First Lager

[LewBrew88]

I'm brewing my first lager, a doppelbock with an OG of 1.088. My fermentation started 4 days ago and was going pretty good. I looked at it today (5 days) and it has definitely slowed down. I was planning to check the gravity tomorrow to see where it is at but thought it would take at least 10 days before it would be remotely close to ready for the diacetyl rest. Should I be concerned that it has slowed down bubbling or is this just what lagers do? I have been fermenting at around 53 degrees consistently. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Yooper]

I'm brewing my first lager, a doppelbock with an OG of 1.088. My fermentation started 4 days ago and was going pretty good. I looked at it today (5 days) and it has definitely slowed down. I was planning to check the gravity tomorrow to see where it is at but thought it would take at least 10 days before it would be remotely close to ready for the diacetyl rest. Should I be concerned that it has slowed down bubbling or is this just what lagers do? I have been fermenting at around 53 degrees consistently. Thanks in advance for any help!

Most lagers, just like ales, finish active fermentation in 5-ish days if a proper amount of yeast is pitched and the temperature is proper as well.

53 degrees is on the high end of optimum fermentation temperature so I'm not surprised it would be slowing down by day 5. It might be ready for a diacetyl rest already. I normally do a diacetyl rest by about day 7, even fermenting at 48-50 degrees.

 

[LewBrew88]

Good to know. Thanks! I kept seeing that it said to ferment between 50-55 so I chose 53. I'll try lower next time.

 

[Yooper]

Good to know. Thanks! I kept seeing that it said to ferment between 50-55 so I chose 53. I'll try lower next time.

It depends on the yeast strains. Some strains are best at 48, some are better at 50, and so on. Always go by the yeast strain's optimum fermentation temperature. When they give a range of temperatures, the lower temperature produces the "cleanest" flavor.

 

[LewBrew88]

What temp would you recommend the rest at?

 

[osagedr]

60 or above. I routinely do them at room temperature.

My fermentation schedule is a bit slower than Yooper's although I tend to pitch a lot of yeast and aerate with pure O2. I usually push the lower end of the temperature range for whatever strain I'm using.

A doppelbock on your first lager is a brave choice! Good luck.

 

[LewBrew88]

Thanks, one more thing. Just found out I have to go out of town tomorrow so I need to figure it out if it will be better to rack it after about 36 hours or do it on Thursday evening which will be 5 days. Will there be off flavors if I wait the 5 days?

 

[osagedr]

Thanks, one more thing. Just found out I have to go out of town tomorrow so I need to figure it out if it will be better to rack it after about 36 hours or do it on Thursday evening which will be 5 days. Will there be off flavors if I wait the 5 days?

5 days is fine.

 

[LewBrew88]

I've read two different racking scenarios. One was to rack after diacetyl rest and slowly (5 degrees a day) reduce the temp to lagering temps. Or two, keep in primary and when the diacetyl rest is complete start to slowly reduce temp (same as above) and rack at around 40 and than continue down to lager temp. Any thoughts on which is best?

 

[bombcar]

I'm not sure what the results on my first lager (Brewers Best Vienna Lager with WL Mexican Lager yeast) will be. As far as I can tell I may have done a diacetyl rest about ten times in the first week. I was using a waterbath to keep the bottle cool but it regularly got up to 60 or so before the replacement ice came in.

I now have a fermentation freezer that is steady at fifty; my plan is to leave it at that for 2-3 more weeks and at that point try to figure out what I need to do for lagering. Given my laziness, I'll probably just turn the temperature down on the controller once in awhile.