About to do my first chilled ferment

[J'sGarage]

Hi everyone, Happy Brewday!

I'm about to start my first chilled ferment(3rd brew I've done, both previous have been ambient brews)
I am using Blackrock Dry lager, with 500g of Dextrose, 250g corn syrup, 250g Light malt, and Saflager S-23 yeast

The brew fridge is set at 12.3DegC with 23 litres of water already in there to use in the wort.
Edit: temp is controlled with an STC-1000 and the fridge thermostat turn to coldest

Obviously my recipe is deviating from what is stated on the can, but should my process remain the same, or is there something I should do differently?
My plan was to sprinkle the yeast into the wort once it has reached 12-13degC

Cheers

Jason

 

[J'sGarage]

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[J'sGarage]

24hours, 69 views and not a single comment....... :unsure:


Well I did it as per the instructions but with my recipe. 12.3c achieved by this morning, yeast hydrated and pitched, SG 1040


fingers crossed :beer:

 

[manticle]

Generally for lager you need around twice the amount of yeast as you would use for ales.

You can still add yeast at this stage.

As for doing things differently - research diacetyl rest. I'm not familiar enough with s-23 to know how much diacetyl it throws out - some lager yeasts are more prone than others.

Now you have a fridge you will also want to keep the beer cold for a time once fermentation has finished to let it clear and mellow.

 

[J'sGarage]

yeah, i said that to the guy at my local brew shop(twice the yeast), and he said no, the beer needs to take longer to get a clean dry taste, doubling the yeast will speed up the process.

He reckoned 3-4 weeks to finish fermenting with 1 packet.

I hate it when I get conflicting information, lol

 

[indica86]

trust manticle not home brew shop dude.

As far as I know some undesirable flavours are created when yeast struggle. Underpitching a lager can be a cause of this. The lower ferment temps mean the yeast multiply slower and as a result undergo stress. This is alleviated by using more yeasties.

 

[manticle]

Lager ferments do take longer and on that score the LHBS guy is correct. However getting the right number of yeast cells in there is very imporatant and can make a big difference to the fermentation and the flavours produced as a result.

You don't want to pitch too much but it's unlikely that you'll do that in a homebrewing situation. Underpitching is more usual and likely.

Was the yeast sold kept in the fridge?

 

[verysupple]

Again, manticle is right.

As for the longer ferment = cleaner beer thing, I think I know where the LHBS guy got this (in part erroneous) idea. The cooler you ferment, the cleaner it will be (within reason of course, you don't want to ferment at 1 C), and the cooler you ferment the longer it will take. However, there's another thing to ballance out here. The cooler you ferment, the more yeast you need to do the same job - because the yeast multiply slower/less as indica86 said. So for a nice clean lager you want to ferment nice and cool like you're planning to but with lots of yeast. You were pretty well on the money when you said about twice as much as for ale. But there's a lot of leeway before you hit problems.

 

[J'sGarage]

ok, so pitch more now(tomorrow-need to get some more) or wait till a week or two in?

yeast was refrigerated in the store, and also when i brought it home. rehydrated as per manufactures instructions


Going by this pdf, I definitely need another thing of yeast.....I have used pretty much half of what they recommend. I didnt see that before http://charlesfaram.co.uk/Portals/0/Docs/Fermentis/SFG_S23.pdf

 

[Coldspace]

I've done some cracking lagers and bitters using cans and bits and s23.

What I've done is mix up all ingredients with 3 lts hot water, or if steeping grains just use this hot steeped wort into can mix. Then allow to drop to 18-19 c in my ferment freezer for few hrs. Stir in 1 packet of s23 really well making sure it's aerated . Leave for 12 hrs or over night to get going. Then drop to 13 c and leave for 3 weeks.

I then crash chill for 10-14 days in fermenter, keg, filter into keg. And after a week on gas, beer is near perfect.

Takes time, but if you got refrigerated room then it's worthwhile. Especially the bitters etc.

If you lager long enough then no need to filter.

 

[J'sGarage]

ok, this was put into the fridge on the 30th, today being the 24th i thought I'd check the FG.
SG at 1040, and is currently 1014. smells fantastic!

do you think this may be as low as it goes, or should it be more in the range of 1006?

cheers
Jason

 

[TheWiggman]

Wouldn't hurt at this stage to rouse the yeast a bit. Sanitise your spoon, gently remove the lid, and slowly stir the base of the fermenter to put the yeast in suspension. Put the lid back on and give it a day or 2. If you don't see any activity (check with the hydrometer) that's probably as low as it's going to go.

 

[manticle]

Maltodextrin/corn syrup and malt extract may see the brew finish higher than you are used to.
Did you end up pitching a second pack of yeast? Underpitching can lead to a slow or stalled ferment.
If it's still at 12, bump it up to around 18-20 degrees and do as wiggman suggests. Be patient wih lager yeast. You can gently swirl the fermenter if you don't have a long enough spoon. Don't shake but swirl the base to get lazy yeast working on that last bit.

 

[J'sGarage]

No, I left the yeast at one packet.
Since this mornings post, the gravity in the hydrometer as settled to 1012. still go ahead with the stir up? also i boosted the temp to 13.4 about a week ago.

 

[pat86]

I haven't used the yeast so couldn't give advice of when it will finish but from reading this probably could have been a good opp for a d rest - raising the temp up (manticle above says 18-20C) for a few days to help the yeast finish off. In the past I have also rocked the FV to swirl some yeast back up into action which combined with the temp raise has helped a couple of times.

I'm waiting on an ale right now, fermented cold (14-15C) and a very good brewer recommended 2 -3 weeks total fermentation, raising the temp up to 20C for the end (I did about 15 days then 6 days rest I think).

By the time you get to that stage, you do not risk off-flavours from a high temp ferment, as 90%+ of the work is done, hope it turns out nicely - next time maybe raise the temp up to that 19-20C mark.

 

[J'sGarage]

Gave it a stir, and raised the STC1000 to 19degC. (tastes awesome btw)
as soon as this is out of the fermenter, i will be putting another one in, but twice the volume(2x23L carboy)

purchased two cornelius kegs yesterday, taps are coming to my kitchen soon!

 

[manticle]

No, I left the yeast at one packet.
Since this mornings post, the gravity in the hydrometer as settled to 1012. still go ahead with the stir up? also i boosted the temp to 13.4 about a week ago.

Boosting the temp is good anyway (although you'd usually start a tad earlier) for a diacetyl rest. 1012 sounds pretty good for FG to me. Nothing wrong with the stir and leaving it a couple more days but give it a good week or so after that at very cold temps (sub 4, colder is better) for yeast to settle. More than a week is even better if you can wait that long.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Instead of spending $$$ on 4 packs of yeast for your next brew, you could reuse a portion of the yeast at bottom of your current brew. You can find yeast pitching rate calculators online which will give an indication of how much yeast slurry to use. (I'd guess about a 1/2 to 1 cup worth for a double batch). Just be careful with sanitation.

 

[Florian]

Since this mornings post, the gravity in the hydrometer as settled to 1012.

Do you mean a new gravity sample you have just taken settled at 1.012, or the sample that you had still sitting in your hydrometer tube from this morning has now dropped from 1.014 to 1.012?

If the latter then this is an indication that your beer in the FV has not reached terminal gravity left. In that case I'd rouse and rise the temp (as you have done) and give it a few days, then proceed as manticle outlined above.

Another good way of rousing yeast is to stand above the vessel, lift it slightly off the ground using the handles. then quickly move your hands up and down (right hand up and left hand down and vice versa), this will cause some sort of vibration in the liquid and after a while you will see that the yeast moves more and more around inside the vessel. Do this for as long as you think is necessary or until the yeast is properly mixed through the while vessel.

The advantage of that method is that you don't need to open your fermenter which might increase the risk of an infection.

 

[J'sGarage]

the latter