Help Needed To Salvage My Lager-ale

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Rob S

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I put down the following some time ago: -

Pils (Meu Aus) 47%
Torrified Rice 15%
Flaked Maize 15%
Cara Pils 5%
Sugar 18%

Amylo 300 in the mash

Mashed in at tap water temperature, slowly raised it to 52*C then added boiling water to raise to 67*C for 60 mins.

60 min boil with Saaz to 15 IBU (Additions as 60 and 15 mins)

Wyeast 2007 Pilsen Lager

I hit the OG of 1.046 spot on.

I smacked the pack and it took a good 24 hours to swell up at ambient temperature, I pitched at 18*C and set the STC1000 to 11*

24 hours later and there was nothing, no krausen or anything. I didn't rush, I didn't touch it, I didn't want to be impatient.

Then I realised that I'd forgotten to add the sugar to the boil.

I did a gravity reading and there was no movement from the OG.

I waited until 7 days and there was still nothing and the gravity was the same.

Shitted off that the Lager yeast was probably a bummer I bumped the temperature back up to 18*C for 72 hours and still nothing......

So I got a 750ml tallie of slurry containing US-05 and dumped it in (being as sterile as I could with Starsan) and left it at 18*C.

24 hours later it's charging like nothing else. Lovely krausen and looking like beer.

My question is......what's it going to be? Is there any way to salvage it and turn it into something drinkable.....or is it going to be one fucked up mess?

I presume my only option is to try to save it by dry hopping a fair bit into it and leave in there for a week or two.

Maybe I can boil some other hops for 10 mins or so, put the lid on, wrap up with gladwrap and put it in the freezer to coil, then add this to the fermenter as well?

Any suggestions for hops?

I'm shitted off at the lagers. This is the second one I did and I'm really preferring Pale Ale's over anything else so I might just stick to Ale's. Too much stuffing around with lagers.
 
First of all, bugger :(
A few things, mate-

Your mash regime seems a bit different to me. I would have thought something more like 52', 62', 72', 78'??

The second thing is (assuming a 23 litre batch) you haven't stepped up your yeast or made a starter, so you have seriously under pitched, mate. Check out the mrmalty website for pitching rates. Your yeast would have struggled to get going at 11', mate.

Depending on the hops you have used and if it is not infected after the long time it sat with no activity, I'd be more inclined to leave it as it is and just call it a cream ale :)

Cheers.
 
Bugger indeed. Just finished a cream ale. Oh well, another one can't hurt.

I should have made a starter and usually do. I just fucked this one from the beginning.

The mashing regime was given to me by MHB.

Cheers I'll see if I get other replies but leaving it be is always a good option. It'll be beer, maybe just not great beer.....
 
I'm inclined to making light beers because I brew with rainwater and also am trialing different hops to see which I like best. I grow my own. I've gotten it into my head of late that I should mash out at 65-67. :lol:
 
why don't you ferment the brew really low once the US05 has taken hold. I've fermented it @ 14 before. This way if the lager yeast come alive it won't throw unwanted flavours. Thats what i'd do.
 
i split a batch of boh pils into s189 and 1272. both were pitched at 14 and slowly risen to 16 over 7 days. boths batches were crashed chilled at 10 says. both are great and hit expected fg so you can go fake lager with 1272 at fourteen.

my dad didnt grab any more cpas out of the fridge after having a glass of the 1272 pils. we drank a few. he has turned his nose up at other past brews so i took it that the beer turned out good.

and yeah when i rebrew this with liquid lager yeast in winter i will be making a big starter.
 
Ok, temp turned down to 14*C, it's going great guns, we'll see how it turns out.

Consensus is keep fermenting it as a lager then?
 
So I'll let you know what happened...

I went to MHB and got a kilo of LDME and 140g of some mixed American hop pellets he had (dunno what it was, a mix of three, smelled pretty good).

I brought the LDME to the boil in about 3 litres of water and added:-
25g of hops at 20 mins,
25g at 10 mins,
50g at 5 mins
40g at flameout

And put it straight in the freezer for about half an hour to cool and threw it in the fermenter with the rest of the swill. to sit there for a week.

As usual I got drunk and threw 50g of Czech Saaz flowers in there for shits and giggles and left for another 3 days

I bottled and after 2 weeks it tastes fantastic. :kooi:

SRM is close to 2, it's got a head that you can draw a smily face in and the hops are just smooth and delicious. I love the little bits of saaz in the bottom of the glass too.

I'm almost ashamed to say it's one of the best beers I've made. I was only going to bottle a dozen and chuck the rest but I guess it goes to show that you never can tell until you give it a taste.

If I can get my shit together I'll take a pic when I get home.
 
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