Want to try my first lager

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

phug

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
1,740
Reaction score
324
Location
Toronto
I'm contemplating doing a yeungling clone for my dad. He spent some time working in PA when he was younger and comes home with yeungling when he goes cross border to Buffalo.

But I want to do it right. This means lagering which would be a first for me. To that end I took some temp readings of full growlers in a few spots in my basement. On the floor sitting on some wood planks so that it's not sitting on concrete, it's at 55f, and in a swamp cooler that brings it down to 53. I also did a test fit on my carboy in my mini fridge, and it will fit with the airlock on, and I can crank that down to just around freezing. The only thing I'm not entirely sure of is where to put it to do the d-rest. My workbench is at about 59. I don't really think it will be warm enough there. I'll have to get creative. Any suggestions? I don't own any temp controllers but am considering it later.

I'm also planning on using saflager w-34/70 and will be pitching a whole packet into a 2.5 gallon batch, since what I read says that lagers take twice the size yeast pitch.

I'm planning to follow the brulosophy fast lager schedule.
Suggestions?
 
I make a Light Lager for my Father in Law that is similar in gravity to yeungling. I also use 34/70 yeast.

I usually ferment around 55 degrees and raise it to 60 for the D rest.

I would think that your workbench at 59 would work for a D rest.
 
But I want to do it right. This means lagering which would be a first for me. To that end I took some temp readings of full growlers in a few spots in my basement. On the floor sitting on some wood planks so that it's not sitting on concrete, it's at 55f, and in a swamp cooler that brings it down to 53. I also did a test fit on my carboy in my mini fridge, and it will fit with the airlock on, and I can crank that down to just around freezing. The only thing I'm not entirely sure of is where to put it to do the d-rest. My workbench is at about 59. I don't really think it will be warm enough there. I'll have to get creative. Any suggestions? I don't own any temp controllers but am considering it later.

I'm also planning on using saflager w-34/70 and will be pitching a whole packet into a 2.5 gallon batch, since what I read says that lagers take twice the size yeast pitch.

You heard right about the need to pitch twice the cell count of lager yeast vs. ales. One 11g packet of 34/70 in 2.5 gal of 1.050-ish wort would be about right.

Get that wort well chilled to your initial ferment target temp (or a few degrees below that) prior to pitching. Remember, you're looking for crisp and clean flavor. Fermenting it at 53*F and doing a d-rest in the low-mid 60's (if you can do so) would work fine. After carbing, lager it at fridge temps for at least a month, two is better.

Best of luck.
 
Brewed it up and got it chilled down to 53F. It came out at 1.049 which was .005 above my target. Efficiency was better than expected.

It's sitting in a swamp cooler now, and I'm trying not to sweat the lack of signs of active fermentation. Clearly I'm not used to lager ferments.
 
I see tiny bubbles intermittently coming up the sides of the carboy. Now I can relax about it
 
34/70 is the only lager yeast I have used thus far that didn't throw any diacetyl. Made 2 good beers with it.
 
Thanks for the reassurance that I made a good choice. Now if only it didn't cost 6.99 for a packet at my lhbs. Liquid yeast by comparison is only 8.99
 
My only suggestion is don't rush it. I really enjoy Brulosopher's exbeeriments and I follow his recommendations often, but for your first lager, take your time and let the yeast do their thing.

I recently did my first lager with 34/70. At two weeks (which is Brulosopher's recommended time to rack) it was full of acetaldehyde, and that was with a proper pitch, pure O2, precise temp control, and a diacetyl rest. I let it sit at d-rest temperature for another week and a half, and the acetaldehyde was gone. So about a month total before racking. Take your time and let the yeast do their thing.
 
Thanks Jon, I'll be sure to leave it at drest temp until it finishes cleaning up after itself.

Assuming that I can detect acetaldehyde, my palate and sense of smell had never been particularly sensitive.
 
It's down to 1.022 or so, and I've moved it to the warmer area for the D-rest
 
I've built my temp controller finally now, and have a temporary fermentation chamber consisting of an stc1000 and a cardboard box placed over the carboy with a hairdryer for heating. It's currently set at 66f
 
Things seem to e going really well. Fermentation has died down and today I took a refracto sample and a temp reading of the beer itself.

My refracto sample, after corrections has me near 1.010 but the final hydro sample will be slightly higher based on experience. Given that my calculated FG is 1.011 and the commercial FG is 1.012 I'm pretty happy with that result given that my efficiency was higher than expected and gave me an OG 5 points higher than expected than expected.

Flavour of the small sample was good and I didn't taste butter or green apple so I think another couple of days to check FG is stable and then I'll start crashing it.
 
Oh and the beer was 65.8F with the temp controller set to 66F so that makes me happy.
 
Hydrometer confirms I'm at 1.012 so I've added gelatin and I'm cold crashing it now in my mini fridge. It's a tight fit. I had to raise up the bottom of the carboy by an inch to clear the bottom of ledge in the door, as a result the airlock has about a sixteenth of an inch clearance above it. Plus I had to tape the door shut because it would hold for about a minute before popping open
 
My dad tried it side by side with the yuengling he brought back from his last trip to Buffalo, and he says he can't taste the difference. My taste buds can find a little difference at first, but it's awfully close.
 
I keep wanting to do this beer, but can't seem to set aside the dedicated time to lager. I'm doing several batches this week and I think I'm going to go ahead and do that beer and one more for my next two batches. Maybe a Octoberfest to bulk age or something.
 
I'll post the recipe tomorrow when I have some spare time. Today is family
 
Full Volume BIAB

for 11.3 litres (3 gallons) into the fermentor trub and all, about 10 litres after trub loss 2.75 ish gallons.
.87 kg 6-row
.87kg Vienna
.29kg Crystal 60
.22kg Flaked Corn
.9g cacl mash addition
2.1g gyspsum mash addition*** This was as brewed, I'm reducing it to .9g, and have reduced it, because my sulfate levels were too high, causing a little bit of astringency that I tasted, but that others didn't. and again, after a couple of sips, I couldn't notice it anymore.
2.4 ml lactic acid 88%
60 min 6g Cluster 7.9% AA 10 IBU
30 min 4g Cascade 5.5% AA 3 IBU
15 min .8 g Irish Moss
16.33 litres of water (Toronto tap water, treated with 1/4 Campden tablet)
Finished Water Profile:
Calcium 61.6
Magnesium 9.0
Sodium 15.0
Sulfate 57.9
Chloride 46.5
Bicarbonate 104.9

1 hour mash at 66C 151F Mashout to 76C 170F

preboil was 1.036
FG target was 1.044, actual was 1.049

11.5 G rehydrated W34/70 pitched at 53F, fermented at 53F
D-REST after 5 days at 65F for additional 9 days
gelatin and cold crash @ 33F 7 days
bottled and primed to 2.7 volumes with table sugar. (might try to 2.6 next time, I think my carbonation was a weensy bit higher. not a noticeable mouthfeel difference, just looking at at head formation and retention)

target OG 1.044 @75% efficiency (I overshot my efficiency)
target FG 1.012
SRM 10
IBU 13
 
2.1g gyspsum mash addition*** This was as brewed, I'm reducing it to .9g, and have reduced it, because my sulfate levels were too high, causing a little bit of astringency that I tasted, but that others didn't. and again, after a couple of sips, I couldn't notice it anymore.
so I re-brewed this on March 4th with the lower sulfate levels. and I think I tasted some of that same lingering taste after trying the FG sample. I'm no longer sure if it's astringency, or if it might just be a lingering bitterness from the hops.

I'm wondering if I should scrap my salts, or if I should attribute it to the moderate-high cohumulone from the cascade and cluster hops, and if so, maybe I should do a FWH. But the general concensus seems to be that FHW Smooths the bittering, but doesn't necessarily mean that it gives you a clean bittering that leaves the tongue when the beer does.

any ideas of suggestions? If it is a lingering light bitterness from the hops, what might I be able to do to clean that up.
 
Back
Top