Brewed 12 days ago, O.G. at 1.061. Pitched plenty of yeast (WY2206) at 52F, but fermented a bit cooler at 48-50F.
Currently at 1.025ish with the krausen starting to fall. Tasted last night when checking gravity, and could detect a very slight slickness to it possibly from diacetyl, and i may have convinced myself i tasted butter too, but very light if anything.
I am leaving for two weeks next Thursday morning, and my hope is to have it lagering away by then. I raised the temp slightly to encourage a bit faster fermentation and its now at around 50 moving towards 52ish.
Question: Is it too early to crank the temp up to 58-60 for a full rest? I’m about 75% through fermentation (expected FG around 1.013ish), which I’ve heard some recommend, although many also say around 5 gravity points away, which i am not there yet.
If I elect to ferment around 50 for another day or two, it doesn’t really give me enough time to do a rest and gradually chill to lagering (~2-3 Deg a day) before I leave. I barely have that time if I started now.
If I run out of time, I’m thinking that I should just rack it when it’s done fermenting and chill as far as I can before I go, and then just let it sit at 45 or wherever it is for two weeks then lower further when I get back. I don’t want to crash cool it. Is that the best bet here?
I’m guessing the worst thing I could do is rack it off the yeast before it’s done fermenting or going through a rest. But it seems that doing a 24 hour rest right now at 58, then cooling fast (5-6+ deg a day) would be pushing it and may not be the smartest move either.
Now would be a good time to start raising the temp. 1-2 degrees a day until you get to about 64-65F for drest. Leave it there for 24-48hrs, then drop to 32-36F to lager. You don’t have to drop it gradually. Leave it at lagering temp for minimum of 4 weeks. I’d recommend leaving it for upwards of 10 weeks or more.
Some people say to start the d-rest before the end of primary because there is more yeast activity and the rest will be more productive. Others say to get as much of the fermentation done at fermentation temps (50°ish) and THEN do the rest. I typically do the second one. 2 weeks(ish) at 50 and when most signs of fermentation are complete, take it out of the fridge and place it on the basement floor for 2-3 days to raise the temp and clean up any D, sulphur or whatever that yeast strain produces. I might even give the primary a swirl to get the yeast back in suspension. Good luck.
If it hasn’t reach final gravity you don’t want active fermentation at higher temps. Also, a member of my brew club won one of the Pilsner Urquell’s Master Homebrewer competitions. He posted his recipe and explained his process to the club and noted that he only raises temps on his lagers by 1 degrees per day when ramping up to a drest.
If it hasn’t reach final gravity you don’t want active fermentation at higher temps. Also, a member of my brew club won one of the Pilsner Urquell’s Master Homebrewer competitions. He posted his recipe and explained his process to the club and noted that he only raises temps on his lagers by 1 degrees per day when ramping up to a drest.[/quote]
It’s just I’ve heard of the gradual fall but never the gradual rise.
after the d-rest is done the fermentation is complete. So it should make no difference how fast you lower the temp for cold crash. After all you are trying to get the yeast and any sediments to fall out to the bottom to clear the beer. I usually let the d-rest go for 10 days to let the yeast clean up after its self
Well I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never done it. I’ve never gradually done anything with my temperature! Free rise and cold crash is all I know how to do. :lol:
But this paragraph specifically talks about what homebrewers can do. It does NOT mention a slow rise to d-rest. It does mention that a slow drop is NOT necessary.
(C) - This fermentation schedule comes closer to what a home brewer can do. The wort is pitched cold at 44 °F (6 °C) and rises to 48 °F (9 °C) over the next few days where it is kept until an attenuation of 40 - 50% is reached. The fermentation temperature is then raised to give the fermentation another boost which results in reaching the beers final gravity and the reduction of diacetyl below the taste threshold. This step is commonly referred to as the “diacetyl rest” though the temperature increase is not as pronounced as the one shown in diagram F. After that rest, the beer is racked from the yeast and quickly chilled to lagering temperatures. Since no further yeast activity is necessary (target attenuation has been reached and diacetyl has been reduced) there is no need in a gradual cooling of the beer to avoid shocking the yeast. This works well if you have a dedicated lagering space in which you keep multiple batches and thus need to keep its temperature constant.
So it sounds like you may be right. No need to rise or drop temp slowly. In an earlier paragraph they mention fermenting in traditional German style. In a nut shell, they pitch cold, low 40’s and let it rise to the upper 40’s. When attenuation is 40-60% they slowly drop the temp so the yeast keep working, but aren’t shocked to sleep.
[quote=“chaglund”]I am leaving for two weeks next Thursday morning, and my hope is to have it lagering away by then. I raised the temp slightly to encourage a bit faster fermentation and its now at around 50 moving towards 52ish.
[/quote]If I were in your shoes I’d want to get that thing lagering before I left for 2 weeks. You’re actually about at the same point in the procedure that I use for lagers. I ferment at 50° for 2 weeks, then I raise the temperature to ~60° I don’t even bother taking a gravity reading at this point anymore, and after 4- days I’ll raise it to 70° and leave it there for another week or so and check the gravity. I’m never in a hurry with my beer so my procedure might take a month or more. In your case I’d probably bring it up to 65° right now, keep your fingers crossed and hope it’s finished Wednesday nite.
I doubt that a commercial brewer does a slow rise or a slow descent. They get the wort in the fermenter and then get the beer into bottles/can/kegs. Time is money.
Pitch huge amounts of yeast. Ferment, and crash to get the yeast to drop.
Good timing for this thread - I finally made the leap to lagers today. Batch #93, a Vienna Lager. Waited long enough, huh? I’ve been planning to do this for a few years now and just haven’t gotten there.
It went pretty smoothly, thanks to the link that was posted to kai’s site. I really should spend some time working my way through there. Good stuff.
This will be a real test of my fermentation chiller. I’m running with two tubs of ice and a computer fan. I hope to be able to hold a temp of 50 degrees for primary, and then rack to a keg for lagering.
What’s the best time frame for primary fermentation? Most of what I see is based on attenuation. I try not to mess around with my fermentations much, taking hydro samples and whatnot.
[quote=“El Capitan”]Good timing for this thread - I finally made the leap to lagers today. Batch #93, a Vienna Lager. Waited long enough, huh? I’ve been planning to do this for a few years now and just haven’t gotten there.
It went pretty smoothly, thanks to the link that was posted to kai’s site. I really should spend some time working my way through there. Good stuff.
This will be a real test of my fermentation chiller. I’m running with two tubs of ice and a computer fan. I hope to be able to hold a temp of 50 degrees for primary, and then rack to a keg for lagering.
What’s the best time frame for primary fermentation? Most of what I see is based on attenuation. I try not to mess around with my fermentations much, taking hydro samples and whatnot.
Gotta love returning Monday morning with a whole lot of new posts. Appreciate the comments.
I ended up raising the tmp to about 57 over the weekend, and saw some activity in the airlock so hopefully that was the yeast plowing through that last 12 gravity points. Going to check gravity tonight and see where we are at, and hopefully transfer and chill. C’mon 1.012! If not I’ll raise the temp to some unreasonable level and cross my fingers for hitting FG by Wed. Then rack and crash.
Ultimately, I’m thinking crushing some milk stout before my flight is the best chance for success. 10am RDWHAHB - Proud sponsor of worry free lager brewing since 1984
Alright Gents, moment of truth. Monday night my lager was at 1.017, bout 5 or so pts from finished.
I leave tomorrow morning on my trip for two weeks. If by chance its still a couple pts away from FG, what’s the best option?
Leave it in the primary for another two weeks. This will be about 5 and a half weeks in the primary, which I think is a bit too long and risky sitting on the yeast/trub. If it’s the best option though, what temp should I leave it at? I’m guessing leaving it at 62F where it is now is probably the riskiest to develop off flavors, but im not sure.
Rack it to secondary, leave it at 55 or so, and hope that whatever yeast is in suspension will finish the job. Not sure that’s possible.
Rack it to secondary and crash it, and hope that it will finish, or that the slightly underattenuated beer will be somewhat drinkable. The flavor is great and I would hate to screw it up.
Ramp the temp up for D-rest, 65*F. If you’re not finished your damn close and the little fermentation at the warmer temp will only help in dropping it a few extra points. You’ll be fine leaving it for a couple of weeks at 65. When you get back, test gravity, transfer to secondary, and crash to lagering temp.
