Good recipe for lagering and kegging?

[ChefKing]

Hi All,

I have knocked out a few decent Ales that I have been quite happy with (steeping grain and boiled and/or dryhopping).

Though some of my soft mates (not all thank god), think they are too "strong in flavour" for them.... *sigh* I know, I know!

Anyhow I thought now I have 2 FV's and a 4 tap kegerator up and running. I can run a couple of decent partial grain extract ales for myself and other mates of mine that are beer aficionados...

But for my other sooky mates, I would like to brew a decent lager along the lines of an easy drinking & cruisy taste on the palate.

So if you have a damn good extract and grain steeped recipe I am all ears...

I have temp controlled fridge and no dramas to get my hands on a carboy for the lagering process... Which is going to be my first time using the lagering technique. So after the initial chosen recipe is brewed and fermented with lager yeast at around 10c from what I read. I need to syphon to a carboy and sit at close to 0c as possible for a few weeks, correct?

Can I force carbonate in keg? Or let it carbonate over some time? Seems like a long process... Though all good things come to people who wait...

Anyhow thanks for all the help I have received over the weeks, just frikn stoked to be knocking up half decent ales!

 

[danestead]

If you dont want to buy extra equipment, it is fine to lager in the keg. Do your normal fermentation stuff, let the yeast clean itself up then chill down to close to 0 degrees for a few days or longer to let the yeast flocculate then transfer into a keg, chuck in your keg fridge and let it lager for as long as you want. Contrary to old information, yeast doesnt have anything to do with the lagering process. The lagering process is mainly about other stuff dropping out in the beer. Hope that helps but it seems like you have got a good grip already anyway.

Edit: Having it in a keg hooked up to co2 is probably better than having it in a carboy somewhat exposed to oxygen. Its fine to let it carb up in the keg whilst lagering as far as im aware due to the yeast having no impact on the lagering process. This info came direct from John Palmer.

 

[ChefKing]

If you dont want to buy extra equipment, it is fine to lager in the keg. Do your normal fermentation stuff, let the yeast clean itself up then chill down to close to 0 degrees for a few days or longer to let the yeast flocculate then transfer into a keg, chuck in your keg fridge and let it lager for as long as you want. Contrary to old information, yeast doesnt have anything to do with the lagering process. The lagering process is mainly about other stuff dropping out in the beer. Hope that helps but it seems like you have got a good grip already anyway.

Edit: Having it in a keg hooked up to co2 is probably better than having it in a carboy somewhat exposed to oxygen. Its fine to let it carb up in the keg whilst lagering as far as im aware due to the yeast having no impact on the lagering process. This info came direct from John Palmer.

Thanks Danestead for the reply... Sorry for the questions, but for a lager what would the turn around time to get it ready to pour and drink!

FV how long? 2 weeks? I will use a hydrometer anyhow, but just lookn ballpark figure...

From what i have read ppl lager up to a month in a keg of 2nd'ary vessel... from the way I look at it I am looking at 6 weeks?

 

[danestead]

Thanks Danestead for the reply... Sorry for the questions, but for a lager what would the turn around time to get it ready to pour and drink!

FV how long? 2 weeks? I will use a hydrometer anyhow, but just lookn ballpark figure...

From what i have read ppl lager up to a month in a keg of 2nd'ary vessel... from the way I look at it I am looking at 6 weeks?

Ive got a lager I the fermenter as we speak which took 17 days to ferment. Of that 17 days, 10 were taken to get to FG and then I left it another week for the yeast to clean up some diacetyl which was there. Its now chilling down to 1 degree to sit for a few days and then I will keg it and caŕb it. I dont 'lager' as such as it takes me a month or 2 to get through a keg. So basically, my current batch is going to take me 3.5 weeks to hit the keg and then you can add on any lagering time you wish to do. I over pitched this batch by about 50% though so it will have fermented a little quicker than if using the exact amount of yeast determined by a yeast calculator.

You could probably get a lager into a keg in 2 weeks if you over pitched and used a 'fast lager' technique where you gradually increase the temperature during the fermentation however your lagers will probably benefit from some additional time on the yeast post FG to clean up diacetyl, acetaldehyde and other things. For me, 1 month seems to be a safe bet for lagers, plus lagering time if you wish.

 

[ChefKing]

Ive got a lager I the fermenter as we speak which took 17 days to ferment. Of that 17 days, 10 were taken to get to FG and then I left it another week for the yeast to clean up some diacetyl which was there. Its now chilling down to 1 degree to sit for a few days and then I will keg it and caŕb it. I dont 'lager' as such as it takes me a month or 2 to get through a keg. So basically, my current batch is going to take me 3.5 weeks to hit the keg and then you can add on any lagering time you wish to do. I over pitched this batch by about 50% though so it will have fermented a little quicker than if using the exact amount of yeast determined by a yeast calculator.

You could probably get a lager into a keg in 2 weeks if you over pitched and used a 'fast lager' technique where you gradually increase the temperature during the fermentation however your lagers will probably benefit from some additional time on the yeast post FG to clean up diacetyl, acetaldehyde and other things. For me, 1 month seems to be a safe bet for lagers, plus lagering time if you wish.

Thanks mate sounds like solid advice, i will be sure to follow....

One last question though:

Can you recommend a decent kit and steeped grain recipe? I have a tin of the coopers lager hanging around wondering if that will suffice or should I get something better? Want those sooky mates of mine to be impressed... so additional funds thrown at the brew are not a problem...

 

[danestead]

Thanks mate sounds like solid advice, i will be sure to follow....

One last question though:

Can you recommend a decent kit and steeped grain recipe? I have a tin of the coopers lager hanging around wondering if that will suffice or should I get something better? Want those sooky mates of mine to be impressed... so additional funds thrown at the brew are not a problem...

I cant help you with a kit recipe im sorry however there is a thread doing the rounds where a guy is trying to brewma hahn superdry type beer for his mates, try find that, it might help.

Also, ive just explained my process, ive only done about 10 lagers out of my 50 brews so there are likely other guys who would have some good info for you as well.

 

[danestead]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/90816-suggestions-for-footie-club-brews/

 

[ChefKing]

The recipe database on here is mainly for AG brewing, struggling to find a decent kit & steeped grain recipe on there...

 

[danestead]

The recipe database on here is mainly for AG brewing, struggling to find a decent kit & steeped grain recipe on there...

To make a beer similar to megaswill, im not sure however if I were to try make a full flavoured german style lager from kits etc my guess is that Id justdo a '2 can' of some sort of pilsner extract. I wouldnt bother with any steeping grains for a lager personally.

 

[manticle]

The recipe database on here is mainly for AG brewing, struggling to find a decent kit & steeped grain recipe on there...

You can convert ag recipes to extract.
Swap out the base malt for extract equivalents (you can get great quality brewing extract now like briess or weyermann).

Depending on bokl volume, you may need to adjust hop additions too. If you find a recipe you think looks good, post here and we can help you convert.

With a decent lager, the main keys are: fresh yeast and plenty of it (at least twice what you'd give a similar gravity ale), oxygen pre-ferment, controlled cool temperature, patience and time.

Extract or ag, these things are integral.

 

[ChefKing]

You can convert ag recipes to extract.
Swap out the base malt for extract equivalents (you can get great quality brewing extract now like briess or weyermann).

With a decent lager, the main keys are: fresh yeast and plenty of it (at least twice what you'd give a similar gravity ale), oxygen pre-ferment, controlled cool temperature, patience and time.

Extract or ag, these things are integral.

Thanks mate, would love to try something like this down the line as I improve as a homebrewer, but for now I am basically looking for a decent lager recipe with branded kit can, steeped grain and hop addition using a largering technique for a crisp clean beer...

 

[manticle]

And the techniques I mentioned will give you that.

Pale, quality can, possibly small addition of steeped carapils or caramunich, possible small addition of steeped noble hop like saaz or tettnanger, good, fresh lager yeast at appropriate temps and all the other stuff I mentioned.