Pitching Lager Yeasts

[paulmclaren11]

G'day fellow brewers and happy Friday :chug:

I have perhaps a silly/basic question in relation to lager yeasts and at what temp to pitch them at.

I will say up front I am a Ale brewer predominantly and since moving to AG (BIAB) my couple of attempts at lagers have been somewhat dissapointing and hence I have avoided brewing them.

I have 4 packets of S-189 I need to use before October and figure my next brew needs to be a lager/Pils.

I know ideally lagers should be brewed between 10-15c, I am going to aim for 12c for my next Pils I have in mind. I plan to pitch 2 packets due to the colder fermenting temp - my question is, do I need to get the wort down to 12c first or pitch higher and let it drop with 2 packets?

My problem in the past has been only pitching 1 packet of yeast at 20c, letting it take off and then bring it down over 24-48 hours - this has not been ideal for me flavour wise.

If I am to pitch at 12c, I would have to dump the wort into the fermenter, then into the ferment fridge overnight to get my temps right pitching the next day which I imagine increases chances of infection..

What is your method?

Cheers.

 

[ash2]

I put down a Czech Pill using a recipe from Coopers web site & they suggested pitching @ 24c then bring down the temp 13c-15c over a period of 12-24hrs.It's still in the FV now but every thing looks & smells ok.
Hope this is some help h34r:

 

[RobW]

Hi Paul

I would definitely pitch at, or close to, fermentation temperature as long as you are using enough yeast - 2 packs should do it.
If your sanitation is OK you won't have a problem with infection (the lower temperature helps you here too).

Cheers

Rob

 

[donburke]

can you no chill the brew ?

if late hop character is not an issue, which for a lager might be the case, then I would no chill it

after the cube has reached ambient temps, it can be placed in the fridge unopened until it reaches 10 degrees, then pitched

you can then avoid the risks associated with deferring the inoculation of your wort

 

[verysupple]

I'm researching lager brewing techniques (particularly helles) at the moment in preparation for my first attempt. Seeing as you weren't happy with the results pitching warm, I'd try the traditional German method which is to pitch a few degrees C below your desired ferment temp. Let it free rise to the ferment temp and maintain until it's finished (or you start a diacetyl rest or whatever you want to do next). If you pitch cold you will indeed need to pitch more yeast - 2 x 11.5 g packs of dry yeast is about right.

 

[paulmclaren11]

Thanks for the replys.

I can't no chill, I use a good old Big W 19lt pot which does not have any taps on it (unless anyone can show me that no-chill can be done from this type of pot??). I have some cubes from some FWK's I have done but figure no-chill can't be done from my pot.

I feel my cleaning and sanitation methods are pretty thorough, I will just dump into the fermenter and let cool overnight to around 12c, rehydrate the 2 packets of yeast and wack it in.

I will make sure I give the FV a good dose of starsan!

 

[carpedaym]

I did a ton of lager research recently as I just attempted my first pilsner. There are two distinct streams of thought on this issue, even amongst well regarded. I think that team 'pitch-above' was not pitching as high as 20c though, but I could be wrong about that. I thought it was more like 16.

What I ended up doing was pitching at 13 then lowered my controller down to 10 after about 8 hours. I figured splitting the difference wouldn't hurt! It fermented from 1.046 to 1.009 in about 5 days (1 packet S-189 decanted from 3L starter). I'm very happy with how it is tasting so far--it's just finished coming down from a d-rest, so a long way from final verdict I'm sorry to say.

I no-chill in the pot by covering the hole on the lid with sticky tape, then putting the pot+lid in the fridge. I've done about 5 brews so far and no signs of infection (Anecdotal evidence for the win!). This pilsner even sat for two days while I dicked around with crashing the starter.

 

[paulmclaren11]

I too let the wort cool overnight in the pot and never had an issue.

 

[brewbienewbie]

The cubes from FWKs are perfect for no-chill, just sanitise it then siphon the hot wort in there and sit it on its stide for 20min or so.