First lager First Fermentation Fridge

[MrBrown]

Brew a BBS Spring Lager fermented with saflager 23. This is my first temp control attempt. I place the thermometer lead in a ziplock bag inside the sanitizer for my blow off setup. Should it be in the open air or against the fermenter or where I have it is fine? I've set the temp to 62 but found it at 55 this morning. Trying to avoid a stuck fermentation. What are the proper steps to follow for a lager as far as temps for fermenting and schedule? I normally ferment for three weeks with ales at 72 in a swamp cooler.

 

[progmac]

i think that s-23 likes to be warmer than most lager yeasts...57 to 62 degrees if possible.

otherwise, your fermentation will look like an ale fermentation in slow motion. my lager primaries are typically 7-10 days. a lot of us bump the temps up to room temperature when fermentation is 2/3-3/4 complete. this helps the yeast clean up diacetyl.

after primary, drop the temperature down either a few degrees per day until you reach 35 or so. alternatively, some people immediately crash all the way to near freezing. some people lager on the cake and some transfer to secondary. personally, if i'm going to be lagering for more than 3 weeks, i'll transfer to another vessel. i have found that it takes either gelatin finings or 4+ weeks lagering to get very clear beer.

 

[MrBrown]

greatly appreciate the info. For this one i think i'll keep in primary for the 3 weeks. D rest on day 8-9 depending on when fermentation starts to kick off.

I'm looking for reassurance on the placement of the thermometer. Is it fine sitting in the sanitizer solution or should i move it to ambient air?

ви благодариме Progmac !

 

[progmac]

greatly appreciate the info. For this one i think i'll keep in primary for the 3 weeks. D rest on day 8-9 depending on when fermentation starts to kick off.

I'm looking for reassurance on the placement of the thermometer. Is it fine sitting in the sanitizer solution or should i move it to ambient air?

ви благодариме Progmac !

ништо

I attach my thermometer to the side of the fermenter, others do the sanitizer thing as you do. Others do open air. Any method is fine, but understand what you are measuring. The temperature tends to rise a couple degrees during fermentation (less so with a lager than an ale), so the temperature of your wort may be a bit higher than ambient.

From a practical standpoint, if you want to maintain a temperature of around 50, set your ambient to 50 but then take it down to 48 or so once you start to see a krausen. then crank it back up once the krausen starts to fall

another method is to start at say 50 ambient and then once fermentation takes off, note the temperature of the fermenting wort (usually 52-53). then once fermentation slows down, boost the temperature up to what the fermenter was showing or even a few degrees higher. this i think helps to keep the yeast active.

it's honestly not something to worry about too much, especially if you are ramping up the temperature at the end for a diacetyl rest