Lager Fermentation Questions

[CTS]

Hello,

So I made my first lager 2 days ago (AHS Sam Adams Lager Clone) and now im worried I did a few things wrong. I pitched the yeast when the wort temp was about 69-70F. I then left it there till the next morning, where i moved it to the coldest place I could find in the house which is about 55....yes i know I should have done more research before I bought a lager.

After reading some other threads I am now worried about diacetyl's. My question is that once fermentation is done can I move the carboy to a warmer area till the remainder of the 4 weeks? say about 62F?

Will that help with the diacetyl?

Thanks for the help.

CTS

 

[rjwhite41]

Move it when fermentation is about 2/3rds done to an area of your house that is about 10F warmer for 3 or 4 days and that will clean up the diacetyl. After your diacetyl rest proceed to lagering.

 

[gregpio85]

70 degrees is fine for a day. 55 will be fine for the remainder of your fermentation. Once it's done fermenting and you transfer for lagering, that's when the big cleanup will happen.

Your temps won't get you the cleanest lager in the world, but it will be super tasty and easily drinkable.

 

[CTS]

Excellent!! I am leaving for Jamaica in 5 days.....maybe i will move it to a warmer spot the day that I leave.

Transfer for lagering.....hmmmm looks like I have more reading to do. I was planning on leaving it in the Primary for 4 weeks the kegging.

 

[CTS]

So is it a good idea to move it to a warmer spot while the fermentation is going on? or should I be fine to move it when I get back in 10 - 12 days in order for the diacetyl to get cleaned up.....if there is any.

Thanks

 

[rjwhite41]

Wait until you get back to move it. I usually lager for 2 months depending on style. You can lager in the keg, that is what I do.

 

[CTS]

Thanks for the reply. I tried to search lagering but could not find an answer. What is lagering exactly? I thought I could just keep in the primary until 4 weeks, keg and call it a day. I'm guessing I am missing something here.

 

[rjwhite41]

Lagering is a period of cold conditioning. The general rule of thumb is 1 week for every 8 gravity points I believe. So what I do is ferment at 50F until it is about 2/3rds done, for me usually about 2 weeks, then I'll raise the temp to ambient, usually around 64F, for the last week for a diacetyl rest. You can do a diacetyl rest in 48-72 hours but I usually just leave mine for a week or so until it's completely done fermenting. Then I will keg it and age it in my keg fridge for 8 weeks (longer if it's a bigger beer) at 35F. Here's a link to the section on lagering in How to Brew.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10.html

 

[CTS]

Thanks for the info. That is a very good link you provided. Looks like my game plan will be to let it ferment for 2 weeks then when i get back i will move it to a warmer area for the 48 hours of so. Then i will keg it and leave it in the garage for the 8 weeks at the 35f.

The worst part of this hobby is waiting, haha