I brewed a pilsener on saturday and all went well. I finished at about 12:30 am, and it was bubbling away nicely when I woke up at 10 am on Sunday. The temp was at about 76 degrees. I moved it down to my basement, where the temp settled at about 72. I'm on my way to pick up a thermostat for my fridge, and I'm wondering at what temp should I set it, and what my next steps would be with this batch as far as lagering? Input about the diaceyl rest would be nice too. I've searched it and read up on it a bit, but I'm not sure I got my head wrapped around it. Do I just let it sit out of the fridge for a day or two?
Lagering question
- Thread starter jerly
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk:
Lou
Well-Known Member
72??? 
i'm no expert, but that doesn't sound like a lager fermentation to me....
i'm no expert, but that doesn't sound like a lager fermentation to me....
mysterio
Well-Known Member
I started a Pils on Friday. Left it 5 hours at room temp before I noticed fermentation activity, moved it to my porch which is a steady 10C or so (50F). I think 72F is way to high, get it down to the 50's (or lower if you can) as soon as! This is my first lager so i'm no expert either, but i'd say worry about cold fermentation before you worry about a diacetyl rest.
rod
beer -just brew it
check the yeast you used - lager yeast is usually mid 40 to mid 50.
Monster Mash
Well-Known Member
It may be too late if it has been fermenting at 72 degrees for 2 days. You are going to have a very estery beer and possibly some migrains....
Lager yeast ferments anywhere from 40 to 55 degrees depending on the strain, without knowing what yeast you used all we can do is guess. You should have pitched the yeast at around 50 degrees and maintained that temp until it is close to your target gravity, then you raise the temp to around 65 for your diacetyl rest and keep it there for another week before crashing and transfering to your lager tank.
Lager yeast ferments anywhere from 40 to 55 degrees depending on the strain, without knowing what yeast you used all we can do is guess. You should have pitched the yeast at around 50 degrees and maintained that temp until it is close to your target gravity, then you raise the temp to around 65 for your diacetyl rest and keep it there for another week before crashing and transfering to your lager tank.
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
jerly said:
It's too late for this batch, but next time, do the entire fermentation at around 50*F, then bring it up to room temps for a few days, rack to secondary, then finally start the lagering process by bringing it down to 32*F and keeping it there for a month or two.
All your replies are greatly appreciated, but I don't know if I'm taking these comments the right way. It sounds like you guys are telling me this beer is going to completely suck. It's a recipe I got out of the Joy of Homebrewing and he says in there, even if you can't get it down to lagering temps it'll still be good beer. I did one of the pilsners in that book the same way and it turned out great. Sure, it may not be true to form but it was still the best ones I have brewed so far. Now I'm doing the other recipe, and I have a beer fridge with a temp controller and I guess I'm now wondering if it will do me any good fermenting this beer at lower temps from this point forward. I understand that it hasn't been done the right way so far, but now, should I still lager it? Or is it screwed.
Monster Mash
Well-Known Member
"It's a recipe I got out of the Joy of Homebrewing and he says in there, even if you can't get it down to lagering temps it'll still be good beer."
Lagering temps and fermenting temps are two different things...
Go ahead and let it ferment out and finish. Before you lager it take a taste and see if it is good. If it just slightly off (fruity, estery, ect) go ahead and lager it, only time will tell if it will be any good. The problem with fermenting at too high of temp is the yeast creates fusal alcohol. It is quite possible you will get some nasty headaches from this beer.
Lagering temps and fermenting temps are two different things...
Go ahead and let it ferment out and finish. Before you lager it take a taste and see if it is good. If it just slightly off (fruity, estery, ect) go ahead and lager it, only time will tell if it will be any good. The problem with fermenting at too high of temp is the yeast creates fusal alcohol. It is quite possible you will get some nasty headaches from this beer.
rod
beer -just brew it
the second beer i brewed was a canned lager kit.
i brewed it in the summer at 70 degrees, 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary.
no lagering and bottled it(didn't know about lagering then).
it was very drinkable but did not taste like a crisp lager.
no hangovers either(drank no more than 3 at a time)
i brewed it in the summer at 70 degrees, 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary.
no lagering and bottled it(didn't know about lagering then).
it was very drinkable but did not taste like a crisp lager.
no hangovers either(drank no more than 3 at a time)
Kaiser
Well-Known Member
Jerly,
Go ahead and finish fermentation for that batch between 50 and 56F. As the others already said, when it has slowed down significantly and you are close to the anticipated FG, bring it to room temp for 1 or 2 days. This should get rid of the diacetyl and will also ferment the remaining sugars. After that rack to secondary and lower it's temp to ~34-38F over the next 4 days if you can. Keep it at this temp for 4 weeks.
This will hopefully fix the fermentation error that you made in the beginning. Unfortunately, the most esters and diacetyl are produced during the first 12-24hrs of the fermentation, when the yeast is still growing. During this time temperature management is crucial. Many lager brewers even pitch below fermentation temp (~46F) and them ferment at 50F to make sure the yeast is not starting to fast. But this can only be done if you have enough yeast to pitch (enough yeast would be 80-100ml yeast sediment for a 5 gal batch). But luckily diacetyl rest and lagering can fix some of these early fermentation problems.
I hope the best for your batch. And let us know about the taste as if completes fermentation and gets older.
If not, have you ever heard of Radler or Radlermass, This is light colored lager beer (Pilsner or Helles) mixed with Sprite. It is very refreshing and it was the saving grace for my Helles. This was a batch I screwed up with the overly liberal addition of Malto Dextrin after fermentation in order to fix a low FG.
Kai
Go ahead and finish fermentation for that batch between 50 and 56F. As the others already said, when it has slowed down significantly and you are close to the anticipated FG, bring it to room temp for 1 or 2 days. This should get rid of the diacetyl and will also ferment the remaining sugars. After that rack to secondary and lower it's temp to ~34-38F over the next 4 days if you can. Keep it at this temp for 4 weeks.
This will hopefully fix the fermentation error that you made in the beginning. Unfortunately, the most esters and diacetyl are produced during the first 12-24hrs of the fermentation, when the yeast is still growing. During this time temperature management is crucial. Many lager brewers even pitch below fermentation temp (~46F) and them ferment at 50F to make sure the yeast is not starting to fast. But this can only be done if you have enough yeast to pitch (enough yeast would be 80-100ml yeast sediment for a 5 gal batch). But luckily diacetyl rest and lagering can fix some of these early fermentation problems.
I hope the best for your batch. And let us know about the taste as if completes fermentation and gets older.
If not, have you ever heard of Radler or Radlermass, This is light colored lager beer (Pilsner or Helles) mixed with Sprite. It is very refreshing and it was the saving grace for my Helles. This was a batch I screwed up with the overly liberal addition of Malto Dextrin after fermentation in order to fix a low FG.
Kai
Thanks. I have it in the fridge now, set to 50 degrees. It was at 76 when I pitched and took it down to my basement. It was 72 when I checked again, but it was at 62 today before I put it in the fridge. so it was steadily getting cooler, the whole time. You answered what I wanted to know about the rest of the process. Thanks. Should I set the temp lower than 50, or will that make any difference.
Kaiser
Well-Known Member
jerly said:
No, It shouldn't make a difference.
Kai
Keep this in mind: You're learning to make beer.
What better persuit could there possibly be? Will the next batch be better? Probably, but all of us should be able to say that if we're paying attention. This is all a learning process.
Ride out the storm and see what it's like. Maybe it's one you don't offer to everyone as a proud brewmiester, and maybe it will be. Whatever the case, learn, have fun, and do better next time.
DWRHAHB!
What better persuit could there possibly be? Will the next batch be better? Probably, but all of us should be able to say that if we're paying attention. This is all a learning process.
Ride out the storm and see what it's like. Maybe it's one you don't offer to everyone as a proud brewmiester, and maybe it will be. Whatever the case, learn, have fun, and do better next time.
DWRHAHB!
Similar threads
