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Lagering?

Northern Brewer General
#1

So I just found out that a non fermenting liguid in a room in my garage stays just over 40 degrees F this time of year. This means that with maybe a towel or two I could keep a beer at lager temperatures couldnt I? Roughly 48 degrees F? Ive never lagered before cause I had never considered it downstairs. Does this sound like a possibility? Does anybody have any information about lagering I’ll need to know aside from it takes more time? Also I would like to put together a lager recipe but all I have ingredient wise is for a brown ale. Would I be able to use a lager yeast on something like that?

It would be

7 lbs pale malt
.50 lbs crystal 60
.50 lbs chocolate malt
.25 lbs special roast
.25 lbs flaked oats
.25 lbs flaked wheat

.50 oz East kent goldings at 45
.50 oz Progress at 45

I was going to use Thames Valley ale yeast but if this beer can turn into a lager I might do that.

Otherwise Ill have to keep it inside where its a little too warm for an ale. Its usually around 68 in my house.

#2

FWIW, I brewed/fermented a stout grainbill as a lager using wyeast 2206. turned out awesome. but like with any lager, the keys to success are time and temp.

IME, you’ll need 4 weeks for primary, a 2-3 days for d-rest, then another 4-8 weeks for lagering. can you maintain adequate temps for 2-3 months?

cheers.

#3

Depends on what you mean by adequate. I can certainly put the beer in a swamp cooler when the weather begins to heat up. I know for a d-rest I need to warm it up, but I dont know how high.

#4

I find, adequate is usually:
45-55, yeast dependant, for primary fermentation
low 60s for d-rest if necessary. again, yeast dependent
33-36 for lagering.

:cheers:

#5

Could someone give me some info on what lagering really does? Does it make the yeast drop out like cold crashing an ale? Or are the yeast still eating during the lagering time period?

#6

There is a brewer on this forum named Ken Lenard. He has a web site with a bunch of info on lagering that helped me a ton when I started brewing lagers. Either search here or google him and his Mayfair Court brewing and get alot of your questions answered.

#7

Thanks. I checked out his website. Lots of useful information there.

#8

Yes, lagering will clear up the beer a good deal, but also smooths it out. The longer you can lager the smoother the beer will be. I’ve had home brewed Oktoberfests brewed an ale yeast that was terrible… well not terrible, but it was an ale and not a lager. You can totally taste the difference. I’ve also had my own Oktoberfest that was lagered. And there is a noticeable difference when aged longer. I had one 4, 8 & 10 weeks into lagering. It got better and better with time.

#9
http://www.brew-wineforum.com/shwmessag ... geID=59851

Bryan doesn’t believe in D-rest. It’s all about pitching lots of yeast. Give his writeup a read through.

#10

Kaiser’s write up is one of the best I’ve seen on the internet.

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?ti ... ing_Lagers

I would not lager that grain bill. You could make a schwarzbier.

I have lagers going in a tub of water out in my brew shed. I can ferment lager out there late November to March. I still need a fridge for the lagering.

A Diacetyl rest is not necessary and certainly not traditional. You can just let it ferment out then lager. That is probably what brewers are doing when they let it ferment for weeks before raising the temp. I move mine into the house before they are done, normally around one week. In 2-4 days I crash to lager. The rest should be started before it’s at FG.

Traditionally the lagering in secondary would naturally carbonate the beer. The beer had to be cooled slowly to not drop the yeast too soon. With modern methods it’s just for flavor maturation and clarity. The yeast are no longer needed after they consume most of the diacetyl. That is the last thing they do before dormancy. They will do it at any temp they are active at, it’s just that they are just more active at higher temps.

#11

Is it ok to let the beer freeze while lagering? Are temp swings bad too? Say it goes from 15F up to 35/40F. Basically, could I lager (in a keg) in my garage during winter?

#12

I don’t think “frozen” beer is ever a good thing.

#13

Definitely not a good thing, unless you’re making an eisbock.

#14

You can lager at 0C (freezing.) Beer will freeze at a lower temperature.

#15

ya well that makes sense. Probably wouldn’t be the best for the keg either. Would have been too easy. Having a hard time thinking of ways to utilize the sub freezing outdoor temps.

#16

I currently am bottle lagering. It’s a Maibock that should only take 4 weeks to lager.

Once lagering is done, can I take the bottles out of the fridge and cellar them until it’s time to put the batch “online?” Or will cellaring them undo the benefits that the lagering did?

#17

[quote=“Adam20”]So I just found out that a non fermenting liguid in a room in my garage stays just over 40 degrees F this time of year. This means that with maybe a towel or two I could keep a beer at lager temperatures couldnt I? Roughly 48 degrees F? Ive never lagered before cause I had never considered it downstairs. Does this sound like a possibility? Does anybody have any information about lagering I’ll need to know aside from it takes more time? Also I would like to put together a lager recipe but all I have ingredient wise is for a brown ale. Would I be able to use a lager yeast on something like that?

It would be

7 lbs pale malt
.50 lbs crystal 60
.50 lbs chocolate malt
.25 lbs special roast
.25 lbs flaked oats
.25 lbs flaked wheat

.50 oz East kent goldings at 45
.50 oz Progress at 45

I was going to use Thames Valley ale yeast but if this beer can turn into a lager I might do that.

Otherwise Ill have to keep it inside where its a little too warm for an ale. Its usually around 68 in my house.[/quote]

You can use the Thames Valley yeast and then lager it after a couple of weeks in primary.
I’ve done that a couple of times when I couldn’t bottle for several weeks and it does smooth out an ale nicely.

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