Questions: Getting Started in Lagers

[JMSetzler]

ently Greetings to the forum...

After 124 ale brews over the last 20 years, I'm just about ready to start trying lagers. I have upgraded my home brewery recently and part of that upgrade is a chest freezer with a Johnson temperature controller to use as a fermentation chamber.

I have a couple basic questions about fermenting lagers:

1. Do you cool your wort to the proper temperature range for the particular yeast strain before you pitch your yeast?

2. Do you cool your yeast starter to that same temperature before pitching?

3. Do you rack your beer to a secondary fermenter at a 10-12 day point and then rack it to yet another fermenter for lagering?

Thanks in advance!

 

[number40fan]

Yes.

No. I use dry yeast.

No. Leave it in primary myself.

 

[doug293cz]

You should at least read this http://brulosophy.com/methods/lager-method/ before your fist lager. If you are a die hard traditionalist, this might not be for you. But, if you like to simplify things, this might be of interest.

Brew on

 

[logdrum]

A:

1.) I cool a few degrees below ferment temps to pitch
2.) Yes, but I propagate at room temp
3.) Tranfer to corny after diacetyl rest, lager in same corny

 

[JMSetzler]

One more quick question...

Since I bottle my beer instead of kegging, after the lager should I let the finised beer warm back up to room temp before priming and bottling?

 

[number40fan]

Straight from the lagering temp to bottling bucket to beer bottle. Same thing everyone does when cold crashing.

 

[doug293cz]

One more quick question...

Since I bottle my beer instead of kegging, after the lager should I let the finised beer warm back up to room temp before priming and bottling?

I hope it doesn't matter. I just pulled my first lager out of the frig today intending to bottle, but got side tracked. It will be warmer when I bottle tomorrow. If it tanks, I'll let everyone know.

Brew on