I did did a my first full boil Oktoberfest lager and it has been fermenting at 50 degrees for about two weeks. I don't see it doing much of anything and I was wanting to know if anyone has ever tried to speed up the process by doing a second fermentation at a ale temp before bottling? I understand this would not be a true lager but I would love to have it ready for thanksgiving and want to know if anyone has had any success doing this? Thanks.
Speeding Up A Oktoberfest
- Thread starter stussi67
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timrox1212
Well-Known Member
I do this with my "lager" aka California common. I can't lager so I just ferment at ale temps. I think the beer just won't be as crisp and clear but still fine. But I've never done it with an octoberfest. My Cali common is always a hit so good luck.
ColoHox
Compulsive Hand Washer
Lagers take a long time to ferment. It is common practice to warm the beer up once you approach final gravity to blow off diacetyl formed during fermentation.
Lagers take time to do right. Period. "Speeding up" a lager means sacrificing quality. This one can be ready for Christmas.
If you take a gravity reading and it's 80-85% of the way to expected FG, let it warm up to 62*F for 3-4 days. That's not to hurry it up. It's to allow the diacetyl precursors to convert to diacetyl so the yeasts can eat them. Otherwise, you'll get beer that tastes like movie popcorn butter.
Are you going to keg this or bottle? If kegging, you can rack it to the keg (I like to cold crash the primary 5-7 days first for clarity) and then cold lager it at 34-36*F for 6-8 weeks with it on 10-12psi CO2 for the last two weeks. If bottling, you'll lager 6-8 weeks in a secondary then bottle and wait the 3 weeks for it to carb up. Some folks add a small amount of a neutral ale yeast at bottling of a lager to insure carbonation.
Welcome to the wonderful world of brewing lagers. They can be quite a bit of extra time and work, but the result (if done right) is worth it.
If you take a gravity reading and it's 80-85% of the way to expected FG, let it warm up to 62*F for 3-4 days. That's not to hurry it up. It's to allow the diacetyl precursors to convert to diacetyl so the yeasts can eat them. Otherwise, you'll get beer that tastes like movie popcorn butter.
Are you going to keg this or bottle? If kegging, you can rack it to the keg (I like to cold crash the primary 5-7 days first for clarity) and then cold lager it at 34-36*F for 6-8 weeks with it on 10-12psi CO2 for the last two weeks. If bottling, you'll lager 6-8 weeks in a secondary then bottle and wait the 3 weeks for it to carb up. Some folks add a small amount of a neutral ale yeast at bottling of a lager to insure carbonation.
Welcome to the wonderful world of brewing lagers. They can be quite a bit of extra time and work, but the result (if done right) is worth it.
Lagers don't ferment as vigorously as ales - and what krausen that does form is often slow to drop - even after fermentation is over. Take a gravity reading. Two weeks should be enough to ferment the lager as long as the gravity was not too high. I t could be done already. That gives you 4 weeks to lager before Thanksgiving
I was thinking I would bring up the temp to ensure the fermentation is done for about 5 days then switch to a second fermentation for another 10-12 days at around 40 degrees before bottling. How does that sound. I plan on doing a second lager after this and giving it the full time but again I would love to have it for friends and family during the holidays.
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As others have said, Lagers take time, but I certainly understand the desire to have it now.
I know that this probably will not be much help to you now, but you could brew a Fauxtoberfest. Sure, it wont be as good as true Oktoberfest, but if you are careful, it will be close and at least you will have something to drink in the meantime. I have had very good results doing this with Packman yeast. I just mash like I normally would and then pitch the Pacman yeast. Then I keep it at 60 degrees, which is at the very bottom of its temp range. At this temp, it ferments very clean;not as clean as a Lager yeast, but close.
Hope that helps
I know that this probably will not be much help to you now, but you could brew a Fauxtoberfest. Sure, it wont be as good as true Oktoberfest, but if you are careful, it will be close and at least you will have something to drink in the meantime. I have had very good results doing this with Packman yeast. I just mash like I normally would and then pitch the Pacman yeast. Then I keep it at 60 degrees, which is at the very bottom of its temp range. At this temp, it ferments very clean;not as clean as a Lager yeast, but close.
Hope that helps
If you can't get your hands on a fresh pack of PacMan, Nottingham dry yeast will ferment down as low as 55*F for a very clean, lager-like result.
