Are lagers really worth the bother?

[pipsyboy]

With the extra time it takes to ferment and the space it will take up in the fridge for however many weeks while its lagering, is it worth the trouble for something that me and the Missus will polish off on a Th/Fri/Sat?


Discuss.

 

[micblair]

Yes it is worth the effort. I wouldn't bother lagering for months on end. Just warm condition it, and lager for a min. 1 week at -1.5C.

 

[TheBigD]

Im trying this method below for the first time, I'm just bringing down the temp for the cold crash Seems to be going well. I wanted something I could serve up to the family in time for Xmas it's only a coopers kit plus some extras but hopefully it will appeal to the masses.
http://brulosophy.com/methods/lager-method/

 

[lukiferj]

Depends. What do you like to drink. It's not really that much more effort to brew a lager but certainly a bit more time. I prefer to drink ales which is why I brew them. If you are after a lager type beer without the extra time, try brewing a "faux lager" using a lager grist but fermenting with a clean yeast like Nottingham at 16 degrees. Makes a reasonably lagerish ale I always have one of these on tap for mates who aren't into as much flavour as I am.

 

[Blind Dog]

Try Nottingham yeast at the lower end of its temp range, say 13C. Malt bill, hops, mash schedule all the same as for a lager. Should be nice and clean, couple of days up at 18 to 20 at the end then cold crash for a couple more. Should get you damn close in a lot less time

 

[pipsyboy]

Cheers guys.

It's more for SWMBO. I'll be doing the faux lager in future.

 

[lukiferj]

As an example. I brewed this 2 weeks ago and kegged it last week.

 

[manticle]

They are if you want to drink Oktoberfest, marzen, bock, doppelbock, pilsner, pilsener, dark lager, aussie lager, schwarzbier, baltic porter, weizenbock, helles or many other beer styles.
Delicious.

 

[fraser_john]

Faux lagers work but are no where near as good as the real thing. Brewing with the season works in the southern states as no fermentation control needed. A good crisp clean lager is great on a hot evening.

 

[peas_and_corn]

Lagers give you flavour profiles you can't get with ales. I don't brew lagers much, but I'm planning on changing that in the future, as there are lager styles that I quite like.

 

[slcmorro]

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: **** yes.

 

[verysupple]

It's definitely worth the effort if you want to drink a lager. It doesn't have to take a huge amount of time or tie up your fermenting fridge etc for long periods if you brew the right style.

You can bust out a low-ish gravity lager in 2 - 3 weeks if you need to. As mentioned above, give it a good warm maturation rest before lowering the temp and a lot of the work will already be done before you start "lagering". The idea is that the yeast do pretty much all they need to when they're warm and very active and then the cold conditioning phase is mostly about precipitating the yeast and other junk. So after you've given it a good amount of time at a warm temp and you're sure there isn't any diacetyl, acetaldehyde or anything else the yeast needs to process, you can crash it for a few days or a week or however long to drop out most of the yeast. Because the yeast isn't really needed any more you can package the beer and "lager" it in a kegerator/serving fridge or whatever thus freeing up your fermentation fridge.

The purists won't like this method and it's far from the traditional method. It also might not make the perfect lager, but it can make a decent one.

 

[manticle]

Purists can make their own beer.

 

[verysupple]

Purists can make their own beer.

Damn straight! Or at least not preach about it when they drinking a non-traditionally brewed beer that they can't actually pick any flaws in.

 

[Adr_0]

Yes, definitely worth it.

Because they end up so clean and delicious, consider a few things:
-make sure your cleanliness is top notch as any trace of infection will stand out
-give a long boil (90min) to get rid of DMS. I would suggest a fast cool too, but the no-chillers will argue (probably correctly) that the long boil will get your DMS off anyway.
-get chlorine out of your water, and don't use bleach
-you will notice a big difference after a week of lagering, but 2-3 weeks is generally pretty good
-ttreat your yeast nicely, ie slow temperature changes and try to let the temp rise naturally for the diacetyl rest, ie don't pump heaps of heat through your heat belt. Cool it say 0.3-0.5°C every 8-12hrs,ie change the setpoint on your freezer frequently in small amounts rather than in one big go every day or two

Enjoy...

 

[menoetes]

I have the same reservations about Lagers as the OP but I also know they can be worth the extra time and effort. The last Pilsner I made was excellent after about 8 weeks in the bottle.

As for the extra time in the brew-fridge? I generally know it's time to do a lager when I've almost filled all my empty PET bottles (of which I have 200+), so it can sit in the fridge cold-conditioning for weeks until I have emptied enough empties to bottle a 40lt batch of a true lager style beer...

 

[peas_and_corn]

Yes, definitely worth it.

Because they end up so clean and delicious, consider a few things:
-make sure your cleanliness is top notch as any trace of infection will stand out
-give a long boil (90min) to get rid of DMS. I would suggest a fast cool too, but the no-chillers will argue (probably correctly) that the long boil will get your DMS off anyway.
-get chlorine out of your water, and don't use bleach
-you will notice a big difference after a week of lagering, but 2-3 weeks is generally pretty good
-ttreat your yeast nicely, ie slow temperature changes and try to let the temp rise naturally for the diacetyl rest, ie don't pump heaps of heat through your heat belt. Cool it say 0.3-0.5°C every 8-12hrs,ie change the setpoint on your freezer frequently in small amounts rather than in one big go every day or two

Enjoy...

Also on the topic of yeast, you also need a lot more- many people argue you need twice the cell count you would use for ales.

 

[Adr_0]

I should also day that a cold crash serves a very different purpose to a lagering period. You want the yeast to still be working during the lagering period, then dropping out bit by bit. You should also start to drop with a few points left, eg 1018-1820 for an expected FG of 1010-1012.

A cold crash is generally done for ale yeasts at final gravity to clear out yeast that hasn't flocculated, and generally involves a much sharper drop in temp.

 

[rockeye84]

Love making & drinking lagers. The extra work or process's just adds to the fun. The ultimate pay off is when ya nail a good 1!

 

[Spiesy]

Faux lagers work but are no where near as good as the real thing. Brewing with the season works in the southern states as no fermentation control needed. A good crisp clean lager is great on a hot evening.

So I guess you make a shitload of lager in winter, lager it for 3-6 months, for summer?

Fermentation chamber/fridge hasn't cost me much, and I get to brew whatever I want, whenever I want.