First lager

[Ghizo]

I have just got my first lager in the fermentation chamber, sitting at 14c.
According to beer smith I leave it for four weeks, 4 days diactyl rest (I raise the temp to 19c? )then age for 30 days.
I was going to keg after 30 days and age in the kegerator? Is this ok?

 

[danestead]

I have just got my first lager in the fermentation chamber, sitting at 14c.
According to beer smith I leave it for four weeks, 4 days diactyl rest (I raise the temp to 19c? )then age for 30 days.
I was going to keg after 30 days and age in the kegerator? Is this ok?

You need to use a hydrometer to determine the state of your brew. Do not use time.

 

[Ghizo]

You need to use a hydrometer to determine the state of your brew. Do not use time.

What do I need the gravity to be? At each stage, there is probably a thread on this already, but the search does not work on an ipad

 

[danestead]

What do I need the gravity to be? At each stage, there is probably a thread on this already, but the search does not work on an ipad

Sorry, when you said this was your first lager, I assumed you had brewed ales before.

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/9233-frequently-asked-questions-for-the-new-brewer/

That will give you the basics.

 

[Ghizo]

I have brewed ales,
So diactyl rest when fermentation is finished?

 

[danestead]

I have brewed ales,
So diactyl rest when fermentation is finished?

As general practice, I do a diacetyl rest, yes. I have only brewed about 10 lagers so am far from an expert however your best method would be to taste your gravity sample to see if you can taste or smell any diacetyl. Diacetyl also has a precursor, which means that diacetyl may develop later on, even if you cant taste or smell it now. This is where a diacetyl rest can help. The increased temperature helps speed up the metabolism of your yeast so it can consume the diacetyl plus it also helps convert the precursor to diacetyl so the yeast can do its job on that as well.

If you want to take a simple approach, just raise the temperature about 4 degrees or so for a few days or longer. If you want to take a more thorougn approach, you can do what is called a diacetyl force test. Google that. This will determine if you have any of that diacetyl precursor in your beer which may show its head later on. My last pale lager was a Munich Helles style and it took a full week up at about 18 degrees to clear the beer of diacetyl and its precursor.

 

[danestead]

I couldnt think of it at the time, but the precursor is called alpha acetolactate. If you look up the diacetyl force test it will talk about it.

 

[supertonio]

I have brewed ales,
So diactyl rest when fermentation is finished?

The pterodactyl rest is more primitive but known to be more effective, at least a third more.

 

[kaiserben]

I initially ferment until the wort has reached about 65% attenuation (usually about 7 days, but you need to measure this).
I then allow the temp to rise naturally (without using any heating device) for a diacetyl rest at about 17C.
I then hold at this higher temp for a further 3 days (or until the beer has fully fermented and reached its peak attenuation).
I then bring temperature down slowly (again, by maybe a few degrees per day) to about 1C.
I then hold at ~1C for at least 1 week (but prefer 2 or 3 weeks).
Then package up to carbonate.
Once carbonated it's always nice to drink, but I often see noticeable improvement 2-3 months later. It goes from good to awesome.

 

[danestead]

I initially ferment until the wort has reached about 65% attenuation (usually about 7 days, but you need to measure this).
I then allow the temp to rise naturally (without using any heating device) for a diacetyl rest at about 17C.
I then hold at this higher temp for a further 3 days (or until the beer has fully fermented and reached its peak attenuation).
I then bring temperature down slowly (again, by maybe a few degrees per day) to about 1C.
I then hold at ~1C for at least 1 week (but prefer 2 or 3 weeks).
Then package up to carbonate.
Once carbonated it's always nice to drink, but I often see noticeable improvement 2-3 months later. It goes from good to awesome.

That looks like a solid method.

I also raise and lower the temperatures gradually. I've got a BrewPi which makes this simple however it can be done manually with other controllers. I generally don't exceed 3.6 degrees per day, which is a figure I read in a text somewhere. I've even read in a text that 'crash chilling' can cause the yeast to get stressed and spit some off flavours, even though you think its done its job. It does take ages to chill from ale or diacetyl rest temps to 1 degree, and I don't know if I've noticed a difference or not, however I can't see it doing any harm so I do it as it seems to be 'best practice'.

 

[Rocker1986]

That sounds pretty much the same as what I do. They go from pitching yeast to the keg in about 4 weeks. I start them at 10C, take an SG reading on day 6, if it's where I want it I let it free rise to about 18C and leave it there until a few days post FG (usually day 14). The only thing I do differently is that I do crash chill it to 0C, rather than slowly lowering it. It then sits there for 2 weeks before being kegged/bottled. I haven't noticed any problems from it, they've all turned out really nice, although I have heard the same things regarding crash chilling and yeast.

 

[pist]

Ok. Here's what i do with my fermentation on a lager. Its pretty fool proof, and has produced great lagers for me every time. Your first week is primary. Time this from when you see your Krausen appearing. At the start of the second week, draw off a sample and check the gravity of your brew with your hydrometer. It should be around 1.020 or less. I usually aim to start my d rest at about 1.018. Once its at about that gravity, raise the temp on your temp controller gradually over the week to 16oC. You want to keep it at 16 for a couple of days once you get there. By the time the 3rd week rolls around, you should have reached fg, confirm this with your hydrometer as you would with ales, stable reading over a couple of days. After thay its time for lagering. Drop the temp to 1oC and leave it for 2 weeks. At the end of the 4th week your ready to keg and carb. If bottling you might need to add a small amount of yeast for carbing

 

[Bribie G]

I haven't done a serious lager for a couple of years and decided to get back into them for this year's competition season (Bribie telegraphs punches). On further study I find I've been doing a lot of things wrong.

An excellent guide is from the Braukaiser site.

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fermenting_Lagers

 

[danestead]

I haven't done a serious lager for a couple of years and decided to get back into them for this year's competition season (Bribie telegraphs punches). On further study I find I've been doing a lot of things wrong.

An excellent guide is from the Braukaiser site.

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fermenting_Lagers

That is an interesting article. The bit I find most interesting is the fact that some breweries reduce the temperature of the fermentation prior to it reaching FG and prior to diacetyl etc being cleaned up.

 

[Bribie G]

Some Czech lagers have a touch of diacetyl.

 

[danestead]

Some Czech lagers have a touch of diacetyl.

Yes. I bought a pilsner urquell today actually as I want to compare it with my currently fermenting czech pilsner. Its not meant to be a clone however since ive never had an actual urquell before, I thought id give it a try. Ill drink it in a week or 2.

I got the impression the article suggested the diacetyl would be cleaned up during long lagering at lower temperatures, not that the lower temperatures would intentionally leave some desirable diacetyl there.

 

[peteru]

Unfortunately Urquell does not travel well. What you taste in Australia is nowhere near as good as what you get in most places in the Czech Republic. What you get in most of Czech Republic is nowhere near as good as what you get in pubs in Pilsen itself. Of course the best drop is unfiltered, straight from the wooden vat in the lagering cellars. I can highly recommend the brewery tour.
(Their bottling line is amazing to watch too!)

Even if your attempt at a pilsner doesn't match what you taste from the Urquell bottle, it doesn't mean you got it wrong. It could mean that the bottle you have has not travelled well.

 

[danestead]

Unfortunately Urquell does not travel well. What you taste in Australia is nowhere near as good as what you get in most places in the Czech Republic. What you get in most of Czech Republic is nowhere near as good as what you get in pubs in Pilsen itself. Of course the best drop is unfiltered, straight from the wooden vat in the lagering cellars. I can highly recommend the brewery tour.
(Their bottling line is amazing to watch too!)

Even if your attempt at a pilsner doesn't match what you taste from the Urquell bottle, it doesn't mean you got it wrong. It could mean that the bottle you have has not travelled well.

Its a shame it doesnt travel well. Theres a good chance I wont like it anyway because if I can pick up the diacetyl, its going to annoy me so much that itll ruin the experience. Because we as brewers do so much to create a beer without diacetyl its kind of drilled into me that it shouldnt be in a beer whatsoever. I tend to notice it in beer a bit these days, and I dont deliberatly look for it. Maybe ive got a sensitive palate to it.

Im trying to emulate 2 pilsners ive had. 1 I had at the fremantle beer festival and it was the Last Drop Brewery Pilsner and also a pilsner from the St. Georgen Bräu Brauerei in Germany.

 

[Rocker1986]

That kind of makes sense actually; I brewed a few pilsner batches last year that were based on Pilsner Urquell, again not trying to clone it, but simply brew something close to it. I ended up preferring my own ones in the end, but I still enjoy the real thing. Would love to visit the brewery though.

 

[Adrianc5]

The guys at Brulosophy have a good article on a "quick lager" method which I am using for the first couple of lagers that I've done (one Vienna fermented out and lagering, and a higher gravity doppelbock currently fermenting). Everything still revolves around the SG readings, but if you've got good temp control the method is pretty simple.

http://brulosophy.com/methods/lager-method/

Cheers