Ready to Try 1st Lager/Pilsner

[Romex2121]

After doing a few ales im now wanting to give a Pilsner/Lager a try , i do have a fermentation chamber that will get down to temps needed only thing i dont have YET is a stir plate for starters, maybe Santa will drop one off this year ,, I do however have a stay at home wife that can swirl a 1 gallon carboy thru out the day ,, LOL,,
Any good recipes for someone attempting thier first Lager ? Any and all advice is welcome on the subject , not sure if it matters but im still bottling so un-sure if lagering for the amount of time needed will affect carbonation in bottles ,,,
I dang sure want to get this right from the start instead of waiting 2 months to find out something went wrong ....
Thanks for the help......

 

[moreb33rplz]

Just use a couple packets of 34/70! no starter needed

 

[Romex2121]

Just use a couple packets of 34/70! no starter needed

That was kinda the plan but the place we bought supplys from gave me 1 packet of 34/70 and 1 packet of S-23 after i had asked for 2 packs of 34/70 , i didnt notice it till we got home , that shop is 2.5 hrs away from us so i wasnt going back to exchange it

 

[andrewmaixner]

Don't overthink it -- 1.045-1.055 of pilsen malt or DME. 15-25 IBU of boil hops, and an ounce of a Noble aroma hop at flameout or whirlpool.

The single packet of 34/70 will do fine for a normal strength 5-gallon batch. It's a VERY temperature-tolerant lager yeast.

Use the Brulosophy quick lager method: 55f for 3 days, then bump it up 2F per day to 68F for a quick turnaround. You should be ready to bottle at 2 or 3 weeks.


Optionally, add the smallest amount (0.2 grams = 10ppm) of KMeta when kegging/bottling to protect against oxygen, if desired.

 

[kevin58]

I've been using 34/70 and fermenting in the mid 60° F range lately which is ideal because my basement will hold fermentation at that temp from mid fall all through the winter.

 

[Ralphie0523]

One more vote for 34/70. That yeast performs very well and cleans up well. Haven’t used S-23 so no comment.

My heretical nature is probably going to show in this next comment, but I treat my lagers much like ales, ferment in low 60’s and give it about 7-10 days. I don’t usually detect diacetyl or other off-products from fermentation. Temperature of ferment has really been the only difference between ales and lagers.

I find lagers tend to be best when simple recipes are used with good ingredients. My pilsner is 90% Pilsner malt, 10% Vienna, a bittering charge and a 30 minute charge of a solid dual purpose hop. Currently Cascade is my preference (I told you I was heretical). My Vienna lager is basically Brulosophy’s recipe and it is a darn good one. My märzen is pretty much 1/2 Munich, 1/4 Vienna, 1/4 Pilsner and Tettnang hops. The point is KISS and you tend to have better results.

I also bottle and haven’t seen a difference with carbonation time or off-flavors. The amount of sugar is so small it doesn’t really matter.

Best of luck and don’t sweat it. Lagers are harder only in the ways you make them.

 

[Romex2121]

(Kiss) what does it stand for ?
Are you guys doing any cold crashing ?
From what ive read cold crashing for a month or longer seems to be the norm for lager type beer ,
Cold Crashing worries me the most, im nervous there wont be enough yeast left to carbonate bottles... I need to just go ahead and buy a keg set up and get it over with ..

 

[mashpaddled]

(Kiss) what does it stand for ?
Are you guys doing any cold crashing ?
From what ive read cold crashing for a month or longer seems to be the norm for lager type beer ,
Cold Crashing worries me the most, im nervous there wont be enough yeast left to carbonate bottles... I need to just go ahead and buy a keg set up and get it over with ..

You can pitch a little extra yeast in the bottling bucket to solve the yeast issue. Like a quarter of a pack of dry yeast will be more than enough. Add it while racking beer into your bottling bucket so it mixes in as the rest of the beer racks in.

 

[Steveruch]

(Kiss) what does it stand for ?
Are you guys doing any cold crashing ?
From what ive read cold crashing for a month or longer seems to be the norm for lager type beer ,
Cold Crashing worries me the most, im nervous there wont be enough yeast left to carbonate bottles... I need to just go ahead and buy a keg set up and get it over with ..

I've lagered three months at 36f and had no trouble carbing.

 

[Ralphie0523]

(Kiss) what does it stand for ?
Are you guys doing any cold crashing ?
From what ive read cold crashing for a month or longer seems to be the norm for lager type beer ,
Cold Crashing worries me the most, im nervous there wont be enough yeast left to carbonate bottles... I need to just go ahead and buy a keg set up and get it over with ..

Keep It Simple Stupid. Basically, don’t over complicate things. Cold crashing should be ok. Kegging is also in my future. Best of luck!