I made a Vienna a few weeks ago, my first lager. Everything as far as primary fermentation went fine. I tasted some when I racked, and immediately decided never to brew extract again. When I brewed extract, it never tasted like beer until i opened a bottle. With all-grain, I could tell the difference straight off.
So here's my question: I live in Chicago, and am using a poorly insulated laundry room closet to lager it. When I transferred the weather was around 30 degrees (Friday night). I checked the temp Saturday afternoon, and it had gone down about 8 degrees in the carboy over the 24 hours. When I woke up Sunday, the outdoor temperature was 1 or 2 degrees, and there is no temp showing on the fermenter thermometer. It's not frozen or even slushy, but I'm guessing it's hanging around 34 degrees. I put some blankets around and under it to try to insulate a little. But, did I let the temp drop to quickly? Is there a chance I dropped the yeast out, and I'm going to have trouble carbonating? I pitched from a starter, so I had a pretty good amount of yeast. And when I was racking, I accidentally let the racking cane dip into the yeast at the bottom. So I've probably got more in there than I normally would. Should I be concerned, let it warm up with the weather, or just leave it and pretend like I know what I'm doing?
I suppose I could always draw some off in a few weeks and try carbonating it in a plastic bottle with a carb tab. Kind of a pain, but probably better than having 2 cases of uncarbonated beer.
So here's my question: I live in Chicago, and am using a poorly insulated laundry room closet to lager it. When I transferred the weather was around 30 degrees (Friday night). I checked the temp Saturday afternoon, and it had gone down about 8 degrees in the carboy over the 24 hours. When I woke up Sunday, the outdoor temperature was 1 or 2 degrees, and there is no temp showing on the fermenter thermometer. It's not frozen or even slushy, but I'm guessing it's hanging around 34 degrees. I put some blankets around and under it to try to insulate a little. But, did I let the temp drop to quickly? Is there a chance I dropped the yeast out, and I'm going to have trouble carbonating? I pitched from a starter, so I had a pretty good amount of yeast. And when I was racking, I accidentally let the racking cane dip into the yeast at the bottom. So I've probably got more in there than I normally would. Should I be concerned, let it warm up with the weather, or just leave it and pretend like I know what I'm doing?
I suppose I could always draw some off in a few weeks and try carbonating it in a plastic bottle with a carb tab. Kind of a pain, but probably better than having 2 cases of uncarbonated beer.