Lager fermenting question

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

I made a light lager. After 6 days of fermenting it has only dropped .016 s.g. Is this normal? Just so I cover all bases here i'm going to post the recipe and etc. Right now the beer is at 1.030.

6 lbs of 2-row
2 lbs of corn maize
.5 lb of carapils

O.G. 1.046
est F.G. 1.010

ferments in my keezer at 58 degrees.

 

[Wolfbrau]

Lagers take a long time. That's about where I'd expect it to be. When it hits 1.020 or so start lowering it by 1 degree F per 12 hours until you hit 40F, then leave it there for a few weeks. I usually rack to keg after 1 week and let it sit in a flushed, sealed but unpressurized keg for the remainder.

An alternative would be to let it rise about 5 or 6 degrees at that same time, then when you hit final gravity lower by 10F per 12 hours until it's near freezing, then keg and store for several weeks.

One relies on the yeast slowly cleaning up in the German style of lagering, the other is a more modern diacetyl rest followed by cold conditioning.

Remember to use an S-bubble airlock with vodka or something like that so that the fermenter can equalize the pressure safely as it cools.

 

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

What would you recommend for an American light lager?

 

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

After a week of fermenting you rack it into a keg? Won't that end up in a higher f.g. Beer? I'm shooting to get to around 1.010.

 

[Wolfbrau]

My bad; to clarify, I rack to keg after 1 week at 40F (into a 3 week lagering cycle), it will be essentially finished by then as far as gravity is concerned. Note that it takes a while to get from the 50s to 40F at 1 degree per 12 hours.

I prefer the former, old-school German version where you cool it down sloooooowly when it's about 10 point above finishing.

 

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

Alright thank you for your help.

 

[estricklin]

I leave mine on the yeast for the entire thing usually. Sometimes will transfer to the keg to finish lagering though, but only after at least 2-3 weeks.

What kind and how much yeast did you pitch? What did you do to aerate/oxygenate your wort prior to pitching?

At this point you are at the perfect point to do a diacetyl rest, raise it up to about 68F for a couple days, then start lowering it back down, slowly if you can.

Either way, don't sweat this lagering this, it's not voo doo.

 

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

I used a 2L yeast starter on a stir plate. I used an aeration stone to aerate the wort.

 

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

So four days later and the S.G. Is at1.026. The temp right now is 62 degrees. I would have assumed it would have gone more than .001 a day... Any advice?

 

[BigFloyd]

So four days later and the S.G. Is at1.026. The temp right now is 62 degrees. I would have assumed it would have gone more than .001 a day... Any advice?

Just to be sure, is the 1.026 a reading from a hydrometer and not a refractometer?

If it's from a hydrometer, leave it alone for another week before taking another reading. Sometimes true lager yeast will begin quite slowly and take some extra time to finish up, especially if you didn't aerate the wort really well or bubble O2 before pitching.

 

[helibrewer]

Tell me about the maize...did you do a cereal mash on that?

 

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

Cereal mash? I mashed for 90 minutes

 

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

I use a refractometer