question about my Vienna Lager

[yallayalla]

ONe of my kids broke my hydrometer, but I went for it anyway.

I brewed up a Vienna Lager, and it is fementing in my storage room in my basement which is 59 degrees. I used Wyeast Bavarian yeast, fwiw. Its been going very steadily, nice big krausen, things are mixing around quite a bit. I have a beer fridge in the garage that is at 38 degrees. I plan to lager there.

my questions.
1) Should I rack directly to keg, or keep in primary glass carboy. (i don't have a secondary carboy, and just one keg.) Or should I rack to bottling bucket, clean carboy, then put back in glass. (This way seems like a bad idea, just throwing it out there.)

2) How long should I keep in primary? I'd like to have this ready for my friend's bday in early June. (I brewed this past Sunday.)

3) Diactyl rest- at what temp? I'm reading 60 degrees, but that is so close to my primary temp.

Hoping I didn't eff things up. Thank you for your assistance!

 

[bdkelly]

59 might be a bit high. That particular yeast seems to do better in the lower 50s, so you may end up with some esters. Remember that while fermenting, the beer warms up a few degrees, so even if the basement is 59, you could be pushed into the mid-60s.

As for your questions, I've never really seen the need for a separate secondary for lagers. I keg mine right after the d-rest and drop the temperature down about 5 degrees a day until getting to lager temperature. It usually works just fine.

Keep it in primary until you're a few points away from FG (which could be difficult without the hydrometer ), then raise to d-rest temperature, which is usually about 62 degrees, and keep it for a few days before transferring. Without the hydrometer, it can be a little difficult, but give it about two weeks before raising the temp.

Hope this helps! I'm sure it'll be fine to drink.

 

[yallayalla]

Thanks. Maybe I'll put the carboy in a tub of cool water for the remainder.

I'll wait two weeks To rest.

How warm is too warm for the rest?

 

[bdkelly]

A swamp cooler wouldn't be a bad idea, for sure.

I'd say you probably don't want to go over 65-68 for the D-rest. A rule of thumb is to rest about 10 degrees higher than the fermentation temperature.