Newbie Lagerising Q's

[Scotgau]

Hi All,
New to home brewing here!

After trawling thru all the threads I couldnt find a definitative answer.

With my first brew i have used Morgans Golden Saaz Pilsener and decided to Lagerise it - adding primary fermenter into a fridge set at 12 degrees. After reading up on the yeast included in the pack i decided to purchase a further yeast (specifically for low temps ie Lager) as I feared the yeast found in the Morgans was more suited to higher temps and would lay dormant. I got home and added this yeast aswell.

So far so good - after a day airlock is bubbling away.

Now for my initial brew I dont intend to rack it and will bottle once fermentation is complete. My concern is once i have bottled it and added the carb drops will the original yeast that may have laid dormant due to the low temperatures explode the bottles once the temp rises ?

Question 2 - Once i have filled the bottles and added the carb drops should I place these in the fridge and if so at what temperature and for how long ? (Will this further the lager process )

Thanks In Advance
Scotto

 

[raven19]

Welcome aboard firstly.

Q1 - once your hydrometer readings have levelled out in the 1000 - 1015 range approx, the yeast has eaten all the sugars available essentially - hence you wont have any bottle bombs. The yeast will eat the carbonation sugar, carbonate your beer and thats it. Best to keep your bottles in a coolish place though.

Q2 - Not too sure on further lagering, but inside in a coolish place should do the job. Too cold and the yeast may not eat your carb drops.

Once you have this batch bottled get the next one into the fermenter as you shall need to build up stock of beer!

Enjoy & Cheers.

 

[Fourstar]

Brew until all fermentation is complete. not just because the FG is in a 'range'. Give it 2-3 days of stable SG readings before attmepting to lager.

I recommend at the end of fermentation to increase the temprature of the beer to ale tempratures (18 deg). note: The majority of fermentation will be complete and it will help knock off any residual sugars and soak up the diacetyl (butery flavour) so its very unlikly you will get off flavours at this stage with a high temp. After this, leave it for 2 days ~ once fermentation is complete.

Then rack off the cake into secondary and lager in a fridge for 1 month, or transfer to bottles and lager for a month.

Cheers!

 

[brendo]

+1 for what Fourstar said...

perform a diacetyl rest (bring it up to 18 degrees) for a few days to clean it up, then rack to another vessel and lager in a fridge (down to around 2 degrees or so) for a good 4-6 weeks.

Will make the beer much clearer and give you that nice clean crisp lager attribute.

Great job on buying some lager yeast - however next time don't include the ale yeast as well, you don't need both.

Brendo

 

[buttersd70]

+1 with fourstar, but with a slight add on. Once it is bottled, keep it at (or bring it back up to) about 18c for about 2 weeks ish to allow for the carbonation to happen before chilling again in the bottles for the extended conditioning.

 

[Scotgau]

Cheers Guys ! I can see how this can get very addictive

I checked the the fermenter this morning and didnt notice any bubbling from the airlock - the temp displayed 10 - could this be too low ? I will have to invest in a more acurate temp reader (digital) as im currently relying on the basic sticker on the side of the vessel.

 

[buttersd70]

Cheers Guys ! I can see how this can get very addictive

I checked the the fermenter this morning and didnt notice any bubbling from the airlock - the temp displayed 10 - could this be too low ? I will have to invest in a more acurate temp reader (digital) as im currently relying on the basic sticker on the side of the vessel.

Scotto, you didn't mention what yeast specifically you were using, other than it was a true lager yeast. But assuming its a saflager, fermentis says

Recommended fermentation temperature: 9C 15C, ideally 12C

so 10 is within the specs. Lack of airlock activity doesn't necessarily mean a lot, particularly with lagers. The cold temperatures involved mean that the co2 produced by fermentation may be staying in suspension in the liquid instead of breaking out and causing the airlock to bubble. As long as you have other visible signs of fermentation, krausen, condensation under the lid, dropping sg, then its nothing to be concerned over.

 

[Scotgau]

Ok all good it seems - i have the visible signs condensation etc but when do i know when to bottle or rack ? Do i take an FG reading and if so what would this be ? I used 1kg of Dex and 500 of Corn - Does the temp effect the hydrometre reading ? BTW whats is sg (dropping sg ?)

 

[TidalPete]

Ok all good it seems - i have the visible signs condensation etc but when do i know when to bottle or rack ? Do i take an FG reading and if so what would this be ? I used 1kg of Dex and 500 of Corn - Does the temp effect the hydrometre reading ? BTW whats is sg (dropping sg ?)

Scotto,

"Dropping gravity" by buttersd70 means that the original gravity of your wort is dropping towards your final gravity as fermentation time increases.
As for knowing when to bottle or rack --- Rack when your gravity is around 1.020\1.018 or bottle when your final gravity reads at around 1.012 for three consecutive days. Just let your hydrometer sample adjust to room temp before taking your measurement.

TP :beer:

 

[buttersd70]

sg=specific gravity.
the final grav depends on the yeast as well as other factors. for a kit, 1kg dex and 500g dried corn syrup (maltodextrin), at 23L, it would probably be somewhere in the region of 1014 ish. But as I said, that varies. So take a hydrometer reading, and when you get stable readings over the course of 3 days, its done. (unless it is ridiculously high, which might indicate that it is stuck.)

the temperature does effect the hydrometer reading. Most hydrometers in aus are calibrated to 20C, but some are calibrated to (i think) 15C. Have a look on the hydrometer, it should be marked on there somewhere. If the temp of the sample is differant to what the hydrometer is calibrated to, you can either convert it (most brewing software will do this, or you should be able to find a converter on line somewhere), or you can bring the sample up (or down as the case may be) to the same temperature that the hydrometer is calabrated to, and then take the reading.

Edit: beaten by TP....note to self, don't leave posts sitting open in tabs for too long
racking before it's fully finished and letting it finish in secondary is a matter of opinion and, for some, debate....but for the record, I do it the same as TP.

 

[flattop]

Quick note, make sure your hydrometer is accurate and reads about 1000 in plain water.
All SG readings are relative to that and also the initial SG at the start of the brew.
Also not all brews reach the desired FG and the FG alters depending on whats in the pot.