first lager...

[TheWeeb]

Believe me, there are people with a ton more experience here, but I will take a shot at your questions...

Primary - secondary is an on-going debate. The way I feel about it is this: For most ales that do not have additional ingredients - fruit and so on - primary is fine for the complete fermentation. For lagers, one of the goals is to have the beer as see-through as possible, and this means getting it off the trub once the majority of fermentation is complete. Wine makers may rack a half dozen times to achieve clarity; a peach mead I just did was racked four times.

The fermentation schedule for the SA clone looks fine, though I would go longer and lower for the lagering phase.

Starters, yes, most make them out of DME. There is a perception of a DME "twang" - - a slightly undesireable flavor - when using extracts, which is really evident once you switch to all-grain. My thought is this... grow the starter, the yeast, in the same environment that they will be expected to grow and do their thing in the beer. Since this latest was an all grain batch, I used the same grain for the starter by making a small batch of 1.048 OG wort and fermenting it just like the big batch. When it came time to pitch, I swirled and added the whole starter. Since the grain used was the same, as well as the fermentation profile, I did not introduce any chance of off-flavors or different flavors.

As earlier in this thread, it all depend on what you have. You can make a really good lager as you describe, for sure.

 

[TheWeeb]

this is last year's Oktoberfest Marzen; six months lagering, yes, you can see through it in spite of the ruby-red color; no filtering used!

 

[TheWeeb]

this one is the peach mead, after racking four times. This started fermentation with 10 pounds of peaches that were mashed; there was a bunch of floating bits that only time and careful racking left behind. Again, no filtering, just patience... and about infection risks, minimal, if you have your process down. I know it is easy to turn and burn a grain to glass ale in a matter of weeks, but for me, what the eyes perceive is all part of the drinking experience.

 

[BreslinBrewer]

Hoping for a little guidance for my first lager, Better Brew Oktoberfest. My brew has gone through an abnormal 10 days and I'm not sure whether its worth anymore time and effort. Lets start with a recent Sunday and call it Day 1 - Brew Day.

Day 1 - Followed kit instructions. Cooled wort to 60F, sprinkled in the one supplied yeast pack and stir vigorously. Put the lid on the bucket with airlock and set in my temperature controlled fermentation chamber. However, my ETC was not working how I had hoped, so I shut it off. The brew sat in my basement with ambient temperatures in the low to mid 60s.

Day 2 - In the afternoon I fixed the ETC and set it to 53F per the instructions in kit. At this point there is no fermentation. Day 3, 4, and 5 go by, and still no fermentation.

Day 5 - My hydrometer reading has risen from OG 1.054 to 1.060. I'm not sure this is possible, but regardless there clearly isn't any fermentation happening. I contact my LHBS friend and he suggests I raise the temp back up to 60F.

Day 6 - In the morning the temp reads 57F. I re-pitch a pack of Saflager S-23 yeast that afternoon. This time I rehydrate the yeast in a cup of warm water for 15 minutes. I stir this into the wort and set the temp to 63F per the yeast instructions.

Day 7 - I can smell a change but there is no movement in the airlock.

Day 8 - Alas, the airlock is bubbling and there is fermentation!

Day 9 - I check it in the afternoon and the airlock has quieted down considerably. I lower the temp to 50F. The yeast specs say no lower than 53, the LHBS guy says 50-55 and then I read throughout these forums that as low as 45 is preferred.

Day 10 - So here we are at Day 10 and I check the airlock this morning. Nothing happening. Not even bubble remnants of gas gone by.

If I was to continue, my plan is to check another gravity reading on Friday, which would be Day 13 from brew date for those counting at home. However, since fermentation started 7 days late, maybe this will be too soon. If I am at least 75% to FG, then I will bring it up to 62F for a 2-3 day diactyl rest. Next I will transfer to secondary and lower temp to 33F in increments of 2 degrees per day. Here I will let it lager for 6 weeks. This will end up bottled, but that is for another thread and discussion.

Among everything else, this will be a true test of my sanitation practices. I am much more informed for my next attempt at lagering through all the research I've done, but too bad I waited until after I brewed. Clearly my fault for being naive enough to think the kit would guide me correctly. Is this brew dead? Thanks in advance for the advice.