First lager attempt: Fermentation speed ?

[tdp]

Hi there - I’m hoping you can all help me calibrate what I’m getting so far for my first lager.

OG was 1.049 and it’s been fermenting for 6 days so far at 53F - I took a reading today (the 6 day mark) and it’s down to 1.024 or so...

I’ve read that lagers typically German et at roughly half the rate of ales (very roughly), so am curious if what I’m getting seems reasonable? Hoping that it will ready for a diactyl rest in. Maybe a week or so??

Thanks

 

[RM-MN]

There are a lot of factors in how fast a ferment you get. A big one is the temperature (you said 53F) and the pitch rate for the yeast and type of yeast are a couple more factors. Is that reading from a hydrometer or refractometer? What is the expected FG? I think you may be nearly to the point where a diacetyl rest comes in.

 

[tdp]

Well I pitched 2 packs of saflager w34/70

I estimated the current gravity with a refractometer using the correction calculator on brewersfriend.com

 

[tdp]

Sorry - meant to say that the expected FG is about 1.015 or so - about another gravity point to go...

Thanks!

 

[snowtiger1987]

RDWHAH. Give it a few days and check the gravity again.

 

[kh54s10]

I do not pay much attention to how fast a fermentation goes. For ales I always go at least 2 weeks. Most are probably ready to package at 8-10 days. But I am sure they are ready at 2 weeks. For lager which are slower I go 2 week raise the temperature over a day, let it sit there for a day, then ramp down over a day. Then when back to fermentation temperature I ramp it down to 35 degrees over 2 weeks. By then it is surely done.