I brewed my first lager this past december and it is delicious. But I did learn a lesson that's probably worth passing on.
At 1 month of lagering in the mid 30's this beer is one of the tastiest, clearest beers I've had. And I'm glad it's so tasty because I just tested a sample I bottled two weeks ago as an experiment. I wanted to see if there was enough yeast in suspension to carbonate a bottle in a reasonable timeframe, so I did just one.
This evening, I'm sad to say, it was entirely flat. I realize two weeks at 70F is not the ideal but it should have been at least a little bubbly (it was about as carbonated as tap water). I know there are some that would say to let it go for 3 weeks or longer, but that's sort of why I did the test. Before I bottle the rest of the batch (now lagered for 6 weeks) I will be adding some of the original yeast (S-23) harvested from the primary to the bottling bucket.
Anyone ever have this experience??
At 1 month of lagering in the mid 30's this beer is one of the tastiest, clearest beers I've had. And I'm glad it's so tasty because I just tested a sample I bottled two weeks ago as an experiment. I wanted to see if there was enough yeast in suspension to carbonate a bottle in a reasonable timeframe, so I did just one.
This evening, I'm sad to say, it was entirely flat. I realize two weeks at 70F is not the ideal but it should have been at least a little bubbly (it was about as carbonated as tap water). I know there are some that would say to let it go for 3 weeks or longer, but that's sort of why I did the test. Before I bottle the rest of the batch (now lagered for 6 weeks) I will be adding some of the original yeast (S-23) harvested from the primary to the bottling bucket.
Anyone ever have this experience??