Shortest time for pilsner?

[WaltG]

If I have really good temp controls what's shortest time to put out a pilsner?

I'm thinking 10 days ferment, 3 days rest, drop temp for 14 days and keg.

As for temp control i can stay within 1F during fermentation.

 

[homebrewer_99]

It's doable.

https://www.brewjacket.com/how-to-lager-a-beer-in-5-steps/

 

[WaltG]

It's doable.

https://www.brewjacket.com/how-to-lager-a-beer-in-5-steps/

Is it really 14 days to ferment? I know with a good starter I can get FG within 72-96 hrs on most ales. Once i hit my target can I go into my diacytl rest? I know lager yeast is slower but I don't see longer than 6-8 days.

 

[ba-brewer]

Is it really 14 days to ferment? I know with a good starter I can get FG within 72-96 hrs on most ales. Once i hit my target can I go into my diacytl rest? I know lager yeast is slower but I don't see longer than 6-8 days.

If you have a strong starter and quick lag a week to 10days is reasonable.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Is it really 14 days to ferment? I know with a good starter I can get FG within 72-96 hrs on most ales. Once i hit my target can I go into my diacytl rest? I know lager yeast is slower but I don't see longer than 6-8 days.

There are always variables that affect every stage in the fermentation process. Like the commercial says: Your mileage may vary.

 

[waldoar15]

Your timeline is about what commercial lagers are said to take.

You might shave time if you're willing to monitor gravity daily once you get 10 days in and waste a lot of beer in the process in order to move out of the fermenter asap. Filtering would cut some lagering time also.

I don't bother rushing my lagers because I have no need to do so. I usually do a couple back to back so the volume comes out about the same as doing individual ale brews in the same time frame.

Good luck with your experiment, you'll get beer either way.

 

[WaltG]

Your timeline is about what commercial lagers are said to take.

You might shave time if you're willing to monitor gravity daily once you get 10 days in and waste a lot of beer in the process in order to move out of the fermenter asap. Filtering would cut some lagering time also.

I don't bother rushing my lagers because I have no need to do so. I usually do a couple back to back so the volume comes out about the same as doing individual ale brews in the same time frame.

Good luck with your experiment, you'll get beer either way.

I have a Tilt hydrometer so I can monitor pretty closely

 

[couchsending]

Your yeast selection can have a huge impact on it as well. WLP833 or the PC Hella Bock strain is a good yeast to use as it clears relatively quickly. I can’t remember which podcast it was but the Creatire Comforts Guys said they picked this strain for this reason. They can turn BIBO is less than 4 weeks (might even have been three). I’ve used it and it definitely clear quickly.

Pitch a metric crap ton of yeast. Ideally make a few stepped starters starting 7 ish days before. Leave the last step in the fridge for 2 days to make sure everything has settled then Morning of brewday make a vitality starter at around the same temp as you plan on pitching. Yeast will be rolling and won’t be shocked when you pitch. This will significant decrease lag time and help speed the process up.

 

[Paulaner]

Here's my standard Pils or any other lager beer for that matter fermentation schedule: Pitch healthy active yeast into fermenter at 50F, let ferment for 5 days at this point it's ready for spunding, transfer to spunding keg for 2 days same temp, then transfer to Lager fridge at 31F for 2 weeks and it's ready to drink.

 

[WaltG]

Your yeast selection can have a huge impact on it as well. WLP833 or the PC Hella Bock strain is a good yeast to use as it clears relatively quickly. I can’t remember which podcast it was but the Creatire Comforts Guys said they picked this strain for this reason. They can turn BIBO is less than 4 weeks (might even have been three). I’ve used it and it definitely clear quickly.

Pitch a metric crap ton of yeast. Ideally make a few stepped starters starting 7 ish days before. Leave the last step in the fridge for 2 days to make sure everything has settled then Morning of brewday make a vitality starter at around the same temp as you plan on pitching. Yeast will be rolling and won’t be shocked when you pitch. This will significant decrease lag time and help speed the process up.

Was going to be a German pils so was going to go Wyeast 2124 or mangrove jack M84.

Using a 2L flask with stir plate. 8oz dme would put me at 440 bil cells. I might do 2 steps though and just go way overkill.

 

[schematix]

Seems to be possible to do grain to glass with lagers in 3-4 weeks, although i will definitely confirm there is benefit to flavor and clarity from a few additional weeks of really cold (30F) storage. While I just put an ale on tap at 7 days, i don't think i'd push a lager faster than about 25 days.

Yeast don't have any concept of time. If you want to get it done sooner you need more yeast, a reasonable OG (12 Plato max), and depending upon what you're making, even fermenting a few degrees higher (in no case would i ever exceed 55F though).

 

[WaltG]

Seems to be possible to do grain to glass with lagers in 3-4 weeks, although i will definitely confirm there is benefit to flavor and clarity from a few additional weeks of really cold (30F) storage. While I just put an ale on tap at 7 days, i don't think i'd push a lager faster than about 25 days.

Yeast don't have any concept of time. If you want to get it done sooner you need more yeast, a reasonable OG (12 Plato max), and depending upon what you're making, even fermenting a few degrees higher (in no case would i ever exceed 55F though).

Going to be like 1.048. Almost all pilsner malt, maybe 5% carapils.

 

[couchsending]

Was going to be a German pils so was going to go Wyeast 2124 or mangrove jack M84.

Using a 2L flask with stir plate. 8oz dme would put me at 440 bil cells. I might do 2 steps though and just go way overkill.

Personally I would do 2 steps and the last one should be 4L if you have a 5L flask... especially if you want a quick turn. Go liquid.

Does your LHBs carry imperial yeast?

2124 is not A great floccer... might need to Lager it longer. Look for strains that flocc better.

 

[WaltG]

Personally I would do 2 steps and the last one should be 4L if you have a 5L flask... especially if you want a quick turn. Go liquid.

Does your LHBs carry imperial yeast?

Only liquid is wyeast.

 

[schematix]

An example of how big I pitch lagers when starting from liquid yeast (for a 10 gallon batch)

Step 1: 2 tubes of expired White Labs 835 and pitched to 250mL. When I have old yeast i start slow so i don't have a 3-4 day lag time.
Step 2: Once fermentation started in Step 1 (about 2 days later), i added 1.5L more wort to the already fermenting wort.
Step 3: Pitched the slurry from Step 2 to 3.0L.
Step 4: Pitched the slurry from Step 3 to 6.0L.
Step 5: Pitched half the slurry from Step 4 to 6.0L.

The final pitch is going to be the slurry from Steps 4 and 5. Pretty ridiculous amount actually.

I'm going to brew back-to-back-to-back every other weekend with this yeast, only using the slurry for subsequent batches until all my kegs are full.