Lagering Question

[kranak]

How do you know the length of time that a beer should be lagered? Is there anything to look for in the beer, any gravity changes happening? Or is it dependant on the style of beer that is being lagered? Etc, Etc.

 

[hal2814]

This is my method:
1. Look first. If it's clear...
2. Smell. Does it still smell like rotten eggs and/or butterscotch. If not...
3. Taste. Pull a sample and taste it. If all of the lager-typical off flavors are gone, keg it up (or bottle if you're into that sort of thing). If you're unsure of what those lager-typical off flavors are, just give it two weeks from this point and it'll be fine.

The time it takes is dependent from yeast strain to yeast strain and recipe to recipe, but in the end all three of those tests get passed before I drink the beer.

 

[Marko73]

I remember John Palmer in his "How to brew" giving the following guidelines:

3 - 4 weeks at 45°F
5 - 6 weeks at 40°F
7 - 8 weeks at 35°F

Stronger beers need a longer time to ferment.

I only get 40 to 50 degrees temps in my bulkhead in the winter so I usually lager for 4 weeks. I have two under my belt and both have been excellent.

 

[motobrewer]

Greg Noonan, in "New Brewing Lager Beer", says:

2 weeks for every 8 points OG.

so, a 1.056 beer would be (56 / 8) * 2wks = 14 weeks

 

[flabyboy]

Greg Noonan, in "New Brewing Lager Beer", says:

2 weeks for every 8 points OG.

so, a 1.056 beer would be (56 / 8) * 2wks = 14 weeks

does that include initial fermentation or just the lagering step?

 

[motobrewer]

just lagering

 

[flabyboy]

don't know if I can be that patient. lol

 

[kranak]

Ha, no kidding. At what time period do I need to start thinking about adding yeast for bottling?

 

[flabyboy]

I don't think you necessarily need to. There should be enough yeast to start the carbonation process when priming in bottles. Or so I have been told.

 

[motobrewer]

don't know if I can be that patient. lol

sorry, don't shoot the messenger, lol.

i'm sure it'll be fine with a 2-3 month lager.

 

[motobrewer]

whoops, i lied

it says seven to twelve days at 32 to 34F for every 1.008 OG

lighter in color (less dexterous) beers are three to seven days.