after 3 weeks of anticipation, last friday i opened a bottle of my lager brew, having had it in the fridge for 4 hours to get it cold, it was quite nice....then took a bottle to my in laws....my 2 brother in laws tried it (they arent beer drinkers)...they didnt like it much...i didnt mind...more for me...my father in law tried a small sample...and he was suprised, he liked it!...said he didnt think the home brew would taste much good but he was happy with the taste....i tried another bottle 2nite...into a ice cold beer glass....good head on the beer....and god damn it tasted good...very happy with it..now looking forward to trying my morgans australian draught and coopers bitter which is fermenting atm at 28 degrees (as its sitting on a heat pad).
Home Brew Lager
- Thread starter jamieh
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kenlock
Well-Known Member
Earth calling Jamie
Earth calling Jamie
I know you have posted a few times asking for basic advice.
OK, you are obviously on the right track for basic brewing techniques but what you really need to drill into your head is to ferment no higher than 20 degrees. And with the end of winter, from now on, the urgent advice is:
Brew no higher than 20 degrees.
If you have any futher issues then please post.
cheers
BribieG
Earth calling Jamie
I know you have posted a few times asking for basic advice.
OK, you are obviously on the right track for basic brewing techniques but what you really need to drill into your head is to ferment no higher than 20 degrees. And with the end of winter, from now on, the urgent advice is:
Brew no higher than 20 degrees.
If you have any futher issues then please post.
cheers
BribieG
manticle
Standing up for the Aussie Bottler
Unless it's a saison or dubbel but let's not get confusing.
@JamieH - 28 degrees, all the way through will give flavours that are undesirable in your beer. You can manipulate temperature at certain points of ferment if you are chasing certain flavours but that's only when you know exactly what and why. You will be bottling sooner but you will be bottling much less tasty beer sooner.
so no matter whether im brewing a lager, ale, draught, bitter, etc...i should have the temp no higher than 20 degrees for a good tasting beer??....ill admit that with the lager (first beer i brewed) that the temp went between 16-20 because it was wrapped up and in the laundry...and the beer tastes nice...the draught was about the same, sitting around 20-22..lowest point was 18....i bought the brew pad thinking it may have helped keep the beer warm and at a constant temp....good buy or shit buy??
manticle
Standing up for the Aussie Bottler
Lagers should ferment lower if using a proper lager yeast. Some lager kits contain either an ale yeast or a combo. Lagers usually ferment at 7-12, then get stored at 2 for a maturation period.
Heat pads can be good, especially in winter but you need to monitor it. Just use it to stop the brew going too low rather than trying to warm it up for quicker ferment.
Bitter, draught etc are all fairly meaningless names in terms of temperature. The two main types affected are ales and lagers.
Ales (using ale yeast) - 18 - 20 as a rule of thumb
Lagers (using proper lager yeast) 7-12 (14 at the outside)
Heat pads can be good, especially in winter but you need to monitor it. Just use it to stop the brew going too low rather than trying to warm it up for quicker ferment.
Bitter, draught etc are all fairly meaningless names in terms of temperature. The two main types affected are ales and lagers.
Ales (using ale yeast) - 18 - 20 as a rule of thumb
Lagers (using proper lager yeast) 7-12 (14 at the outside)
Adamt
Too busy (lazy) to brew.
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Yes. Until you start using specialty yeasts (i.e. not now), 20C is a good target. The heat pads create too much heat to leave on 24/7 unless you're in freezing conditions, and even then it could be too much.
If you start it around 20C, and the temperature is not too cold, it will likely be fine without extra heating. The fermentation does create it's own heat, and your large volume beer will take a lot of heating/cooling energy to change temperature considerably.
I bought a heater belt when I started out - once I did some reading and started to understand what I was doing, I didn't use it much. In fact, in winter I ferment my ales at room temp, in summer I have a fridge to keep them below 19C. Any lager done with a real lager yeast should be down as cool as possible - preferably below 12C (or so the books tell me)
matti
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Home brew lager beer wether you are a kit brewer or Ag using dry yeast you are best to read up about the yeast you are using and brew according.
With out going to great length as there are some great threads on it as well as very good books on how to brew lager beer.
Get hold of a descent lager yeast and pitch the yeast at no hotter then 16 degrees then after two days alllow it to cool down to about 9-12 degreess.
After 7 days let the temperature rise to 16-18 for a day or two.
if you dont want to rack i.e transfer to a second vessel off the yeast cake allow it to sit as cold as possible after the fermetation have reached the final gravity for another week.
if you are doing kit there is no need to lager the beer for extended time.
It always better to pitch two sachets and aerate the beer with a santised ladle or something.
Just never allow the the temperature fluctuate too much and never shock the yeast by lowering or rasing the temperatur too quick.
Especially if bottling as you need viable yeast to give a good carbonation.
mAtti
With out going to great length as there are some great threads on it as well as very good books on how to brew lager beer.
Get hold of a descent lager yeast and pitch the yeast at no hotter then 16 degrees then after two days alllow it to cool down to about 9-12 degreess.
After 7 days let the temperature rise to 16-18 for a day or two.
if you dont want to rack i.e transfer to a second vessel off the yeast cake allow it to sit as cold as possible after the fermetation have reached the final gravity for another week.
if you are doing kit there is no need to lager the beer for extended time.
It always better to pitch two sachets and aerate the beer with a santised ladle or something.
Just never allow the the temperature fluctuate too much and never shock the yeast by lowering or rasing the temperatur too quick.
Especially if bottling as you need viable yeast to give a good carbonation.
mAtti
