Proper Lager Conditioning?

[Milky11111]

Hi,

I have had a lager brewing for 3 weeks now, its SG has hit around 1010 so I've started chilling it. After a week I will bottle it but I was just wondering what temp I should leave the bottles at while they condition. I'm guessing a week at 12*c-ish then another week chilled but this is my first real lager so I'm not sure.

Ty for your help.

 

[Wolfy]

'Proper Lager Conditioning' would be to leave the beer for some weeks (4+) at cold very temps (~0C) before the beer is bottled.
If bottle conditioning the beer will need to be kept at a temp the yeast is active at (so if you are using a 'real lager' yeast 12C is likely ok for that, if its an ale-type yeast it will need to be kept warmer) for a several weeks.

 

[SydCrazi]

Great tips.. I am totally new and doing my first batch of COOPERS LAGER using a kit. I have used an 'electric blanket' to keep my fermenting bottle (25L) at around 22 Degrees which is apparently a good temp.. I am not sure whether the yeast supplied from COOPERS is a GOOD proper lager yeast, therefore am not sure of best temperatures over all?

So.. I HAVE to 'Bottle Ferment' as that's when the 'Carbonation Drops' go in .. problem being it is FREEZING lately so I will figure something,, but what would u say is BEST temp to 'Secondary Ferment' my bottles at??

Any other tips or advice PLEASE feel free to comment.. :beer:

 

[Amber Fluid]

The Coopers Lager kit comes with an Ale Yeast and is best to ferment at 18c-20c.

Your bottles are best left at above 18c to carbonate. The lower the temps the longer they will take to carbonate and if the temp is too low then they most likely won't

 

[SydCrazi]

Wow.. Thanks for such a speedy reply.. Superb

I had a thought.. But am most likely entirely wrong being new.. Why couldn't you (provided u had a GOOD LAGER yeast) just drop all the carbonation drops into the 25L Ferment Bottle (From Coopers KIT) for secondary ferment once the required reading was achieved on the 'Hydrominter Thingy' to show it was ready for stage 2..

That way you could leave it in the Freezing Basement and it would work great in a single container instead of going to bottles for stage 2?

Last question.. WHERE can I get some GOOD Lager yeast so I can do it all at a lower temperature next time either way?

 

[HeavyNova]

Wow.. Thanks for such a speedy reply.. Superb

I had a thought.. But am most likely entirely wrong being new.. Why couldn't you (provided u had a GOOD LAGER yeast) just drop all the carbonation drops into the 25L Ferment Bottle (From Coopers KIT) for secondary ferment once the required reading was achieved on the 'Hydrominter Thingy' to show it was ready for stage 2..

That way you could leave it in the Freezing Basement and it would work great in a single container instead of going to bottles for stage 2?

Last question.. WHERE can I get some GOOD Lager yeast so I can do it all at a lower temperature next time either way?

Wolfy delt with the OP's question earlier so hopefully Milky doesn't mind that I'm turing my attention to Sydcrazi.

Dropping the extra sugar (that's all those carb drops are - little balls of sugar) into the fermenter will cause the yeast to eat it up and produce more alcohol and more CO2. The fermenter isn't 100% sealed like a bottle though so the excess CO2 will find way it's way out of the fermenter and all you'll achieve is adding extra alcohol to the beer.

Giving the yeast a little bit of sugar inside the capped bottle will produce a bit of extra alcohol but the main reason is for the bubbles! So your beer is carbonated. Too much sugar will creat too much pressure and over carb your bottles so you can't pour a proper beer or even make them explode which is dangerous as glass goes everywhere!

So add a bit of sugar to your bottle, fill with beer, cap and leave them in the dark (hops don't like UV light) and at an appropriate temp for the yeast to stay active (approx 18C-20C). Leave for a week or 2 then pop into the fridge for chilling. You'll have a bit of yeast in the bottom of the bottle but it's not too hard to pour the beer off this into a glass.

Good lager yeast can be found at any decent homebrew shop or with the site sponsers at the top of every page (Craftbrewer, Grain & Grape etc).