First lager, couple of questions

[Auspice]

Alright, so I'm prepping to make my first lager on Wednesday. I'm hoping that making the starter tonight will give me enough lead time including time to crash cool the yeast starter etc.

According to MrMalty I need 4 liters of starter! My lager is going to be 1.070 and I've got 2 smack packs dated mid to late September. I only have one stirplate but I've got 2 2L flasks. How the hell am I going to make this work? Will I be alright pitching both smack packs into a slightly less than 2L starter?

Next question; I plan on fermenting this in my kegerator which I can dial up to mid/high 40s; the Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager says the low temp is 46 but my kegerator drops to low 40s overnight since it's in my basement. Will the fermentation keep the beer warm enough to ferment fully or am I going to need to make some kind of adjustments here? I've also got tapped kegs in the kegerator and don't want to **** anything up by bringing the temp up too high.

I plan on brewing the beer then sealing it up and throwing it in the kegerator overnight to bring it down to temp to pitch the following morning or afternoon depending how long it takes, everything seem alright?

Thanks again everyone for all the help you've given little newb me!

 

[MarsColonist]

for 4L starters, I use gallon glass jugs from grocery store apple cider... start a 1000ml starter in one 2L, then when done, dump everything in the other 2L half filled with starter wort, then when its done, dump all that in the gallon jug half filled with starter wort. I made my own stir plate and the small one inch bar still works on the domed bottom of the jug, but it is a bit of a balancing act.

Keep a incandescent light on in your lagerator to drive the temp up. It should then adjust to keep the temp down.

And if you crash cool the wort overnight, rack off the trub before oxy and pitch.

 

[Auspice]

Wow, I can't believe I didn't think to use one of my 1 gallon glass jugs for the damned starter in the first place.

As for the light in the kegerator; this is a BIG commercial 3 tap kegerator, I somehow don't think a lightbulb is going to affect the temp at all. LOL

 

[Auspice]

Bumping for a question. I made my yeast starter a couple of days ago and tossed it in the fridge last night to chill it so I can decant the extra wort and pitch the yeast but it's still fermenting even in the fridge! Is it going to mess up my bock to pitch nearly a gallon of starter? If it's not, will my wort be safe to stay sealed up in my kegerator for a few more days while the starter ferments out completely?

 

[menschmaschine]

Bumping for a question. I made my yeast starter a couple of days ago and tossed it in the fridge last night to chill it so I can decant the extra wort and pitch the yeast but it's still fermenting even in the fridge! Is it going to mess up my bock to pitch nearly a gallon of starter? If it's not, will my wort be safe to stay sealed up in my kegerator for a few more days while the starter ferments out completely?

I usually give 7 to 10 days lead time on lager starters like this. Crash cooling a lager starter takes 2 to 3 times as long as ale yeast because of the yeast's tolerance to cooler temperatures. If you can, put that starter in a freezer with temperature control keeping it at 28-30°F, that would be ideal for getting the yeast to crash.

 

[Auspice]

Hmm, will I be able to just drop the temp down on my kegerator for a few days to cold crash the yeast? Will my newly brewed lager be all right to sit for that long without risk of infection? I just really want to make sure this turns out all right!

Assuming I can cold crash in the kegerator itself, will I be able to pitch the yeast at the colder temp since the wort is going to be in the kegerator at the same temp then shake it up and aerate when the temp increases inside the unit?

 

[menschmaschine]

Any wort that sits around to long risks infection. It partially depends on how the wort was handled after the boil. Before going through all of that trouble, you might consider a compromise between decanting and pitching the whole starter. If it looks like a good amount of yeast has settled, you could decant half of the starter beer and pour the rest in your wort.

 

[Auspice]

The yeast hasn't settled at all since it's been sitting at low 40s and it's still fermenting. I've got nearly a gallon of starter but I've dropped the temp on the kegerator so hopefully I'll be able to decant and pitch in the morning.

That being the case, will the situation I outlined in my last post be alright? Decant and pitch the yeast with everything in mid 30s then aerate it when it warms up?

 

[menschmaschine]

That being the case, will the situation I outlined in my last post be alright? Decant and pitch the yeast with everything in mid 30s then aerate it when it warms up?

That should be fine.

 

[The Pol]

Ive become a fan of the w-34/70 yeast. I pitched two packs and it started in 16 hours at 53F cold pitch. My first two lagers are chugging away too. Good luck to you.

 

[electric_beer]

Sorry to threadjack, but if your fridge is set to 49 degrees, is the fermentation temp around 55 degrees (heat from conversion)? I've yet to do a lager, but I think it might be my next beer.

 

[The Pol]

Lagers dont typically ferment as furious, there is much less heat created

 

[electric_beer]

Makes sense. Would 49 degrees be to low to ferment a lager or just about right? Most threads I've read talk about 55 degrees or so.

 

[The Pol]

Depends on the yeast... mine needs 53 as optimum, 57 is max, 49 is the low.

 

[electric_beer]

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll need a temp regulator if I want to lager in my mini fridge. It reads 49 at the lowest setting. Oh well, more to buy.

 

[Auspice]

The highest I can get my kegerator set to is 49 but as I said earlier it does drop to 40 overnight. I'm just hoping that the thermal mass of the fermenting beer is sufficient that the temp stays pretty steady through the nights and ferments steady.

 

[The Pol]

How long is "at night"?

Beer has plenty of thermal mass... but, if overnight is say 8 hours... it can cool considerably in that time. Also remember that thermal mass will be fighting you after it cools... it will take time to warm back up.

 

[Auspice]

Yeah, I'd say about 8 hours sounds right. That being the case, should I be expecting stalled fermentation? lol

 

[The Pol]

I dunno, just pointing out that thermal mass is your friend, and your foe.

 

[Auspice]

True, haha. Well, I don't have a choice since it's my only option for lager fermentation at the moment so fingers crossed everything turns out alright. I pitched the yeast last night!