Who Is Doing, What Lagers At The Moment?

[SJW]

As it is the middle of the Lager season i was just wonding what type of Lagers people had going at the moment and the fermetation/conditioning times & methods used out there. As i have not done many Lagers, they seem to be discussed a bit less than the old Ale styles, and i think it would be interesting to compare fermentation stats & results.

My first one was a ESB Czech Pilsener: Like most people doing a Lager for the first time i rushed it a little. From memory i fermented for 7 days @ 15 deg then CC for 2 weeks @ 0 deg. Then i primed with 200g of Dex. Way too much, as when i poured em into a glass they were very violent. So i think there was still a little unfermented sugar in the wort berfore CC'ing.

At the moment i have got a Bock in CC. Fermented for 10 days OG was 1062 went to 1018 so after a 3 day rest at 18 deg i have got it in the fridge at 0 deg and will leave for a leat another week.

Next will be a Oktoberfest.

 

[Corey]

I'm brewing my first lagers as well.

I have a Bock and Munich Dunkel that have been in primary for 11 days @ 10-12C. Diacetyl rest for a couple of days @ 18C and then rack to secondary tomorrow for another week or so @ 10-12C. After that, I'll chuck the secondary in the fridge at lowest temp possible for as long as I can stand to wait (minimum 2 weeks, but hopefully 4).

I'm brewing a Munich Helles and Czech Pilsner tomorrow. I'm planning to follow the same fermentation procedure outline above.

 

[Snow]

I've got a doppelbock in the fridge. Whitelabs marzen/octoberfest yeast, fermented for 2 weeks at 10C, 1 week diacetyl rest at 20C and 6 weeks lagering at 1-3C. I finally get to bottle it next week! I can't wait!!

Cheers - Snow

 

[MCWB]

I have a schwarzbier largering at 4C at the moment, which I had to sneak a taste from: yummm :chug: I also have a bock in primary as well, pitched onto the yeast cake of the schwarzbier. Both will be the same process: 14 days primary at ~10-12C, 2 day diacetyl rest 18C, lager at 4C until I get impatient enough to bottle it. Thankfully I have 2 x 11 L lots of the schwarzbier, so I think I'll lager one for 1-2 weeks then bottle, and lager the other one until I exhaust supplies of the first lot.

 

[Wax]

ok dumb larger question time, I've only done ales before and I've got a Pils down now but had not thought about CC'ing. What happens if you don't CC a larger. Is is purely to clear the beer ?

 

[Jazman]

yep octoberfest in secondary aussie lager in secondary and nrth gereman pils in primary

 

[Jethro]

Hey Wax My impression of cold conditioning is just to mellow the beer out ceating a good balance between malt and hops as well as settling out. I always leave a few bottles out of the lagering fridge for early drinking and they never seem to be balanced. I'm looking at brewing a Munich dunkel on the weekend but as I still have no fermentation fridge Im sticking to dry yeast Saflager W34/70 and plan to ferment for 3 weeks before bottling and lagering.( Ive been told liquid yeast is a waste without tem conrol) Ive a very hazy pils in the lagering fridge now and supping a frevious Lager now (yum) Cheers Jethro.
P.S. Like my ales but I recon you cant knock Lagers

 

[johnno]

I've got an extract single malt lager done with an S23 in CC since the 20 June. Hopefully I will bottle that this weekend. I also Have a Pilsner style part mash in CC since 10 July. I will leave that in for a few weeks longer.

cheers

 

[jayse]

I have a munich helles on tap right now with 100% vienna malt and all santium hops. I only lagered at 8c for 3 weeks and is unreall. :chug:

I have another one into its second week of fermention which was a tripple decoction. that use hersbrucker and half munich, half pils

This week i made up a rauchbier which is basically a octoberfest recipe with 1kg of rauch malt in it. The mash smelt like a small goods factory.

All lagers are basically 10-12c ferment for 2 weeks a few days at 16-18c then lager for only 2-3 weeks at 6-8c.
Iam doing a few bigger ones soon and time will tell if they need more time to lager.But so far with the helles iam drinking the 3 weeks at 8c was perfect.


Cheers Jayse

 

[bonk]

hopefully i'll be doing a steam beer followed by an evil corona type clone thingy in the next week or so.

 

[lagernut]

Hey SJW 200g DEX does seam a bit too much i use 185g per 23LT .7 days in primary is a bit short i leave mine in 14 days min 21 days max at 11c to 14c, 5 days daicetyl rest at 17c, CC for 4 weeks at 0c Last week just bottled munich helles & cascade lager now have in primary muntons lager & j boag clone (morgans blue mtns lager) hoping to do a couple of pils as well



Cheers
Lagernut :chug: :chug:

 

[Hoops]

I have an ale CCing and an ale fermenting in the primary (racking to 2ndary tommorrow).
Doing a Corona clone soon with WLP940 Mexican Lager yeast.
I normally ferment my lagers around 16C for 1-2 weeks then slowly cool 1-2C a day until it is down to around 2-3C then CC for about 2 weeks, rack into keg then CC for another 2+ weeks.
I have never done a diacetyl rest before but I will start doing them from now on.

Hoops

 

[Hoops]

hopefully i'll be doing a steam beer followed by an evil corona type clone thingy in the next week or so.

Bonk
What are you doing for your Corona clone?
I am doing one similar to the recipe on the Whitelabs website.
Hoops

 

[joecast]

just had my second shot at a pils. used a coopers kit with some dme and dex and added some tett hops.
eight days primary, 16 days secondary at about 10-12C (as cold as the spare room gets). to my surprise, it dropped from 1011 to 1004 in secondary!!
they are in bottles now carbonating before going back to the spare room for another couple of weeks. cant wait for the weather to warm up so i can start drinkin'!
joe

 

[Doc]

Got my James Squire Pilsner clone in cc at the moment. Will keg it this weekend.
Then will be brewing another one of my Oktoberfests followed probably by either an Imperial Pilsner or a Helles Bock.

Doc

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

Kegging an Oktoberfest this weekend, fermented with Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager at 12C.
Have an other Oktoberfest and a Bock currently in primary using Whitelabs 833 thanks to Pedro . (BTW, you should taste Pedro's Dopplebock brewed with this yeast, it is bloody awesome :chug: :chug: )

Doc, I was reading about Imperial Pils last night from Rouge Brewery. What info have you got?

C&B
TDA

 

[PMyers]

Got two in CC at the moment. A Bock and a Pils. Pils fermented for 3.5 weeks @ 9C, and been cold conditioning for 5 weeks now. The bock didn't take off after a week (out of date Bavarian Lager yeast) so I added 34/70 - would have done it sooner but I didn't have the time to check on it. It finished after another 3 weeks @ 10C and been in CC for three weeks so far.

Cheers,
Pete

:chug:

 

[Bobby]

how many fridges dfo you guys own/run for brewing??? One to brew in and another to CC and another for kegging???

 

[Bobby]

I have an ESB Fresh Wort Pilsener with WLP802 brewing at the moment and an ESB Bavarian Lager sitting in a cube waiting to be kegged. (once i fix my keg which has a leaking out post).

 

[PMyers]

how many fridges dfo you guys own/run for brewing??? One to brew in and another to CC and another for kegging???

Nope. One fridge for all. It runs at about 1C. I use a heat plate under the fermenter I brew in that keeps the brew at about 9-10C. Never had any problems that way, although I would indeed love another few fridges - and the room for them.

Cheers,
Pete

:chug: