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Is the reason lagers take longer to brew due to the lower fermentation temps?

So dan as the rule of thumb is to brew larger with lager yeast and ales with ales this can be contradicted with succesful results or have I got you confused here?

Prawn may you enliten me as to why lagers are harder to make (well) and give any tips as to what to take note of when brewing such?
 
Bbowzky1 said:
Is the reason lagers take longer to brew due to the lower fermentation temps?

So dan as the rule of thumb is to brew larger with lager yeast and ales with ales this can be contradicted with succesful results or have I got you confused here?

Prawn may you enliten me as to why lagers are harder to make (well) and give any tips as to what to take note of when brewing such?
By definition using lager yeast makes it a lager and using an ale yeast makes it an ale. So no matter your ingredients if you use lager yeast it's a lager, it might be a weird one, but it's a lager.
 
Nizmoose said:
By definition using lager yeast makes it a lager and using an ale yeast makes it an ale. So no matter your ingredients if you use lager yeast it's a lager, it might be a weird one, but it's a lager.
Cheers
 
Bbowzky1 said:
Is the reason lagers take longer to brew due to the lower fermentation temps? Yes.

So dan as the rule of thumb is to brew larger with lager yeast and ales with ales this can be contradicted with succesful results or have I got you confused here?

Prawn may you enliten me as to why lagers are harder to make (well) and give any tips as to what to take note of when brewing such? Lagers are generally lightly flavoured and very clean beers, as such, any faults in them tend to stand out. The other thing about lager is that you need to "lager" them. Once fermentation is over, lagers should be held at a very low temp ( close as you can get to 0c or just below 0) for weeks to months. Tying up fridges and temp control gear, maybe for months, with lagers is why many Home Brewers , myself included, don't do many.
 
Thanks prawn.
I must have adapted the misconception that most home brews were more lagers then ales and stouts.
Would a larger better represent a commercially brewed beer like a dry?

Is there any way of getting around this? Or is it just best (and exspecially for a novice) to steer clear of brewing these?
 
The big mainstream beers, like Dry, are all lagers (even some of the stouts). To get a more lager like ale, you could use a yeast like us-05 or Nottingham at lower temps. 15-16c is good.Once fermented, leave your bottled beer for 2-4 weeks, then put the lot in the fridge for a week....Drink. I would get the hang of making a nice ale or two at ale temps before any of that though. Get a bit of a stockpile going as ales at lower temps can also take longer to ferment.
 
Thats interesting about the largers. I didnt know that. Im learning. I like lerning new things.

Im brewing a fresh wort IPA with us-05 atm. Almost 24hr down and little to no action (no krausen, no airlock bubble and temp starting to drop) 18-20c on the stic on thermometer. I did rehydrate and proof the yeast and I pitched at 20c.
Must just be a slow starter?

Does nottingham have a variety of strands? If so to which one would you be making reference to above?

Im going to be getting another basic brewing over this weekend and then may borrow another FV to start another a week after that.

Id liKe to give each brew a good chance to condition before bottling and if i havnt confused myself all ales would be happy to sit in a FV for a week at least after the fermentation is complete.

I also bought enough supplies to get 4 brews done and in the cupboard so im going to hopefully have that done asap. 2-3 weeks per brew in the vessle then 4-6 weeks per brew in bottle prior to opening any.

Once I have these stock piled im going to reduce back to 1 brew at a time.

Also while im waiting for the first bottle to be openable im going to be consuming some Tap King kegs so as to be able to brew in the bottles and hack the dispenser with an external reg. :)
 
Id also recommend hooking up with an experienced brewer from ahb.. there are some great people here.. Manticle did this for me when I first started and he was an AWESOME help...you will learn soooo much from 1 brew session with an experienced member
 
How does one suggest I get into contact/ team up wit/ find a seasoned brewer to team up with?
 
Drop ur suburb on the thread .. and see if you get bites close to you
 
Question about largers.
One of my kits is for a german pilsna. The yeast of whick is saflager s-23. Does this mean this kit is brewed and conditioned like a lager and will produce the off egg sulfer smell from the air lock?

Cheers
 
GRRRR!!!!

So my fermentor started bubbling away like a champ last night. Woke up this morning no more bubbles.
Theres also no krusen in the fermentor.
Is it a heat related issue? Like headed up enough due ducted heater?
Im not sure its making me sad what should I do. Whats going on. I hope its ok and im just being nervouse as I havnt brewed before.

Cheers
 
Bbowzky1 said:
GRRRR!!!!

So my fermentor started bubbling away like a champ last night. Woke up this morning no more bubbles.
Theres also no krusen in the fermentor.
Is it a heat related issue? Like headed up enough due ducted heater?
Im not sure its making me sad what should I do. Whats going on. I hope its ok and im just being nervouse as I havnt brewed before.

Cheers
Hey mate, don't worry it should be fine. Pretty much, number 1 rule of brewing is not to worry :)

What temperature did it read this morning? I've brewed us05 down to 14 without much hassle but wouldn't recommend it just because the yeast prefers it closer to 18.

Personally I would just let it be for a few more days and then take a hydro reading and keep temp between 17-21
 
Thanks mate your a legend. Im in no rush to bottle so I do t mind it taking time as longAs its working. The stick on thermometer suggested 18 when I got home yesterday, close to 20 when I went to bed and again around 18 this morning. Only time ive seen it bubble was around the 20c mark
Initial SG was 1.036 what would you expect to see on the hydro
 
Hey guys. Im happy to announce I have some positive krusen now and a solid airlock bubble ad the sg is dropping :) (correction from above initial sg was 1.056 not 1.036)

I have niticed however I have a drop or 2 of wort/beers dripping from the FV tap every 12hrs or so.
Will this allow any baddies to get in and potentially cause an infection and/or any off flavours.

Cheers in advance
 
Good to hear mate. That sounds like a better SG, I thought 1.036 was very low for an IPA. The overall gravity depends on how the fresh wort was made (mash temp etc), if you added sugar or topped up with water. Does it have anything that came with it that may suggest the SG? Although my best guess would be between 1.010 and 1.014, should drop down close to the SG in a week.

Is it from the tap or between the tap and the fermentor? Seems very strange for a leak to have such a slow leak rate though. I wouldn't worry about it any infection from that, it's very unlikely as if there's a leak it is must be a very very small gap.
 
Hey HWALL,
it was a batch from grain and grape in there micro brewry. I have no idea how they made it or even how fresh it was. It was an 17lt cube and I added 3lt of boiled and cooled water and pitched rehydrate us-05.

its not where the tap meets the tank. Its from where ya put the blue bottler in (the tap) ive tried adjusting where the valve sits and cant get it any better then a drop or two in 12hrs ish. Probably just under a teaspon thus far in 3 days.
I dont mind the drip I just really dont want any baddies getting in and ruining my first batch.
 
Hey all,
My misses and I made a oatmeal stout today :)
First proper go at home brewing.
Steeped our graind (1kg JWM ale,450g JWM rosted barley and 900g oatmeal) , at 70c for 30min then added LME (1.5kg Briess golden light) brought to boil for 20min for hot break, steeped 70g of golding for 60min, 1.5g irish moss last 15min, at the end off the heat and straight into an ice bath. 3 bags of ice later worr was at 22c in no time.
Racked the kettel and then stragned wort into fermentor leaving hot and cold break behind :)
4hr process and an initial sg of 1.043 in a 22lt batch
Im really hoaping I kept good hygine. I had a cleaner solution hot water tub and a sink full of phos-san and also a spray bottle of it
Wort tasted amazing. I brewed it with safale us-05 rehydrated and proffed with 2 teaspoons of cooled wort.
 
Sounds like you're learning fast mate, well done! It should be a nice roasty stout with the 450g of RB. If you want to try something extra next time, if you can get your hand of pale choc malt, I personally find it a great addition to my oatmeal stouts, give it a great smooth chocy/coffee flavour. With the 70 steep (Really a mini-mash) and your 450g of RB, your converted sugars aren't going to be that fermentable so don't be surprised if you FG is slightly higher then expected.

Let us know how the IPA comes along, sounds tasty if it's from Grain & Grape. Not sure what the FG will end up being but being an IPA I would estimate it finishing about 1.010 to 1.014. Give it two weeks to ferment out and raise it to 20 after a week if you feel it needs it. Did you plan on dry-hopping at all, how's it tasting from the fermentor?
 

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