Question regarding WLP830

Brulosopher said:

Yes, a starter should have been used for this beer, and every lager (most beers, actually). Also, you pitched very warm, which will undoubtedly have an impact on the clean, crispness of the finished beer- you'll still make beer, but it will be more estery (fruity) than it's supposed to be. Most of us chill the wort and pitch cool, as those first 48 or so hours of fermentation are when most yeast character develops; since lager beers are expected to be clean and crisp, you want to keep that character to a minimum... which is what cooler fermentation temps (48-50˚F) will do.

It is good you got it down to 50 after 12 hours. Let us know how it turns out!

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Bluelinebrewer said:

This fermentation is still going strong! I was concerned that without the starter that the fermentation would stall. When do I need to do a d-rest? I've read a couple different things. One thing I saw said to do it when my SG is half of what it was when I started.. I.e. 1.020 (since I started at 1.041) is that right?

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Brulosopher said:

It's not necessarily that your yeast won't work if you underpitch, but that it's not going to perform near as well as it could have had you pitched an adequate starter; this stresses the yeast, which leads to off flavors.

For all of my hybrids and lagers, I typically pitch about 2˚ cooler than my intended fermentation temp, let it rise to my target temp and sit there for 2-3 days, then boost the temp of my regulator by 2˚ to 4˚ every 12 hours or so until it reaches my d-rest temp of 66˚- this usually 4 days for lagers, 2 days for hybrids (I just started raising the temps on my Kölsch and Cal Common, in fact). I'll let it sit at 66˚ for 3-5 days, until fermentation is clearly complete, then I cold crash to 33˚ where it remains for at least 4 days, package (keg for me) and lager for 10+ days.

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Bluelinebrewer said:

Thanks for the info! I went ahead and started raising my temp.. I may be a little late, as its been fermenting for 4-5 days now. Quick question, you mentioned packaging, then lagering. So I should bottle before lagering? I was under the impression that I lagered then bottled.

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