used a lager yeast before I was curious how you know when to start the diacetyl rest. I had a read through of John Palmer's how to brew and it suggests using the bubbling as a guide and when that slows down (4-8 bubbles a minute) start to crank up the temperature? I was wondering how those with experience go about it?

Brewed last Sunday with an OG of 1.064. Pitched a pack of WLP830 in to 9 litres. Didn't really see an activity til Tuesday but I get lagers are slow to start. So far it's sitting comfortably at 10c bubbling away once every 2-3 seconds, so still going strong.

Thanks
Dave

 

[Blackdirt_cowboy]

I usually let the temp start rising when I’m 10 to 15 points from final gravity. I usually ferment my lagers at 48° and keep it at 62° for the diacetyl rest.

 

[DaveMur]

I usually let the temp start rising when I’m 10 to 15 points from final gravity. I usually ferment my lagers at 48° and keep it at 62° for the diacetyl rest.

So do you take regular readings or just once you suspect your about there? My main concern is risking infection. Having only done ales I'd usually just leave it for 10 -14 days then take a reading at bottling, never really went fishing in to the carboy during fermentation.

 

[GoeHaarden]

So do you take regular readings or just once you suspect your about there? My main concern is risking infection

I just start my d-rest at about day 8, and take it to ~65F. I don't measure the gravity or anything like that, for reasons you mentioned. Never an issue, and I've never had perceptible diacetyl in my lagers.

 

[kh54s10]

The couple I have done I did from a recipe I found online somewhere. It had a fermentation schedule of 2 weeks at 50 degrees a ramp up to 65 degrees over 2 days then a slow ramp down to 35 degrees over 2 weeks. The beers were excellent.

 

[Blackdirt_cowboy]

I’ve done enough lagers that I know somewhere around day 8 to 10 I’m there. But when I first started, I would take regular readings. If your good with santization, you shouldn't have any trouble with infection. Plus at that point, there’s enough alcohol in the beer to kill a lot of bugs.

 

[DaveMur]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll let it ride another day or two see if it begins to die down, maybe chance my luck with a reading.

 

[couchsending]

If you pitch enough yeast, add enough O2, and ferment it cold you’ll never get diacetyl and even then lager yeast has the ability to consume diacetyl at lower temps.

But raising it is fine for your first attempt, let it free rise with 10-15 points to go and you’ll be fine.

 

[Oceangrace24]

I brewed an Oktoberfest using the same yeast. I have a tilt hydrometer in my bucket, so I get real time gravity and temp readings. I pitched a 1.8L starter of wlp830 on Tuesday night at 11:30 with the temp at 58° it was down to my fermenting temp of 50° by morning. It started taking off within 24 hours. Thursday morning it was at 1.054. Friday morning it was at 1.044. Saturday morning it was at 1.030. that afternoon I started my ramp up. Raised it to about 56° over 12 hours. Then raised it to 66° over the next 18 hours. Sunday morning gravity was at 1.022. By last night it was at 1.013. that is where it is sitting right now.
I will let it sit for a couple more days to ensure it is fully attenuated before starting my cold crash.
It was interesting to see how fast it fermented using the tilt. It took 24 hours to take off, but then it was basically done in 3 full days.
My goal is to have this beer ready within 3 weeks. I know it will be better as it sits for a few weeks after that, but I wanted to try the quick lager method.

 

[DaveMur]

Hi folks, thanks for the advice. Just took a gravity reading at 1.030 8 days from pitching. Estimated FG is 1.017 so as suggested by those above I'll start upping the temp.

Cheers