fermentation help

[flymanor]

hi all,

I have recently brewed a Schwarzbier with an OG of .052.
pitched saflager s-23 yeast at 18 degrees, set fridge to 13 degrees.
This fermented for approx 14 days with a new reading of .022.
I have left this in the fermenter and gradually reduced temp to 6, over 5-6 days, and my gravity reading has not moved from .022.
is this normal for a lager? or has my yeast decided they've had enough?
a lot of people mention "racking to a secondary." can i do this directly into the keg, or do i need to have a means for pressure to escape, ie airlock?
My plan was to put it in the keg, force out any oxygen with a little co2, and burp of keg, then leave for 4-6 weeks (if i can keep my hands off it)
this is my first lager so am unsure of best process.
Do people generally secondary ferment in new vessel? is his beneficial or just risky for infection?

thanks,
David

 

[whitewagon67]

From my experience best practise is to rack or secondary fermentation. When you rack to the second fermenter or jerry can you stir the yeast cake up a bit and can help generate or wake the yeast up. Just make sure you get some of the yeast through into second fermenter. Racking does two things, helps kick start secondary fermentation and assists in the final result of your beer being clearer without the need to filter. Good luck.

 

[scrimple101]

Did you make a yeast starter? You need to use more yeast cells for a lager. I would reduce the temperture once I had reached my F.G and then reduce for conditioning.

 

[rehabs_for_quitters]

if its at 1.022 she ain't done, bring the temp up as you'll need to do a D rest as well otherwise the next question you'll ask is what is that buttery mouth feel in my lager, trust me your best to avoid finding a need to ask this question as if its bad its hard convincing yourself to drink 20L of it.

I would bring the temp up to 18 for a couple of days and recheck the gravity, once gravity has dropped bring the temp down slowly to 4 degrees over a few days, leave it chilled for a couple of days then keg it.

When I do my lagers if I am using dry yeast I pitch 2 re-hydrated packs for 23L of wort as one is way under pitched, I'll ferment it at 12 for about 14 days then bring it up to 18 for two days then bring it down 1 or 2 degrees a day until its at 4 degrees, 2 to 4 days at 4 then into kegs to carbonate and lager for a week or 4 then down the hatch clean tasty lager :drinks:

 

[manticle]

Why reduce the temp at 1.022? If anything slowly raise the temp at 1.022 then slowly reduce once you are in ballpark fg, then col as possible for a few weeks.

 

[Rodolphe01]

if its at 1.022 she ain't done, bring the temp up as you'll need to do a D rest as well otherwise the next question you'll ask is what is that buttery mouth feel in my lager, trust me your best to avoid finding a need to ask this question as if its bad its hard convincing yourself to drink 20L of it.

I would bring the temp up to 18 for a couple of days and recheck the gravity, once gravity has dropped bring the temp down slowly to 4 degrees over a few days, leave it chilled for a couple of days then keg it.

When I do my lagers if I am using dry yeast I pitch 2 re-hydrated packs for 23L of wort as one is way under pitched, I'll ferment it at 12 for about 14 days then bring it up to 18 for two days then bring it down 1 or 2 degrees a day until its at 4 degrees, 2 to 4 days at 4 then into kegs to carbonate and lager for a week or 4 then down the hatch clean tasty lager :drinks:

+1

 

[Beertard]

Apparent attenuation for s23 is 74% to 77% og 1.052 you should expect it to go down to fg 1.014 to 1.012, it may have stalled because you dropped the temp too early, give it a shake and raise the temp and see if it kicks on again, before racking to secondary, if you want, and cold crashing.

 

[Donske]

You aren't reading FG with a refractometer are you?

If so you need to correct for alcohol with a calculator, just checked and if you are using a refrac you've got and FG of around 1.006.

If your using a hydrometer do what rehabs_for_quitters said, you've got a stalled ferment.

 

[n87]

if using hydro, are you adjusting for temp?
colder temps make the solution denser

 

[flymanor]

if its at 1.022 she ain't done, bring the temp up as you'll need to do a D rest as well otherwise the next question you'll ask is what is that buttery mouth feel in my lager, trust me your best to avoid finding a need to ask this question as if its bad its hard convincing yourself to drink 20L of it.

I would bring the temp up to 18 for a couple of days and recheck the gravity, once gravity has dropped bring the temp down slowly to 4 degrees over a few days, leave it chilled for a couple of days then keg it.

When I do my lagers if I am using dry yeast I pitch 2 re-hydrated packs for 23L of wort as one is way under pitched, I'll ferment it at 12 for about 14 days then bring it up to 18 for two days then bring it down 1 or 2 degrees a day until its at 4 degrees, 2 to 4 days at 4 then into kegs to carbonate and lager for a week or 4 then down the hatch clean tasty lager :drinks:

Thanks mate. I gave it a bit of a shake and put temp up to 18. i guess time will tell. will look at racking to secondary to try and get the yeast going again aswell.

Why reduce the temp at 1.022? If anything slowly raise the temp at 1.022 then slowly reduce once you are in ballpark fg, then col as possible for a few weeks.

it seemed like a good idea at the time, i guess you learn alot from your mistakes and experience.

if using hydro, are you adjusting for temp?
colder temps make the solution denser

i hadn't, but when i adjusted based on online calculator, it only dropped it to 1.021. i will definately be paying more attention to this in the future.

Thanks for the info guys. if i get no improvement do you think i should throw in more yeast, or leave it and hope for a drinkable result?

cheers

 

[manticle]

If it's stalled, try and rouse it. Start by warming, follow by genlte stirring or racking, add active yeast starter if the above fails.