Lagering before finished

[knbobick]

So I did my first lager following all the guides, but still managed to brain fart. After the D rest, I dropped the temp to around 40 without stopping at 55 to finish fermentation. I have been at 40 for three weeks and I am stuck at 1.016 with a desired FG of 1.015. Being greedy, I would like my last 0.5% of alcohol. Is it okay to raise the temp to 55 and pitch a second batch of yeast to get it going again? Other advice?


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[daksin]

A diacetyl rest should happen when fermentation is mostly done (15-20% of OG points remaining) and stop when you reach a stable FG. Then you proceed directly to lagering at near-freezing (32-34F. Lagering at 40F isn't doing anything but dropping out yeast). Did you do your entire ferment at 60F?

 

[knbobick]

Started at 1.056. Pitched at 70 and kept it there for the first 24 hours until it started fermenting. Then I dropped the temp to 54 (Munich Lager 2308). Fermented there until i reached about 75% of the desired FG (1.012). When it reached 1.023, I slowly raised the temp to 65 for three days at which point the SG was 1.016. Then I dropped the temp to 40 over 48 hours and there it sat for three weeks. The SG is still 1.016. I gather that what I should have done was dropped the temp back to 54 and finished the fermentation. Then dropped to 40 and lagered for four weeks.

The question is, is there harm in warming to 54 and pitching again to lose those last 4 points or should I just have a slightly sweeter lager and deal with?

I am also gathering that I should lager colder than 40.

 

[Conman13]

I think you're nuts if you're willing to go through all that effort for .001 point of gravity... However, if you really want to try to squeeze it out, I would just try raising the temp back up to 55 for a few days.

 

[knbobick]

It's 0.004. Though I commented about alcohol content, my real concern is too much sugar in the bottle (yes, I still bottle) resulting in exploding bottles.

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[daksin]

If you're that concerned, warming it up is the way to go, you're going to want to get it back up to diacetyl rest temps though, to make sure. I'm fairly certain it's done though, with a 3 day rest already.

 

[Braufessor]

The biggest thing I would be concerned about is starting your lager ferment at 70 degrees......

Ideally, in my opinion, you are better off starting lower and gradually getting warmer. Swinging temps between warm and cold, back and forth, is generally what will get you undesirable flavors from your yeast.

As far as 1.016 and 1.015 - I would be willing to bet very few people could taste the difference in those two beers. The key to getting a good ferment in lagers is having a big starter, O2, steady temps that gradually rise.

If you are going to try to get another gravity point, warming up is the way to go. However, going from 70 to 54 to 65 to 40 to 65 to lager is not really a fermentation schedule I have ever seen recommended.

My personal preference is to cool to 50, pitch, leave at 50 for a couple days and then bump it up to 52 maybe for a few days. 54 for a week, free rise to mid 60's..... Basically gradually rising all the way through D-rest. Then lager.

 

[nukebrewer]

It's 0.004. Though I commented about alcohol content, my real concern is too much sugar in the bottle (yes, I still bottle) resulting in exploding bottles.

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My math may be off, but last time I checked, 16 - 15 = 1, therefore 1.016 - 1.015 = .001. As mentioned, the difference between 1.016 and 1.015 is so miniscule that pretty much anyone wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but additionally, .001 amounts to about 1.8 oz of sucrose which more than likely won't cause bottle bombs unless you're already carbing to very high levels (i.e. 4+ vol. CO2)

EDIT: Looking back, I think you made a typo in your first post since you asserted the difference between actual and expected was .004 but your OP said your actual and expected were 1.016 and 1.015 respectively. The next time you mentioned expected FG you said 1.012. If you clarify which one is correct we'd be much better equipped to make a recommendation for you.

 

[knbobick]

Sorry about that. Fat fingers on a smartphone equals typos. FG is 1.012. I have decided to raise the temp to about 53. If I see no signs of fermentation after a day, then I will pitch again to finish fermentation. Then drop back to lager. I will post how it turns out. Thanks for all the advice.