homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
Complete newbie to the world of lagers, here. A brewing buddy (Stonehands here on HBT) was kind enough to gift me a mini fridge for lagering. I am now excitedly pondering the possibilities.
Setting the fridge on the first setting above defrost gives me a temperature of 38 degrees F, which, to my understanding, should be great for the actual lagering process. Obviously, it will go colder than that - I will check to see how cold. What is the absolute ideal lagering temp?
Setting it to defrost (the warmest setting it has) gives me 44 degrees. I believe that will be a tad too cool for fermentation of the yeast I have in mind (WLP838), which calls for 50-55 degrees. I was hoping to be able to hold around 47 degrees in the fridge, but I'm going to be a bit short of that. Will that simply be too cold?
Also, complete moron question here, but does making a lager starter differ from an ale starter in anything but volume? I understand that lager starters need to be big, but do they need to be temperature controlled? I always do my ale starters at room temp... though come to think of it, perhaps I should be controlling their temps, as well? Never thought about that until now.
Finally, I understand that a diacetyl rest is critical. When is this performed?
Thanks for any input.
Setting the fridge on the first setting above defrost gives me a temperature of 38 degrees F, which, to my understanding, should be great for the actual lagering process. Obviously, it will go colder than that - I will check to see how cold. What is the absolute ideal lagering temp?
Setting it to defrost (the warmest setting it has) gives me 44 degrees. I believe that will be a tad too cool for fermentation of the yeast I have in mind (WLP838), which calls for 50-55 degrees. I was hoping to be able to hold around 47 degrees in the fridge, but I'm going to be a bit short of that. Will that simply be too cold?
Also, complete moron question here, but does making a lager starter differ from an ale starter in anything but volume? I understand that lager starters need to be big, but do they need to be temperature controlled? I always do my ale starters at room temp... though come to think of it, perhaps I should be controlling their temps, as well? Never thought about that until now.
Finally, I understand that a diacetyl rest is critical. When is this performed?
Thanks for any input.