First Lager, Is this correct?

Northern Brewer General
41

There do seem to be some strains of yeast that work the other way. Weizen and some Belgian yeasts supposedly do produce more esters when underpitched. But like you say there are a lot of variables and it’s pretty hard to quantify.

42

Wouldn’t it be better to dump it in the boil toward the end as a yeast nutrient instead of just wasting it by throwing it away? :wink: [/quote]

Yeah, anything to kill it! :wink:

43

[quote=“Denny”]

There do seem to be some strains of yeast that work the other way. Weizen and some Belgian yeasts supposedly do produce more esters when underpitched. But like you say there are a lot of variables and it’s pretty hard to quantify.[/quote]

That was kind of my line of thinking when I misinformed the OP. I feel like weizen yeast especially is the masochist of beer yeasts. It likes to be totally mistreated and performs well when under those types of conditions :mrgreen:

I don’t think you are ever going to go wrong though by pitching the amount in the free online calculators. If you are a huge weizen fan, and find that you have honed EVERY other variable, and are still not satisfied with the bubblegum/banana levels in your weizen, maybe its time to start underpitching a bit.

But start out pitching the right amount.

44

[quote=“Pietro”][quote=“Denny”]

There do seem to be some strains of yeast that work the other way. Weizen and some Belgian yeasts supposedly do produce more esters when underpitched. But like you say there are a lot of variables and it’s pretty hard to quantify.[/quote]

That was kind of my line of thinking when I misinformed the OP. I feel like weizen yeast especially is the masochist of beer yeasts. It likes to be totally mistreated and performs well when under those types of conditions :mrgreen:

I don’t think you are ever going to go wrong though by pitching the amount in the free online calculators. If you are a huge weizen fan, and find that you have honed EVERY other variable, and are still not satisfied with the bubblegum/banana levels in your weizen, maybe its time to start underpitching a bit.

But start out pitching the right amount.[/quote]

Absolutely. Trying to control ester production through pitching rate is a real crapshoot. It’s much easier to do it with yeast strain and fermentation temp.

45

I will be making my first Ofest Lager as soon as the carboy is freed up. The yeast coming with my kit is Wyeast 2633. I don’t know one strain from the other. I will be making my starter using YeastCalc doing a step starter.
As soon as I pitch Ale yeast in the starter wort, I cover the flask mouth with tin foil and get it on the stir plate. I usually keep my Ale starters on the stir plate at room temperature for 48 hours or so, then cold crash it for 4 days or so until brew day. Is this procedure OK to do with lager yeast?

Thanks
Brad

46

[quote=“Bier brauer”]I will be making my first Ofest Lager as soon as the carboy is freed up. The yeast coming with my kit is Wyeast 2633. I don’t know one strain from the other. I will be making my starter using YeastCalc doing a step starter.
As soon as I pitch Ale yeast in the starter wort, I cover the flask mouth with tin foil and get it on the stir plate. I usually keep my Ale starters on the stir plate at room temperature for 48 hours or so, then cold crash it for 4 days or so until brew day. Is this procedure OK to do with lager yeast?

Thanks
Brad[/quote]

Same exact procedure, temp does not matter as long as you allow enough time to cold crash and get rid of the stale beer. But you need BIG step starters

47

[quote=“Bier brauer”]I will be making my first Ofest Lager as soon as the carboy is freed up. The yeast coming with my kit is Wyeast 2633. I don’t know one strain from the other. I will be making my starter using YeastCalc doing a step starter.
As soon as I pitch Ale yeast in the starter wort, I cover the flask mouth with tin foil and get it on the stir plate. I usually keep my Ale starters on the stir plate at room temperature for 48 hours or so, then cold crash it for 4 days or so until brew day. Is this procedure OK to do with lager yeast?

Thanks
Brad[/quote]

Yep. You’ll definitely want to crash and decant.

48

Thanks for the replys!
I am planning a two week time frame for making the two step starter. YeastCalc has me at two 1700ml starters. Lager OG @1.060. Yeast starter gravity 1.037, 6.03 ounces of DME. I don’t have the kit yet, so I dont know the date on the yeast pack to add into the calculations. should wind up with 509 billion cells when all done. Does this seem OK for the Ofest?
Thank you
Brad

49

[quote=“Bier brauer”]Thanks for the replys!
I am planning a two week time frame for making the two step starter. YeastCalc has me at two 1700ml starters. Lager OG @1.060. Yeast starter gravity 1.037, 6.03 ounces of DME. I don’t have the kit yet, so I dont know the date on the yeast pack to add into the calculations. should wind up with 509 billion cells when all done. Does this seem OK for the Ofest?
Thank you
Brad[/quote]

That sounds like plenty. Mrmalty indicates that for 5 gallons of 1.060 lager, you need 417b cells.

Also, remember that when making your starter, with lager yeasts, you typically aren’t going to see a huge krausen as you would with ale yeasts. You may need to check gravity to ensure your starters have fermented out.

50

That sounds like plenty. Mrmalty indicates that for 5 gallons of 1.060 lager, you need 417b cells.

Also, remember that when making your starter, with lager yeasts, you typically aren’t going to see a huge krausen as you would with ale yeasts. You may need to check gravity to ensure your starters have fermented out.[/quote]

Ahhhh, the beauty of a refractometer! Makes it so easy to check gravity. Sorry I may have miss lead, the 509 billion cells is what I will wind up with with the size of starter i am going to do. YeastCalc came up with a a number closer to 439 billion cells. I’m not sure on the exact number of cells right now. I can recalculate later. Would a blow off tube be recommended?

Brad