When To Lager?

[Guysmiley54]

Hi,

I have had my first real lager fermenting at 12C for just over 2 weeks and I still haven't reached (expected) FG. It is currently sitting at around 1.020 which I suspect is getting close but not there yet. This morning I swirled and raised to 13C to try and give it a nudge along.

Should I:

1) Bring the beer back to ambient (Tassie... around 18C) for a few days to help finish and give a D rest. If so, should I slowly raise the temperature at 1 degree a day or so? Or just turn my fridge off?
2) Wait it out at 12C before lagering
3) Lager now?

Thanks for the input guys.

 

[Millet Man]

Bring it up to 14C for a couple of days to finish off and diacetyl rest should do the trick. When it's finished then lower to lagering temps.

 

[manticle]

You need to let it finish before lagering.

Personally I think you should be patient. If you think it's stalled, you could try racking - something a lot of people do with lagers anyway. I'd wait till around 1016 before D-rest but I don't think there would be anything majorly bad in just pulling it out of the fridge if ambient is around 18. It will warm up slowly enough anyway so no real need to tweak the fridge day by day.

The last part of ferment is always the slowest but patience is usually rewarded.

My figures above (1016 etc are based on my brews. I am presuming an expected FG of 1012 or under).

 

[Guysmiley54]

You need to let it finish before lagering.

Personally I think you should be patient. If you think it's stalled, you could try racking - something a lot of people do with lagers anyway. I'd wait till around 1016 before D-rest but I don't think there would be anything majorly bad in just pulling it out of the fridge if ambient is around 18. It will warm up slowly enough anyway so no real need to tweak the fridge day by day.

The last part of ferment is always the slowest but patience is usually rewarded.

My figures above (1016 etc are based on my brews. I am presuming an expected FG of 1012 or under).

Patience... I hate being patient!! Besides, I will be tying up my fridge for weeks with lagering so I would love to get this puppy going. Does anyone know the AA% of Saf23?

 

[Guysmiley54]

Patience... I hate being patient!! Besides, I will be tying up my fridge for weeks with lagering so I would love to get this puppy going. Does anyone know the AA% of Saf23?

After some thought about your advice Manticle I think it is far wiser to take it slow

I have had a thought though, as I am keen to get my ferment fridge back, maybe I could lager somewhere else... I own a cafe/restaurant and we have a good sized walk in cool room. I can rack to a cube and leave it in there for a generous period without having to stop brewing in my ferment fridge B)

The downside is a 20 minute drive with my precious beer... Is this a bad idea? I will probably bottle at work to avoid sloshing it around after it has settled out nicely.

Thoughts?

 

[Banshee]

Lager in a keg if you have one.

 

[Guysmiley54]

Lager in a keg if you have one.

I would if I could, but I don't keg or have a spare fridge at home. In fact if I had a spare fridge at home I would be kegging already :beerbang:

 

[manticle]

After some thought about your advice Manticle I think it is far wiser to take it slow

I have had a thought though, as I am keen to get my ferment fridge back, maybe I could lager somewhere else... I own a cafe/restaurant and we have a good sized walk in cool room. I can rack to a cube and leave it in there for a generous period without having to stop brewing in my ferment fridge B)

The downside is a 20 minute drive with my precious beer... Is this a bad idea? I will probably bottle at work to avoid sloshing it around after it has settled out nicely.

Thoughts?

Sounds like a plan. What temp does the coolroom get to?

 

[Guysmiley54]

Sounds like a plan. What temp does the coolroom get to?

It stays between 2-3 as far as I remember. The food and drinks don't freeze in any case. I am mostly concerned about transporting it around.

 

[Brewme]

After some thought about your advice Manticle I think it is far wiser to take it slow

I have had a thought though, as I am keen to get my ferment fridge back, maybe I could lager somewhere else... I own a cafe/restaurant and we have a good sized walk in cool room. I can rack to a cube and leave it in there for a generous period without having to stop brewing in my ferment fridge B)

The downside is a 20 minute drive with my precious beer... Is this a bad idea? I will probably bottle at work to avoid sloshing it around after it has settled out nicely.

Thoughts?

As you own a cafe/restaurant, why not do all your brewing there?

You've got all the facilities. All you need is a bed, so you won't have to go home and leave the brew unattended

That way, all the electricity, hot water etc is tax deductible.

Food for thought.

Cheers

 

[manticle]

It stays between 2-3 as far as I remember. The food and drinks don't freeze in any case. I am mostly concerned about transporting it around.

If as you say, you bottle it there then plenty of time for it to settle.

As long as the chef doesn't mind..........