New to lagering

[bombdog]

I've tried an Octoberfest and it's been fermenting at 52 degrees for 3 weeks. It still has a nice foam cap and I still see tiny bubbles coming up from the lower yeast cake. My plan was to do 3 weeks at 52, then secondary another 3 weeks at 40 degrees. Then bring it up to 70 degrees for 48 hours then keep it at 38 degrees until the middle of October.

Any thoughts? Since it's still doing well should I just keep it in the primary until the foam cap falls?

This was an all grain using wyeast Octoberfest yeast.

 

[kombat]

If it's been going for 3 weeks, I'd bring it up to 70 degrees now for the d-rest. Give it 3-4 days, then cold-crash it or rack it to a keg and begin carbonating it. Any bubbles you're seeing are just CO2 coming out of solution, and the presence of the foam cap doesn't mean anything. Some yeasts just sit on top indefinitely until you cold-crash them. It doesn't mean they're still working.

 

[LLBeanJ]

+1

D-rest now, transfer, lager.

 

[bombdog]

Ok. Starting D rest now. At what temp and how long on lagering?

 

[LLBeanJ]

I use gelatin and lager at serving temp, which is around 37°F, for a couple weeks. It's always crystal clear by then. I believe the "textbook" answer would be just above freezing for 4-8 weeks.

 

[kombat]

I don't really do a "lagering" period. Lagering is just storing the beer cold anyway. Once it's kegged and in the serving fridge, it's technically "lagering." I just try and exercise a little patience for a couple extra weeks to let it get nice and clear.

My process for lagers: 2 weeks at fermentation temperature (10.5° C), 1 week at room temperature for d-rest, then kegged and on CO2 for 2 weeks at 14 psi. After that, if beer isn't clear enough, I'll pop the lid and dose it with a little gelatin solution. Come to think of it, that's my process for all my beers, with the exception of a slight change in fermentation temperature (17.5° C for ales).

 

[bombdog]

Got the temp up to 70. The beer was pretty clear. Now it's churning large chunks of yeast and bubbling a lot in the air lock.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Got the temp up to 70. The beer was pretty clear. Now it's churning large chunks of yeast and bubbling a lot in the air lock.

How big is your batch?
How big was your starter?
How soon did you see signs of fermentation? and
What was your final gravity?

 

[bombdog]

5 gal
Used 2 wyeast packs as they had just expired
No starter
Went right into the fridge set at 50 degrees and saw slow fermentation within 24 hours.

 

[bombdog]

Haven't checked gravity yet

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I've only tried pitching liquid yeast without a starter once for a lager. I used 3 tubes (White Labs) into 6gal at lager temps. It took a week for it to start fermenting! (hence why I've always used starters since). I don't know if that's normal or common, but if you had a similar situation then you might not have finished fermenting when you raised the temperature. The kickstart by raising the temp would have now got the yeast going, explaining the churning and bubbling.

This is not a bad thing though. Assuming most (say, over 80%) of your fermentation was complete before your d-rest, most of the off-flavour/ester formation has already been avoided, so you're good. It's always a good idea to check your gravity before your d-rest though to see where you're at.

 

[chisena]

Ok. Starting D rest now. At what temp and how long on lagering?

Palmer suggests the duration of lagering depends on the temp. I am usually lagering in my keezer at the higher end of the temp spectrum (44F) so I do about a month. Colder takes longer...

 

[kh54s10]

Got the temp up to 70. The beer was pretty clear. Now it's churning large chunks of yeast and bubbling a lot in the air lock.

5 gal
Used 2 wyeast packs as they had just expired
No starter
Went right into the fridge set at 50 degrees and saw slow fermentation within 24 hours.

2 packs or expired Wyeast is underpitching by a fairly big amount. I am surprised you had fermentation that soon.
The present churning and bubbling in the airlock might be further fermentation or most likely just action due to the change in temperature.

My lagering temps so far are 50 degrees for 2 weeks 60 degrees for 2 days then ramping from 50 to 34 over another 2-3 weeks, keg the carbonate at serving pressure for another 2 weeks.

I am enjoying my Bohemian Rhapsody Pilsner right now. Brewed with floor malted Bohemian Pilsner malt and fermented with Bohemian Lager yeast.

Brew session featured music by Queen.

 

[Gavin C]

I'm also new to lagers. Have been doing a few lagers and hybrids of late.

Last one was a Vienna lager

OG


This is the type of temperature profile I use.
Fermentation Schedule


*NB: Timings listed in the graph are approximate only. The titles primary, secondary and tertiary are for diagrammatic purposes only. All fermentation is undertaken in the primary. No racking the beer except to keg.

Pitch at 48F, ferment at 50F till about 1-2°Plato above my anticipated final gravity

Gravity prior to ramping


Ramp to ~67F (passive rise to this temperature takes about 24-36 hours or so).

Let it sit their for a few days ensuring all signs of fermentation have ceased before crash cooling and adding gelatin to the FV and then kegging.

FG



Been racking the beers to keg at 2 weeks for all my lagers and hybrids thus far. Because they were done in this time-frame.

Lagering and force carbonating in the keg at ~35F for as long as it takes and then longer as the beer is served over more weeks.

Important things seem to be

• an adequate pitching rate.
• Precise control over fermentation temperatures

 

[bombdog]

Awesome