First Lager

[Pourmeanother]

Hey Guys

Did my first Lager this weekend

A Morgans Blue mountain Lager , And a superior beer improver kit . 15g Hallertau hop Teabag and I used Saflager s-23 yeast

SG 1.048 . Rehydrated the Yeast and pitched at 20 deg . Into the fridge and its sitting at 14 deg and still dropping will let it get to about 12 deg .

Does anybody have an idea on how long this will take to finish or the steps i should take from here ? RE wether or not to go to a secondary and time frame for doing this ? And any other thoughts anyone has .

Thanks in advance

Todd

 

[kelbygreen]

well your on the right step lagers are a pain to brew. For a few reasons, They like cold temps so you need temp control (you seem to have that), they take longer to ferment (so fridge is held up with 1 brew or 2 if you can fit it), they really need to be lagered for about 2-4weeks min at as close to 0 as you can get, They also are usually not very malty or bitter so if something goes wrong it will be more noticeable.

But a little more on topic you can do dialect rest about 3/4 threw fermentation ramp the temps up to about 18c. let it finish off at that. It should take about 2 weeks to ferment (you should of pitched 2 packs of S-23), then you lager it for as long as you can min 2 weeks as low as you can go without freezing it. I have done 5 weeks with no fining and it was clear as but prob kegged one with 1 week at .2c with fining and it is very nice. so if bottled after 1 week cc with fining and let carb then sat in the fridge for another week or 2 i think you will be on the money.

 

[waggastew]

Hey Todd,

I did a couple of K&K lagers last winter and plan to have another go this year. From lots of reading I have gleaned the following info. Don't take it as kosher, just my thoughts at this stage.

1. Pitch your yeast at the fermentation temp (lots of debate over this one)
2. Pitch lots of yeast, a couple of packets or a kicking starter (may be a bit late for this!)
3. Keep the temp nice an stable, 12 is upper end for a traditional lager ferment (again some debate around brewing lagers warm ie 18degC)
4. Be patient with the primary ferment, at least three weeks is the norm. Kit lagers can end up a bit sweet so you want to get your FG as low as it can go.
5. You may want to warm the beer up for 48hours to 20degC after primary to do let the yeast cleanup (called a diacetyl rest)
6. Crash chill before bottling/kegging
7. If bottling it is best to lager in the bottle at around 1-2degC for at least a month. You are probably best to let them carb up at 12-18degC first. You can lager in secondary/cubes but you risk infection if not meticulous with cleaning.
8. If kegging you should lager in the keg which has been purged with CO2.

Morgans BML is a good kit, more euro style of lager.

Good luck and report back when you finally get to crack one!

 

[Pourmeanother]

Thanks Fellas

Looking at the yeast pack , I would have thought a pack of 11.5 g would have been plenty , is there a reason why you would throw 2 packs at it ?

Also the temp range says Ideal 11 - 15 deg so thought that 12 wouldnt be to bad . Its great to hear from people well versed in these areas .

Its great to learn somthing new everyday and always look forward to tomorrow . I dont wont to bang on too much but Im a little concerned about going to the secondary as I havent done this before .

What are the steps for this ? Will be bottling when the time comes . Would the rest period be in the secondary ?

Cheers Todd

 

[Florian]

Seeing you pitched at 20 degrees you might be alright with one pack of yeast, depending on how quick (or better: slow) it cooled down to 14/12. But the guys are right, usually you would want two packs of dry yeast for lagers especially when pitching cold. Ideally you would pitch at lower temps, but there are also some risks involved if you can't cool down your wort quick enough. Either way, for your first lager you'll be more than fine.

IMO there is really no need for you to go to secondary with you first lager, especially if your are concerned, just keep it simple and rather keep it in primary for a bit longer, three weeks should do the trick.

There is plenty more you can but don't necessarily have to do, like a diacetyl rest, cold conditioning, lagering and so on. While this one is getting ready I would do plenty of reading, search for certain terms on here or google them, or just read randomly any new thread that comes up. You will certainly learn a lot and get a better picture of the whole process, but you should also take every single advise with a grain of salt, including mine. Like with most hobbies, there are many ways to get it right, or better, the way you want it to be.

 

[Pourmeanother]

Hey All

Its been a week now , sitting at 10 deg did a gravity test to see how its going . Now at 1.024 started at 1.048 . Taking a swig out of the test tube I think this is going to be really nice . Tasted others ive done , havent thought to much of them but this is good .

When would I have to give this diacetyl rest ( I would assume before ferment is complete ) ?

Cheers Todd :icon_chickcheers:

 

[pimpsqueak]

Nice work dude. I am looking forward to the day I can squeeze an extra fridge into this shoebox we live in so I can join Club Lager.

 

[Bribie G]

Next time you make it, try just using the kit yeast supplied with the BM, it's Mauribrew lager yeast (unlike a lot of so called lager kits that just come with an ale yeast) and ferments nicely at mid-teens, but would still benefit from a couple of weeks cold conditioning after the primary fermentation.

 

[pimpsqueak]

Ok, I just want to get my head around this whole lagering thing.

My primary will be over in a few more days and I will be letting it come up a few degrees for a diacetyl rest.
I will be bottling, so I would like to know if I need to lager before bottling, or after bottling?

John Palmer says lager first, then bottle, but is this a strict rule?
Can I safely bottle then chill down 2-3 deg, wait a month or so, then let it sit at room temp to carbonate? Or am I better off to let it carb first, then drop it down to 2-3 deg for a month?
Surely one method must be the preferred, but maybe all of them acceptable?

 

[manticle]

I'd do it before.

Two main reasons - I believe bulk matures quicker than small volume but also the shit that you are dropping out with lagering can get left behind when you bottle.

 

[pimpsqueak]

Right you are.
I just found THIS on about page 5 after searching "lagering"... spose I should have been more patient

I might just use this as a chance to experiment though. I love doing stuff just-to-see... I'll bottle 6 stubbies, lager 3 then let carb and I'll let 3 carb, then lager them. Then I'll compare them to the remainder that will be lagered then bottled.

 

[melvy]

You won't carb them up at lagering temps mate. Your yeast will be asleep.

Cheers
Melvy

Never mind me. Would help if I read your post properly. As you were. :wub:

 

[pimpsqueak]

You won't carb them up at lagering temps mate. Your yeast will be asleep.

Cheers
Melvy

Never mind me. Would help if I read your post properly. As you were. :wub:

Roger that.

While this thread is alive and kicking, what if I don't lager at all? What exactly will the end product be?
I mean, I know it will be beer, but will it be putrid or "wrong"?

 

[stef]

As far as i'm aware, lagering just makes the brew a bit cleaner and smoother. And you have to be patient enough to do it.

I bottle, so after fermentation, i CC then bottle, leave for a few weeks to carb, then into the fridge. My lagering happens in the fridge while i'm waiting to drink it- i put some in, but drink my other beers first, so by the time i'm drinking my lager its been in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Doesn't always work for me though- depends on my beer stocks. And might be that i have a particularly insensitive palate, but with some beers there isn't a huge difference between those lagered and those that aren't.

I'm guessing that conclusion would be quite different when using a different method though (such as lagering in bulk for several weeks/months as you are supposed to do...)

 

[Darkman]

Don't forget to save a jam jar of yeast cake if you plan to brew another lager after this brew.