More Lager Qs

[zacster]

I transferred my lager to the secondary last night after 9 days in spite of advice to the contrary. The bubbling had stopped, my OG was 1.056 and last night it was 1.013. The krausen had also dropped. It tastes great. Would you call this a good result so far?

There has been an occasional bubble coming up in the 2ndary and it is clearing.

So, now I have a dilemna. I've read where I should bring it up to 65-68 degrees to allow for a diacetyl rest, so I'm doing that by opening the door to the cold room where it fermented. It won't go up all that fast, which I understand to be the correct method. My problem is that I want to bring it down to lager temps, 33-40 and I don't know how to do this. The outside is getting warmer, 40s this week, and only going up. I could bring it down to 32 by putting it in an ice bath, but how could I maintain a warmer temperature? I don't have an extra fridge.

The only method I know I can do is put it on ice and then leave it to chance with the weather. Maybe bottle it a little early and put bottles in the fridge, but I couldn't put 2 cases in at once. I know it should be 4-6 weeks at least, but it'll be in the 60s by then.

Will fluctuating temperatures have an impact?

What would you all do? What's the worst that'll happen?

 

[malkore]

fluctuating temps mean a less 'clean' lager. its won't have as much 'character' as an ale yeast, but depending on how warm it gets, it may be noticably 'off' to beer snobs.

good lagering really does require a dedicated way to maintain those low temps, both for primary, and the secondary cold aging (lagering).

I would have waited more than 9 days, but that doesn't mean your beer will be bad. Heck, you say it already tastes good, so that's a step in the right direction.

You could just keep it as cool as you can for a month and bottle it then.

 

[menschmaschine]

What style of lager is it, what's your recipe and what was your primary fermentation temp? What is your target FG? You're a bit late on the diacetyl rest, but if your primary fermentation temps were on the low side, you may not need it. Diacetyl rests are typically done at 2/3 the way towards target FG (in your case 1.018-1.019). You really need a constant lagering temp of around 34F. A little fluctuation won't harm it, but a lot may produce some off-flavors. There are ways to lager w/o a dedicated freezer/refrigerator. Just do some searches.

 

[Yooper]

If you taste the lager, you can determine whether or not you need a diacetyl rest. Taste it and see if you have a "slick" feeling on your tongue, or if the beer has a hint of butterscotch or buttered popcorn. If you taste diacetyl, then you'll need to do a diacetyl rest (which should be done before you rack, actually, but it's ok to do it now if you have to- it'll just take longer).

If you don't taste diacetyl, you can start lagering. I lager in my basement in an igloo cooler (see my gallery for pictures). First I put the carboy in the cooler, and fill it cool water. I had a frozen water bottle daily until I'm at 34 degrees. (I keep a floating thermometer in the water bath). Then I change out the water bottles every other day to maintain that temperature for 4-6 weeks. It works great, and because the water is in there to insulate, there aren't any temperature fluctuations.

 

[badsneaker]

I lager in my basement in an igloo cooler (see my gallery for pictures).

Just when I was dispairing at all the refridgeration equipment HBTers are using to lager, you come through with this great idea!!! Never underestimate the ingenuity of brewers!

Thank you!!!!

 

[Yooper]

Well, it works much better in the winter than in the summer! It was more difficult to do my Oktoberfest in July and August (more frequent water bottle exchanges!) but not impossible. I also use the same method to ferment ales in the low 60s when it's 85 in the house. (One day a year, maybe!). One ice bottle in the water, changed daily, will keep it at 64-66 through a hot spell in my house.

 

[zacster]

Well that cooler looks like it's a good way to go. I'll have to find one. I'll just add some ice as needed to keep it cold. A month of doing this is a commitment. I'll put it on the porch to keep the house heat and the sun away, the room I use now has too much traffic to close off all the time the way I did for fermentation.

The brew itself is a MoreBeer LME amber lager kit using wlp830 yeast. It was at 54 degrees for a week+ fermenting and is still there in the secondary, where it has cleared nicely since yesterday. I don't know what the target gravity is, but 1.013 is lower than I thought it would be.

 

[zacster]

I went to 3 stores looking for a cooler and I couldn't find one that big.

What I ended up with is two plastic garbage cans where the lid fits over the top of the airlock easily using my 6.5g carboy. I put them together so theres an air space between, I filled it with water, added ice, and I'll have to keep an eye on it. That'll bring it to 32deg, and I'll keep it there for a day and then let it get a bit warmer, to around 34-40. It should be easily maintained as long as it stays relatively cold here, which it has, although I'm itching for spring.

We shall see (and taste.)