Lagering temps

[mclynch]

Just brewed my first lager, a Negra Modelo clone. Mash, sparge, & boil all went great. I cooled wort to 60 F then pitched a 2 L Starter (from Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager) that I had prepping in my basement at about 55 F for 2 days or so. Fermentation seems to be going fine right now.

My question is about the temp swings in my basement. Since we're going through a pretty cold snap right now my basement temp can go down to about 48 F or so... it's 50F right now. It can go as high as 54F. Should I be worried about temp swings in that range ( 48-54 F)?

The fermentation schedule calls for 54 F for 14 days then a diacetyl rest at 60 F for 3 days, then aging ramping down from 54 to 40 over 30 days (not sure how I can do that.

Any thoughts, anyone? I'm still pretty new at this!

 

[terrapinj]

try to keep the temp as stable as possible, maybe place it in a bucket of water etc but that temp range is just fine for the yeast.

in general the cooler the temp the cleaner the fermentation will be

don't wait 14days to start the d-rest - you want to do it when you are about 75% done with fermentation generally around 1.020ish range - i usually check the gravity after the airlock starts to slow down, and in the cases with my few lagers it's ready for d-rest around 7days or so

you don't need to ramp the temp down over 30 days btw - some crash down to lager temps or others (myself included) will slowly drop the temp over the course of a couple days but no advantage for dropping it slowly over 30 days

 

[mclynch]

Thanks - that's reassuring. It's been 4 days and the airlock bubbling has slowed down a lot. I'll check the SG in a couple of days and see where it stands.

Appreciate the help!