Wyeast - Bavarian Lager 2206 and Stalled fermentation?

[Hebby5]

I thought I had a stalled fermentation. I made a Riverwest Stein Clone (see below) with an OG of 1.047 ( I missed my OG by 10 points but I digress). I read this month's Zymurgy where it talks about starting your lager (I used Wyeast - Bavarian Lager 2206) at 70F until signs of fermentation and then bring it down to 55F. I did make an appropriate starter (Brewer's Friend Calc), pitched at the 70F, and saw signs of fermentation within 24 hours. I then cranked my temp controller to 55F. The next day, I had positive pressure on my plastic bucket fermentor but no more bubbles in my airlock. It has been the same for the next few days but did kick the temp up to 58F. On day the 4th day, I decided to pick up some US05 American Ale Yeast as I thought changing the temp from 70 to 55 put my yeast to sleep. For grins, I took a gravity reading and it was 1.012! I was shocked to see it eat the wort that fast and no airlock activity. I did check the lid was on correctly and it checked out. I pushed the temp up to 65F and tossed in 1 pack of US05. I'll keep it there for a week and finish it off. I've been brewing for several years but this is my 2nd lager.

Any thoughts out there?


Riverwest Stein Clone (Vienna Lager)
Fermentables
8.5 lb American - Pale 2-Row
0.25 lb American - Caramel / Crystal 10L
0.75 lb German - CaraAroma
2 oz American - Roasted Barley

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
0.5 oz Cascade Pellet 5.5 Boil 60 min 9.84
0.5 oz Cascade Pellet 5.5 Boil 20 min 5.96
1 oz Willamette Pellet 7.8 Boil 5 min 5.56

Mash Guidelines
Amount Description Type Temp Time
3.5 gal Infusion 148 F 60 min
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb

Other Ingredients
Amount Name Type Use Time
1 each Whirlfloc Fining Boil 15 min.

Yeast
Wyeast - Bavarian Lager 2206

 

[tochsner]

I make a lot of lagers. While everyone has a different opinion, I have learned from talking to a lager brewers is if you are going to pitch the correct amount of yeast, chill to your fermentation temperature before pitching. Pitching at 70 helps if you are just using a single pack of yeast but is not needed and can cause some flavor changes if you use the right amount. I pitch a large starter and then let it do its thing for 3 weeks before a transfer and starting the lager process.

 

[Hebby5]

Thought I'd close the loop on this one. The keg kicked a couple days ago. I'll be making this one again! It was a very clean beer from a yeast perspective and was more of a malt dominate flavored beer. When it was younger, I got some citrus and floral notes from the late hope additions. I may pull back on all the specialty malts just a smidgen ( keep C15 the same, talking a couple oz less of CaraAroma and 1 oz total of roasted barley). I'll probably up my yeast starter pitch a little too.

Next time, I do think I'll go with Saflager S-23 instead of Wyeast - Bavarian Lager 2206. I've used S-23 couple times and feel more comfortable knowing how it performs over the fermentation process.

Cheers and thanks for the feedback.

Chris