Quick Lager Question

[pjpurpura]

Hi all -

I brewed a lager on the 10th and the fermentation got stuck. I pitched yeast nutrients (aka 5 hour energy for yeast) and still nothing. I took advice and removed it from the 50 degree temp into about a 78 degree room wed night. I came home from work a little awhile ago and it is BUBBLING! finally. Can anyone suggest how long I should leave it at the current temp before moving it back?

Thanks and enjoy the weekend!

 

[BigFloyd]

Who advised you to kick it up to 78*F???:smack:

That's way too high for lager yeast. Get that back to around 60-62*F ASAP for a few days of d-rest and then check the grav.

When you say "stuck", what was the gravity? Measured with a hydrometer or refractometer?

 

[pjpurpura]

Who advised you to kick it up to 78*F???:smack:

That's way too high for lager yeast. Get that back to around 60-62*F ASAP for a few days of d-rest and then check the grav.

When you say "stuck", what was the gravity? Measured with a hydrometer or refractometer?

it was stuck at 1.05 Gravity for 11 days. Measured with a hydrometer. it's not 78, it's more like 70 in the hall closet. My fridge has a temp of 50. Can I switch it to that?

 

[BigFloyd]

What was your OG?

In order to do a lager, you really need to be able to ferment at around 48-50*F, D-rest a few days at 60-62*F and then cold store (in keg or secondary) for a number of weeks at 35-36*F.

It would help to know what kind of yeast you pitched, how big of a starter and what your pitch temp was.

Faced with the choice between 70*F and 50*F, I'd go for the 50*F to avoid the risk of yucky off-flavors.

 

[pjpurpura]

What was your OG?

In order to do a lager, you really need to be able to ferment at around 48-50*F, D-rest a few days at 60-62*F and then cold store (in keg or secondary) for a number of weeks at 35-36*F.

It would help to know what kind of yeast you pitched, how big of a starter and what your pitch temp was.

Faced with the choice between 70*F and 50*F, I'd go for the 50*F to avoid the risk of yucky off-flavors.

my OG was 1.05. It didn't move for about 11 days. I used a liquid pilsner yeast. It has been sitting at 50 degrees the whole time except for the last 36 hours or so to try and spur on yeast activity. I just moved it back to 50 degrees. I didn't use a starter, just the one vial of liquid yeast

 

[freisste]

So it wasn't stuck.... It never started. Lagers are much less forgiving to under pitching yeast. You severely under pitched if you don't do a starter with a single pack of yeast.

 

[Cyclman]

I also recommend O2 injection for lagers. Pitching calculators to get the right amount of yeast and O2 are important.

 

[mblanks2]

+1 on the under pitch. +1 on the oxygenation and +1 on the starter. Use Mr Malty to determine the size of your starter, one vial won't work on a lager without creating a starter, probably 2 to 3 liters, and pure oxygen for 30 seconds.
I read as much information as possible on this site before attempting my first lager and as I sit here drinking one I'm glad that I did. It turned out awesome.

 

[BigFloyd]

I didn't use a starter, just the one vial of liquid yeast

That's the #1 cause of the difficulties you've been having. Just one vial is underpitching even for a 1.050 ale. A lager of the same gravity requires about twice the number of cells (368 billion) plus oxygenating the wort. Let's say that your vial had a production date of 5/1/13. Without a starter, you need 6 vials to get the needed number of cells for that lager.

The long and short of it is this, if you really want to do lagers, you can either 1) rehydrate/pitch 2-3 packs of dry yeast, or 2) get set up to make yeast starters (either really big ones or smaller with a stir plate) and to oxygenate/aerate your wort.

Until you're ready on the yeast stuff and can do a lager fermentation temp profile (w/ diacetyl rest and cold lagering), it's really best to brew ales.