Pilsner Lager confused

[AJF798]

Made a rather strong starter for a lager yeast at room temp for a week; brewed my Pilsner wort coming out at 1.051, pitched the yeast and let it stand at room temp for a day to get going. After a day (when I was going to put it into the 50 degree fridge) it had already blown out the airlock and still had active fermentation (like crazy), quickly cleaned up and resealed then got it in the fridge to cool down. Never saw any active bubbling through the airlock again during the next 6 days. Today (day 6) I checked the SG and was sitting at 1.010 or so with a very thick krausen and a "normal" lager smell.

Herein lies my confusion; is it possible due to the blowout and such strong active fermentation that it finished after only 6 days (or maybe less) instead of the normal month or two. If so, should I leave it in to finish its month out before racking and lagering another month, or should I rack it sooner, or what? Never had something like this happen with any of my previous lagers or with this recipe, so I'm at kind of a loss.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Transamguy77]

If you made a big starter and if room temp was was warm enough to get the yeast going then yes it is probably done.

I have never had a lager take a month or 2 to finish, maybe 10 days after fermentation starts, mine usually take a day or so to start.

 

[RM-MN]

Made a rather strong starter for a lager yeast at room temp for a week; brewed my Pilsner wort coming out at 1.051, pitched the yeast and let it stand at room temp for a day to get going. After a day (when I was going to put it into the 50 degree fridge) it had already blown out the airlock and still had active fermentation (like crazy), quickly cleaned up and resealed then got it in the fridge to cool down. Never saw any active bubbling through the airlock again during the next 6 days. Today (day 6) I checked the SG and was sitting at 1.010 or so with a very thick krausen and a "normal" lager smell.

Herein lies my confusion; is it possible due to the blowout and such strong active fermentation that it finished after only 6 days (or maybe less) instead of the normal month or two. If so, should I leave it in to finish its month out before racking and lagering another month, or should I rack it sooner, or what? Never had something like this happen with any of my previous lagers or with this recipe, so I'm at kind of a loss.

Thanks for any help.

If I understand this correctly, you fermented your lager at ale temperature and it finished quickly. The next time you do a lager, cool the wort before you pitch the yeast so it ferments slower as it should get you a cleaner tasting lager.

 

[waldoar15]

As stated above, next time pitch at or near your ferment temp. Read up on lager fermentation.

Good chance you're going to have some esters and other off flavors. Some Lager yeast handles warm temps better than others, so you'll just have to wait and see.

 

[AJF798]

Yes I am very aware of how to do lager fermentation; however, I've usually given it a day at room temp to get going. Just never had this vigorous of a ferment before. Back to the question rather than the criticism, should I leave it to sit or should I just call it an ale and let the krausen settle then keg?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

If I understand this correctly, you fermented your lager at ale temperature and it finished quickly. The next time you do a lager, cool the wort before you pitch the yeast so it ferments slower as it should get you a cleaner tasting lager.

Maybe - but maybe not. If one thing has been learnt about lager in recent years it's that many lager yeast such as 2124/WLP830/ 34/70 can produce pretty decent lager at warmer-than-normal temperatures - and many yeast used for commercial lager are actually ale yeast (WLP800 Pilsner for instance). My guess would be that the reason lagers were traditionally fermented so cold was as much to do with the absence of temperature fluctuations rather than temperature per se. Temperature fluctations are pretty good for encouraging yeast to produce esters, so if you can ferment at a warmer-but-stable temperature you can get fewer esters than if you ferment cold-but-fluctuating.

@AJF798 - you're the head brewer, and the only one of us in a position to taste the beer. Don't worry about what the books say, if it tastes right to you then it's good.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Yes I am very aware of how to do lager fermentation; however, I've usually given it a day at room temp to get going. Just never had this vigorous of a ferment before. Back to the question rather than the criticism, should I leave it to sit or should I just call it an ale and let the krausen settle then keg?

I would continue with your original plan and see how it turns out.

 

[AJF798]

Thanks for the advice and counsel.