after almost a decade of brewing, i recently brewed my first lagers. like many others, i was concerned about the so-called "need" to ferment cool. thanks to indoctrination by the brulosophy crew i finally decided to give warm-lager brewing a go.
for my first batch, i made something pilsner'ish with an american twist: 93% Best pils, 5% aromatic, 2% acidulated = 1.057 OG. 18 IBUs of Polaris @ 60, and a combo of Loral, Palisades and a touch of Polaris at 5 mins, flame-out and hop-stand. pitched two packs of rehydrated S23 into one fermenter and two packs of rehydrated 34/70 into the other. started at 57*F in a 58*F ambient cellar. fermentation was slow to take off (under-pitched?), took a little over 48 hours to really get going. i didn't control temps, just let it rise naturally, both got up to 65*F on their own. when things started to slow down i raised the temps to 68. FG on both was 1.010, implying 6.3% ABV. fined with gelatin, my first time doing that. the two kegs are currently sitting outside in the PNW winter/early spring, where temps are rarely above 45*F here in the mountains and come close to freezing every night. i'll move them to my kegerator as soon as i have space.
batch #2: made a doppelbock, 1.082 OG via 67% GW Munich 1, 16% Best pils, 9% Best Munich 2 (Dark), 5% melanoidin, 3% caramunich. 23 IBUs of Polaris at 60. Pitched 5 gals on top of the S23 cake and 5 gals on the 34/70 cake (didn't bother cleaning the fermenters - just pitched directly in after racking the previous batch out). these two batches took off very quickly, full-on fermentation the next morning (after a very late-night pitch...) the beers are current finishing up, they're on day 4 and activity has started to slow down. the S23 peaked at 63*F and the 34/70 got itself up to 65*F. i'll goose up the temps a few degrees when things really start to peter off.
i will add tasting notes once i taste 'em