verysupple
Supremely mediocre brewer
- Joined
- 23/9/12
- Messages
- 1,057
- Reaction score
- 268
Hi All,
My first attempt at a lager is fermenting right now. It's the AG version of the Vienna lager from BCS. Everything I've read regarding lager fermentation suggests that they take a fair bit longer than average ales to start and then ferment out. But mine had krausen within 12 hours and was at about 80 - 85 % of the expected attenuation after 3 days. So I started raising the temp for a diacety rest and it should be at FG in a day or so I guess. So this is only about a day longer than my average strength ales. Of course I'll let it condition for a bit before I drop it to lagering temps.
Here are the specifics:
OG 1.052
Expected FG 1.012 - 1.014
Made a stepped starter of Wy2308
Oxygenated by shaking the FV for about a min.
Took the starter out of the fridge, decanted the beer and pitched the cold yeast into the wort at 9 C.
Pitched something like 1.5 - 2.0 million cells / mL / P (about 20 - 25 million cells / mL) depending which calculator you believe (slightly higher than I intended because my final volume was less than I anticipated).
Let free rise to 10 C where I kept it until I started the diacetyl rest.
And now for the point of the post.
Firstly, is this abnormally fast considering the temperature?
But more importantly, is such a fast fermentation likely to cause any problems down the line? Stability issues etc? I was thinking about repitching some of the yeast for a Munich dunkel after this batch, so is this pitching rate high enough to make the average age of the population quite old because they didn't multiply much? Would I be better off taking a small amount and propagating it so the population is nice and young again?
And for a small rant. When people say things like, "I ferment my lagers for 3 weeks" I'm guessing they really mean they let them sit in the fermentor for 3 weeks, becuase a healthy fermentation of an average strength lager shouldn't take anywhere near that time. Fermentation is the process of converting sugars to gases and alcohol, and is not the same as conditioning/maturation. Get the terminology right.
My first attempt at a lager is fermenting right now. It's the AG version of the Vienna lager from BCS. Everything I've read regarding lager fermentation suggests that they take a fair bit longer than average ales to start and then ferment out. But mine had krausen within 12 hours and was at about 80 - 85 % of the expected attenuation after 3 days. So I started raising the temp for a diacety rest and it should be at FG in a day or so I guess. So this is only about a day longer than my average strength ales. Of course I'll let it condition for a bit before I drop it to lagering temps.
Here are the specifics:
OG 1.052
Expected FG 1.012 - 1.014
Made a stepped starter of Wy2308
Oxygenated by shaking the FV for about a min.
Took the starter out of the fridge, decanted the beer and pitched the cold yeast into the wort at 9 C.
Pitched something like 1.5 - 2.0 million cells / mL / P (about 20 - 25 million cells / mL) depending which calculator you believe (slightly higher than I intended because my final volume was less than I anticipated).
Let free rise to 10 C where I kept it until I started the diacetyl rest.
And now for the point of the post.
Firstly, is this abnormally fast considering the temperature?
But more importantly, is such a fast fermentation likely to cause any problems down the line? Stability issues etc? I was thinking about repitching some of the yeast for a Munich dunkel after this batch, so is this pitching rate high enough to make the average age of the population quite old because they didn't multiply much? Would I be better off taking a small amount and propagating it so the population is nice and young again?
And for a small rant. When people say things like, "I ferment my lagers for 3 weeks" I'm guessing they really mean they let them sit in the fermentor for 3 weeks, becuase a healthy fermentation of an average strength lager shouldn't take anywhere near that time. Fermentation is the process of converting sugars to gases and alcohol, and is not the same as conditioning/maturation. Get the terminology right.