Owly055
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- Feb 28, 2014
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I've been pretty successful with most of my beers, but am frustrated with lager yeast. I recently made a lager using w-34/70, and it took off slowly and in about 2 weeks didn't give the attenuation I am used to seeing. I tend to pitch heavily using top cropped yeast on my ales, and seeing airlock action within a couple of hours and full attenuation in 3 or 4 days.
There is a much repeated piece on "fast lagering" that probably everybody interested in making lager has read by now. It calls for starting out at low temps both in the fermentation and lagering process, then raising the temps after a period of time. Presumably in the fermentation the idea is to allow the yeast to propagate without producing undesirable fermentation / reproduction byproducts.
My thinking on this is that a heavy pitch from a large starter should benefit this phase. I was advised NOT to make a starter from a dry yeast for various reasons, most of which boiled down to the notion that you would utilize the nutrients in the packet making the starter instead of in the fermenter................. This just doesn't make sense to me at all..... Reproduction is reproduction........... If your cell count at pitch is high, it seems that you are short cutting the reproduction phase................. as they say 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.............
The other thing I keep asking myself is weather a lager yeast is really necessary?? The characteristics of lagers really amount to minimal yeast generated flavors.... "clean and crisp" being the oft repeated phrase. In this day of countless varieties of yeasts, there are clearly yeasts in the ale family (top fermenting) that at least closely approach this.
How much is dependent on the yeast, and how much is dependent on the lagering process itself after fermentation?? Mangrove Jacks M10 (an ale yeast) is described as follows:
"Suitable for brewing a range of styles from light lager to Baltic porter."
It is also said that Kolsch yeast and California Common yeast produce lager type character. In addition I have been cautioned about my tendency to "over pitch"..... reducing the yeast derived flavors...... which are obviously NOT wanted in a lager.
I'm proposing to do a few brews with M10.... the first one effectively being a "starter" for the following ones, it will be massively top cropped. The later to be "pseudo lagers" will be very heavily pitched to eliminate the reproduction phase for all intents and purposes.
H.W.
There is a much repeated piece on "fast lagering" that probably everybody interested in making lager has read by now. It calls for starting out at low temps both in the fermentation and lagering process, then raising the temps after a period of time. Presumably in the fermentation the idea is to allow the yeast to propagate without producing undesirable fermentation / reproduction byproducts.
My thinking on this is that a heavy pitch from a large starter should benefit this phase. I was advised NOT to make a starter from a dry yeast for various reasons, most of which boiled down to the notion that you would utilize the nutrients in the packet making the starter instead of in the fermenter................. This just doesn't make sense to me at all..... Reproduction is reproduction........... If your cell count at pitch is high, it seems that you are short cutting the reproduction phase................. as they say 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.............
The other thing I keep asking myself is weather a lager yeast is really necessary?? The characteristics of lagers really amount to minimal yeast generated flavors.... "clean and crisp" being the oft repeated phrase. In this day of countless varieties of yeasts, there are clearly yeasts in the ale family (top fermenting) that at least closely approach this.
How much is dependent on the yeast, and how much is dependent on the lagering process itself after fermentation?? Mangrove Jacks M10 (an ale yeast) is described as follows:
"Suitable for brewing a range of styles from light lager to Baltic porter."
It is also said that Kolsch yeast and California Common yeast produce lager type character. In addition I have been cautioned about my tendency to "over pitch"..... reducing the yeast derived flavors...... which are obviously NOT wanted in a lager.
I'm proposing to do a few brews with M10.... the first one effectively being a "starter" for the following ones, it will be massively top cropped. The later to be "pseudo lagers" will be very heavily pitched to eliminate the reproduction phase for all intents and purposes.
H.W.