Lager fermentation

[Erik_Mog]

I brewed my first lager on Sunday, and it is fermenting nicely. At what point should I raise the temperature, and how high should I go for a D-rest?

 

[bruhaha]

I brewed my first lager on Sunday, and it is fermenting nicely. At what point should I raise the temperature, and how high should I go for a D-rest?

Erik, take a look at this link:
http://brulosophy.com/methods/lager-method/

I usually bump mine up at day 10 or 11 to 65F for a short time of d-rest before cold crashing and adding gelatin fining in the primary. This leaves me racking into keg about day 14. Then, at least for me, the wait begins. I rarely if ever tap a lager keg until at least 4 weeks at 32F for lager conditioning. YMMV

Since I am using a 60L fermenter, I simply set my controller to take it all down (or up) at once since a large mass of liquid takes time to lower or raise. Some advocate step up and step downs but I have seen no appreciable difference in my Helles with either method, so why make it more involved than it needs to be?

 

[Dog House Brew]

I start raising temps at about the 4th day. When the ferment just starts to slow. I jump 3 degrees per day until I reach 67. I stay there for 48 hrs and drop the temp to 33. Once it hits 33 I leave for two days. I then rack into gelatin in the keg. My lager primaries are about the same as my ales.

 

[Erik_Mog]

Thanks for the input. I will read the brulosophy link.